'57 Pontiac stock Sedan Delivery

[traditional]

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2018 by traditional
when first posted, it said to try again.

[traditional]

A year ago, one of my previous projects was a ’57 Chevy sedan delivery using a cheap low-rider toy car as the starting material. The toy had lots of proportion issues but the station wagon structure was remarkably accurate. That model had turned out well and, during my research of the real vehicle’s details, I also came across lots of info on the rarer Pontiac version of the ’57 sedan deliveries.

All of Pontiac’s sedan delivery production in ’57, as well as a few previous years, had been built on Pontiac’s Canadian assembly line in Oshawa , Ontario and, as with other Canadian Pontiacs at the time, were built on a Chevrolet platform….shorter wheelbase, Chevy based motors, chassis, and some upholstery trim.

The sedan deliveries were commercial vehicles based on the Pontiac Pathfinder entry level station wagon series, but since Pontiacs were considered a slightly more premium vehicle line than the Chevies, even the basic sedan delivery used the regular bench seat instead of the Chevy’s utility bucket seats and also used a deluxe steering wheel from the Chevy line.

The six cylinder motor for Canadian ’57 Pontiacs (the American versions came only with V8s) had 261 cu. inches with 148 advertised horsepower. This motor was based on Chevy’s 235cu. in. six, but not available on the Chevy passenger line.

Like the Chevy sedan deliveries, most current Pontiac SD restorations now sport lots of deluxe trim and V8 power, but the original vehicles were intended as work horses and the vast majority of them left the factory with six cylinder motors. The production versions all left the assembly line with the basic Pathfinder trim, upholstery, and rubber floor mats.  There were only 857 Pontiacs Sedan Deliveries manufactured in 1957 and, with those low numbers, the Pontiac sedan delivery model lasted only one more year before production ceased.

I enjoy building 1/25 or 1/24 stock vehicles that aren’t otherwise available as toys or mainstream kits and I’d begun to accumulate the starting material I’d require for the Pontiac SD model months in advance.  Another West Coast Choppers toy low-rider ’57 Chevy wagon was bought cheaply on Ebay , missing the engine hood trim (fortunately, I wouldn’t need any of the Chevy trim), and a Unique Replicas Chevy Nomad coin bank toy would supply the firewall, steering wheel, and basic chassis starting material. I already had a damaged Franklin Mint ‘57 Pontiac Bonneville parts car that would supply the much needed Pontiac grille, bumpers, and lights. Most of these various parts would require a good deal of modification to be suitable as the Canadian Pontiac but heck, if it was too easy, I probably wouldn’t have been interested in the project. One of my lucky breaks was finding that the ’69 Revell COPO Nova small hubcaps could be relatively easily modified to represent the basic ’57 Pathfinder hubcaps.

I used Renshape (a resin based modeling material) to fabricate the wagon style fuel tank, low profile oil bath air filter, and the folding bench seat. Side trim was formed from stainless jewelry wire, and most of the interior was fabricated using styrene sheet. Other fabricated detail included an opening fuel filler door, and chassis parking brake detail. The body paint is automotive basecoat/clearcoat to approximate the available Pontiac Pathfinder Malabar Yellow.

Edited November 29, 2018 by traditional

[89AKurt]

This is truly awesome!  For starters, I didn't know these existed, must pull collector prices close to Nomad levels?  I appreciate the effort, research and workmanship.  Can you post an underside picture?

I also have a soft spot for these wagons.  My dad's father got this new, and had it until a couple years before he died, traded for a "Chevy" LUV.    I also owned a 4 door 210 wagon, it still had the Stovebolt 6 and Powerglide.

[restoman]

Wow! A tremendous amount of work that yielded a tremendous result.

Very, very nice!

[mike 51]

Wow!  (too)

[cobraman]

Fantastic work !  I love it !

[Scalper]

Wow pretty cool work you've done

[Ramfins59]

Fantastic work, as usual, from you Clifford. 

I wish I had your talents in working with metals, as I have a diecast 1950 Lincoln Presidential Limo that I'd love to convert into a stock bodied '50 Lincoln......    I can dream about it anyway...

[Dominik]

Wow! Thats amazing!

[StevenGuthmiller]

Very nice!

And some people think factory stock is boring.

 

 

Steve

 

 

[Snake45]

Absolutely outstanding diecast modeling! 

[Belugawrx]

Another winner there Cliff 

Cheers

[bbowser]

Just amazing!  Outstanding replica.

[<profile removed>]

Now THAT'S cool!

[espo]

Outstanding build. I'm glad you included some photos of the conversion as it adds some additional insight into what all you had to do to create this model of a little known vehicle.  

[vintagercr]

Wow!

[Classicgas]

Simply stellar

[landman]

39 minutes ago, Classicgas said:

Simply stellar

And then some!!!!

[MrObsessive]

Absolutely Gorgeous!

I gotta hand it to you...........that is some VERY excellent work with a diecast! I've yet to try my hand at that as I have a diecast I'd love to detail sometime in the future.

I take it that you had to solder the door hinge supports? If so, what type of solder did you use and what kind of iron? I have a couple soldering units, but diecast material is something I've never attempted.  Interesting info about the Canadian Pontiacs of that era as I never knew about the subtle changes GM did to those back then.

And yes, I like your idea of getting parts waaaaay in advance! You just never know when you're gonna need 'em!

Edited November 30, 2018 by MrObsessive

[Tom Geiger]

Very very cool!   

[Pat Minarick]

Fvefy cool.

[Red318]

Looks great, I didn't know such things existed.

[Dodge Driver]

 Sheer artistry and inspired thinking.  Always a thrill to view your creations, sir.

[58 Impala]

Wow! Beautiful job, nice conversion.

 

[GeeBee]

Absolutely breathtaking work, your eye for detail is unreal.....