Hello to all of you. Here is a link to the 1930 Pontiac Cpe that we are working on at my shop. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9059. This thing has been quite the project. The vehicle originally came in to get a paint job. It was quite evident upon inspecting the vehicle that just a paint job was not going to work. The motor had already been installed and is a 500 horse Stetson race motor. This vehicle had an inner structure that was all wood. Wood inner structure and 500 horses do not mix well. We then stripped all the wood out of the vehicle and fabricated a metal inner structure. The top was replaced with a metal one and the door handles were shaved. The hood witch split in the middle was made into one piece. We have also fabricated a custom rear valance, cadillac trunk latch, solinoid door latches and much, much more. The amount of fabrication in this vehicle has been a new thing for us. It has been a lot of fun though. The fenders, running boards and jambs have been painted and the paint shop is working on the main body right now. The color is Very Velvet from Martin Senours Planet Color line of paints. It looks like a Candy Apple Red or Black Cherry. In low light it is black and out in the sun it is a vibrant red. Very cool color choice. We hope to be done with our part of it by the end of June....hopefully!!!!
Thanks for those pics,my Chevy also had wood structure which is the part i'm working on now. Any pics of the complete car?Also welcome to the HAMB.
I will try to find some pics of the car before we started on it. The owner has some. Once the cab is painted next week and mounted on the frame I will take some more pics. I will be updating the pics throughout the project. Still a ways to go.
Until Whodaman can get the pics on here's what a 30 Pontiac coupe looks like. This one is an original car and is driveable complete with flathead six and wood wheels. Till I grabbed it a couple years ago, it had sat in a barn in Michigan since 1959. Whodaman, that is some awesome metal work. I don't plan to rod my 30 coupe but I do have a few other 30-31 Pontiac projects that I can definitely get a few pointers from you pics. Great job! Can't wait to see more!
Thanks!! That is what our customers vehicle looked like when he bought it. We felt bad (momentarily) tearing such a straight clean old car apart. No regrets now though. This thing is really turning out great.
i have a 28/29 pontiac that just the running gear and cowl, hood and grill, the running gear is all there but has been sitting for about 30 years or so, my plan is to take my 28 chevy frame and fenders and mount the pontiac cowl, hood and grill and make a woody wagon, the part i`m missing is around the window from the cowl up, would you have any pics of that area? i just have no idea what they look like.
The cab is masked up for paint tonight. I took some photos of the area you requested but I will take more after it is painted and unmasked so you can get a better idea of what you need. Here are a couple of the assembled grille. The indian head is a nice touch.
Someone else on this board gave good reviews about that paint recently, I'm ready to try some. Sweet looking car. What was the deal with Oakland and Pontiac during that era, anyone know? I thought the General bought Oakland and renamed them Pontiac around 1930 but I guess I'm wrong. Anyone know for sure?
You are close. Oakland Motor Car Company built its first car in 1908 and officially went into production in 1909. Later that same year they were acquired by GM. The Oakland was like many of the automobile manufacturers of that time, it was priced alittle out of reach of most common folks. When Henry Ford had the idea to build a "car for the masses", the Model T literally sold millions in a few years. The other car companies began to see the wisdom of a lower priced car. Thus, in the early to mid twenties we began to see 'companion cars' such as Buick's Marquette, Oldsmobiles' Viking, Hudson's Essex, even Cadillac had the Lasalle. Even though none of these were as cheap as the Ford T, they were an attempt to reach other markets. Well, in this thinking, Oakland introduced the Pontiac in 1926, and it was an instant success. In fact, it outsold the Oakland brand so well (and the Great Depression put the hurt on GM) that GM decided to drop the Oakland line all together and changed the name of the division to Pontiac Motors in 1932. Thus, all Pontiacs built from 1926 thru 1931, were actually built by Oakland, not Pontiac. Oakland had a V8 engine in 1930 & 1931. A few of these engines were left over when the Oakland was discontinued. These left over V8's were offered as a limited option in the 1932 Pontiacs. Then in 1933, Pontiacs went to a inline eight similar to its inline six. Hope this helps.
A long time ago when I was maybe 14 me and a friend were digging around off the beaten path of a city park and came across a buried pontiac. It had to be a very early car. Had wood wheels with aluminum octagon centercaps. I still have a center cap, a headlight bulb, and the metal 4cyl distributor cap.
