just found this site!

I have had my cat for the last 12 years, 65k orig miles, i painted it in 2003 and redoing the interior now,

389 2brl

Awesome! Show us some pics

how do i post pics? i have tryied a few times and cant seem to get them pasted on my post

I will send more picture tonight . that is all i had in my phone.

Damn that looks good! I can't wait to start workin on mine again

Very Nice! Great job! I like the color! Just curious, is the dash supposed to be shiny? I thought for sure they were painted with a suede style paint. I could be wrong, but it still looks awesome! I will do that to mine, one day, but it's hard since it's such an original, in survivor condition, they are only original once. Besides, I never plan on selling it, ever! I even put a stipulation in my will, that the car is never to be sold! It goes to my Son, Wes. That car will never leave the family again.

Great work on the interior! Is it the original colors or are you doing what you think looks the best? either way, outstanding work!

Chad

That is a great looking Catalina. Was the original color Jeweltone Copper? Door panels, arm rests, and seats look fantastic. It's amazing how the colors of todays cars don't hold a candle to the two tones of the 50's

Nothing about new cars holds a candle to anything made in the late 50s. Everything made in the past 30 years has been complete trash. I want to T bone all those shit boxes on the road

I will post some more pics tonight. i have all the orginal paper work from the first owner, original photos of the car and the orginal window sticker bought from a dealership in wash st. i will post the vin number tonight and somebody can decode it and well fine out the orginal color. Interior is all but finished now I am just waiting on fabric for the rear deck lid. original it was black but i will go with fabric that matches the rust color dash.

cat SS 59 look at th engine bay picture that is the original color of the car on the fire wall

That firewall sure tells the story. Looks in fact have been Jeweltone copper. You certainly have some great history. I also had alot of original paperwork with my 59, but you may have something we've been looking to find for a long time. You say you have a WINDOW STICKER?? Chad and John have put in many hours working on a Window sticker. . Look under our ."1959 Pontiac Restorations " thread and you'll find the "1959 Pontiac MSRP window sticker" topic. If you have an original window sticker from your 59, that would really help us out.
Thanks, Jim

Jim- You beat me to it! Good on Ya! I would love a copy of this for our records! These things are so rare, I'd love to see it. I now have TWO original window stickers and they are different on the back! I have not been able to figure THAT one out!

I also see numbers written in grease pencil on the firewall. I would love a closer picture of this. I'd bet a dollar, that it matches the Fisher Body number on the trim tag. Yours is written by the brake booster, too cool! Whether it's original or a conscientious painter re-applied it after painting, it's still cool! My car was repainted at Earl Scheib on the '80's (Not very good, either, I might add), but the firwall is untouched. This is eveident, by the two VERY different shades of the car.

See, this is where the confusion among purists comes in. My Fisher Body # is written on firewall above the heater. There seems to be no rhime or reason as to actually WHERE they are written, if at all. Some have survived and others are non-existent, for numerous reasons.

I love your car and can't wait to see it all put back together. Sweet looking car, my friend.

We are glad you found us as well!

On a side note:

There is a guy near me in Vancouver, WA that will match paint in any color and put it in spray cans! This is awesome. I had him mix some in the correct Vanguard Blue Metallic. I shot some on the inside of the gas dorr...and it was perfect match! It is not even close to the paint on the outside. I have no idea what the color is that's on it now, but a far cry from the original hue of Vanguard Blue!

I will go through all the paper work i have tonight and take photos of all of it and post it tomorrow.

my dad bought this car in the 90's like i said from some guy in wash st. I am from the finger lakes region of upstate new york and thats where the car was shipped to us . it was the original color when we bought it. around 2001 after i was long gone and moved to georgia my dad had it painted that gold that you see. it is a very nice color and he had the sense to leave the fire wall untouched. this past summer when i was back in NY my dad said that if i didnt get it out of his race shop he was putting it in the front yard for sale. enough said big dad! i paid a trucking co. $600 to ship it from ny to south ga and from then on i have been improving on her and dumping money in her. I got lucky and found a 1960 bonneville intact and in execlent condidtion in a junk yard 45 min from my house. after i finish up the inside i will promptly begin with the engine and bay.

