FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

I think Ive become a restorer , I realy didnt want to ever hear those words coming from my own mouth in my lifetime , and another two of my golden rules was I would never full respray a car in the same colour , Nor would I ever paint a car white ...

This car has become the exception but it will still get some cool wheels atleast .

Not many of you knew I was searching for a big Pontiac over the last couple of months but I was and I sourced out a gem , The most original all numbers matching straight 64 Bonneville convertible .

The whole thing came about with the high fuel prices , I figured I should find one to replace the one I had in my youth and I had to do it now before fuel was unaffordable or the chance might never arise again.

So my first family car went on the market  and sold to a guy in Adelaide who lives not more than 3 minutes from where this pontiac lived . Very spooky.

And the plan hatched out .

Got the XPT to Junnee from Moss Vale arriving at 3:20 am
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup005.jpg)

An ungodly hour to expect someone to pick you up from the station , But there was Mark (minifc) loaded up with all his tools , a car trailer , and a full tank of fuel ready to hit the road ,What a legend .

So hit the road we did ,Heading out to the Hay plains just stopping once to stop the pinging and peeing , wish I had a photo  ;D

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup006.jpg)

Sunrise saw us out on the Hay plains juiced up on coffee from Mark's relo's house , The crows were so hungry they were swooping Marks red cattle .

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup007.jpg)

then on towards adelaide it was ..

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup012.jpg)

The heat was almost unbareable around mid day and I could'nt turn the feet heater off  :( , a couple of beer's at berri pub did the trick before heading on again , I nodded off to sleep for a while , but when I opened my eyes
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup028.jpg)

I wished I hadnt hehe  ;D


We honkered into Adelaide at peak hour and paced our way through the city using our long load and big sound to full advantage .
When we finaly arrived late arvo Mark was glad to get there but I was figuring my work had just begun ..
The pontiac had been completely stripped down to its full nakedneth and had to be pieced back together for the enourmess trip home of 1600 klm.

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/P1010403-1.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/P1010382.jpg)

We soon realised we had no hoist or forklift as expected so some McGuyver style thinking was in order .
I think Mark came up with the idea to tilt the chassis up high enough to slide it under the engine mounts - it worked well .
we then lifted the gearbox by hand and dropped the crossmember into place .
Mark was working at getting the diff into place and on spring's , then he went to the front and started inserting the wishbones and stubs .
Wheels went on and we were rolling in two hour's


(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup017.jpg)
Onto the trailer and back off at Hove panel and paint to get the body on .
Lots of jacking chocking , lowering a bit and sliding untill Mark said bugger it and lifted the body by hand  :D

We rolled the emerging beast out into the sunlight after 10 years in the dark .

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup019.jpg)

We loaded her up and headed back to Steve the previous owners house for the rest of the chrome , seats , and any other parts .

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/P1010402.jpg)

If anybody in Adelaide is looking for a good honest beater painter try Steve at Hove paint n panel - He is probably the most honest person I have dealt with , infact he said he had lots of stuff to go with the car like new roof , new trims etc , but what he neglected to mention untill we pulled it out was the new radiator , and original material for the boot , and also the original metalic material for the interior that is unobtainable now .
He also threw in the rotiserie with the sale , Top notch bloke that would be worth visiting for good work without the lies..

OK so the big girl needed some help onto the trailer and we set off ,,,

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup022.jpg)
I wish that guy would get of the photo's all the time .

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup023.jpg)

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup024.jpg)

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup027.jpg)

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup030.jpg)

arriving in Junee the following day , Joking along the way about needing a long load sign and support vehicle

I have to say that Mark's duel cab was one of the best tow cars Ive ever had the opportunity to drive and it was hundreds cheaper on fuel than your average roeo over the same distance and way way cooler  8)

Anyway the trip was stretching out so we took the edge off at Mark's
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup038.jpg)

before making it back to Albion Park by night fall .
Man what a mission .
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/Pontipickup042.jpg)


And full credit to Mark for making this trip a brilliant one , I am in a lifetime of debt to him and he wont let me know the total of the bill but it is worth it .

Mark had a 4 hour return trip to Junee to make after leaving here and picked up an FE along the way to tow home with him , does this guy stop  ;D

Words i never want to hear from Harko again...DO YOU WANT TO HELP ME GET A CAR!!!!!!!! What a trip. I didnt know we had to rebuild it in a day :-/ :-/..WITH NO BEER :'( :'( :'(!!!!! That was the killer..2800k's in three days.. NEVER AGAIN (untill next time) what a great time we had..hehe. cheers mark ;D ;D ;D

Cool story and pics guys, everybody loves a road-trip.

What a fantastic story !

Marko and Harko's Big Adventure !

If that's the dedication you showed just to pick up a new project, I can only but imagine what it will look like when you've finished it.

You could convert the boot to a mobile SPA...it's huge !

Well done, great read !

Mark

hey stinky,
                we tried to get in touch with you but we couldnt find stinky in the phone book :D :D :D :D  
cheers mark

Mark for President!

More genuine, friendly, helpful bloke you couldn't hope to meet.

I want email updates Harko, may even drop in before Xmas to have a bobeep.

looks like fun, and a pain, now I know who to call next time I see a car out of state going cheap.

now you got me blushing shayne.. he he

That's coz we have a silent (but deadly) number  ;D........ ::)

Wait'll Harko releases that picture of you from the waist down! :o

So the next question is... How much are you going to chop out of that windscreen.  ;D ;D

Hey Harko.
Just what you need, another project car.
Very cool car, but alot of work ahead.
Should look cool when done.
I think Mark needs to have "LEGEND" inserted under his name rather than "GURU".
Good luck with it all.
Regards
Alex

Fairdinkum , I think this only happened because of Mark !
A 1 day buildup was fun for me and torturous for Mark , 2800 klms was a breeze for Mark and torture for me hehe what a team .
Let me add in now that after building the car in a day we spent two hours finding somewhere to sleep ,every hotel was booked out and we had to drive past everyone partying in the streets  :(.
When we did find a Country comfort Inn we were well and truly knackered and decided to head to the inhouse bar for a few beers "and listen to the drunk lady telling us about spending 3 grand to go to boot camp" . - She didnt convince us and we simoutaneousely decided to hit the hay shortly after :)

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/Harko/02gaaf1-1.jpg)

A little out of the roof , I did this one three weeks back  ;D

But its an all numbers matching dead straight original panneled car - even I draw the line somewhere .

Anyone thinking of getting married in 6 months ?