Whodaman, As an early Pontiac nut and definitely a rodder, I am lovin that car you are building. But damn, when I see what that car looked like to start, I could almost cry. I understand your position, it's the customer's choice and if you don't build it someone else would. And, like I said you are doing quality work, great job! But, damn-that was gem! And, the 1930 Pontiacs were the lowest production of all the early years. Damn. Sorry, I think I'll go cry a little then when I get done, I can't wait to see how it turns out when you are finished! Til then keep the progress pics acomin'!
I know what you mean. We felt pretty bad for ripping this things guts out when it was so straight but.......it was for the best. The customer originally wanted to just paint the car and add the 8 way BMW power seats to it. When we started to sand on it the nails just started to fall out. Most of the wood was a little rotten. The wood also would not even come close to hoding up to 500 horses!!!! Plus we didnt know how we were going to mount these seats to wood!!So thats what started the exodus of replacing all of the wood with metal. I thought my partner Tom (Mr fabricator extrordinair)was going have a mental breakdown before all of the fabrication was done on this thing. He made it threw it though and it's coming down to the end of the road. What also helps with this car is the owner. Really he has been the model customer. Just a really cool guy. I'm suprised he is still around with all of the price tag shock he has been through
I have learned my new thing the day. I can now go to bed!!!!!! Thanks for the information. I love learning stuff like that.
thanks for the pics, looks like the windshield slides up like a chevy i`d say, i`ll take a couple pics of my yard art tomorrow and post them, i had an idea to use woven stainless wire to make inserts for my grill and tip it on a 45, maybe inboss some long flutes in it to match the top of the grill, thanks again for the pics, thats going to be one sweet pontiac when your done.
Here is something else that will make you cry. We didnt have one rust hole to fix on this thing. A little bit of surface rust was easily sanded out.
not meaning to hijack your thread but heres a couple pics of my ponitac, mine doesnt look quite the same as your around the cowl, i`m not really sure what model or year mine is but was told it was a 28/29 something.
Oh great! I had just stopped my uncontrollable sobbing! Now it's started all over again! Can someone call me a counselor? Or would that be a consoler? Actually I think I need a 'shrink'-I seem to be having multiple personalities. One can't believe what's happened to a gem of an original car and the other personality can't believe what a georgous car that's gonna be! Roddin hobby sure is curious isn't it?
Budd, What you have are the remains of a 1929 Pontiac coupe or sedan (closed body not a roadster or touring). The body line that runs down the side of the cowl (similar to a 28-29 Ford line) is the tell tale piece. 1928 Pontiac looked totally different and had a different grille. The 29 grille you have was very close to the 1930 Pontiac grille, but the 30 had a little 'apron' of material at the top to cover the upper tank on the radiator. Also, the filler tube opening is slightly bigger on the 29 than the 30. The side mount brackets were an option. Good luck and send pics on progress!
Whodaman, Here's a couple more of my future 1930 Pontiac projects. You may have seen them on another thread. The coupe I showed earlier I'm leaving as is for now. If I ever do anything with it I will restore original. These two however, are roddin material. The phaeton although super rare, will be resto-rodded while the sedan will either become a chopped and channelled sedan or maybe the first ever chopped channelled closed cab 1930 Pontiac pickup. This is why so much interest in your thread and pics. Keep em comin!
Thanks for the explanation on the Oakland/Pontiac history, I appreciate that. After looking at your profile I see you've got it pretty bad! LOL
I know what you mean about"mental breakdown"on the structure changeover. Any pics of that?Great colour choice,although i liked the chrome grill shell too.Thanks for the progress pics.
I'm not real sure if we have photos of the inner structure change over or not. I think the owner may have some. I will ask him. We have been putting this thing back together for about a week or so and I will update the photos next week. This thing actually looks like a car now!!!!
Ok, here are some more progress photos. The vehicle is in final polish right now so I will take more photos outside when that is complete.
That is cool info, thanks. One question, what was the V8 design? Some type of flathead or was it an overhead valve engine? Automotive history is fascinating to me.... Gary PS: WHODAMAN: sorry for the thread hijack...that's a nice car you're building...
This sure has been a fun read - I'm an old Pontiac guy. Been waiting for a photo of the 500 horse Stetson, as I've never heard of a Stetson engine before. What you've showed so far sure looks like good work! Congrats on a nice build.
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