The Search
My first challenge was to figure out what I really had here. Through the Pontiac-Oakland Club, I met Rick Bodziak in Ohio. Rick had one of these cars, and a couple of 1935 models, and knew a lot about what they should look like (so many old cars get modified or have missing pieces that knowing what's original can be a big job). Mike Kearney in Florida and Gary Schuck in Pennsylvania also have very nice convertibles – both Deluxe Eights – and were very helpful with information I needed.
I took a video of every part of the car, and especially the top frame, and sent it to Rick and another Pontiac friend in SC, Andy Lee. After seeing it, Rick gave me a lot of information about what was what, then sent me photos he had of his convertibles and other cars he'd seen
I knew I needed the following parts: The wooden top rail and header rail; a rear window; a canvas top; door and vent window glass; vent window hardware; arm rests; a new center dash panel (mine had holes drilled in it for a choke and different headlight switch); rear rumbleseat step pad; spare tire hold down clamp; jack and wrench; front license plate bracket; floor mat; rear deck lid latch & handle; a rear view mirror; sun visors; original Pontiac heater (it had an aftermarket heater); wiring harness; side rails (these removable pieces mount over the doors to stabilize the top and keep the rain out).
It also needed, but I already had, a 1936 engine; windshield wiper motor and hardware; horn button & wire; headlight switch; throttle switch; Pontiac 6 grill emblem and Pontiac tail light emblem; Indian head bumper medallions; original headlight reflectors and lens; headlight buckets; and other small stuff.
Here's what the dash/interior looked like.
Notice the carpeting, lack of horn button, missing vent windows, junked up center dash panel, etc. The upholstery was recently done, pretty nice, but nowhere near original.
Here's a better picture after I had redone the dash, put in a horn button and installed the electric clock:
So the search was on. What I've learned since is that I should not have been in such a hurry to find things, or more particularly, in such a hurry to either acquire parts before I needed them or to have them fabricated. Even so, I have been pretty lucky to find almost everything I needed at this point. Some highlights:
An original rumble step pad on eBay for $95;
An original oval rear window frame at Classic Accessories (www.classicaccessories.org);
Convertible side rails and visor mounts from a 1938 Pontiac convertible in a junkyard in Smyrna Mills ME, 300 miles north of me, and which I heard about from another Pontiac friend in California, John Schott, who found out about it on eBay!
A NOS deluxe heater from a POCI member in Michigan;
The dash panel, current throttle and headlight knobs, license plate bracket and various window parts from Larry Kimber, a Pontiac friend in Portland, OR;
I also picked up a tire clamp and original deluxe radio head (it had an aftermarket radio), and a NOS electric clock.
I'm still looking for a deck lid latch and jack.
The key to finding parts and information was networking. The Pontiac club was very helpful (especially for placing ads), but eBay is the most useful resource. I not only found parts there, but emailed other people who bought 36 Pontiac stuff to see what they might have. A couple of ads in Hemmings were also helpful, as were connections with people who bought some stuff I had to sell.
My big mistake was getting parts made that I should have waited on until I had investigated more thoroughly. For example, before I found the 38 convertible, I thought I needed visor mounts made (I was missing 1 of 4). I had a pattern maker make a mold then had some cast. The 38 had the same visor mount, so I need not have cast them (although Mike Kearney need ed some for his car, so he got mine). I also had a sheet metal guy fabricate the frames and clamps. The fabricator was only marginally competent at such things and charged me $350 for the work. I now know people who could do it much cheaper. I also bought glass from a SC company and I found out a year later they weren't even the right size. By then, he wouldn't take them back: $125 wasted.
Oak Bows in PA made my top bow from an old Chevy pattern he had. I had him try and make a header rail based on measurements and a cardboard pattern, but that was a complete waste of $400. I ended up not being able to use it at all. Finally, the original vent window frames were broken, but I had aluminum frames a previous owner had cast. They still needed some mill work, which I ended up paying a lot of money to have done. 18 months later I found out they were so poorly cast that they couldn't be plated and had to have new ones fabricated from steel. All of those things could have waited until I was really ready to do have the work done, by which time I was much more knowledgeable about how to get such things done. Waiting would have saved me a lot of money and frustration.
