There are several mags out there,
Rod and Custom and
Street Rodder are two of them that you might want to check out.
The Pontiac's front bumper would look good made of two smaller pieces of tubing like the center section's bottom two pieces, but extended out to the ends where it is now solid. The front bumper could get the nerf bar treatment- it has the classic type grill for them, almost reminiscent of a '40 Ford.
I wouldn't change the rear bumper at all, unless it was to lose the nerf's, maybe not.
I would definitely consider frenching the headlights and using less-obvious running/turn signal lights than those mounted atop the headlights.
I liked how ours looked w/o the running boards. If kept, I would definitely narrow them. IMO, they're too dam big!
The gas filler neck where it comes up through the fender- I would hide it away under the tag, most likely. If you keep it as original, I'd use a nickel-plated cap w/o any embellishments or logo's, etc.- and for God's sake- NO BILLET ANYTHING!!!
That "trend" has, thankfully IMHO, FINALLY died a death of a thousand cuts. It seemed for a while there that every car from 2000-up ricers, back to T model Fords had to have billet
something tacked on it.
I like the steelies w/dog dishes, especially custom widened rears w/backspacing and mini tubs to tuck them up into the fenders- should be no biggie on that bulbous rear body style to get the tubs fitted in there nicely and still retain enough trunk to be useful. Wide WW's are not my cup of tea, but to each his own.
I would also prolly opt to keep the fuel tank under the car, not a cell in the trunk, for the reasons above- retaining a useful trunk- w/room for a spare tire and a cooler and a tool box and etc. Prolly keep the battery up front as well, for the same reasons.
At some stage, the thoughts of using a front clip from Pete & Jake's, The Rod Shop, Fatman's or Heidt's, etc. will likely come up. Sure would be a smooth way to fit a good brake system, good steering geometry and engine fit, etc. But that will be costly, even if using an OEM clip from an S-10, F- or X-Body, metric, or whatever. Can't beat the improvement over the OEM set-up, though.
Having taken every nut and bolt off of a '40 Pontiac's entire front and rear suspension- right down to the bare frame- I can tell you that there will be a hell of a lot of work involved cleaning, priming and painting the entire deal! I have photographs of parts hanging from a rather long run of wire, drying. Everything from the pedals to the backing plates. :sweat: That wire was filled, emptied and refilled w/parts MANY times during the course of it all.
A reprint of the factory manual is available
HERE.
