[RonBurgundy]

This is my first post here and my first ever Pontiac. I hopefully will be picking the car up this Saturday granted the seller receives the new title in the mail. More on that later.

Before I get into the details of the car I wanted to give a little background on what I'm hoping to accomplish with this build. Let's rewind about 20 years or so. My grandpa, who turned 77 this year, and I have always tossed around the idea of one day building a car together. And for whatever reason, lack of time, lack of money, etc. we never got the opportunity to fulfill the dream.

Now fast forward to today. I'm pushing 30 and have a son of my own who will turn 2 at his birthday. In the back of my mind this idea of us building a car together has never left me. So now with the financial stability I've decided to pull the trigger on a project car.

The car is a 1965 Catalina 2 Door Post that has honestly seen better days. From what I know it has been off the road for nearly 20 years and needs a lot of work. It's a 389 auto car with a bench seat and two tone blue interior. The original color from what I can tell was a light metallic blue. At some point it had a front end fender bender and was repaired with 1966 parts. It needs the typical old car repairs (quarter panel work, trunk pan work, interior, paint, etc.)

I found the car locally on Craigslist. The seller was listing the car because it was owned by his father who had been deceased for several years and basically just wanted to get the car out of his yard. To make a long story short the father never transferred the title into his name but the son has been able to secure a clean and clear title that can be transferred into my name. Hopefully this weekend. The seller initially thought he didn't have a title and priced the car extremely cheap because of that. Like "Say that again???" cheap. But found the title after our initial conversation and still stood by his original price, which I greatly respected.

My Grandpa and I went and looked at the car a few weekends ago. He's still under the impression I'm buying the car for myself when in actuality it's really going to be a surprise gift to him. He previously owned two 66 Catalinas back in the 60's that he liked a great deal.

So wish us luck. Going off the condition of the car were going to need it!

Thanks

[66bonne]

Keep us posted on your project and the great story that goes with your Poncho.

I have a '65 Cat sedan myself.

Jim

[tharkun8]

Congrats and welcome..

That will be a real nice Darksider. I understand that guys
who want to build racers love the 2dr post cars
presumably for the extra body strength.
Interesting that its a 66 nose on a 65.. unique if you
keep it that way.. or a 65 nose can probably be found.

Have you run the PHS yet ? Pontiac historical Services can
send you the build sheet so you know exactly how your
Poncho came off of the assembly line. Its a handy service
and the info can be interesting to know.

Theres a lot of knowledge here so if you ever get stuck..
someone here an help you out.

Oh and more Pics !!

John

[RonBurgundy]

Originally Posted by 66bonne

Keep us posted on your project and the great story that goes with your Poncho.

I have a '65 Cat sedan myself.

Jim

I saw your car on the Hot Rod Magazine website and it inspired me to go after this particular car! I honestly had never seen a 2 door sedan Catalina before. I didn't even know they existed till a few weeks ago. After doing some online research it appears there were only like 9,500 built that year. Less than 4% of production.

Hopefully with a lot of hard work ours will be as nice as yours!

[RJ300]

Best of luck with it, look forward to hearing how it all goes.

[66bonne]

Originally Posted by RonBurgundy

I saw your car on the Hot Rod Magazine website and it inspired me to go after this particular car! I honestly had never seen a 2 door sedan Catalina before. I didn't even know they existed till a few weeks ago. After doing some online research it appears there were only like 9,500 built that year. Less than 4% of production.

Hopefully with a lot of hard work ours will be as nice as yours!

Thank you for the kind words Ron. Sedans are indeed relatively rare, took me about two years to find mine and about two years for the restoration. My son and I, along with a talented friend, did most of the work ourselves. I hope you have as much fun as we did in returning your Poncho to its prominence.
Lots of very knowledgeable and helpful members on this board. If we can help in any way, just ask.

Jim

[Txbobcat]

Good luck on the car. 65 body parts are very hard to find engine parts fit many years going up not down. I do own a 65 catalina convertible and have owned 4 other 65s since 1970.

[RonBurgundy]

I met the seller today and took care of the title work. It's officially ours. I plan on picking it up after work on Tuesday! Here's an up close picture of the body tag. I've been able to decode some of it but the rest is still up in the air. Can anyone help me out?

[MPKind]

Good to hear of another 2D Post getting saved. I've been working on mine for 15 years. I'd post a pic of my car, but I'm too lazy to downsize it for upload...Anyway on to your trim tag questions.

Top left is the date code: 03=March, F=?
Made in Pontiac, MI, Body Unit number is 2108
TR 219- = Blue Interior Paint = DD Fontaine Blue (lower and upper)

The codes at the bottom left are more difficult to decipher, but refer to groups of parts on the car. The number designates 1 of 5 groups, the letter designates specific parts.

