Advertising:
1963 Pontiac Tempest/lemans Convertible - 326ho / 3spd - No Reserve on 2040-cars
Year:1963
Mileage:99999
Location:
Santa Monica, California, United States
|
1963 Pontiac Tempest Convertible 3spd manual 326HO V8 CA Blackplate Power Brakes I've owned the car for approximately 10 years. I purchased the car from a family in Culver City, CA and it was their son's car that he used in college at UC Berkeley. They gave me a stack of service records that will be included with the car and as far as I can tell, this vehicle was bought new in southern California and never really left the state. I believe the previous owner had the car since the 70's or 80's and from what I gather, it hadn't been running since the early to mid 90's. When I bought the car it was mostly original (for better or worse). It had the original 4cyl and 3 spd transmission as well as the tri-color blue interior and original hubcaps. The motor didn't run and the interior was completely gone. Aside from that, most of the cosmetic items were in ok condition and remain intact. This is definitely not a show car but I think it has aged gracefully. My plan was to get the car into a driver and slowly work on the cosmetic items. The first part of my plan worked and I kind of ran out of steam on the rest. I found a donor '62 Lemans with a '63 326HO motor and trans. I don't know the block code for the HO motor so I can't verify that this is actually the high performance motor but relative to 389's of this era that I've experienced, this little motor has good power for its smaller size. With some help, I got the motor installed to the original trans. The old trans lasted a few years before letting go under the power of the V8. The original trans needs a rebuild and will be included with the car along with the original rope shaft and housing. The current trans leaks but shifts fine. The issue with the current drivetrain (and is a common problem with these cars) is the rope shaft. In case you didn't know, this is a transaxle car with independent rear suspension and it was definitely the achilles heel of these small Pontiacs. A year or so ago the small bearing that is located on the shaft went out. What this means is that when the transmission is in gear and you let off the gas and coast, there is a vibration that you can hear and feel. The part itself is cheap and still available but finding someone to do the work is not. I just kind of got used to kicking it out of gear when coming to a stop. The motor runs very good. It has a 4bbl carb that is missing a choke but doesn't really seem to be an issue. The battery in the car is less than a year old and the car starts with minimal effort. 10 - 15 pumps and it starts every time. I try to drive it around the block at least once a week and the farthest I have ever driven the car is Malibu. (30 miles one way). The speedo cable broke a few years back so I dont know about the mileage but my guess is that I've put about 5,000 or so miles on this car since I've owned it. I really hope this car finds a good home. Its a very solid vehicle and if I had the space I would be willing to keep it around. Thanks for looking and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. -dan Buyer to arrange all shipping. I reserve the right to end the auction early. Personal checks and money order ok. Money must be cleared into my account before the vehicle will ship. Work I've done to the car: Installed 326 Motor - Runs great. Pulls good and sounds even better. No ticks or smoke. Rebuilt front end - All new bushings, tie rods, shocks and alignment. ~$1500 Tires - Tons of tread left but the age of the tires is started to show. I think there is a slow leak in the driver's side rear. New Battery K&N filter New Antenna Rebuilt heater core - Works very well. Controls are a little sticky but everything works here. Exhaust - Dual Flowmaster exhaust. Sound is amazing. The car is pretty loud but also sounds really good. ~$600 New top motor. I installed a new top motor and it lasted for a few months before the hydraulic rams or lines let go. The motor seems to be fine but the other convertible top components will need to be replaced. The tops goes up and down but you have to help it. Radiator rebuilt and spacer added to the fan to get it closer to the radiator. There is nothing wrong with the radiator except that this is the original 4cyl unit and it doesn't really seem up to the task of cooling a V8. Its fine if you are moving but this car doesn't like stop and go traffic and the heat. If you are going to drive it alot I would recommend adding an electric fan or upsizing the radiator. With that said, I've never over heated the car, I could just tell when the needle gets around 200 degrees that its starts to loose a little power and act up. Rebuilt Brakes - All 4 corners were rebuilt. Drums all around. In hindsight I should have spent the money to convert the front to discs because even when these brakes are working their best they are very weak by modern standards. Modulation is ok and there is a slight pull under braking. Cosmetic - Hopefully obvious from the