1964 Catalina Safari Wagon

I would like to suggest that you go to eBay and find a complete set of Factory Shop Manuals in PRINTED FORM. You will like them better than the CD for several reasons, IMHO. For one thing...you can take them with you when working on the car. Keep them in the car, too. They will likely cost more than the CD but worth it in the long run.

 

Well. The other day my wife was getting a laundry basket out of the wagon when....



Yep, I knew there was rust under there. I could feel it, but I was hoping I could wait a bit because the vinyl was holding it together. Well, the vinyl caught on the basket. So, I removed the panel and found that the bottom half of the sheet metal beneath the vinyl had disintegrated. But the actual tailgate only has some rust and pitting but it hasn't gone all the way through. I am in the process of dealing with this before it gets too rainy. Hopefully I am fast enough. Started sanding with a 3M block sander and decided to wait and get my drill and wire brush attachment from work. Then I will use some rust convert or something. Any recommendations? I will also need to get the weather stripping before I remove this one. It actually needs all of the weather stripping and the felt for the tailgate window. Do they make rubber squeegee things for older windows or am I stuck with just felt? Anyway, I primered after but the pic didn't get saved.

 

I'd use Metal-Ready to etch it right out, then coat it, with any of the top name rust converters and primers.

http://www.por15.com/METAL-READY/productinfo/MRG/

It's a hydrochloric acid that you wipe on, leave for 10 to 20 minutes and wash off, repeat if needed. You want to get the fungus OFF. Rust is like a mushroom, a fungus, and it will pop back up, unless you get down to the roots. Use a damp cloth or spray with a squeeze bottle behind and rinse off thoroughly. This is an acid, although mild, and it will keep eating away any oxides, unless you clean it off good. It's about $25 per quart, up here in Canada. Worth it though.

 

Gonna follow this thread...
Got a soft spot in my heart for '64 Pontiacs..
My 2nd vehicle that I owned was a '64 Catalina Ventura. Wasn't a wagon, though.

One thing.... mine had a (rare?) transistorized ignition option on the 389 - no points!
Here's a link to page 10 from the '64 Pontiac brochure. Check what it shows under "Heavy Duty Equipment"....
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/64pont/bilder/10.jpg

Here's the link for the whole brochure site.....
http://www.lov2xlr8.no/broch1.html

 

I was going to try to use body lead on this spot which requires a strong acid to prep the metal first. Should I use the Prep and Ready or go with the stuff for using body lead. I wanted to use metal to fill in all the pitting on the tailgate. If I use filler or anything I am afraid it will crack with the slamming shut of the door.

Ok I don't know how to do multiple quotes in one post, but thanks KK. I love that site. Those brochures are so fun to look through.

_________

Car work today. I decided to try and adjust the carb.
Reason: Every time I would step on the gas there would be a stutter and it would feel like it was about to stall. Also, it was shifting really hard to get into second gear. Hard time starting. Notice a smell of gas when walking to the car after it sits over night.
Remedy: Watch videos on youtube and try to adjust the carb. I think it was flooding the carb with fuel. I'll have you know I did more than just videos. I hooked up a tach and adjusted the carb to approx. factory specs. 560 rpm with A/C.
Result: Still hard to start (it wants to go a little rough). Runs smoothish (sounds like something is off). But it has way more get up and go from a dead stop. Shifts smooth (don't know how that was fixed through the carb, let me know if you know). Don't know about the smell of gas yet. Stutters when I brake hard.

Those are my Three R's .

Other issues, questions, comments:
SilverFox: That repro book sucks (Like you said it would) and they sent me the wrong one. I now know a little bit more about a 64 Tempest, but it doesn't have enough info.
I need to get the right ones.

When searching threw everything on my engine without a proper manual and trying to adjust the carb. I found that there are two nipples on my intake in front of the driver side mixture screw for the carb. What would these be for? They have tubes that meet and go to the back of the engine into the valley pan. The connection into the valley pan is very loose but I don't want to mess with it without knowing what it is. I will take pictures tomorrow.

I am getting a ton of oil pooling on the valley pan right by the water pump. But most of all I am getting a little bit of white smoke (very light) from the oil breather on the valve covers. It smells so bad I was getting a headache and light headed while working on the car. Oil is also splattering out of the oil breather, making a mess on fresh painted valve covers.

Sorry for the long post but I like to be thorough. Also, I will be getting a really cheap HEI for this Engine and then buying one from DUI for the specs of the new engine. They will set everything up for you. I learned a lot today and found I know very little about engines.

 

You must have some array of tools to work with lead filling! I thought it was a lost art. That would work though. You'll have to find a way to get at the back side of that sheetmetal. Rust keeps eating away with no sense of direction - forward or backward.

