Rick Johnson's
1971 Grand Prix

Honey, can I keep it?
If you haven't already visited Rick Johnson's 1971Grand Prix within the Manitoba Pontiac Association's web site, please go there now.  Here are some more photos about this Work in Progress.

These are the posterity photos of the Grand Prix on the day that I brought it home.  I didn't own a digital camera so the Polaroid I borrowed provided these shots.  My intention is for a total frame-off restoration, as can be seen in the photos of the next section.


While I'm working on the Grand Prix, my 1984 Buick Regal allows me to enjoy the Manitoba Pontiac Association's activities in the mean
time and once done, the Grand Prix will be my other vehicular pride and joy that I can share with my wife and children.

The car was in reasonably good shape for a 1971.  The inside of the trunk was in great shape, and the tire changing and option decals were as new.

 

Very little moisture had accumulated over the years so there were no rust holes to refurbish.  On the exterior, the major flaw was the vinyl roof, which shows obvious wear from summer sunGrand Prix 5 web.jpg (7566 bytes) rays and winter snow for an over two decade life.

These photos don't tell the whole truth, as there were some "deficiencies" that will need correction (see the next section for details).

It was the interior that really caught my eye, though.

Everything was pristine ... except the area immediately above the ash tray.  The previous owner was obviously an incessant smoker.  The ash tray was overflowing, there wereGrand Prix 6 web.jpg (14512 bytes) extinguished cigarette butts on the carpet (but no burns, thank goodness) and the most disconcerting part was that the area immediately above the ash tray was stained.

Try as I might, I could not eliminate the stains of years and years of cigarette smoke and tar.  Unfortunately, the dash had to be replaced due to burn holes above the ashtray. I found a color
matching dash on eBay and got it for $20.00.

One item that I highly prize is the build sheet from the factory.  This is sometimes referred to as the broadcast sheet and is generally found in quasi-secretive locations such as between the gas tank and Click here for a LARGE view of the Build Sheettrunk floor, wedged in the springs of one of the front seats, or under a carpet.

The build sheet for the car was taped to the back of the passenger side door panel.  I have corresponded with several other Grand Prix owners and nobody had ever heard of the sheets being placed in this location.  I guess some assembly person had a little fun in Atlanta on February 24th of 1971 when the car was being finished.

To see a LARGE view of the build sheet, click on the icon at the left ... but please note that this is a HUGE file ... 640K in size.
                             For a smaller 64K file size, click HERE.  


Work Begins ........
When I bought the car, I knew that I would be going for a full frame-off restoration.  With this in mind, I thought it be very wise to document, with photographs, the "time lines".  These photos speak thousands of words.
 
Grand Prix 16 web.jpg (8365 bytes)

When I took off the vinyl top (which came off in one piece) I found a rust hole at the bottom left side of the rear window.  This means that the rear window will have to come out so it can be repaired.  After removing the thick undercoating from the under carriage and wheel wells I found that the quarter panels had been repaired by filling in the rust holes with bondo.  This will force me to replace the quarter panels. 

On the floor pans I also found about a dozen pin holes which should be an easy fix.

© Copyright 2004 - 2010 Rick Johnson