photos. The paint is original and has a nice patina. Someone tried to buff the driver's side unsuccessfully. Up close and in the right sunlight its noticeable. You can see it in a few photos. There is a softball size or larger dent in the rear passenger side near the bumper. The rear valence on this side is also dented. There is a silver dollar size rust spot on the passenger door. The trunk also has some surface rust which is mostly minor. Overall the trunk is pretty solid and is the worst place (rustwise) on the car. The chrome on the bumpers needs to be re-done but it doesn't look terrible. The chrome on the mirrors and convertible latches are bad. Most of the interior chrome and emblems are in pretty good shape. Windows cranks could use some love but most of that stuff is pretty easy to find I believe. The top is very clean with one very small (less than a dime) tear on the passenger side. The top window needs to be replaced. The seats are ok. They are a cloth and vinyl combo. Structurally they are sound for a 50 year old car. They came with the donor '62 car and were meant to be temporary but I never got around to replacing the fabric. I had the carpet replaced when the seats were installed. Its just ok. It's in good shape currently but wasn't installed very well. The voltage and oil pressure on the center aftermarket gauges don't work. The thermostat gauge works great and is VERY useful on this car. The gas guage works but when it hits 'E' you are done. (I know this from experience. Hear my words! Spare gas can not included) Otherwise the rest of the gauges are bad but I will include a new gauge cluster with beautiful gauges and bezels. Just needs a repaint on the exterior. Original style AM radio will also be included. The chrome is not great but it looks better than the current tape deck. The current radio works but don't try to change the channel. I found an oldies station and basically never turn the dial. The top leaks a small amount at the windshield in the middle. The rear passenger side window needs some persuasion to raise from its lowered position. Body fit is really good. Doors, trunk and hood open and close very well. Rubber seals need replacing all around. Spare tire included. (not shown) Clean CA title in hand. |
Pontiac Tempest for Sale
1964 pontiac tempest custom two-owner solid ca. car
1967 pontiac tempest gto clone
1967 pontiac tempest custom convertible
1968 pontiac tempest 4-door 5.7
1971 pontiac gt37, # matching 350, auto, ac, parts all there, can make a gto
1968 pontiac tempest convertibleAuto Services in California
Zenith Wire Wheel Co ★★★★★
Automobile Parts & Supplies, Wheels, Tire Dealers
Address: 818 Cristich Ln, Brookdale
Phone: (831) 425-7770
Yucca Auto Body ★★★★★
Automobile Body Repairing & Painting, Truck Body Repair & Painting
Address: 56132 29 Palms Hwy, Pioneertown
Phone: (760) 365-9410
World Famous 4x4 ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Restoration-Antique & Classic
Address: 75 E Palm Ave, Alhambra
Phone: (818) 816-0121
Woody`s & Auto Body ★★★★★
Automobile Body Repairing & Painting, Truck Body Repair & Painting
Address: 22920 Lockness Ave, East-Rancho-Dominguez
Phone: (310) 784-3820
Williams Auto Care Center ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Inspection Stations & Services, Auto Oil & Lube
Address: 18380 Highway 12, Sonoma
Phone: (707) 996-1056
Wheels N Motion ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Parts & Supplies, Tire Dealers
Address: 961 E Holt Ave, Chino
Phone: (909) 622-1232
Auto blog
Junkyard Gem: 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
Tue, Jun 19 2018For General Motors, the W platform just kept giving and giving and giving for decade after decade, serving as the basis of Buick Regals, Oldsmobile Intrigues, Chevrolet Monte Carlos, and many, many more models. The final and most powerful Pontiac W-Body, the sixth-generation Grand Prix GTP, rolled off assembly lines for the 1997 through 2003 model years. Here's one in a Northern California self-service wrecking yard. GM bolted the supercharged 3800 V6 into vast numbers of cars during this era, providing a deep reservoir of cheap blowers for unwise high-boost projects. 240 front-tire-charring horses, complete with a Roots-type blower scream from the Eaton supercharger under the hood. I see plenty of blown 3800s during my junkyard travels, from the Bonneville SSEi to the Oldsmobile LSS. Depressingly, GM stopped putting manual transmissions in the Grand Prix during the 1993 model year, so '01 GTP owners had to take the four-speed slushbox. This one came close to the magic 200,000-mile mark, but fell 25,000 short. The interior took a beating during its life, ending its time on the road with shredded upholstery and dirty panels. Seven-band graphic equalizers were all the rage during the 1980s, but GM kept the tradition alive into our current century. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Grips the pavement like ... a shopping cart on wet linoleum? Featured Gallery Junked 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP View 21 Photos Auto News Pontiac Automotive History
