Grandpa's 1969 Pontiac Custom S

[mikewoods]

I was lucky enough to get to spend 38 years of my life with my grandfather. When he passed in September of '22 I inherited this car. He and I picked this car up at the Leake Auction in OKC in 2019. It was in decent shape but needed a touch of modern suspension and a front end rebuilt. The stock Pontiac 350 has a small cam, aftermarket intake, and long tube headers. Other than that it is stock down to the bench seat!

Here is a photo of the car after it was shipped up to Michigan from Oklahoma in 2019.



The car already had power disc (one pot) brakes on the front so I swapped pads and rotors, and the old worn out rubber brake lines for some braided stainless, repacked the wheel bearings and put it all back together with Moog parts. I also adjusted the rear drums and flushed all the old brake fluid out. For suspension I went with 2" lowering coils from BMR and Bilstien shocks. I would have loved to just buy the whole suspension kit from Detriot Speed or ridetech but the budget for this car just didn't allow it. Eventually I will update the front and rear control arms to tubular and buy some bigger sway bars and upgrade to 4 wheel disc brakes.



I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go with the wheels but since this car originally had steel wheels with dog dish caps I opted for that route. These are Coy's forged aluminum 18x8 with +6 offset wrapped in 245/45/18 up front and 18x9.5 with 0 offset wrapped in 275/40/18 in the rear with the chrome smoothie center caps.





I am hoping to get some period correct Pontiac dog dish caps in the very near future but I am not in a hurry to spend $400+ on a set from yearone so I am looking on marketplace and ebay. Let me know if you see a decent set!


Future plans include a t56 trans and a limited slip 12 bolt to replace the TH350 and open 10 bolt that's in it now. It seems it has also developed a rear main leak (like every other classic Pontiac I have ever owned), so that will need to be addressed in the off season. While I have the engine out and the exhaust apart over the winter I will also add some electric cut-outs.

I've been a member here for a while and this website has been a weath of knowledge! I appreciate everyone who posts their builds and though mine is not high dollar or as complete as others, I thought I might post mine as well.

[boss_hoss]

Love the look of the steelies! As a fellow Custom S owner, it's good to see another one staying on the road. Sorry for the loss of your grandfather but enjoying the hobby and continuing to wrench on the Pontiac is a good way to keep his legacy going.

Future build plans look like a lot of fun. One thing I found out that you might look into is a Quick performance complete 9" rear end kit instead of the 12 bolts. When I was looking at swapping out my 10 bolt in my pontiac a brand-new Quick performance 9" unit was cheaper than trying source an old 12 bolt and have it rebuilt.

[mikewoods]

Love the look of the steelies! As a fellow Custom S owner, it's good to see another one staying on the road. Sorry for the loss of your grandfather but enjoying the hobby and continuing to wrench on the Pontiac is a good way to keep his legacy going.

Future build plans look like a lot of fun. One thing I found out that you might look into is a Quick performance complete 9" rear end kit instead of the 12 bolts. When I was looking at swapping out my 10 bolt in my pontiac a brand-new Quick performance 9" unit was cheaper than trying source an old 12 bolt and have it rebuilt.

Thanks for the tip! I will search out Quick Performance.

You're right about keeping the legacy alive. This is one I'll never get rid of- the kids love riding in "Papa's car" and I will pass it down to one of them when I'm gone.