87 Grand Prix-Chief S**tting Bull

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1evilregal

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Apr 23, 2009
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I've been saying that I'd start a thread on this for awhile, and maybe it'll help me get motivated... those of you that know about this car, know why I need motivation. For the rest, grab your favorite beverage, I know I need one.....

I bought this car a couple of years ago, at an estate auction, and after looking for years, I finally had one f my dream cars in my possesion. I need to remind all of you: nightmares are dreams too.....:eek:
The car had been sitting in a backyard for about 4 years, mostly untouched, and had started blending into the background...
(the day I picked it up...)
shittingbull3.jpg
shittingbull4.jpg


took it home, and after a power washing, it looked less like what a cat would cough up...

******** bull5.jpg
******** bull 6.jpg
 
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Rktpwrd

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Whoo hoo!, Darin’s finally doing a build thread!
Tuned in now buddy, don’t let us down...
:)
 
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1evilregal

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checking into what I purchased, I found that the original 305 was gone, with a newer 350 vortec block engine with the casted over fuel pump housing, so I'm guesstimating about a '99 block, with a 700r4. if this hadn't been a t-top car, or console car, I probably would've overlooked it, and has probably what has kept me from getting rid of it (keep following along, dear reader. you will soon learn why the name came about).

a few normal maintenance issues (battery, starter,etc, ) and I was enjoying the car. a few months later, and the trans went out.... hmmm, well it had been sitting for quite awhile, so I couldn't be upset... The regal had awhile to go before it would be road ready, so I figured that I'd snag the trans out of it, and get back on the road.... well, the regal had been sitting for quite a while (can you see where this is going, dear reader?) and 2 days later that 700r4 went out.....

years ago, I worked turning wrenches, but had never rebuilt an automatic trans before (been inside manuals before, and the automatic guys tell me that they're afraid to do manuals...), and with the power of a few youtube videos, I felt confident enough to try one on my own...
IMG_4475.JPG


I won't bore you with all the pics, but it didn't really go well... I think I went back into this one again, and tried a few things and cleared up some thickness variances, and seemed to work, but not altogether right. 1 or 2 junkyard transmissions later, I was back on the road I'd gotten pretty good at the driveway trans swap thing, and before long, the trans took a dump again, this time coming home from work.... after a 12 hour day.... 25 miles from home (freeway driving).... I had reverse and 1st, and not much else. I was able to sneak it into second from time to time, but for the most part, backroads took me an extra 10 miles, and a 40 min drive turned into a 2 hour drive.

the car sat for awhile, and during that time, some friends of mine from the local SCCA club offer me a space in their club shop for a decent monthly rent, so now I had access to a lift, air, and some of the guys have specialty stuff that is open for use, so also have use of a trans jack.
this became a pretty regular place for the car...
here we go again.jpg
not happy.jpg

about this time, I was getting frustrated, and ticked off that it spent more time off the road than on... it was about this time I decided to get around to naming the thing ( I do for just about all of my cars) and knew being a pontiac, it needed a native name. oddly enough I called it "sitting bull" one day, then decided that it was too good of a name for it, being that it had a horrible disposition towards me. Then the idea of "Chief Sh**ting Bull" came to me, and just seemed to fit. I've been toying with the idea of getting a sticker like this:
s-l640.jpg

and having it modified without the slash across the image, and adding a feather headdress to the bull.
 
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1evilregal

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Whoo hoo!, Darin’s finally doing a build thread!
Tuned in now buddy, don’t let us down...
:)
I'll try not to, D!

just trying to get in the back history of the Chief for now... looks like he'll be putting off the regal for a while longer... between him and "Harper"
with the front axle issues eating up what little spare time I have, the Regal will have to wait just a little longer. I actually drove the Chief home yesterday with the t-tops out, and he proceeded to die in the driveway this morning......:poop:
 
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1evilregal

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on one of the many trans changes, somehow I'd decided it'd be a great idea to throw my 327 from the regal in the car to get some run time on it, as it'd only been run long enough from the last time it went together to break the cam in... motor went in just fine, but somehow the oil pan that I'd had issues in the past with, still wasn't done with me yet, and proceeded to puke iol out of the front crossover seal, so it's 350 went back in uncermoniously...

getting up closer to the present, I finally had given up on the entire project, and went back junkyarding, and picked up another trans, and scored a nice set of pontiac 15" steel rallies, which almost matched the color of the car. trans went in flawlessly (why wouldn't it? the bolts have been in and out so often.... think this was trans #7 in less than 2 years?) and seemed to work pretty well... got the wheels cleaned up and on the car, and cleaned up the rest of the car, and wanted to enjoy it for just a few days before putting it up for sale...
download.png

******** bull 2.jpg

I took these, just so I'd have a couple glamour shots of a car I'd wanted for so long, but turned out to be a nightmare...

I had actually had someone interested on one of the facebook groups, all the way out in Iowa, but the deal fell through, and while cleaning it up again, some of what was left of the vynil top popped up over the trim, and I remembered the old saying about them: "there are the ones that are rusted out underneath, and the ones that will be rusted out underneath".... mine was the previous....
rusty1.jpg
rusty2.jpg
rusty3.jpg

there was no way I could sell it for what it would take to get it out of my hands... I was pissed, and broken-hearted at the same time... I delved a little deeper and also found this....
rusty4.jpg

by this time, I had to walk away from it for a bit, as I was ready to burn it to the ground.....
 
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1evilregal

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Right now in the saga, I've got to stop and give a huge shout out to Donovan (Rktpwrd for those new readers!),and his project olds-cool, for posting the rust and repair on his thread. it gave me some direction to go, and some idea of how to do it. I do have to admit, Donovan does work like a skilled surgeon, while my work is more like a parkinson's diseased chimpanzee doing brain surgery with a pipe wrench.... I don't apologize for my lack of finesse on my repairs, as I see that the Chief will never be a concours restoration, or even try for trophies at car shows.... it's not a perfect car, so the work doesn't have to be perfect. The car will be beaten, flogged, and also be stored outdoors for a good portion of the time, and will also be taken care of, and driven as much as possible in spring through fall... pictures to come, time for bed!
 
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1evilregal

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And then?

he's still sitting there.... was to pissed to even look at him today... drove the wife's *dare I say* mustang for the errands I had to run...
 
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Rktpwrd

Builder of Cool Shjt
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Glad to help and be a source of inspiration for ya Darin. That was really the whole point of documenting the progress on Olds Cool anyways.
I’d make no apologies whatsoever for your rust repair work on your cars, we all have to learn somehow and some way. You’re doing a damn fine job, and I’m enjoying reading about The Chief.
Carry on sir!
 
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1evilregal

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Apr 23, 2009
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Greensboro, NC
making a short story long......,

after finding the rust a little more than I thought, it was time to assess the damage...
vynil out1.jpg
vynil out2.jpg
vynil out3.jpg

there was bubbles everywhere, but luckily the holes were at a minimum....still, I knew there'd be alot of work involved...
rusty5.jpg
rusty6.jpg
 
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