1964 Pontiac lowrider rescue thread.

firstly, i fitted a 10 switch box for the hydros, as when i got it it only had 3 switchs- what was the point in that?!

but then, i had to redo the boot install to keep the car usable- if you had more than 2 pumps going at once they ripped holes in the boot floor as they were so powerful when running 36 volts, so i cut out the entire spare wheel well, and welded some small boxing tabs into the rear section of chassis that runs under the boot floor ( the bits from just behind the back of the axle to the rear bumper are unboxed on these cars) then i put a couple of thickwall 2"x1" crossmembers in-


then i built up a framework from more 2x1 and some heavy section angle, to mount the pumps right up close to the edge of the boot, at an angle- 'on show'


with the pumps in-


i then quickly threw in some sheet steel over the big hole in the boot floor, rewired the hydros and left it at that. this time round ile swage up a new boot floor for it. i don't think i did too bad to say i was 19 when doing all this, and it was my first ever american car, and first car with hydraulics, so it was a steep learning curve.........

it was about this time that i found out the hard way about emergency cutout switches for hydros. id been fiddling around with it, and using the hydros a bit, so the batteries were getting low. when the batteries get a bit flat, the selonoids can jam open, meaning you have a 12v pump pumping like curse word with 36V through it, against a ram thats at full extension. this car did have a cutoff fitted, wrongly, so it didnt actually cut off power to the pumps!! plus, it was mounted in the boot, and it was a rear selenoid that jammed, bouncing the rear up and slamming the bootlid shut. so by the time id scrabbled round in my pocket for the keys, i found this out after flicking it and nothing happened. luckily i had the battery clamo spanners in the boot, and managed to whip off the terminals before the batteries exploded or the pump head burnet out, but the batteries were fried, they bloody stank!
so after that, it got a properly wired switch mounted outside the car!!!

Saw this on one of the long ago - motors I want again/never should've sold etc.... threads(I think it was)

Lovely looking beast and can understand why you'd want to hang onto it...... from the photo's of how you got it this week - the only way is up i suppose!

Install still OK or you changing/upgrading it again?

right, anyway, just before christmas, I got the call to say rich was selling it, so we agreed a price and I sent him a deposit, and we left it at we'd sort out me collecting it after christmas and new year.
that was until I got a call about a week after new year off rich with some bad news. some darling little scummy huddersfield goatblower had put a load of windows through on it
he'd mamaged to sort out some temporary sotrage for it through a mate of his, it was sat in a barn at a local scrapyard
obviously I was rather worried about this, so I dropped everything and organised a 7.5ton tilt-slide flatbed to pick it up the next weekend, which fell through when the truck blew a brakeline, so I had to find a trailer big enough for it to go on and something man enough to tow it. so me and a mate set off at 4.30am last tuesday to get it. we got back about half 5, 13 hours later. at least it was home safe and sound!!

suffice to say the car had suffered a bit in the 2 years away from me.
both passenger side windows smashed,
rear screen smashed,
batterys for hydros flat, hydros leaking.
no battery on the car.
smashed taillight.
an assortment of scruffs and scrapes to the bodywork- some around the passenger door handle where someones tried to break in, dents on the bootlid where someones stood on it, dents around filler cap where someones tried to lever it open , big scuff on rear 1/4, dented nose on the grille.
nackered chrome on bumpers
soaked carpets especially in the back
full of rubbish, chocolate milkshake all over the (mint) back seat.
approximately half a metric fucktonne of broken glass inside it, and the rocks that broke it.
hornring snapped off
good year eagle tyres gone and replaced with cheap curse word remoulds.
one donut on a rear ram is bent so it pops off the spring and the spring falls out, so the rear suspension collapses
paint is absolutely fecked. large areas missing, chipped, scratched, repainted in a slightly different shade, etc. etc. just ruined.

but, it had gained a new front ram. yipeee........

some pics of it once it was back. first, interior. this is really disheartening cos it was immaculate before-






bodywork damage. hard to see here but theres dents and pry marks around the handle where someones tried to break in, and bash marks on the 1/4 light where someones tried to smash it but failed. they succeeded in bending the frame though so it doesnt shut.


front bumper. chromes gone, all bubbled up. that'll be pricey for a replate on a slab of steel like that.




dents around fuel filler from attempted break in and scuff along 1/4-


smashed taillight and other end of rear 1/4 scuff-


dents in boot-


the one bit of body damage I actually knew about-


boot is filthy from leaking hydros-


at least the motors still fairly clean. new ram on the left, leaking from the union though.

yeah, it is a bit annoying, to say the least.......

the upside is it meant I got the car back for very little. and I know the car inside out(cos i built the entire thing), i know the history of all the parts on it, so there shouldnt be as many hidden nasties as with most cars. plus, it means more dollar to spend on making improvements, and i feel less guilty about cutting up a mint car. not that its ever stopped me in the past

the glass, sides are easy, use the other sides as templates and get them cut, about £30 a piece.
rear, well, for the mo to keep it dry ile knock up a plexiglass one. I can see a replacement costing 400ish by the time its here, if so ile sack off that idea and chop it about 3" using a donor window from another, easier to get glass for car. ile get the front screen cut town and a spare made using it as a template.

you aint seen the way I dress mate
things are quite productive at the mo, gotta get some stuff done this year to slim down the fleet.....

Nice car you got there mate.Think i saw it at bugjam 06.

yeah i think you would have mate, i took it in '05 and rich did take it in '06 cos i saw him there.

Wow, what a kickass car. Shame about what happened to it - but silver lining to everything n all that.

I'm sure you'll have it looking sweet not-too-long from now.

Nice one Dez, as I said before, nothing wrong with your Mojo.

well, ive now emptied all the rubbish out of it (snoop dogg CDs anyone? ), and spent 2 hours hoovering glass- thank god for the shopvac!! ive still not quite got it all though, gotta get the back seat out.

ive also got 4 battery chargers on the go to sort the batteries out. a bit more cleaning then ile pre-MOT it and make a list of what needs doing to get it on the road. ive already got some new headlights and tyres waiting, i think I'm picking up another set of wheels before they go on though.....