2ZP: Group 2, Z=3 Speed A/T, P=Comfort/Convenience Group?
4E: Group 4, E=?
5W: Group 5, W=retractable seat belts?

Order the PHS documents. It'll tell you much more than the body tag does. Most 2 door sedans were light on options, like mine. It had a few, A/T, Deluxe Steering Wheel, Backup Lamps, Dual Speed Wiper.

You may find a broadcast sheet somewhere on the car. Some places to look would be under the back seat or on top of the fuel tank.

Post more pics and info.

[Alf ista]

Welcome. Looking forward to seeing how it all works out. A nice surprise for your Grandad!

[RonBurgundy]

Here are a few pics of when we got it home Tuesday evening. Needless to say he was surprised! Can anyone suggest a good place for new lower rear quarters and hopefully somewhere I can track down 65 front fenders and a grill?

[63gpman]

Nice!! You are going to need a complete from clip from a 65 because the inner fenders and all other items are different.

[RonBurgundy]

Originally Posted by 63gpman

Nice!! You are going to need a complete from clip from a 65 because the inner fenders and all other items are different.

In the deal we received the original 65 hood and 2 (supposedly) 65 front bumpers. Out of curiosity can those be used on the 66 parts already installed on the car?

[MPKind]

There are a few people around the U.S. that have big car sheet metal for sale. Front clip parts can be found at Indiana Pontiacs, Franks (in SoCal), and few other small time operators. You should make a trip to Indiana Pontiacs for one of their open house events. You could probably get a lot of what your looking for. Rear quarters: I'd salvage what is good and find someone with talent that can fabricate patches and butt weld them in...same goes for the inner rear wheel wells.

How's the frame? They can rot out ahead and behind the rear wheels and behind the front wheels.

[MPKind]

Originally Posted by RonBurgundy

In the deal we received the original 65 hood and 2 (supposedly) 65 front bumpers. Out of curiosity can those be used on the 66 parts already installed on the car?

The only 65-66 body parts that interchange are the doors. A '65 bumper won't work with a '66 front clip. Rear quarters from a '66 could work on a '65 as long as you retain the '65 tail panel area.

[RonBurgundy]

Originally Posted by MPKind

There are a few people around the U.S. that have big car sheet metal for sale. Front clip parts can be found at Indiana Pontiacs, Franks (in SoCal), and few other small time operators. You should make a trip to Indiana Pontiacs for one of their open house events. You could probably get a lot of what your looking for. Rear quarters: I'd salvage what is good and find someone with talent that can fabricate patches and butt weld them in...same goes for the inner rear wheel wells.

How's the frame? They can rot out ahead and behind the rear wheels and behind the front wheels.

From what I can tell the frame looks to be pretty solid. It has surface rust but I can't seen any major issues (so far). I've found one online retailer that has lower rear quarters (new reproductions) for a good price.

http://www.vintagepartsclub.com/pont...6-1965-1966-1/

Anyone have any experience with these?

[MPKind]

I looked at those, but declined on buying them after hearing horror stories about how difficult they were to fit. Unless that car was previously patched, the rear quarters didn't look terrible on your car. I'd carefully remove the rusted portions and leave the solid metal.

[tharkun8]

Originally Posted by RonBurgundy

http://www.vintagepartsclub.com/pont...6-1965-1966-1/

Anyone have any experience with these?

I have not had any experience with them. but I read the words 'economy grade' in the ad and didnt bother reading any further.. I wouldnt use them but thats just me.

I didnt think anybody made body panels for B-bodies but I guess you could go that route.. I actually prefer having to find old OEM stuff ...
its always better quality. I expect to have my cars for decades so its worth it to me to find the good stuff... it is out there if you know where to look.

We B body guys are pretty good at looking for stuff and sharing it we cant use it.. Indiana Pont and Franks are 2 good nationwide vendors..
there are still some boneyards around (here in CO) that have old iron... might be lucky in your area...

One good thing is if you can find a yard that has old Pontiacs.. usually there
are better selections of B body stuff then A body.. less demand..

Good Luck

John

[RonBurgundy]

Originally Posted by MPKind

I looked at those, but declined on buying them after hearing horror stories about how difficult they were to fit. Unless that car was previously patched, the rear quarters didn't look terrible on your car. I'd carefully remove the rusted portions and leave the solid metal.

The rot is mainly in the lower part of the rear quarters. I suppose they could potentially be patched. I'll try to take some better pictures this evening to show what we have to work with.

[63gpman]

You will be better off patching than replacing with those. They are made by C2C or Classic to Current and are not very good at all. I had a set of them and they were not even close enough to even be modified to use. They do not have the 45 degree angle on them for the wheel opening trim and the bends are way off. They kind of look like they could be worked when you see the photo, but once you hold it up to the car, you will see why they will not.