[U47]

Originally Posted by dfw7849

Wow, lots of questions which is great! First the rims on a white car are black NOT white as it came from the factory. My car's paint code is "CC" which is Cameo Ivory body and top. Plant code is "C" for Southgate CA. The picture I posted showing the new Sunset Glow paint job was taken shortly after it was done in 2008. Since then I have changed to Sunset Glow colored rims and installed the correct rear view mirrors. My car does not have factory AC but one of my previous 59 Pontiacs did (a StarChief 4Dr sedan). It was my daily driver back in the mid 1980s in Phoenix, AZ. Also I believe it is entirely possible that 59 Pontiacs came from the factory with Firestone Tires.

"Also I believe it is entirely possible that 59 Pontiacs came from the factory with Firestone Tires."

Possible I guess, I know my 59 Catalina came with U.S. Royals.

[dfw7849]

One last trivia fact is that there were two types of rear seat speaker switches in 59. The two door cars had a conventional fader switch, while the four door cars had a multi-position switch.

[U47]

Originally Posted by dfw7849

One last trivia fact is that there were two types of rear seat speaker switches in 59. The two door cars had a conventional fader switch, while the four door cars had a multi-position switch.

My 59 Catalina sport coupe ( hardtop coupe ) came with a front, rear, front and rear speaker switch.

[cballweg]

I always thought the glove box light and ash tray lights came standard on the Bonneville which mine has and came with the car and asked my father who ordered the car but he doesnt remember.Does anyone know if these were standard or an option?My father didnt order too many options on the car except the spinner hubcaps and maybe the push button radio.Not sure if the push button radio came standard or an option either but since then I added a wonderbar seek-scan radio and I also have a sportable radio that goes into the glovebox but dont know if it works since I dont have the wire harness for it or the bracket that mounts it into the glovebox.There are some of these listed on e-bay now if anyones interested but none have the bracket or harness for them

[dfw7849]

I am not that familiar with 59 Catalinas 2 dr hard tops. U47, is your rear speaker mounted on the rear package tray (facing up) or is it behind a grill at the top center of the rear seat back? I know the 59 Catalina convertible has the rear seat speaker behind a grill on the rear seatback but I am not sure about the Catalina 2 dr HT. However, I seem to recall the Catalina 2dr HT rear speaker was mounted in the package tray?

The reason I ask is because after further thinking about it I suspect that only 59 Pontiacs with a rear speaker mounted behind a grill in the rear seatback used a fader switch to control the rear seat speaker. I propose that any 59 Pontiac model that had the rear speaker in the package tray (facing upwards) used the 4-position rear seat speaker switch, not the fader switch. Assuming the Catalina 2dr HT has the rear seat speaker in the package tray, then the only 59 Pontiacs that have a rear seat speaker behind a grill in the rear seat are the Catalina and Bonneville convertibles and Bonneville coupe. Only these three models would have the fader speaker control. All three StarChief models have the rear speaker in the package tray. I don't know about the station wagons but suspect they probably have the 4-position switch.

With regard to the glove box light my 59 Bonneville coupe did not come with a light and I had to install an NOS one I purchased on eBay.

[cballweg]

Thanks for the info on the glovebox and I didnt know that white cars had the black rims.I bought the NOS rear seat speaker that came with the 4 way switch off e-bay and the instructions shows the speaker in the rear deck and it says that this was for a 4-door car.I didnt know you could get a cruise control on a 59 either.DFW did you check out the other threads at the top of the 61 and older Pontiacs that I posted at the top of this site?Very interesting info and some nice 59s.

[dfw7849]

cbalweg, I saw the pictures you posted and your car looks very nice indeed! Part of the fun and rewards in this hobby is that we are always learning something new. As far as 59 Pontiac options there are a number of unanswered questions that may never be totally resolved. For example it is quite likely that 8-lug wheels and a vacuum trunk release were offered late in the 1959 model year. The trunk release is documented in parts books while the 8-lug wheels were probably added by the dealers to new 59 Pontiacs in an effort to move them off the lot when the 60s started arriving. Then there is the whole question of whether the black lines painted in the groves of the panel between the rear taillights is or is not correct. It's fun to speculate about such things as long as no one become hostile and we all respect each others right to their opinion.

[Engine-Ear]

Originally Posted by dfw7849

...It's fun to speculate about such things as long as no one become hostile and we all respect each others right to their opinion.

X2. One of the great parts of being into DarkSiders is that you seldom deal with "Corvette Guy" (no disrespect intended to Corvette owners/drivers - this group is different). We (Pontiac guys in general, and DarkSiders in particular) are doing the best we can to preserve the fantastic machines, and hopefully driving the wheels off 'em!

Some may say that I am an enthusiastic student of '62s (I would agree, BTW). While I have learned a lot about these cars in studying friends' cars and the roughly two-dozen I have owned in the last 25 years, there is always room for an exception to the rule.

