68 Pontiac Catalina Cruizer

I got this car back in May 2017 with 3 other cars 2 1959 Pontiacs and a 70 Cutlass. I figured I could clean this one up the easiest for now. It's a one owner car I have a lot of the original paper work for the car. The original owner owned a garage and this was Momma's car so it was well maintained. However it has not driven since 1993 and has been sitting in the New mexico Sun ever since.

I pulled off all the tires to figure out which ones would still hold air long enough to get it on a trailer and which one needed a good tire. I then had to get it to where I could get it on my trailer. I used a portable winch and a couple of come-a-longs.

The body is in great shape. Just some rust on the rear quarters and the sun faded paint or as some people call it "Patina".

The original color in the trunk.


The trunk floor in amazing condition!


Faded and dirty interior but its all there.

Original AC car


Dual Ashtray


AC Delco Vacuum operated air shocks

Pulled the drums off and checked the braked. Everything looks good shoes are about 50%. Bled the brakes and everything seem to be working fine.




The underside is in amazing condition absolutely no rust!

Car is in great condition, too bad it's a more door I had a 68 ragtop, wish I still did

What are your plans for it Don?

Get some fire in the hole and drive it. [cl

earthman said:

What are your plans for it Don?

Click to expand...

I'm just going to clean it up and sell it. my I already got it running. All it took was a battery, battery cable and gasoline. It fired right up and runs great! Mechanically it's in great condition! Cosmetically it's a Beater, Undead Sled, Rat Rod.

Since it needed new tires I found some used ones in excellent condition for a good price. Cleaned up and painted the rims and polished the wheel cover.

I got the tires on and got it running. I've been driving it around the neighborhood because there are no plates on it yet. It drives nice. It stops like a 2 ton car with drum brakes.



Two big problems I have to fix the back doors don't open and on one door the window glass needs to be reglued to it's bracket.

Get yourself a T-shirt with a big red spot on to match the hole in the windshield. [ddd

Maybe a shot of the wet-look clear coat that is so popular over the patina. Personally, I like the look as-is. [cl

Pontiac 400 2 barrel with TH400, AC, power steering and power brakes. 100K mile. Just needed a battery, battery cable and gas to get her running.





This what it looked like before I cleaned it off.

Some of the stuff I found cleaning out the car.
Some old maps and registrations


New Vehicle Inspection Sheet from the dealer.




Plastic dash board Jesus!


1 of 2 build sheets


Receipt dated 1992 or Old Milwaukee and Toilet paper

They made a good call on getting 2 rolls of Charmin to accompany that Old Milwaukee...

I don't care if it rains or freezes... [ddd

I finally got one of the rear doors open. It was a 2 door now it a 3 door. The latches look like they got wet and rusted shut. I finally wiggled and jiggled the latch the right way and got it open.







This is the latch on the drivers side rear door. I just can't get it to release. Mostly because i can't see what I'm doing in there and my hands and arm won't fit in there. I ordered a wireless endoscope to see if i can see in there work at the same time. Should be handy for other tasks too. I have been spraying everything I've got to get it too release.

Started pretting up the interior. Cleaned and repaired the door panels. Added carpet on the lower part and covered the arm rests with the headrest covers.




Cover the rear package tray with the same carpeting.





Added a pop of color with the seat covers!

Fun fooling around with old cars isn't it

That is just the kind of projects I love the most. I wouldn't do one thing with the body/patina. I'm thinking it needs something different in the tire/wheel department but I can't say what. Maybe some pontiac dog dish caps from the same era on original color wheels, or satin black. Glad to see that Ford blue they hosed around the engine bay washed off.