Lesson learned: Don't jump on the first solution; do more research and you'll probably come out ahead.
I took a video of every part of the car, and especially the top frame, and sent it to Rick and another Pontiac friend in SC, Andy Lee. After seeing it, Rick gave me a lot of information about what was what, then sent me photos he had of his convertibles and other cars he'd seen
I knew I needed the following parts: The wooden top rail and header rail; a rear window; a canvas top; door and vent window glass; vent window hardware; arm rests; a new center dash panel (mine had holes drilled in it for a choke and different headlight switch); rear rumbleseat step pad; spare tire hold down clamp; jack and wrench; front license plate bracket; floor mat; rear deck lid latch & handle; a rear view mirror; sun visors; original Pontiac heater (it had an aftermarket heater); wiring harness; side rails (these removable pieces mount over the doors to stabilize the top and keep the rain out).
It also needed, but I already had, a 1936 engine; windshield wiper motor and hardware; horn button & wire; headlight switch; throttle switch; Pontiac 6 grill emblem and Pontiac tail light emblem; Indian head bumper medallions; original headlight reflectors and lens; headlight buckets; and other small stuff.
Here's what the dash/interior looked like.
Notice the carpeting, lack of horn button, missing vent windows, junked up center dash panel, etc. The upholstery was recently done, pretty nice, but nowhere near original.
Here's a better picture after I had redone the dash, put in a horn button and installed the electric clock:
So the search was on. What I've learned since is that I should not have been in such a hurry to find things, or more particularly, in such a hurry to either acquire parts before I needed them or to have them fabricated. Even so, I have been pretty lucky to find almost everything I needed at this point. Some highlights:
An original rumble step pad on eBay for $95;
An original oval rear window frame at Classic Accessories (www.classicaccessories.org);
Convertible side rails and visor mounts from a 1938 Pontiac convertible in a junkyard in Smyrna Mills ME, 300 miles north of me, and which I heard about from another Pontiac friend in California, John Schott, who found out about it on eBay!
A NOS deluxe heater from a POCI member in Michigan;
The dash panel, current throttle and headlight knobs, license plate bracket and various window parts from Larry Kimber, a Pontiac friend in Portland, OR;
I also picked up a tire clamp and original deluxe radio head (it had an aftermarket radio), and a NOS electric clock.
I'm still looking for a deck lid latch and jack.
The key to finding parts and information was networking. The Pontiac club was very helpful (especially for placing ads), but eBay is the most useful resource. I not only found parts there, but emailed other people who bought 36 Pontiac stuff to see what they might have. A couple of ads in Hemmings were also helpful, as were connections with people who bought some stuff I had to sell.
My big mistake was getting parts made that I should have waited on until I had investigated more thoroughly. For example, before I found the 38 convertible, I thought I needed visor mounts made (I was missing 1 of 4). I had a pattern maker make a mold then had some cast. The 38 had the same visor mount, so I need not have cast them (although Mike Kearney need ed some for his car, so he got mine). I also had a sheet metal guy fabricate the frames and clamps. The fabricator was only marginally competent at such things and charged me $350 for the work. I now know people who could do it much cheaper. I also bought glass from a SC company and I found out a year later they weren't even the right size. By then, he wouldn't take them back: $125 wasted.
Oak Bows in PA made my top bow from an old Chevy pattern he had. I had him try and make a header rail based on measurements and a cardboard pattern, but that was a complete waste of $400. I ended up not being able to use it at all. Finally, the original vent window frames were broken, but I had aluminum frames a previous owner had cast. They still needed some mill work, which I ended up paying a lot of money to have done. 18 months later I found out they were so poorly cast that they couldn't be plated and had to have new ones fabricated from steel. All of those things could have waited until I was really ready to do have the work done, by which time I was much more knowledgeable about how to get such things done. Waiting would have saved me a lot of money and frustration.
Lesson learned: Don't jump on the first solution; do more research and you'll probably come out ahead.
posted by Bob Shafto at 1:47 PM
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