1956 Pontiac Star Cheif Convertible on Autogeek's "What's in the Garage"

Mike Phillips · 02-24-2012, 03:57 PM

1956 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible on Autogeek's "What's in the Garage"

This is my good friend Earl the Plumber and one of the cars from his Red Car Barn. This is a real cream puff as it's all original. This is also the car my friend and forum member Jon aka P.A.R. Detailing buffed out in this thread,

1956 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible

An absolutely gorgeous dash...

Speedometer goes to 120 miles per hour...

Before

Ouch! Kind of hurts your eyes!

After

Here's Earl backing the Pontiac into the studio and onto the set...

Nick always around helping out...

A perfect fit!

My celebrity guest, Frank Hawely of Hawley's Drag Racing School

Frank checking out the Pontiac...

Pam getting B-Roll film...

Frank and Earl...

Me, Frank and Earl...

What a beauty....

Gene Barns stopped by with his cherry 1963 Split Window Corvette, here he is showing it to Frank...

Earl leaving the Studio...

Leaving Autogeek, taking the Pontiac back to his car collection...

**BillE** · 02-25-2012, 08:33 AM

Mike,

When you all original, even the paint?

Geeze, I'm a sucker for those older big tooshed cars!

Bill

**Bunky** · 02-26-2012, 08:15 AM

Nice looking car. It is amazing how technology has changed -- most controls were either a lever or a knob.

Mike Phillips · 02-27-2012, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by BillE

Mike,

When you all original, even the paint?

Geeze, I'm a sucker for those older big tooshed cars!

Bill

Hi Bill,

The car is all original in that it's been kept all stock throughout, it has been repainted however but it has single stage enamel. In my opinion, nothing buffs up to a high gloss like single stage enamel paint, it's the real deal.

Earl has become a very good friend of mine since I've moved to Stuart and not only does he have very good taste in cars he's also a genuinely nice guy and he told me I can borrow the 56 Pontiac anytime I want it... take my word for it... I'm going to take him up on his offer...

Originally Posted by Bunky

Nice looking car. It is amazing how technology has changed -- most controls were either a lever or a knob.

Good observation... one thing about old technology is that with a few simple tools and a little know-how you can take these cars apart and work on them yourself, even the knobs or levers. There's usually a trick to taking apart a switch that uses a pull-knob, you have to know how to remove the knob in order to remove the switch.

I recently had to remove a pull switch from a classic car and after inspecting it as closely as I could while it was still in the dash I found a spring-loaded button on the very rear of the switch, pushed it in and the knob pulled right out...

I love the classics and this one is exceptional...

**BillE** · 02-29-2012, 08:46 AM

Thanx for the feed back Mike.

Just a little question, What was the reason for the car companies going to BC/CC? Cost?

Waiting and watching...

Bill

**DaytonaPaceCar** · 02-29-2012, 12:09 PM

Sweet! I love Pontiacs and this one is a great example! Thanks for sharing. This is my first post here and what a fine way to break the ice...

Mike Phillips · 02-29-2012, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by BillE

Thanx for the feed back Mike.

Just a little question, What was the reason for the car companies going to BC/CC? Cost?

Waiting and watching...

Bill

As far as I know it was mostly EPA regulations preventing V.O.C. solvents from being sprayed into the atmosphere...

I think I touched on this in my book as well as on the forum when it fits the discussion.

Besides government regulations keep in mind the old single stage paints didn't last very long without proper care. Modern bc/cc paints "can" last a long time with hardly any care at all.

Car manufactures that want to stay competitive are always looking for ways to build a better mousetrap. Offering a car with a paint system that will last longer than a traditional single stage paint system was/is seen as an improvement.

Note above I typed, last longer, not look good longer, there's a difference. You can have a swirled-out basecoat/clearcoat paint system and it can still last a long time but that don't mean it's going to look good over time.

Exposure to the sun is the worst enemy for modern paints so for people that don't live in locations of intense sun year around their paint won't be exposed to the harmful UV rays as much.

Pretty good discussion on clearcoat failure on page 2 of this thread..

Beginning Clearcoat Failure