Fixing up a '71 Grand Safari

Hello everyone. I'm back. The day after I taped the wheels I ended up getting a very high fever. After a couple days I decided to go to the doctor and they gave me an antibiotic. You know those commercials that list the crazy side effects that may happen in rare cases? I was that rare case this time. They prescribed them for 10 days and it took a while to figure out they were what was causing the progressively worsening side effects. Anyway, I've been going to work and the effects have finally disappeared completely.

April's doing good now, as is Rose. Thanks for asking. I haven't gotten the wheels back from the powder coaters. I had dad drop them off for me a few days after I had finished them.

We had a warm weekend but it was raining constantly. It's about to turn cold again and it rains all the time. I can't really drive the wagon because there has been salt on the road and I'm having to keep it tarped due to the constant rain. I'm not able to continue working on the tailgate weatherstripping because it's cold and dark when I get off work. I think I'm going to store The Clam in a building I've got temporary use of until the weather warms up a bit and I get a bit more daylight after work.

It's super frustrating that after all this time and work the car is almost completely finished but I can't actually use it daily because of some simple rubber pieces in the back. Hopefully when the days get a little longer and warmer I'll be able to get her going.

 

Raised the back window a little on my '73 Safari the other day. Also lowered the rear gate but nearly didn't get it back up. Had a guy help it up and finally got it back up. Won't do that again until its fixed. Weatherstripping is dry & rotted. Guess this needs to be replaced with new weatherstripping. I also need a dipstick, since mine is broken off at the end & is jagged so is hard to get back all the way. Currently searching for a dipstick.

 

The dipstick is very common to the poncho, It may be a 2 piece and only need the top.

When raising and lowering the window and gate were you using the switch at the back of the car or the dash switches? If using only the front or rear switches, try the other and see what it does

 

The Clam is practically finished except for one detail, the rear tailgate leaks because of the rear tailgate and window weatherstrips. I've continually worked on making new ones from universal pieces but the weather has gotten very cold and because of daylight savings it's almost dark when I get home from work. It's just too cold to be getting wet while working with water leaks so I'm putting The Clam up until the weather warms up a little bit. A neighbor has let me use his building. It's very frustrating that the car is practically finished and April could be driving it except for the leak in the rear window. It rains so much this time of year that I don't want this leak causing rust and damage to the interior. This building is pretty far from the house and has no power run to it so working on cars here is not practical. Oh well, I'm thankful to at least have a place to store it.

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Well, good on the neighbor to be able to help out. Was missing the regular Clam updates. Spring and hopefully a tailgate solution will be right around the corner!

 

I know what you mean about the weather here in Tennessee!! It sure is rainy (same here in the NE part of the state) and sadly mine is still setting outside, going downhill more and more everyday and my rear window leaks as well. I try to keep mine covered with a water proof car cover to at least keep the water out of it. Hoping to get mine to a mechanic soon to see if he can get it roadworthy when money allows... if I don't trade it first... may be trading it for a 1960 Buick Electra.

Great job on this Grand Safari! I wish I could have done that to mine! You have a real winner!

 

Thanks guys. I can't wait until the weather warms up and I can hopefully get that leaked stopped and then start driving it. Well, April will be driving it, it'll be her daily driver, but we'll pretty much use it anytime all three of us go anywhere.

I also have a driveline vibration that needs to be addressed. I already have some shims and sticking them between the axle and leafspring is pretty quick work. The hardest part will be finding exactly the right degree shim to use. I'll also need to wire it up for a trailer. April would really like to get a really small camper and I've found some from the 60's (that supposedly don't leak) for under $1000, so that will probably be a long term goal.

I'm also saving up and taking on a few extra projects to try to raise money so I can get a truck. I don't want to have to keep borrowing my dad's truck every time I need to haul a car. I know The Clam would be more than capable when it's finished but that will be April's daily driver and I'd still like to have a truck of my own to do truckly things besides hauling.

When I get the leak stopped I can finally install the remainder of the rear interior pieces, and then I can strip and POR15 the wheel well, which doesn't have any rot-through, but it does have surface rust. After I get that done I can finally paint the bottom of the spare tire well black with stone guard. That's one of those small projects that I've really been looking forward to. When I get to paint the bottom of the tire well I know the entire project is almost completely done. I found some Rally 2 wheels and they are at the powdercoaters. They'll be ready by the time it's warm and hopefully I will have found some of the red PMD centercaps by then. Right now it has the later model silver center caps but the red centercaps on my dad's car (which would be the right ones for this car anyway) left a lasting impression on me when I was little (maybe they were closer to eye level?) so I want to recreate that look I remember. I'm also on the continual lookout for a 71-mid72 rallye gauge cluster and any NOS tailgate weatherstripping. If I can find some NOS pieces I have a place in Kentucky that says they can 3D scan them so maybe we can all have some.

 

It'll be fine... you will have that taken care of in no time. Anyone who owns that wagon, would certainly have good reason to be proud!

 

Your Grand Safari looks terrific, Brandon! :2_thumbs_up_-_anima You've done a great restoration! Thanks for sharing the journey and your hard work with the forum! You've brought your Pontiac back from the brink!

 

Even though I know there will be very small things to continue working on, like eventually finding a rallye gauge cluster, I will feel this project is truly finished and I'll post my last post when I get the rear leaks fixed and the rallye II wheels with the red PMD centercaps. My friend has a really nice camera and I plan to take some nice pictures (for a change) in some locations I've been thinking about. I'm really looking forward to that.

Oh yeah, and some pictures hauling some kind of trailer. I don't care what. Just something. Hehe.

 

Keep us posted, Brandon. We're interested.

 

Hi Brandon,

Looks like you & I are both looking for weatherstripping for the rear window. I have a '73 Grand Safari and currently am having the motors to the window & tail gate replaced but the weatherstripping is dry rotted so needs replacing. Do you know anything about this generic rubber molding? I wonder if that would work?

 

So far I haven't had much luck, but I'm not finished. Either way, the process is so involved it couldn't really be copied. It's just a trial and error of cutting and gluing different cuts of rubber together until the water stop leaking. I'm waiting on the warm weather and longer days so that I can get back to work on that situation. If you find anything, let me know.

 

Thanks for the reply, Brandon. I'm still searching. Will keep you posted if I find anything. What are you cutting & gluing pieces from? Metro Moulding has some "extruded" weatherstripping that sells for a little over $4 a foot. I wonder if that would work?

 

The work continues on the rear tailgate/window weatherstripping. So far I've been filling a mason jar with water and pouring it over the rear. I have the 1980s Hood/Cowl weatherstripping sealing the vertical portion of the rear windows. If I pour water to the right of that on the passenger side I get no leaks. If I pour it to the left side I am getting a leak but haven't yet determined exactly where it's coming from. This is an extreme case. It rained a few days ago and the area didn't show signs of any leaking. The driver side is still a work in progress as well.