Gave Her a Bath and Took Some Photos..

I've had a resurgence of enthusiasm for wrenching on my car lately, due in no small part to the lapse in the summer heat. As such I've gotten quite a bit of work done. Now that's I'm finished with most of the repairs and modifications I planed I decided my car needed a good cleaning. It turned out rather nicely, I think, so I hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I enjoyed taking them.









The car is a 1967 Pontiac Catalina Ventura 2-door sedan equipped with a built overbored 400 backed by a slightly modified TH400 transmission. The next frenzy will largely involve the interior. I'm refinishing the stock center console and will be installing new carpet and a headliner. I'm working on securing a cushy new set of seats but I don't expect that that will be finished before fall or winter interrupt my fun.

I hate you That car is beautiful, well done!

That looks absolutely glorious. Did you buy it in that condition or have you renovated it yourself?

Again, beautiful.

So that's what you get up to when you aren't in the DC dungeons

That's a heck of a nice motor!

The Giant Atomic Lizard

sweet, seriously sweet!

Awesome Awesome Awesome.

Tyres are blacker than black.

Wow

Quite simply an awesome beast. How much do these go for then in that sort of condition? If you don't mind me asking

That my good friend is simply stunning!!

I had no idea you had that! Awesome!

very nice looking motor!

absolutely stunning motor

That is beautiful

Just love the American cars.

Not even a big fan of US motors but theres something about that car that meant i couldnt help but smile when i saw the pics. Looks great! .

Awesome

Thanks for all the compliments, guys.

Wang said:

That looks absolutely glorious. Did you buy it in that condition or have you renovated it yourself?

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The paint and body is essentially in the condition it was when I bought it. My efforts have been largely focused on the drivetrain and suspension. The paint was OK when I got it 4 years ago and just needed a heavy-handed buff job to remove the oxidation. The body has actually degraded a little bit since while I was driving one night a rather large deer ran out from behind a hedge and rammed headfirst into the side of the car, denting a significant portion of the driver's side rear quarter. I'll fix that one day.

Serj said:

How much do these go for then in that sort of condition? If you don't mind me asking

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I bought it for $2400 in 2003. As above the paint and body are largely how they were but the drivetrain, especially the engine, needed serious work. I reckon it would go for about $5200 if I sold it now.

That is totallés sexualés

nice! I was also unaware you had that.

The second huge project I'll undertake on it is a manual transmission swap. I'm debating between a Tremec T56 in Camaro spec with an adapter plate and modified flywheel, a TKO-500, or a TKO-600. The T56 is a production double overdrive 6-speed rated for 450 lb-ft torque while the TKOs are aftermarket universal single overdrive 5-speeds rated for 500 and 600 lb-ft respectively. Though I am making nowhere near 450 lb-ft at the moment it does make me a bit nervous, especially if I start hot-rodding the motor again with a lumpier cam, improved heads, or some sort of power adder.

At the same time I'd swap out the factory 10-bolt open rearend for a more stout 12-bolt with a posi differential. The current axle ratio is an embarrassing 2.73:1. I'd like to install either 3.73:1 or 4.10:1 gears when I do the swap. This would seem to be ideal; it will really help the car out of the hole at low gears but with overdrive engaged it would be a pleasurable cruiser for long trips. My only concerns are that a) With such a low rear ratio I might have traction troubles at launch and b) that it might be a chore to drive around town with first through third coming into use at speeds below 25 MPH.

What do you guys think?

looks great

Oh Damn... I just messed my Carpet!...

I just Classic American Muscle... Shame the missus don't