My New To Me 1963 Catalina

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GruntedCatalina

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Hey everyone!

I just bought this badboy. pretty awesome near driveable shape. 389 with a th400 transmission. Coupe Hardtop. the drums were adjusted wrong by the previous owner and now need new brakes! looking for some help on trying to get a front disc conversion. I found the adapter but cant seem to find all the parts. specifically 1977 Bonneville wagon front rotors. the car came with 15" cragar rims. if anyone can help me find some! I also found out the radiator is unuseable. the crack on the bottom was too massive and the cores were all corroded. so now to look for a replacement of that as well.

I will be posting pictures soon once I get them uploaded! any info would be great!
 
concerning the conversion have you looked at what is available from www.amesperf.com ? There was no 1977 Bonneville wagon.
 
melsg5 said:
concerning the conversion have you looked at what is available from www.amesperf.com ? There was no 1977 Bonneville wagon.
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Really? thats rough. I have looked but Im not familiar with everything that can interchange with my vehicle. and Ames kinda shows you model specific items without interchangeability. I believe Scarebird has a bracket but his info says a 77 bonneville wagon rotor would be needed. you telling me that, makes me understand it may not be the best choice.

I also need to load up some photos. this things gorgeous
 
True there was no 77-79 Bonneville wagons made, but that is misleading they did make Catalina Wagons those years (I own a 78 Catalina Safari) but the up trim level version was called a Grand Safari. A Grand Safari would be a Bonneville Wagon IMO, also there is no difference between a Catalina Wagon or Grand Safari Wagon. And for that matter most Bonneville Coupes or Sedans would have the same Brake rotors with the big car 5x5 Bolt Pattern. Only Base model V-6 Catalina's received the 5x4.75 bolt pattern rotors.

Scarebird makes good products so his brackets with any 77-82 Bonneville rotors with the 5X5 bolt pattern should work on your 63 Catalina.

63's are one of my favorate body styles I have owned a couple of them in the past. Is yours a 2 or 4 door? HT or sedan? Looking forward to seeing some pictures
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Cammerjeff, thanks for those details!
 
cammerjeff said:
True there was no 77-79 Bonneville wagons made, but that is misleading they did make Catalina Wagons those years (I own a 78 Catalina Safari) but the up trim level version was called a Grand Safari. A Grand Safari would be a Bonneville Wagon IMO, also there is no difference between a Catalina Wagon or Grand Safari Wagon. And for that matter most Bonneville Coupes or Sedans would have the same Brake rotors with the big car 5x5 Bolt Pattern. Only Base model V-6 Catalina's received the 5x4.75 bolt pattern rotors.

Scarebird makes good products so his brackets with any 77-82 Bonneville rotors with the 5X5 bolt pattern should work on your 63 Catalina.

63's are one of my favorate body styles I have owned a couple of them in the past. Is yours a 2 or 4 door? HT or sedan? Looking forward to seeing some pictures
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CammerJeff, you and I both. I was originally trying to find a 65 Buick Riviera but, I saw the ad for it and I had to have it! its a 2dr HT with a very straight and almost rust free body. its definitely a tristate barnfind...in the middle of a city in jersey! so with the swap to the Bonneville rotors, is there a suggestion for calipers? gto calipers will do I take it?
 

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Thank you! So, now I'm just waiting for tomorrow morning! going to put in the lines and new drum brake and get the rest of the car ready. the radiator I ordered looks just like the OEM version except aluminum and 3 core. hopefully in before the end of next week.
 
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So I gathered some time, got a 3 core aluminum radiator, some decent brake shoes, new lines and, spark plugs etc. I get it all in and, boom, doesn't start up. I believe it could be timing with the HEI ignition. When I had a friend attempt to start it up, I saw the distributor jiggle. but by that time, dark hit and couldn't work in the 30 degree weather that approached.

I hope this will get all worked out tomorrow. its upsetting to see a fully functioning car that needed minor maintenance stop working when all you did was regular maintenance :(

I plugged the heater core back in to see if that was any good, it immediately started to weep coolant from under the line. time to tee that off. not gonna be anytime soon in the northeast that ill need heat in it anyhow!
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Does anyone know where I can find information for my 389. it seems to be engine code 15H with 10.25 CR but no CC information. Im trying to see if a set of 9773345 which are GTO heads would be even feasible at such a high compression.
 
from what I see the heads would be 543797 and this site shows they are 72cc and looking at this same site I see no benefit to the 9773345, valves are a little larger but the HP ratings on the 389 were the same, 267HP. Seems like switching from a 2bbl to a 4bbl and a different cam would be better.

http://www.bassettracing.cz28.com/custom3.html
 
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