Here's a couple good sites and articles:

http://www.autobody101.com/content/articles/autobody-articles/

This is a 10 part series on bodywork:
http://www.hotrod.com/howto/hdrp_0605_paint_body_1/

http://www.hotrod.com/howto/hdrp_0606_paint_stripping_basics_tips/

http://www.hotrod.com/howto/hrdp_0607_dents/

http://www.hotrod.com/howto/hdrp_0608_rust_war/

http://www.hotrod.com/howto/hdrp_0609_panel_alignment/

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/body/hrdp_0611_car_paint_techniques/

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/body/hrdp_0611_car_paint_techniques/

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/body/hrdp_0612_color_sanding_paint/

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/body/hrdp_0701_automotive_trim_decals/

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/body/hrdp_0702_car_polishing_techniques/

Working real lead filler might need some special chemicals depending on the alloys used in the lead, so you might check out this site too:
http://www.caswellplating.com/

Their forum Archives:
http://forum.caswellplating.com/archive/index.php/

Also, the Model T guys still do Lead bodywork, but all I have is a link to one of the better Model T sites:
http://www.mtfca.com/index.htm

It's not hard work, with lead, but it takes practice. Some epoxies might be easier, in terms of flowing it onto the metal, but I don't think that epoxies would bind as well as lead to the old metal. Lead won't leave any airpockets, where epoxy could.

 

Well. I have some news. I went to remove the PCV Valve in the back of the valley pan (yep I found out what it was). I found out it was plastic and cracked and the grommet was hard as a rock and loose in the valley pan hole. So, I tried to pull the hose off to see what I could do, because the grommet was so hard it didn't want to come out. The stem of the valve came off with the hose and the little metal piece (check valve?) fell inside the valley pan, which lucky me has the camshaft directly under it.
No one around here has that grommet. I decide to try a magnet to get it out, but it's all metal inside so good luck. While fishing I smell gas really bad. I look under the car.
Drip....Drip....Drip....big puddle >:
Nooooo....my precious premium fuel is dripping onto the asphalt. I trace the leak all the way to the fuel pump. The fuel pump is wet on top but no drips from the filter or connections above. After looking around I see little bubbles on the seam of the fuel pump. Crap.
I call around. No one has a fuel pump in stock for that car. Well, I call my good friend at Edelbrock because I am willing to pay a little bit, better than the cost of a tow. He wasn't at work today. I have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out if he has it in stock.
Street Sweeping Thursday so I need to get this going.

Updates tomorrow.

 

Sweet wagon you have there. GM was really at the top of its form in the mid-'60's, particularly when it came to interiors.
In addition to the lit sites Norman posted, I'll add the Old Car Manual Project, a site I go to almost daily for reference.
This is the Bonneville & Catalina wagon page, but there's probably a prestige brochure out there somewhere with more info.
The illustrator Art Fitzpatrick and his partner Van Kaufman did Pontiac's ads and brochure artwork in those heady days,
and it's among the best ever created.

You'll have a real treasure when all the kinks are worked out, so keep it up!
TG

 

The PCV and Grommet can be ordered through Ames or Performance years.

Also you can order it through the Auto Parts Store.

HELP part number 42054 that is for the valley pan.

PCV valve is FRAM part # FV112


If you have not started the car, get your shop vac out and put it on the valley pan. It will suck the rubber and anything else stuck in there.



If you are willing to wait.

www.rockauto.com

Dave

 

I have the Fram valve just a grommet that doesn't have the lip on it.

Good news. Got the piece of metal out. My vacuum wasn't strong enough but persistance with a magnet and a ziptie got the piece of metal out. I am picking up the fuel pump in an hour or so. He has it in stock but they have to pull it.

Thanks for all your help and support. Great site here.

 

I accidentally pulled a lifter out of it's bore by not being careful when pulling out the push rod. OMG! After about 20 minutes with the extendable magnet I had it back in place. I was sure I was going to have to pull the cylinder head off. Ford 200 six. Whew that was close.

 

Replaced fuel pump (pictures later) and the car is now up and running. Smelllllllss so strong of gas though, probably just my hands.
Drives horrible as I had just adjusted the carburetor while the fuel pump was cracked. Oh well. It's good enough to get to the shop.
Then the disassembly of the engine. I will post tons of pics of that so we can see what condition this thing was actually in.

 

Mods or stock rebuild?

 

Still in the decision phase of what to modify and what to keep stock. I want to modernize this by using 87 octane and getting the best mileage I can.


But keep in mind I can get 30-40% off Edelbrock products.

 

Well...it's pretty much one or the other....speed or mileage. I haven't yet found the right formula in all my years to get both in the same engine.