Its not a Chevelle, but, it is a GM A-Body

Shes not much to look at right now but they all have to start somewhere.

pic 1 (http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/dwaynes69bb/Wagon/hpim0065ps.jpg)
pic 2 (http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/dwaynes69bb/Wagon/hpim0066ps.jpg)
pic 3 (http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/dwaynes69bb/Wagon/hpim0067ps.jpg)

Dwayne

So are you gonna put a GTO nose and hood on it ?

pretty nice! boy i thought chevelle wagon parts were hard to find. that must even harder! :D

Very cool! Love that chrome nose. Like it so much I've considered trading out my '69 Camaro convertible for a '68 Firebird ragtop. My first car was a '68 Catalina convertible in that same metallic army tank green. I think you have the makings of a sweet ride...for those of us who appreciate muscle cars with looooooong rooflines.

Skip graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Originally posted by FO_FDYFO:
pretty nice! boy i thought chevelle wagon parts were hard to find. that must even harder! :D I'm finding out just how hard indeed!

Most of the interior will be custom stuff so, I don't have to worry about that so much.

And, the suspension/brake stuff is same as any other A-Body. But, your right, there is no catalog that you can just pick up and order up a list of replacement parts.

The hardest stuff is patch panels for the rear wheel well openings and the dog legs, both of which are going to need patches. I think I can make a 4 door chevelle rocker fit without much hassle. This thing has mucho body rust, but the floor and cargo area are fairly solid. Tailgate looks pretty beat up, but it is solid and will have to do. I'm going to bite the bullet and try to learn body work, this will be my guinea pig (or would that be guinea goat :D ?)

Another thing that really suprised me was the cost of Pontiac 350 rebuild kits, $480.00 from NortherAuto compared to $154.00 for the Chevy 350 kit. I have a feeling the SBC 350 4-bolt sitting in the garage may find its way into this waggin.

We have considered the GTO clone route but the parts for an endura bumper with the hide-away lights are like trying to find and afford LS-6 parts :eek:

I'll keep you guys posted of her progress.

Dwayne

For what it's worth...the chrome grille surround like yours was a cost delete option available on GTOs in '68. I've also seen a fair number of endura bumpered GTOs with fixed (not hideaway) headlights. So a GTOified wagon's not totally outrageous. Though, like I said, I like the chrome bumper so if it were me, I might clean it up overall, then maybe add the GTO hood, and just enjoy a relatively unique musclecar. But that's just one gearhead's opinion. Good luck with it.

SKIP graemlins/beers.gif

Thats kinda what I was thinkin Skip.
Just add the GTO hood and have the bumper re-chromed. And, maybe some of those half moon chrome headlight covers that cover the top half of the headlights. Anybody know where to get those anymore?

Dwayne

You might check JC Whitney.

sweet color man i like it graemlins/beers.gif

Congratulations,

Your Pontiac wagon is really unique and looks really great. You never see any wagons like yours in Hot Rod or Car Craft. Once you finish your wagon, you gotta send a pict to one of the car magazines. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I have a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser,(wagon) and it was also a project, and it was in a very similar shape as yours.

I was able to use most of the original sheet metal, I only had rust in the rear trunk compartment, rear door and spare tire compartment. Most of which the metal had to be refabricated.

The main problem was finding all the weather strip. I was able to get a door/windo channel weather strip kit from Soft Seal, most of which worked very well, BUT, if you buy your weather strips from them be cautious of the rear door/window weatherstrips and rear door/window weather strips.

The rear door/window strips do not fit the door correctly. the bend in the chrome strips do not correctly fit the curve the door/window area and the rear strip for the rear gate/window is not tall enough and doesn't totally seal against the rear window, so it leaks like Niagra Falls. I called them about the problem but they said it was the best parts they could buy at the time. This was 3 years ago, hopefully they got better.

Good luck on your car,
Kent :D

Looks good! I think that the chrome bumper looks better on that car, but if you want you could paint the existing bumper body-color. A twin-scooped GTO hood is just a bolt-on. If you want to put money into a Pontiac, it cost no more to go with a 400 (in fact it might actually be less!). The Chevy small block is always going to be the winner in the dollars race simply because they are far and away the best value out there.
As for the Vista Cruiser weatherstrip problems, it likely is due to the fact that the Vista Cruisers (and Buick Sportwagons through '69) used a longer wheelbase (121") and had stretched rear doors and reconfigured rear window frames. Also the roof was higher, so it likey is just a case of using weatherstrip designed for the more conventional wagons (Chevelles, Tempest, 70-2 Buick Sportwagon).
In 1971/2 you could actually order the GTO front clip on your Lemans as RPO T41. I have seen a wagon (seen in High Performance Pontiac magazine) plus 2 different 4 doors (1 in Fla. back in 1975). Have fun with it and don't forget to post pics when you have wrinkle-wall slicks on it ;)