61 Catalina

[customline]

Yeah man!  Street custom! I hate to say this but it would make a pretty cool 😖 lowrider🤮

And yes, it has the sexy of a West Palm pole dancer. 🤪

[meechum68]

3 minutes ago, customline said:

Yeah man!  Street custom! I hate to say this but it would make a pretty cool 😖 lowrider🤮

And yes, it has the sexy of a West Palm pole dancer. 🤪

Thanks, and I hadn't thought of it as a Low rider. But I can see it. 

I was honestly surprised as heck at how great it looked, because Testors can be hit or miss. 

[Trainwreck]

11 minutes ago, customline said:

Yeah man!  Street custom! I hate to say this but it would make a pretty cool 😖 lowrider🤮

And yes, it has the sexy of a West Palm pole dancer. 🤪

I'm seeing this in Cragars, scavenger pipes and raised a bit. 

[customline]

1 minute ago, meechum68 said:

Thanks, and I hadn't thought of it as a Low rider. But I can see it. 

I was honestly surprised as heck at how great it looked, because Testors can be hit or miss. 

I have a few cans on the shelf. It allows too much volume, probably due to size of the metal-flake. One coat, a wet one. Done. The paint is awesome. It dries fast and it covers really well. And it sparkles like  crazy. Clear next?

[meechum68]

14 minutes ago, customline said:

I have a few cans on the shelf. It allows too much volume, probably due to size of the metal-flake. One coat, a wet one. Done. The paint is awesome. It dries fast and it covers really well. And it sparkles like  crazy. Clear next?

If it looks as nice tomorrow as tonight, gloss clear for sure.  Then 3-4 days of curing. Then Decals. 

 

[johnyrotten]

Now that just looks awesome. Great choice on that maroon, looks absolutely beautiful. 

[NOBLNG]

This is coming along nicely Michael.👍 I like that color on it.😎

[meechum68]

Thanks John and Greg!  I wanted another Maroon, but wasn't gonna pay 30.00 a can (considered it) I will check the color today.  If it is sitting like I want, clear will go on as well. Then decals. 

I will lay the color on the hood tonight. 

Then it's figuring out the interior color for this car.  

[Geno]

That color is killer.🤑💯

[meechum68]

Thank you Gene!!

[customline]

When you paint the hood, don't forget the dash.( I always forget the dash. 🤓)

[meechum68]

The dash will be interior color which I am still trying to figure out. 

 

[customline]

 

7 hours ago, meechum68 said:

The dash will be interior color which I am still trying to figure out. 

 

White upholstery, body color dash. Only my opinion. 🥴

[espo]

On 11/8/2025 at 7:30 AM, meechum68 said:

Thanks John and Greg!  I wanted another Maroon, but wasn't gonna pay 30.00 a can (considered it) I will check the color today.  If it is sitting like I want, clear will go on as well. Then decals. 

I will lay the color on the hood tonight. 

Then it's figuring out the interior color for this car.  

You can always Google the '61 Pontiac and look for pictures of 1:1 cars for ideas of how they were done. These interiors often were very colorful with a somewhat involved color scheme.  

[meechum68]

Yeah, I may do that. 

 

[meechum68]

1st coat of gloss is on, 2nd coat of paint on the hood.  

 Will get both in 2nd coats of gloss then it's decal time. 

Then I can truly focus on the chassis, engine and interior. 

[customline]

Paint looks great, Michael. Looking forward to the decals. 

[espo]

Great looking paint color and finish. 

[meechum68]

7 hours ago, espo said:

Great looking paint color and finish. 

Thanks David!  I just got the 2nd coat of clear on the body, and 1st coat of clear on the hood, will 2nd coat the hood tomorrow and then it's 3-4 days of it curing before decals. 

Once decals are done I will feel much better about things.  

 

[meechum68]

Decals that are going on, will bechecking out a few more of the old school poncho's that were raced to see the lay out.

[meechum68]

Did a little work on the suspension. Have to paint the front crossmember assembly and add a few details to it.  Plus have to do the front wheel assembly mounts too.  Slowly making progress on things.   

[Wickersham Humble]

In '61, I built the annual kit as a mild custom, but later recanted and dismantled it.  I had to have all the big trim and bumpers replaced, etc.  Of course, it was a Bonneville coupe, with the longer trunk (Bonne and Star Chief were longer, Catalina and upgraded Ventura were shorter) but had the same wheelbase.  The thing is still in primer because I jumped to the conclusion that the extra length was in the door area (dumb wrong!) and before grafting a '62 BelAir 'bubble top' roof onto it, I sliced about four scale inches out behind the door.  Natually the roof didn't fit right... and now in primer it looks rakish, but incorrect as all hell!

