Pontiac

rd92west

plan C
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Apr 29, 2018
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Location
western manitoba
My brother stopped in yesterday. With his daily driver. A 29 pontiac. Thought some might get a buzz out of it. He made a down payment on it in 82, paid it off in 85. Something tells me it was 5 grand or 5500. Big money for a 22 yr old. It ran but knocked. So he had it rebuilt by a hole in the wall garage. Smith's Service Lena manitoba. Jack Smith. A die hard Hudson man. He was the number 1 babbit man around.
The fenders and running boards have been painted. Hood and body is original. Original engine, trans, wheels, cable operated brakes, **** everything is original except the rear axle, and it's the original housing. Brother grafted in a 8.75 center, he welded mopar and pontiac axles together. Then he discovered that matador axles were tapered. So he modified the length and taper and they have been going strong. Original ratio was 4.30 or in that area, now 2.76
It's a flat head 6 engine with boat load of torque.
He has over 100 thousand miles on it. Up pikes peak to the top once. Alaska twice. Drove tje ice road to Beaufort sea just for kicks. California several times, Texas, toured east coast. Ferry ride to Newfoundland. But his favorite seems to be touring Montana, and that area. He said his next trip would be some old gravel roads around death valley.
He is a retired railroad man. Welder. Other than engine rebuild he has done 100% of the upkeep.

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Great story! Thanks for sharing. I think it's quite unusual to find a pre-war car that's racked up over 100K miles. I wonder how many people are daily driving vehicles that are approaching the 100 year old mark these days? Can't be many. I bet your brother is an interesting guy.

Jeff
 
That's awesome! I'm getting close to my cars being that dependable!
 
Old Jack, I knew him well and he was one of the best at rebuilding old engines. If memory serves correctly he had about 10 Hudson’s at one time all in pristine condition. As said his shop looked like a hole in the wall until you got inside. He had all the equipment to do total engine rebuilds and lots of fabrication tools as well. He kept his shop immaculate at all times. Sadly as time goes by we loose that experience and expertise.
Thanks for bringing back the memory of a great car guy.
 
Amazing story, my hat is off to him.:thumbsup:
 
Yea Jack Smith. Cussing Jack. If he didn't like you you were screwed. If he did like you you had it made. I forget the exact count of Hudsons he had when he passed. All restored and maintained to perfection. His collection dispersed all over north America.
My brother tours by himself. It's a smaller car. He told me about his fun in Galveston. He rolled in early morning. Likely played out from long hours at 40 mph. Anyhow he gets to gulf of Mexico. Decided to go in for a rinse. Get clothes washed at same time. But to played out to remember his wallet was in back pocket. So he if doing the maytag thing in the ocean and sees his wallet drifting out to sea. He fixes and makes stuff but cant swim. All he can do is watch his money, credit cards, drivers license and wallet bobbing out to sea.
So its sunday morning as long ways from winnipeg. He phoned a buddy in Winnipeg who would send money I think thru western union. But it wouldn't move till monday.
He dont have a whole lot of gas or food, but what's a day right. As the day warms up he parked under a big tree on a side street and has a snooze. He was woken by a black lady tapping on his door to wake him up to see if everything was alright. He thanked her for her concern and said everything was ok.
Early afternoon he is in another location tinkering with the car and looks up and 3 fairly scary dudes have shown up out of nowhere. But turns out they were just curious about what planet the car came from.
My brother told them about the dip in the ocean. Without saying a word the 3 rough dudes looked at each other and dug in their pockets, they give my brother just short of 20 bucks. All they had. He got their contact info and mailed them 100 bucks when he got home.
I say the car is original. Basically it is, with some updates. He has a 12 volt alternator driving by belt off the driveshaft. This powers the stereo, and LED headlights that he adapted. It has 2 tail lights instead of just 1. Turn signals. The 6 volt generator is present and powers everything else
I have time for 1more story. Auto steer in the tractor gives a bit of free time.
Brother was in Montana. At a rest stop. Couple of big biker types roll in in a ford pickup. Once again the pontiac starts the conversation. Brother knows by the questions and comments that these guys know more than just a little about mechanicals
They invite brother over to their place for barbeque. Most wouldn't go but brother did. They whipped up a feast fit for a king. Then they gave a tour of their stuff. A climate controlled shed full of fully restored harleys Davidson's. I forget how many but I am thinking 20 ish. Plus some cars.
He has stories of every excursion.
 
That's one hell of a daily driver! I'd love to tour the country in my old cars like that.
 
He drives it around Winnipeg in the winter as long as no salt on roads.
He also looks after it like it is the last one.
 
Thank you for these stories. It's a nice counter to all the "how's duz i put a crown vic frunt end in mah C-body?" Your bother is living the dream. People did it back then, just without the cell phones and better quality gas!

My only question... 40 MPH highway speed? Even with the 2.76 gears?
 
On really smooth roads he might push it to 45 mph.
You have to keep in mind its wood frame body,, and wood spoke wheels, it has no shortage of power, it's not real heavy.
Also he has no deadlines. He runs the secondary roads.

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I will have to get some pictures of the 28 chev car we helped dad make into a pickup.
It's cool but a different kind of cool
 
Thank you for these stories. It's a nice counter to all the "how's duz i put a crown vic frunt end in mah C-body?" Your bother is living the dream. People did it back then, just without the cell phones and better quality gas!

My only question... 40 MPH highway speed? Even with the 2.76 gears?
There’s a guy who has a ‘29 Dodge and he takes it out often, here in Centerville, SD...
It has an electric starter in it, which in talking to him, I learned that Dodge had those before Ford...
 
There’s a guy who has a ‘29 Dodge and he takes it out often, here in Centerville, SD...
It has an electric starter in it, which in talking to him, I learned that Dodge had those before Ford...

There are some locals around me that drive a Model T and another with a similar-era "survivor" Dodge. A '27 Chrysler touring car has been advertised in a club paper that strongly tempts me. If not for my self-imposed "no more cars" edict, I'd likely own it already.
 
There are some locals around me that drive a Model T and another with a similar-era "survivor" Dodge. A '27 Chrysler touring car has been advertised in a club paper that strongly tempts me. If not for my self-imposed "no more cars" edict, I'd likely own it already.

You do realize that if the edict is self imposed, it can be self repealed, right?

Kevin
 
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