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How I Got Her
(scan down to skip the story and just look at the pictures of my beauty)
We were looking for a second vehicle and I had been scouring the classifieds for some time. I had
also been looking for a project for some time. One morning, there she was:
1967 Pontiac Catalina runs and looks good 1400 bucks
I called immediately and got ahold of a very sweet old lady. I made an appointment to come and
see the car and it was love at first site.
Shandy was a little less smitten than I was.
"It's so long," she said.
I just grinned and said, "Yep, she sure is."
The car had been the old ladies husbands who had died two weeks previous. It had been driven
1000 miles in the last three years. There was a slight transmission leak but after consulting the old gal's
mechanic, I learned that it was just the ring where the shifter arm meets the tranny. He had an agreement
with the guy's son not to fix it so the old gentleman couldn't drive it. He gave me detailed accounts of what
all he had done maintenance wise to the car and I figured I better hop on it quickely.
1300 big ones, 5 quarts of tranny fluid, and 1 can of fix-a-flat later and I was on the road.
I dubbed her the Shark-Cat in honor of my Uncle Phil's 1967 Impala which had a long life known as the
Shark. For those of you not in the know the Catalina is basically the baseline model for the Bonneville.
The Bonneville had more luxury items. In this day and age They would probably be the same car with
just different trim levels. Back in the 50's thru 70's they were two seperate cars. For those of you truly
ignorant of Pontiacs, the Catalina/Bonneville and the Chevy Impala can be somewhat compared. It's kind
of like comparing a Firebird with a Camaro.
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The Beauty
4300lbs. of pure Pontiac, Michigan muscle
Expect new paint, wheels and tires to come. |
The Beast
A 400 ci. brute backed by a TH400 tranny. She's a little plain jane right now. Look for a new intake, carb, cam, valve covers, air cleaner, headers, and dual exhaust in the future. Even at her stock set up she still slams me back in my seat when I get on her. |
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The Interior
All in all, not bad. The back seat looks and feels like it was never sat in. The headliner is perfect. The whole interior is complete and intact. My only mods have been a new seat cover and floormats. The front seat upholstery is a little rough and eventually will be redone. The only other mods I plan on making are a floor shifter, new Grant steering wheel and a CD changer(AM isn't cutting it). |
The instrument cluster
Just love the 120 mph speedo and the Indian Head light that comes on when you put on the brights.
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Her Nose
The only year for this style. The valance under the bumper will be straightened. |
Her derriere
I've always loved how Pontiac had these sweet styled tail light lenses.
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The donor
Astute observers may have noticed a slight bit of rust around the rear wheel wells. Rather than fix her the cheap way with bondo, I decided to do things right and weld in some new sheet metal. I found a 67 derelect at All Hours Salvage yard and picked up the back half for cheap. I originally just wanted the sheet around the wheel wells. The guy said he'd have to sell me the full quarter panels. I agreed and when Bill and I showed up it was half a car. Thanks to Bill for helping me haul it off and to Craig for the use of his Plasma cutter |
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