Makes for redoing (and also judging!) a car like this a much tougher task.

Thanks for the tire info fellas.

[cballweg]

DFW,i have some good news on the lines on the tail panels.My car has never been repainted in the back and was orderd new from my father and it has the black lines from the factory and I was told from a couple of guys at the pontiac oakland club meet in Dayton in 2009 that had concours winning 59s[one a sunset glow bonney convertible and the other a canyon copper catalina]that it depended on where your car was built as to wether or not it had the black lines and also my 59 had under the hood on top of the grills was silver from the factory whereas theres were painted black and I told them I knew my car was correct cause my father bought it new and they said this was also different depending on where the car was built which I never knew.Very interesting stuff and correct both ways.Hope this helps.

[CATBIRD]

Don…..you are correct that the fader switch was used for Catalina and Bonneville convertibles, and Bonneville Sport Coupes. It was also used for all three Safaris. The other switch, with the choke coil was used on all other body styles.

Interestingly, the Magi-Cruise was not mentioned in any of the sales literature at the beginning of the model year. Nor was it listed in the October 9, 1958 Confidential Price List. It does appear in the April 1, 1959 price list. Unless there was a sales memo distributed to the dealers, their first knowledge of it would have been the July issue of the Service Craftsman News. All this to say that it was a late year option. The Craftsman News cautions that some factory installed units were shipped without the instruction tag attached to the knob.

I have seen seven cars still with their original paint in recent years (well six, but I'm including my parents new Cameo Ivory Sport Coupe.) I haven't seen all colors, but the ones I have, all had the black groves in the tail panel. This sample included Wilmington, Linden, and Kansas City Plants only.

While on the subject of the tail panel, take a good look at the alignment of the letters spelling out PONTIAC. I have yet to see a car that the A and C were in line with the rest. They are always slightly above the others. Another useless piece of trivia from my virtual cesspool of useless knowledge……John

[dfw7849]

Thanks for the information John. I am familiar with the theory that the blacks lines on the panel below the trunk were missing depending on when and where the car was built. It makes perfect sense of course. Also I have seen both black and silver painted panels above the grill on cars that supposedly came from the factory that way. Have you ever seen an original 59 Pontiac with a trunk release? It is listed as an an option for both 59 and 60 in one of my references but I have never seen one! Also wire wheels are listed as an option but I have never seen that either. I wonder if these options were planned but canceled after the parts books were released?

[cballweg]

Another item I would like to share and maybe someone has info on is the headlight bezels.Mine was aluminum from the factory and i replaced them with a set years ago with the chrome pot metal ones that I like better off a bonney in the junkyard and since then have bought a NOS set off e-bay.Does anyone know the story on these.Mike Frey that had the sunset bonny convertible at POCI show in dayton said the judges would take off points for the chrome pot metal ones and the judges thought they were aftermarket but mine came in gm boxes and Mike Frey thought they either came out later or on earlier models and then Gm switched to the other ones or even thought it was a dress up option which I wouldent think that woulod be true and just figured Pontiac switched them after production.DFW can you post some underhood photos.I never heard of the vacumn cannister for the tri-power.I have one that came with the power steering for vacumn.By the way the car in the junkyard had power windows which I wish i would have removed and fenderskirts which i did get a set later on and AC and was a 4-door hardtop like mine and got the trunk reel out light from.It was loaded with options.

[dfw7849]

Attached is a photo of 59 Pontiacs on the assembly line. The Bonneville clearly has chrome headlight bezels as does the Catalina behind it on the next row. I have a number of other advertizing photos back then showing chrome headlight bezels on 59 Pontiacs as well. There is no question they came from the factory on new 59 Pontiacs as well as the cheaper Al bezels.
As for the Tripower vacuum canister I don't have a picture but I can tell you it is located under the left front fender next to the vacuum canister for the power brakes. I used to own a 59 Convertible that came with factory installed tripower and that is when I first saw the vacuum canister.
On the subject of photos taken of Pontiacs on the assembly line I have only seen two. Does anyone have any additional assembly line photos? If so perhaps you could post them here as I am sure there are many people who would love to see them!

[cballweg]

I just seen a remade vacumn tri-power cannister in opg catalog.I believe that was only on the tri-powers that kicked the outside carbs in with vacumn with automatic tranny.Later on the tri-powers with manual trannys had the mechanical linkage which is on mine from a later manual car since I had troubles with the vacumn kicking in outside carbs and wasnt very reliable and a lot of people switched over to mechanical linkage years ago.Another tri-power item was the tri-power emblems on the 59s on the front fenders were never installed on the bonneys from the factory that I also was told at POCI car show and were only on catalinas with tri-powers because Pontiac thought they didnt look right with the bonney crest emblem that was on the door close to where the tri-power emblem was located but most poeple put them on the bonnys anyways but not correct

[dfw7849]

I have seen the ad for reproduction tripower vacuum canisters as well. I believe vacuum control was standard on all tripower cars in 59 whether they had manual or automatic. There is no mention of mechanical linkage in any of the 59 service manuals. The mechanical linkage came much later for the problems you mentioned. You are correct about the lack of tripower emblems on 59 Bonnevilles, it was used on Catalinas and StarChiefs only. My 59 Bonneville convertible that came with factory installed tripower did not have Tripower emblems.

