Dangers 66 Pontiac Parisienne hearse

[Mr.Mk1]

I don't look out for hearses, they find me. It started with a black XE, continued with a Ranger and has landed me here with this..

I loved my VJ ranger, but found myself getting bored with it. I did all I wanted with it and got to a point where I didn't want to sink more money into a car when it wasn't what I really wanted.

I offered it up for sale or trades and got a message for a guy in greymouth asking if I was interested in a pontiac hearse.

Yes.

He worked weird hours and was a bit techtarded but I was keen. In 1995 it had been certified for an LD28 turbo, kingswood disc brakes and a dandy custom front.

I could see the potential and he said he had collected all the bits to put the front back on but his mate had sold his property so there was nowhere to store it or work on it. I needed to know that the original front was complete enough for me to swap it back to original. This was the deal breaker.

It had been parked for 1.5 yrs as he failed a wof on rust in the roof and stuffed rear shocks.

I tidied up my val as best I could, loaded up all my spares and set of steel wheels and drive over to the coast to check it out.

It was rougher than it looked in the pics and the electric tailgate motor wasn't working so I couldn't check out that area or pull out the parts inside, so went over it all the best I could. Needed love but I had love to give and needed a fresh auto to play with.

Went to test drive but the battery was shagged.

Got it going, went down his huge gravel road and all was well k's did a u-turn and stalled it...

He ran back to grab a car to jump it and we went back to his to swap the wheels over and head off.

Discussion Thread //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/44193-mrmk1s-66-pontiac-parisienne-hearse/

[Mr.Mk1]

It was a disaster in his rocky driveway and the cars kept trying to fall over so I said fuck it, the cars not as you described it so I'm taking your mags too and need to head off ASAP as it's getting dark/this things dodgy/ there's an epic gorge to cross/dunno if it charges or anything?

Sweet as, put all my gear in, strapped the spare bonnet to the racks and headed out on dusk.

About 200m down the gravel road there was a few decent thumps, a bang and the LR wheel fell off and jammed in the guard! It's worth mentioning the wheels were 15x10 with HUGE mcCreary tyres.

There was one broken stud and nothing else!

He didn't try and swap tyres on that wheel and I didn't notice any missing nuts nor did it drive weird on the test drive so I don't know what the go was there.

It was full on horror movie rape scene spec, middle of nowhere, dense bush, dogs barking.

Mrs went ballistic and Walked off to find nuts/ go back to their house.

I put the tridents on the rear. She came back with 2 nuts. Then we gapped it!

I was made to pull over and check all the nuts and the roof load every half an hour.

Had trouble selecting 1 & 2 because the shifter bushes were gone so ended up starting in 3rd a bit until I got used to it.

Because of this, we stalled on deaths corner on the steepest part of the gorge!

I just loaded it up and rode it until we got moving, clutch smoke everywhere but crisis averted.

Had some smokey lock-ups coming up to one lane bridges but no stress.

Then the tailpipe broke off so wired that back up and carried on.

Made it home, had whiskeys! Was shattered.

Woke up to this:

[Mr.Mk1]

Extracted all the bits out through the rear doors and found that someone had done a mint job on the guards, blasted, repaired, etched, bogged and primed.

Pine!

Found all I was missing was the splash guards under headlights, the outer surrounds and the filler panels between the bumper and grille.

Pulled out the rottingue carpet And cracked underseal, cleaned and reattached shit.

I replaced the rear shocks but found the top mounts broken on one side so welded up and did the tailpipe at the same time.

Took it to work one day and on the way split the rear brake line.

So I made all new lines and fittings.

Then I hit that rust:

Doused everything in black zinc then the weather turned to shot so I couldn't prime and bog it up nice for a week or more.

While it was shit I got the tailgate motor working and put a new switch in. Was a cunt and took ages. Wasn't as rusty in there as it could have been but still needs replaced.

Wire wheeled and hammerites the floor once they had dried out.

It was ready for a warrant check but the front was just too rugged. It was rusty and a whole operation just to open the bonnet so It had to go.

I had been cleaning, painting and polishing all the bits up as I had time or waiting on parts/ weather.

The rusty shit hadn't been protected from the start so I pulled and broke most of it off by hand.

Soaked all the bolts and clips in CRC so I could clean and re-use them.

Shit started to come together!

