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Sorry I took so long to post my project. But wanted time to write it up nicely. I've been a full sized early Pontiac guy since my first Pontiac in '69. A 2 dr post sedan ex-police Captains car from Brookfield WI police dept. Three on the tree, 389 2 barrel open rear end with the big aluminum finned front brakes and all 15 inch rims/tires. Later a '63 Catalina Ventura ex-stock class car, 421 HO 376 HP, 4 speed, 3:42 rear red beautiful car. And a '57 2 dr hardtop thrown in there for good measure. But growing up in the '60s and starting to read the magazines in the mid '60's, fell in love with gassers. Always wanted to build one. That '63 Ventura I had was on it's way back in '74. I tilted the front end after bolting it into a one piece. I had cut out the firewall and started moving the firewall back for the engine when I bought a house a couple of towns over. Long story short, I had to get rid of the '63 during the move and I regretted that ever since. So now to present day. If you read my introduction, you know that after several cars over the years l ending up with my fully built, turbocharged, 1065 HP 462 '73 trans Am. Loved that car but it was limited on what I could do. And that damn gasser kept gnawing at my innerds. If I still had it the plan was to build it into a more modern version of a gasser. Maybe what gasser would have looked like if the class had been allowed to progress in it's own way. Much like the Malco Gasser Mustangs etc. Tube axle front ends. Lengthened (ala funny cars) front ends. Lower but radiused wheel wells. BUT the gentleman that bought the TA gave me a deal I could not refuse. So I started looking for a car to make a gasser. This was my opportuity to build it from scratch.
This '39 Olds came along and was a great candidate for a gasser so I picked it up.
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I had actually bought it just before the gentleman first called me to buy the TA. So I already had it when the TA left. Once I had the sale money from the TA I decided to again look for a full sized Pontiac. But my search was for a '60 Catalina and to make that a gasser. I felt the line of the '60 would have been the best look for a gasser. I built this model for a quick reference to what one would look like.
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Not perfect but representative. I almost bought one that would have been a good car to use but the seller had trouble getting a title for it and I wanted one before I threw money into the build then have problems licensing it. Mean while this '63 popped up on craigslist. It was actually advertised as a '62 which was still a good look for a gasser. When I got there it turned out to be this '63. Now coming from rust country, and this '63 being virtually rust free, I could not pass it up. I had the '39 coupe body and an '89 Toyota Supra rolling body that I was trying to sell. This owner collected cars and just so happened to need a Supra body for his son that had smacked his up but had a perfect drivetrain. And he really like the '39 so we swapped both for the '63. So now I had my car. DO I build something that would never have been made into a gasser or sell it off and continue looking. I was hesitant because the '63 was in such nice condition compared to the rust buckets I was used to seeing up north that I was starting to have second thoughts about cutting on it. I asked around on my Pontiac boards and never got a single interested person. SOOOO, let the cutting begin! Mark L
This '39 Olds came along and was a great candidate for a gasser so I picked it up.
I had actually bought it just before the gentleman first called me to buy the TA. So I already had it when the TA left. Once I had the sale money from the TA I decided to again look for a full sized Pontiac. But my search was for a '60 Catalina and to make that a gasser. I felt the line of the '60 would have been the best look for a gasser. I built this model for a quick reference to what one would look like.
Not perfect but representative. I almost bought one that would have been a good car to use but the seller had trouble getting a title for it and I wanted one before I threw money into the build then have problems licensing it. Mean while this '63 popped up on craigslist. It was actually advertised as a '62 which was still a good look for a gasser. When I got there it turned out to be this '63. Now coming from rust country, and this '63 being virtually rust free, I could not pass it up. I had the '39 coupe body and an '89 Toyota Supra rolling body that I was trying to sell. This owner collected cars and just so happened to need a Supra body for his son that had smacked his up but had a perfect drivetrain. And he really like the '39 so we swapped both for the '63. So now I had my car. DO I build something that would never have been made into a gasser or sell it off and continue looking. I was hesitant because the '63 was in such nice condition compared to the rust buckets I was used to seeing up north that I was starting to have second thoughts about cutting on it. I asked around on my Pontiac boards and never got a single interested person. SOOOO, let the cutting begin! Mark L