This or That: 2005 Chrysler Crossfire SRT6 vs. 1984 Pontiac Fiero
Tue, Feb 10 2015Welcome to another round of This or That, where two Autoblog editors pick a topic, pick a side and pull no punches. Last round pitted yours truly against Associate Editor Brandon Turkus, and my chosen VW Vanagon Syncro narrowly defeated Brandon's 1987 Land Rover. In fact, it was, by far, the closest round we've seen, with 1,907 voters seeing things my way (for 50.8 percent of the vote) versus 1,848 votes for Brandon's Rover (49.2 percent). Sweet, sweet victory! For this latest round of This or That, I've roped Editor Greg Migliore into what I think is a rather fun debate. We've each chosen our favorite terrible cars, setting a price limit of $10,000 to make sure neither of us went too crazy with our automotive atrocities. I think we've both chosen terribly... and I mean that in the best way possible. 2005 Chrysler Crossfire SRT6 Jeremy Korzeniewski: Why It's Terrible: Taken in isolation, the Chrysler Crossfire isn't necessarily a terrible car. In fact, it drives pretty darn well, and there's a lot of solid engineering under its slinky shape. Problem is, that engineering was already rather long in the tooth well before Chrysler ever got its hands on it, having come from Mercedes-Benz, which used the basic chassis and drivetrain in a previous version of its SLK coupe and roadster. Granted, the SLK was an okay car, too, but even when new, it hardly set the world on fire with sporty driving dynamics. Chrysler took these decent-but-no-more bits and pieces from the Mercedes parts bin – remember, this car was conceived in the disastrous Merger Of Equals days – and covered them with a rather attractive hard-candy shell. Unfortunately, the super sporty shape wrote checks in the minds of buyers that its well-worn mechanicals were simply unable to cash, though an injection of power courtesy of a supercharged V6 engine in the SRT6 model, as seen here, certainly helped ease some of those woes. In the end, Chrysler was left with a so-called halo car that looked the part but never quite performed the part. It was almost universally panned by critics as an overpriced parts-bin special, which, I must add, was damningly accurate. As a result, sales were very slow, and within the first few months, dealers were clearancing the car at cut-rate prices, just to keep them from taking up too much of the showroom floor. Why It's Not That Terrible, After All: I can speak from personal experience when discussing the Chrysler Crossfire. You see, I owned one. Well, sort of...
Junkyard Gem: 1992 Pontiac Firebird
Mon, Dec 18 2023Last spring, this series featured a 1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS in a Northern California junkyard, an example of the final model year for the highly successful third-generation GM F-Body. On a later visit to that yard, I spotted the Pontiac sibling to that car, a Firebird that was born the same year at the same Southern California factory. When the Chevrolet Division introduced the first Camaro as a 1967 model, the Pontiac Division got its own version of the F-Body called the Firebird. While the two cars were built on the same chassis and looked very similar, the first-generation Camaros got Chevrolet engines while their Firebird colleagues got Pontiac engines (including the innovative SOHC straight-six). The 1970-1981 second-generation Firebirds still had some Pontiac-only engines, but Chevrolet and Oldsmobile power crept under some hoods during that period. The third-generation Firebirds first appeared as 1982 models, and they drew from near-identical stockpiles of GM running gear (including the distinctly agricultural Iron Duke four-banger, which could be considered a Pontiac-derived engine). When the Camaro got the axe after 2002, the Firebird's neck was put on the same chopping block. When the Camaro returned for 2010, the Pontiac brand was sputtering to an agonized halt during its final year and there was no chance of the Firebird's return. This car is a fairly ordinary coupe, though it does have the mid-grade 205-horsepower 5.0-liter Chevrolet small-block V8 instead of the base 140-horse 3.1-liter V6. A 5.7-liter small-block was available as well. A five-speed manual transmission was base equipment, but few Americans wanted a three-pedal setup by the early 1990s. This car has the optional four-speed automatic. The MSRP with 5.0 engine, automatic transmission and air conditioning (which this car has) started at $14,304. That's about $31,868 in 2023 dollars. It was built at Van Nuys Assembly in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County. By the dawn of the 1990s, the Camaros and Firebirds made at Van Nuys Assembly had become known as the worst-built GM cars made in North America, and the plant was shut down forever soon after this car was built. Today, a shopping mall lives where the factory once stood. This car managed to drive more than 150,000 miles during its life, so it beat the odds. The thrid-gen F-Body was pretty antiquated by the early 1990s, but the fourth-gen cars handled better and looked up-to-date for the era.