The spare radiator support was much better so used that one.

I sandblasted the bonnet and sealed it up mint, knocked the worst of the bog off and threw it on. Fuck it's heavy!

Got some stainless bumper bolts real cheap.

[Mr.Mk1]

Then I found the brakes were shit so decided to do that before warrant.

New disc, hoses, pistons, bendix pads,caliper kits, hard lines and fittings.

Also had to cut the shocks out to get the springs out to cut a bit off as it was really high.

Still locking up wildly when applying minimal brake pressure. Fuuuuuck!

After much pissing around and bleeding and shit, decided to do the brake master cylinder.

Broke the remaining hard lines so replaced them too.

Same shit.

But isolated the lockup to the right rear.

Thought it might be because it was a diesel so wasn't getting vaccum for the booster?

Turns out it has a vaccum pump so that wasn't it..

I know next to nothing about diesels and since this was a conversion didn't know what was supposed to be there and what wasn't.

So it was to pull the drum apart.

Couldn't get it apart because it was wildly grooved. Stole a puller from work and popped it off.

Oh!

Replaced the cylinder and bled it up again.

Found that the spring clip on the front had failed and the hose had been turning and chewed off the flare on the line so dumped half a litre of fluid on the drive.

Sourced a flaring tool and hit that, bled it up again.

BRAKES!

In between doing this I had a good sunny day so decided to scrape the old underseal outta the boot and hammerite it.

Poked holes all through the floor aye.

Zinc'd it in and out, hammerite on it too.

My huge sub box fits in the area under the boot floor!!

I also attached the boot garnish that's broken in 3 but it looks boss as even though the tailgate is rough as fuck but don't care.

Replaced a bonnet hinge that wouldn't sit down and managed to get it sitting better but need aligned better.

This is how it looks at the moment, ready to go for a wof check.

I'll adjust the height later on. Lots left to do but i need it as a daily ASAP

It's taken 2 months to get to this point working outside in a carport with a headlamp on between 6-9pm and Saturday after work and all Sunday!

[Mr.Mk1]

Well I took it in for the warrant check today, new shop so you never know what you'll get.

Pretty good result really!

-front seat showing steel

-handbrake to improve

-front brakes dragging (everything is new so it's tight but will have to pull it apart and check it out)

-front brake hoses ( the new ones have a longer nose on the so they sit against the arm. There are some Torana ones at work that have a short nose so will look into that. Also when it's jacked up the hoses tighten up, and when lowered they move under and get caught up on the castellated nuts so will see if it's because they aren't long enough or need to be tethered somewhere)

And rust around rear windows ( I pulled the chrome away and wire wheeled the shit out of the surface rust there and it hadn't broken through yet but was pitted so I Zinc'd it up and sealed it under the window Just never bogged the body, So that's an easy one)

I also ran the cables for a new stereo with pre-outs in the weekend, got well involved with a can of fish oil and sprayed all the cavitys, pulled the scuttle panel off to check for firewall dodgy, didn't find any but sandblasted it's underside and Zinc'd, painted the top side.

Mint

[Mr.Mk1]

Well the Torana hoses look to be a goer, they are longer too. Have also found some f100 hoses that are longer still so they will arrive 2moro and I'll assess the situation.. One on each side and move the hub up and down/ turn it, see what looks best.

Pulled the calipers off tonight to discover that the bottom sides have been rubbing on the discs and ground off about 3mm, thus putting a lip on the inside preventing the pads from moving in and out freely.

Filed them up and they are cool now. Pistons were very firm to remove so put them in and took them out half a dozen times to make sure the rubber was seated sweet and moving happier.

I think what's happened is that the pads have a spring clip that goes inside the piston and it may have moved enough/not gone square and bound up the sliders.

[Mr.Mk1]

The F100 hoses were perfect.

All back together and bled.

One side still a bit hard to spin so will check the stub nut.

Have tidied up and painted below rear windows and some other wee scabs.

Fiddled with the handbrake and got some more adjustment out of it but not really good enough,

So have new drums coming tomorrow and new shoes just put in. This should help a lot.

The other cylinder I hadn't replaced, was just replaced... Rusted solid. How the fuck this thing stopped I do not know.

Broke an E-clip putting back together so bit shame it isn't finished but it's a 30 second fix when I get one from work 2moro.

