Bel Air Due Process

The '54 Bel Air is wading through its facelift on schedule, without too many problems. This is a first...! The rocker panels I formed (in the previous post) are done and safely covered in etching primer. The picture below shows the pass. rocker panel with its next (epoxy primer) covering. I started tearing into this car after the rocker panel rust repair by removing all the trim. And boy there is a lot of trim clips! After all trim, lights, and bumpers were removed I started the arduous task of lining up the body panels. The driver fender was mounted too far forward, and with the help of my brother I managed to line it back closer to the door. The hood required much adjustment, including moving the passenger hinge location forward and up. I had to pry the springs from the hinges in order to line up the locations properly. Last adjustment was the passenger fender. With the help of body shims and loosened bolts, I moved this fender inward and a little upward.


After all the body adjusting and trim removal, I started scuffing the existing paint and primer, focusing on any areas where surface rust had flashed underneath the primer. I ran 80 grit on the 6" random orbital sander to strip the thin pools of rust, and to thin the flame job that was much thicker than the rest of the car's primer coat. Then came general blocking with 80 grit on the 17" power inline sander. I just ran it up and down at 45 degree angles, keeping the movement flat. This showed any new pockets of underlying surface rust.

After all of the initial scuffing and blocking, I treated all the bare steel areas with Valspar etching primer as well as Dupont Variprime etching primer. Then, started the masking process and shot three heavy coats of Valspar LIC epoxy primer, which is very high solids stuff. It was almost impossible to mix the stuff, it is that thick. After this, I sprayed a fog coat of cheapo rattle can black and started blocking away...



The above picture shows a couple of the blocking tools I am excited to begin using. The small manual one is an excellent product that Scotton Tools makes in California. I bought their set of high quality block sanding tools at Pomona from the company owners, and I am amazed at the quality and price. These are excellent tools, and the price is low...too low! I will take these USA made Scotton Tools any day over the more expensive ones available at local autobody supply shops.

The red pneumatic sander is a nice little Viking V101 that I picked up at the UVU swap meet for ten bucks. It was new, and after taking it apart I simply had to carefully file off a burr on the piston. Now this $250 Viking tool works great.




Here above shows the arduous process of blocking all that thick primer, removing the black fog coat until all is gray. That shows it's flat. You can see I have still a ways to go downward.




Back view in above picture shows I'm almost done blocking the trunk. I have been going with 180 grit to break through quick without going too rough.




Top of hood shows where blocking has been going, and front shows the fog coat still un-sanded. Again, I just block until the fog is gone. The front of this hood also received filler on small flat spots where original emblem holes were welded shut.

The Bel Air is actually very straight, and I didn't have to do any more straightening or rust repair. I will definitely need to prime and seal the car again after this first blocking, but then I should be close to paint time. The Bel Air is finally in the works, and it is going much quicker than I ever expected, especially since the injury. It is nice to be progressing in the old car obsession-I actaully feared this would no longer be possible after the TBI. But here it goes!

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Pontiac is Dead...Who cares, Right?

Pontiac is announced to be no more, just as Oldsmobile was a few years ago. The economic recession (putting it easily) is of course reasonable as to why. And who really cares? I mean, Pontiac wasn't true Pontiac after 1979, when the Pontiac-specific engines finally died. Golly molly, I secretly think that Pontiac's lost their beauty closer to 1970.



So I hear the news about Pontiac's final resting place, and I feel, um, a little sentimental. And I'm still wondering why...nobody likes ponchos nowadays, right? And I always preach that American cars aren't what they used to be. What's with the empty feeling that Pontiac is no more? I guess it's that sentimentality thing. Look what Pontiac used to do. Observe the cutting edges they would reach throughout the '60s. Man, I wish they could have continued past the big break of the oil embargo and emissions crackdown at the beginning of the '70s. I wish the design and concepts would have lead a different path after 1970. I wonder how interestingly mean the Pontiac engines would have become if the GM brass wouldn't have restricted engine size, warranty, etc.



Check out the ads and pictures below. This is what it once was...These are just a glimpse of what happened, and what could have been.



Remember the awesome OHC Sprint, a totally different approach that John Delorian designed? Over-head-cammed six banger with a timing belt and a Quadrajet, reeking of European flare, yet so U.S.A.





These '66 and '67s had a neat trim line and that wild OHC 6 in them. Cool, rare, different.







Remember when Mickey Thompson was the Pontiac racer? This guy raced the Super Dutys, the Bonneville Salt Flats streamliners, and more when Pontiac motors were kings. The above ad shows how in-depth M/T went with the Pontiac's.







The above ad shows the '62 Grand Prix. These eat, ate, and will continue to eat all of the other full-size cars of 1962 for dinner. Their design: Simply unmatched.







Yes, 1970 shows not just a last hurrah, but rather a capstone. Look at the lines of the '70 GTO/ Judge. Look at the cute/cool/tough-yet-appealing ad. The Humbler. That car's looks alone dwarfs all the other musclecars of the day. Yes, all of them.









Look at the above '68 cover of Hot Rod. Here's unbelievable stuff old McKellar at Pontiac was coming up with. Those aren't plastic models, and those aren't copies. What if those engines could have ever seen production...this is when the sky was the limit.







Remember when NASCAR wasn't just for rednecks, and the cars really were unique to their builder/racers? I don't either! But in days before my life, this is what happened. Look at the Catalina above. Nope, not a generic clone of every other car on the track with an identical c.i.d. motor. And it's not ran by a giant corporation that blankets a bunch of other cars. Yes those are the real trim, bumpers and headlight bezels. This is when Pontiacs were the leaders. This is also when the term "NASCAR" still actually meant what it says: STOCK Car Auto Racing. I don't get the generic bubba vibe from these early years, when a stock car had to be one sold to the public. And when small-time guys would still be contenders, even if the car they raced was a couple of model years old.









Testing the Supercars? And leader of the photo pack is none other than the single-most cool factory car ever made, the 1965 Pontiac Lemans GTO.







More of the same in the above picture? Yes, but I happen to like it. The prom queen at the small-town football game. And the flashy '65 Tempest Lemans convertible, red with Rally I's and the proper thin white-striped bias ply's. This is what I remember hometown being. This is what I want hometown to stay.







The above ad shows the first real musclecar's meek first step into the world. And from this little '64 GTO's beginning came the rush that was followed by all the others.









Fifties cars, did you say? Yes, I'll take this '55 Pontiac any day over the common tri-five Chevy's. No offense, I just miss my '55 Catalina 870!







This last picture shows the unbelievable style achieved by Pontiac in 1960. This ad (done by AF/VK, the best illustrators of any car ads ever) displays the unmatched front end offered by Pontiac. The other '60 full size cars don't even come close to the lines of a '60 Ventura, or Bonneville, or Star Chief. The '60 Pontiac feels like a tiny taste of art deco, mixed with Bellflower-era custom jobs, yet totally spot on. Not wannabe custom; just beautiful design. And you should see the back of a '60 Ventura. In 1960, nothing came close to these Pontiacs, and that is why custom builders (from Bellflower or anywhere) didn't change a thing on them. Remove trim? No. Add a custom grill? There is no better custom grill. All that was acceptable was a 2" drop, or like my dad's '60 Ventura, a cool set of chrome reverse wheels on the back with bigger "drag" tires, and plain steel wheels on the front with baby moons.



I guess this is why losing Pontiac left me feeling a little sad. I miss the Pontiacs that the old timers miss, the ones that ended a long time ago. But hey, they still lurk in the shadows...every once in a while an old jewel like these can still be found!

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