On another subject I am currently selling the complete set of 59 Pontiac salesman training videos on eBay if anyone is interested. These have never been offered before. This is a must have for anyone interested in learning more about 59 Pontiacs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Pontiac...540a99&vxp=mtr

[cballweg]

Originally Posted by cballweg

Another item I would like to share and maybe someone has info on is the headlight bezels.Mine was aluminum from the factory and i replaced them with a set years ago with the chrome pot metal ones that I like better off a bonney in the junkyard and since then have bought a NOS set off e-bay.Does anyone know the story on these.Mike Frey that had the sunset bonny convertible at POCI show in dayton said the judges would take off points for the chrome pot metal ones and the judges thought they were aftermarket but mine came in gm boxes and Mike Frey thought they either came out later or on earlier models and then Gm switched to the other ones or even thought it was a dress up option which I wouldent think that woulod be true and just figured Pontiac switched them after production.DFW can you post some underhood photos.I never heard of the vacumn cannister for the tri-power.I have one that came with the power steering for vacumn.By the way the car in the junkyard had power windows which I wish i would have removed and fenderskirts which i did get a set later on and AC and was a 4-door hardtop like mine and got the trunk reel out light from.It was loaded with options.

Meant to say vacumn cannister for power brakes and not power steering

[dfw7849]

I just reviewed this new 2014 OPG catalog which lists the vacuum canister for the 59-65 Pontiacs on page 169. However in the description it states "...the canister is designed for automatic cars only". This is a mystery to me. Can someone explain why the tripower vacuum canister would be different on a manual transmission car versus and automatic?

On page 199 the 2014 OPG catalog lists an aftermarket Edelbrock Valve Cover Breather (P/N G2000053) for $9.95 that "contains an effective filter, which traps oil vapor and prevents engine compartment contamination". This sounds like a great idea and should stop all the oil getting out when using the original valve cover breather (which only had a course screen filter) and ending up all over the engine compartment. The original caps could be kept and put back on the engine for shows of course.

Back on the subject of rear speaker controls I checked the 59 Pontiac Parts catalog and on page 126 it clearly states that the fader control (P/N 533942) is intended for use on 2135-45-67, 2735, and 2837-67. So as was pointed out by Catbird, it was only used on cars with a rear seat speaker located on the upper portion of the rear seat and on station wagons. Since the Catalina sport coupe does not have the rear speaker in the upper portion of the rear seat (it is located in the package tray like on 2 dr sedans), then it would not use a fader control switch. Another piece of trivia to add to your collection!

I am still hoping someone will post some factory assembly line photos for 59 Pontiacs. I believe they must exist somewhere!

[dfw7849]

UPDATE: I exchanged several emails with OPG concerning their reproduction tripower vacuum canisters. In their catalog OPG states the canister can only be used on cars with an automatic transmission. However, when I asked the OPG technical advisor why he could not offer any reason he simply said that is what their supplier had told them. When I asked for the name of the supplier they refused to give it to me. Then I asked if they would contact the vacuum canister supplier and inquire as to why it would work only on automatic transmission cars. The OPG technical advisor said it would not be in the "best interest of OPG" to contact their supplier and ask them this question. This makes no sense to me of course but that was all I was able to find out from OPG regarding this question. The Master parts catalog for the 59 Pontiac lists only one tripower vacuum canister and makes no distinction with regards to manual or automatic transmission. Needless to say I am disappointed in OPGs unwillingness to answer what I think is a very simple question about one of their parts. So there you have it sports fans!

[cballweg]

I believe the reason why is because the automatics kicked the 2 outside carbs in with manifold vacumn whereas the manuals kicked in the 2 carbs with mechanical linkage arms.But I believe also like you said that the mechanical linkage didnt start coming on manual shift cars until around 1965-66 and werent on 59 cars with manuals so I would say they are only going on later cars with mechanical progressive linkage and dont really know the early cars were all vacumn operated outside carbs.Just my 2 cents on this.

[dfw7849]

I believe you are absolutely correct about the difference between 64-65 cars with mechanical linkage and manual transmission and earlier cars which used vacuum control on Pontiacs with either manual or automatic transmissions. In fact I was able to find out from OPR that their manufacturer/supplier did specifically mention the later GTOs with automatic transmission in their description of the vacuum canister applications. However, OPG showed no interest in pursuing this question with their supplier in order to correct the error in their catalog which said it to be used only on 59-65 Pontiacs with automatic transmissions. This surprises me since I would have thought OPR would have wanted to correct the error once it had been brought to their attention.