I also got a roll of duct tape and taped up the holes in the seat then bombed them with paint a similar blue as the seat, a blind man would be impressed!

[Mr.Mk1]

Bit fucked.

Not fucked

Then failed to bring home brake fluid so can't quite finish it.

Got really quiet at work this afternoon so tidied up showroom and found these dandy spanners that do metric, imperial and star. Purchased!

Wish I knew they existed 10 years ago when I started pissing around with cars..currently use budget bunnings spanners and freebies I've acquired so looking forward to trying them out and moving the old ones into the in-car toolkit.

[Mr.Mk1]

Few rando pictures from after I washed it this evening.

Got everything in the wof sheet sorted, then it wouldn't start.

Checked everything and jiggled wires etc.

Pulled the starter out and pulled apart, cleaned and greased it up and strummed straight back to life.

I have the head unit out awaiting the new one to arrive early next week.

[Mr.Mk1]

Eagle eyes may notice I ditched the gay plastic chrome mirrors, have some chrome ones on the watch list just deciding between Maltese cross or skeleton hand.

Nah they are cheap period rectangular door mounts.

I also added my Wagoneers plaque, it took a hiding on the valiant as it scraped on every driveway so I had it screwed to the sub box on display. This bus doesn't seem as prone to that so I hung it on the towbar.

Also, john van beek the gc gave me some nylon and I hashed together a shifter bush.i Made it a bit short so there is some up/ down movement but otherwise worlds ahead of the insulation tape I had wrapped around it previously.

Toying with the idea of making some blue-dots for the lights in the rear bumper. They are corroded to shit so I'll have to murder the housings and add new bulb bezels and seal up nicely.

I think they were probably reverse lights?no word from wof guy so sails away I say

[Mr.Mk1]

Failed the recheck on handbrake and front right wheel not spinning freely enough.

I'm thinking wheel bearings now.

And the handbrake, well I can stall the car while trying to take off with it on but the wof guy tests it on an incline and said it was better but not gonna hold up.

So I'll throw away the wacky home made stainless bracket that joins the cables and make my own, with scope for much more adjustment.

[Mr.Mk1]

WARRANT ACHIEVED!

Now I can actually enjoy the car and make it more comfortable, fuck yeah!

I trimmed the dust seals (explained in discussion)

And it helped, but still not great.

I put another caliper kit in the drivers side cause it was the tightest and the seal was a bit dog eared.

Still about the same.

Then a guy at work said ' sounds like you need to back off the plunger on the brake pedal, shortest pipe distance from master to caliper is drivers side so it will be tighter'

He was correct.

And I might have been a bit heavy handed on the hub nut so backed it off a bit and it spun ace.

[Mr.Mk1]

I got it sitting pretty up front, but it wouldn't turn and the arms were touching the inner guard.

Real lame. Missed out on a few events over the weekend.

Got some v8 hq super lows and we're back in business but it's 30mm too low.

I plan to run some steelies so that will lift it a bit and will look into those urethane coil spacers that go where a factory rubber would go in a more modern car if it's still a bit boned.

Polished up the interior handles, mirror bracket, painted mirror because it was aced, door cars pulled off in preparation for my 6x9 turning up 2moro.

The doors have a big chrome trim that will get in the way of the speakers so will have to trim the surrounds. If it looks like a failure I'll mount in the back doors or kick panels.

[Mr.Mk1]

Good weekend of small jobs all done.

-Lowered the back a bit,

-put some rubber spacers in the front and lifted it heaps- not as cool but no guard rub and will finalise when I find a set of steelies.

-Cleaned up and straightened the scuff plates

Bolted sub box down

-More polishing inside and wiped down inside door jambs + paint where needed,

-Finished installing 6x9s and tidied + hid wiring,

-Got the glovebox lid sitting more flush

-Steering wheel off to clean the indicator contacts and investigate slop.. There's a bearing in there that's rooted and might be missing a spring to stop in/out movement. The indicator wasn't returning on left turns but the dash stopped flashing so wasn't worried. Until I realised that it was continuing to flash. Must have looked like a tard until now. Made worse by the fact that the indicators are red, start off flashing slow and speed up. I have ordered a new relay in the hopes of fixing that.

- moved exhaust up higher on the rear as the leading diff arm was hitting the pipe on decent bumps

- thinners'd off more overspray

- took the rear chrome arch trim off rusty side to investigate, not much to see so wire wheeled the scabs and zinc + painted.