I do need some help from you guys on here::

i need some pictures of the interior right behind the back doors>>>>from the back window post to the rockers. i am kinda stumped on how i amd going to adhere those 2 peices back to the car and be able to withstand the brushing against them with ppl getting in and out of the back seat.

thanks

keep in mind 4 door vista need the interior pics for. thanks

can anybody tell me the factory name for my dash color?? its a redish rust color>>>>i am trying to match it with not much luck

Old Gold.....if you can provide me with the trim numbers from the cowl tag (three digits), I can give you the information you need......John

sorry for the vague post, sometimes i read them the next day and wonder what the heck i was thinking.

trim 209

exterior RR

I can find paint chip charts for the exterior but nothing on the interior paint


thanks catbird

Old Gold.....I was a little confused when I looked up my color chip for your car. The paint code "RR" is for "Canyon Copper Poly" which looks nothing like the color in your signature. I went back and reread the thread and realized that your dad repainted the car a different color. The dash on cars with the 209 trim was also done in a copper color lacquer. The main panel was "Medium Copper Poly" (Poly is G.M. speak for metalic paint.) The Ditzler (PPG) code for this was #21747. The top of the dash was "Medium Copper Textured," code #DUL-21746. Note that the top of the dash, although the same color, was not metalic and had a textured finish to reduce glare. It's hard to tell with computer pictures, but looking at your pictures, it appears that the main panel is close to original. If you take the color that you used, and had it dulled down, it would work for the top. A good auto body paint supply shop should be able to get a modern match for those Ditzler codes, and either mix up a quart or fill some rattle cans for you. If not, they should be able to get a match from a piece that you've already done, like an ashtray. Buy the way, the "Medium Copper Poly" is the same color as the original "Canyon Copper Poly" of the exterior, except that was Acrylic Lacquer #DDL-21723. I hope this helps......John

ok im a bit puzzled: the dash came factory padded, the color of the dash and the pad is a rust color more on the redish side, the original RR color of the car is more on the brown side. Gm would name 2 completely different colors copper? i pulled off the pad and painted the dash cap with the best match i could get out of the lazy dudes at ppg counter. it is way too glossy and i have since wet sanded it down and it is ready for a duller paint.

Old Gold.....the padded instrument panel was an option on Catalinas and Starchiefs (standard on Bonnevilles.) Most were painted to match the dash face, but with a flatened and textured paint. It appears to me that the color of your dash face is what the factory put on. I doubt that you will be able to find the textured paint to match. You might try one of two options. You could have the dash top padded and covered with some of the vinyl that you are using for the rest of the interior. I did this with my car as it didn't originally have that option. The upholesterer who did my seats, did the job for about $150 and it looks perfect. The material was left over from SMS. Give them a call, and ask for a sample of the "Copper" used for trim 209. They know exactly what that is! Another option would be to replicate the textured top. To do this, first spray it with the fine textured gray trunk paint that is available from most reproduction parts catalogs. Then seal it with a coat or two of clear, and finally your color coat. The clear is needed to keep the water based textured paint from reacting with the lacquer top coat. It's hard to tell from your pictures, but does the paint that you bought match the face of the dash? PM me with your address and I'll send copies of the several color chips that I have for you to compare.

If you look carefully at the edge of the inner quarter panel you will see a channel stamped into the metal that follows the contour of the door opening. There should also be several small metal tabs on the edge where the outer and inner panels are welded together. That channel is to hold the tack strip, and the tabs are bent over to keep it in place. This strip is where the welting or piping is stapled to. The welting follows the contour of the door opening, and the tack strip and top end of the welting is hidden by the inner trim. The bottom end of the welting is tucked under the ridge of the sill plate. The welting can be made using matching interior material sewn around a 3/8" inner core. You've got smaller lengths at the trailing edge of the kickpanel brackets to compare to......John

catbird,
can you tell me what the small silver bulb like things that are above the ashtrays? they have white wires going to them....they dont seem to be light bulbs because there is no glass just a silver bullet for lack of a better term......i think theres a small hole in the side of the tip

thanks

Old Gold.....those are the housings for the ashtray lamps. Inside the bullets are the bulbs. You must pull the socket from the back of the bullet to expose the bulb. There is a small hole in the rounded end of the housing that allows the light to shine down into the ashtray. There should also be one of these attached to the back housing of the cigar lighter. They should light when all the other dash lamps are on. There are small tabs attached to the housings that fit into slits in the ashtray brackets to hold them in place, and provide the electrical path to ground......John