Hello to all. I recently bought a 66 Catalina station wagon from Washington. Solid car, with just a few options. 421, 4bbl, auto, ps, pb, rally dash, tilt wheel, 3.08 posi rear, HD cooling and suspension including rear air shocks, 4 way hazard flasher and an AM radio. By the option list, I would guess it was bought as a heavy duty delivery vehicle. Montego bronze paint with a reasonably solid body including the spare tire area ! After putting the wagon on a lift, the only areas I can find that need rust repair are the front lower fenders. Lots of small dents and dings, but overall really solid & straight. A major project for sure, but I have owned every other full-size 66 Pontiac model except for a wagon. Finally have one ! We'll see how it progresses through the summer and fall. I have many parts that I've collected over the years that will find their way into this wagon. The major ones are factory A/C ( I have a complete 66 donor car), tri-power, roof rack and 8 lugs. I also have a 6 way power strato bench seat with plans to add headrests and a passenger side recliner. Hopefully I will have the mechanical areas finished before winter, then to the body shop for paint and then, finally the interior! Thanks, Ron
Looks to be in good shape and with all those spare parts it should be a fun project. glad you found your way here.
Welcome aboard Ron. I see alot of great potential there. Looks like a solid piece. I could picture it with a set of 8-lug wheels and adding A/C and tri-power to the 421. It's going to make a nice cruiser.
Welcome Aboard. That is indeed a solid looking car. I dig that era Pontiac. What part of Washington did you find the car in? Where the 8 lug wheels ever an option on the wagon? Best of luck with the project. Once you get rolling you can start a build thread in the project section. We all love to see a project come together.
The car is from Vancouver Washington, the other side of the country from New Jersey ! I really wanted a 66 Pontiac full-size wagon, and everything back east was either way over my price range, or way too rusty for my abilities anymore. Eight lug wheels were an option on all full size Pontiacs in 1966. The only problem is availability of the correct tire size. I have a set of Cooper trendsetter P225/75R14 whitewall tires on it now that I bought about 12+ years ago. They were sitting in my upstairs storage area, never mounted but they are still old. They look good, and will get her around for now, but I plan on buying a set of 15" 8 lug wheels. The selection of 15" whitewall tires is starting to go away, so I might just buy a set & store them. I started cutting out the firewall area from the 66 4dr donor car, and will drill out the factory spot welds so I can match up where I need to cut the wagon firewall. Lot of work, but it will be a nice option! The one thing I need to find out is if the wagon and hardtop rear bumpers are the same. They look identical sitting next to each other mounted on the cars, but I will need to check. I have a NOS set of front & rear bumpers and front fenders, but I bought them for my 66 Bonneville convertible. Unfortunately, the Bonneville got a bath over the roof from hurricane Sandy. It's now a parts car, as is my 66 Executive 2 dr ht and my 69 Chevy panel truck The fenders and bumpers were sitting upstairs ion storage, nice & dry. I hope the wagon turns out as nice as my mind envisions it ! My bride of 43+ years has learned to just smile, shake her head and walk away. She knows, promised actually, that the wagon is My bucket list car. The final project. Cheers, Ron
Nice story addition Ron. Keep that gal smiling and everything else is gravey! Sounds like you had some bad luck but are going forward with your projects. Good luck.
One of the many things I learned in the Corps....Failure isn't falling down, failure is not getting back up. Life is GOOD !
Lucky I haven't fallen down lately. If I do I can't get up. So I'm a failure, but life is good until then.
Hmmmm...... Comparing rear bumpers: Bonneville hardtop: Wagon: (only decent rear 3/4 shot I could find was in the brochure....) They do look very similar. Only difference I can see between the two from these pics is that the hardtop bumper looks like it has a bit of a concave shape to it horizontally, under the tail lights, while the wagon bumper looks rather flat across in that area. If I had to guess, I'd say the bumpers don't interchange, which would have been very common back then. Most wagons had a lot of different parts on the back.
Welcome Ron, from a fellow Pontiac wagon fan. I'm guessing you are the same Rapdron over on the PY forum? Great find on the wagon! Did you get the PHS for your wagon? There used to be a group that was keeping track of all the 421 and 455 wagons. I might still have that list somewhere. I'm hoping to get my own '66 on the road, maybe this year. (Not to be confused with "done" but just back on the road in all her faded, scratched, dented glory.)
teej same rapdron I haven't sent for the PHS as of yet, will soon. I haven't done much on the car lately, working on getting the Sea Ray bowrider ready for the summer. Had to install a new 5.7 into it. I sent the trans out to get rebuilt, needs to get it put back in. All new brake and fuel lines, converted it to front disc from a 69 Bonneville donor found at a local yard. The rotors still were well above minimum specs, so just did a light cut on the lathe. I bought rebuilt calipers, master cylinder, wheel bearings and seals I am hoping to have it driving before the end of summer, need to do at least one Jersey shore trip to LBI. Enjoy your summer. Ron