- made stops for the seat belt buckles so they don't need to be fished up off the floor

- stashed my spare key in case of emergency

- organised jack n wheel brace positioning

- while I had the kick panels off for wiring I noticed that the air vent pull cable was gone. Found it amongst the spares so oiled it and freed it up, whacked it back in. Pretty cluttered in that corner with the handbrake release, heater switch and vent knob.

[Mr.Mk1]

I fucked off the bogan wheels and got some 56 belair steels with spider caps and brand new dress rings.

Now it looks like this

The rings are ultra hard to get on and I don't trust them not to fly off, the caps need screwed on and there's not enough space to get a screw home. Also snow tyres ( sticky 195 60 15 Bridgestone blizzaks) another top purchase on my behalf (sarcasm)

Brand new nuts from work look nice.

Will try for blue walls next week but real understaffed at work so might be a push to get time (rage).

[Mr.Mk1]

Blue walls will be a bit darker than id hoped so staying white for now, guys coming to do them this weekend and touch up the lady's datsun ones.

Bullet caps won't work as there's not enough space between hub and rim.. Ultra shithouse but will come up with something adequate.

The profile of the rim is not conducive to happy placement of trim rings. My only option is to glue them on or hold out for different rims.

I got sick of the sun bleached gumbo door card carpets so gave them a dose

Still average but will look good for 6 months.

Also took rear number plate off and cleaned up the mess

Behind it, cleaned up the plate, bent to suit bumper and blew it back on. It always sat hammy because it's only bolted at the bottom so the top sat outward.

Dane the king-status GC has given me the filler panel between the bumper and grille, yet to

Get inspired enough to tear the bumper off and put it on. Also need to repair 1x under light splash guard and replicate another from scratch for the other side.. To fit at the same time.

Broke off my Wagoneers plaque, that was depressing.

Threw a new thermostat in just incase it wasn't 100%.

The shifter was always loose, even with a new bush. Hated it. I found a piece of copper pipe that had the same ID as my slightly-too-small bush, gave it a wee linnish and threw it in, shifts wonderfully now!

Took it on a decent run, about 6hr round trip and slept in it, went great and returned good mileage, even though it was revving hard and fully maxing at 90.

Rapt.

Really staring to pine the old girl now, the search for comfort mods and chrome bits is intensifying.

Have priced up new bailey channel and door rubbers, not bad. Carpet higher on the list than rubbers though.

Looking to find a good piece of lace to pattern the roof to match the red wheels, also

Make Some Curtains for the rear windows.

Probably ditch the alloy slats under the roof racks for a cleaner look

[Mr.Mk1]

Got the lady's whitewalls re-done and mine applied today!

Then I took the skids off under the roof rack as it was a bit cluttered.

Then i took everything off!

Looks quite sweet.

I knew this was a possibility, had some big ole bubbles around the foot of the roof rack.

About palm sized. Gone! And no hood lining fires!

I then had to take all the holes back to steel to get any crustyness off. Then zinc sprayed.

I also hit all the bubbly bits of which there were a few dozen. Almost all came up good, couple of pinholes.

Since I'm so bloody indecisive, I've just bogged the skid plate screw holes because I'll more than likely put everything back on again one day and fuck re-drilling them.

Will put a dob of black sealer in the foot holes so I can screw straight back through and they will be water tight.

[Mr.Mk1]

Got some goodies!

Look like shit but cleaned up well, the dash pad will probably get a coat of paint but will price up a recover.

Also a bonnet badge, arm rest and window winder. One of mine had a plastic knob but the rest all chrome.

[Mr.Mk1]

$5 woodgrain!

It's all lumpy because the tailgate is all lumpy but takes the eye off base lumpyness.

Dunno how it will weather cause it's probably made for covering books but i still need to re-skin the bottom of the gate soon anyway.

Just won't be in the next couple of weekends.

[Mr.Mk1]

Made some radiator support panel bushes from some freebie non stocked urethane at work.

Has changed the front a fair bit. I'll have to re-align the grille to suit.. But that can wait till I finish the filler panels and install. Now the bumper dosent rub on the guard!

Also put the old thermostat back in, for some reason the tridon one made it run a bit warmer, and especially so in hot weather. So will keep that one for winter