Beautiful 1967 Catalina on E-bay

Very Oddly optioned 400 2bbl, TH-400 Powered, 8-lug wheels, with Cruise, CD Ignition, tilt wheel, Gauges, aftermarket A/C, Auto Level rear suspension, Head Rests (never seen them on a Bench seat car before) 2-tone paint, Power Steering, and delux color matched seat belts. But it has manual brakes, and Windows (my wife would love this car if it had power windows) and is a 2-seat wagon. The Colors are great IMO. And at the time of the posting it is bid up to $12,221.00 with 5 days to go. Many Many more pic's on the Auction but no chassis pictures, and only the 1 out of focus engine bay shot.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Ponti...ash=item467861d7b1:g:ZBEAAOSwheFaoDL0&vxp=mtr

 

For that price, the missing photos of which you mentioned should be mandatory. Power brakes aren't really necessary on drum-braked vehicles. If this was towing a trailer, that would be a different matter. However then, the disc brake option should, in that case, be a must. A wagon of that size will need at least the factory Frigidair unit, to cool it down. The best that aftermarket could do is to blow a cold breeze at the driver, when all outlets are pointing at that direction. Nevertheless, at two hundred twenty one dollars and twenty one cents (where did he figure the 21 cents, even?), it's still a bargain over that '77 Hornet that's currently out there selling for $221.21 less

 

When you specified front disc brakes on these, you lose the availability of the nice 8-lug wheels, unfortunately. They did have integral finned aluminum drums, though.

 

If you have ever driven a Big Pontiac with the Big 8-lug wheel/brake combo you soon realize they are equal in stopping ability to the early disc brakes of the era. I would never even consider doing a disc brake conversion on a car so equipped.

 

This car keeps coming up for sale.

Still... manual drum brakes completely suck for any kind of regular driving. With every idiot on the road these days stopping on a dime it's only a matter of time until you get cut off and rear end someone. While I prefer power discs I do like the 8-lug drums, even if they are expensive to maintain and replace.

 

Car was at the last McCormick Auction in Palm Springs 3 weeks ago, did not sell;high bid was $15K
http://www.classic-carauction.com/auction-results?auctionnbr=64&auctionid=9598

 

was that actually an official available color combo on the car?

 

That a/c looks to be a dealer installed option. Ford's of that era had the similar setup for dealer installed units. Factory was the Frigidaire units.

 

Fords of that era never were factory equipped with Frigidaire systems. Ford could only get their hands on those Tecumseh type compressors of which that Pontiac's equipped with

 

Yes the A/C is either dealer installed or Just Aftermarket. And I still say you need to drive a car with the Pontiac 8-lug Wheel and brake combo before you dismiss them as just "drum brakes" Granted both of the cars I owned in the past had Power 8-lug brakes, but I imagine that the manual version on this car would just require more foot pressure, and possibly have more actual pedal feel.
I towed a single car open trailer with my 65 Catalina without issue. They felt the same to me as the GM 69-87 single piston calipers. Yes they require more set up and maintenance than disc's. But they work well, The 4-wheel drums on my 69 Firebird are another story they suck. But they are normal drum brakes.

 

Give the crazy kid a stick of gum! Yes I got my era way mixed up. It took almost ten more years for ford to have a compressor other than a York or Tecumseh.

 

I've owned an 8-lug car and a normal manual drum car the same year and make as this one to be precise. The power drum setup for 8-lugs is fine and nothing wrong with it. Normal manual drums in this car are a nightmare and I'd never want to own one with that setup again. Power 8-lugs stopped nicely, but I'm still concerned about fade (albeit less than on a standard drum setup).

 

It seems, aluminum helps transfer heat better. What do you do, once those aluminum drums wear out beyond specs? Can you have the steel ring pressed out and replaced, if still available?

 

Yes they can be relined, but it isn't cheap.

 

I guess, if new drums are no longer available, one hasn't any choice, in the matter. The rings themselves are likely inexpensive. It's the heating up of the drums, to drive the rings out which likely is. You'd have to heat those drums up almost to the point where the aluminum starts to melt