Of course, the 1/1 car was/is one of my holy grails, but their beauty and performance put them out of my price range a few decades ago!  Still one of my favorite postwar cars; only '53-54 Studebaker coupes and classic '55 Chevy two-doors come ahead of it.  I bought the Mobius kit ten years ago, and admired it's updated features, but haven't even really begun to build it!  My first impression of the kit was that the transition between the lower grille and bumper is too large/deep, but that's minor...  I bought a pint of Metallic Garnet PPG JE paint to shoot it (and my converted '49 Ford to '51 Ford club coupe, to resemble my old 1/1 college ride) because you're right, the maroon metallic of that year at GM was a great paint color.  The paint cost only about forty bucks!  Oops -- should ask the tab before ordering custom colors at a paint store, even if you work there!

I was looking for Fireball Roberts  #22 Catalina decals, but unless they've been run off again, I came up dry.  Any ideas?  Love those '61s!  Wick

 

[meechum68]

18 hours ago, Wickersham Humble said:

In '61, I built the annual kit as a mild custom, but later recanted and dismantled it.  I had to have all the big trim and bumpers replaced, etc.  Of course, it was a Bonneville coupe, with the longer trunk (Bonne and Star Chief were longer, Catalina and upgraded Ventura were shorter) but had the same wheelbase.  The thing is still in primer because I jumped to the conclusion that the extra length was in the door area (dumb wrong!) and before grafting a '62 BelAir 'bubble top' roof onto it, I sliced about four scale inches out behind the door.  Natually the roof didn't fit right... and now in primer it looks rakish, but incorrect as all hell!

Of course, the 1/1 car was/is one of my holy grails, but their beauty and performance put them out of my price range a few decades ago!  Still one of my favorite postwar cars; only '53-54 Studebaker coupes and classic '55 Chevy two-doors come ahead of it.  I bought the Mobius kit ten years ago, and admired it's updated features, but haven't even really begun to build it!  My first impression of the kit was that the transition between the lower grille and bumper is too large/deep, but that's minor...  I bought a pint of Metallic Garnet PPG JE paint to shoot it (and my converted '49 Ford to '51 Ford club coupe, to resemble my old 1/1 college ride) because you're right, the maroon metallic of that year at GM was a great paint color.  The paint cost only about forty bucks!  Oops -- should ask the tab before ordering custom colors at a paint store, even if you work there!

I was looking for Fireball Roberts  #22 Catalina decals, but unless they've been run off again, I came up dry.  Any ideas?  Love those '61s!  Wick

 

I got the decals off Ebay, but look up decals by Lucas and he maybe able to get you set of those. 

 And I was looking at the actual factory 73 Pontiac Burgundy and it's 30 bucks a can approx 6 oz that is touch up paint.  Still considering it for the 2nd Catalina I have in my stash. 

[Wickersham Humble]

If I were to hike out to my shop/office, I could tell you what Pontiac called the maroon that most of us used the Chevy name for, 'Honduras'.  Popular!!  I had my '51 Ford club coupe cherried out and sprayed that color, minus the blue toners; was working part time for the body shop owner, etc.  Very bright, 'cherry' red; loved it!

I gave a substantial portion of my pint to my nephew, who does very spectacular builds, and can get about five more kits (should I want to load up my shelves to that degree with red cars) out of the can.  JE can be catalyzed or sprayed from the can mix.  One of my '61 kits will get a coat, one might get Fireball's Yunick garage gold and black.  I once interviewed Smokey Yunick for an article in Special Interest Autos Mag, colorful as advertised!  When we finished the chat, he said 'What magazine was that?" and I told him.  Said "Never heard of it!!"  Oh well... 

My bro had made a deal about 1966 for a very nice '61 Cat bubble-top, and went to the bank to get the money (about $1200, back then) and another salesman had let a local hillbilly drive it in his absence; of course the hick took it to our 'Dead Man's Curve"... and rolled it!  Bro almost duked the salesman out!  SUCH a pretty design!  I have a '61 Pontiac coupe, ('Dawn Firemist" but came out more cinnamon) but it's a Tempest, the Buick alloy V-8 model, very rare as Buick didn't want to cough up it's engines to another division!  Can't afford a big Poncho hardtop nowadays!!  And I looked for about 3 years!   Wick

Family car then was a '62 Catalina wagon, not bad.