Rescuing a 1970 Pontiac Catalina from the Junkyard! 

So, what do you guys think about the Catalina? Can you guess what we're up to next with it?

It's awesome, inside and out. It's crazy how people with really nice old cars like that will scrap them in a heartbeat when all it needs is a little bit of work, but someone else who has the same thing but it's a complete rust bucket, with a half assembled engine, and no interior, will demand $4,000 all day long 😄

That's a nice find. Not too far gone either. It would be nice to see it restored.

Awesome beater cruiser, going to town car, as Derek says!

THESE ARE GREAT LOOKING CARS ,, MY SON MAX 9 YR.S OLD LIKES THE GRILL NOSE ON THESE CARS ,, WE ENJOYED YOUR VIDEO FOR THE FIRST TIME .. THX. PEACE...

WE WANT PART 2 ,, GREAT CAR...

Very cool 🤙 have a half dozen Pontiacs or so. Have a 64 Catalina and a 68 Catalina wagon

my pops had a catalina that we all rode in, completely at ease like a luxury liner. one day a BOX TRUCK MOVING VEHICLE overturned and smashed into the side of the pontiac....it was NOT totaled, but it went to the junkyard and rumor has it, to demolition DERBY... later very very STURDY and RELIABLE...and i loved the NOSE of it...saved his life i guess, that old car. i like to see another one get moving again.

Cool car😊

Thank you for saving a 4 door i love 4 door classics ❤❤

Pontiacs are a challenge sometimes. Lol I remember doing the rocker arms. Unlike a chevy, Pontiacs just require a certain torque. Also loved how the firing order was backwards compared to a chevy.

70 Hardtop 4dr ? Yup...👍🏁

Beautiful car

im jealous that thing is badass

Love it, my first car was a '70 Parisienne, looks identical except the roof.

That was gonna be my first car, my parents owned it for 3 years

Love the way the AC was installed by the factory back then

Newbie here! Funny video! Retired gives me time to watch car videos and I just started watching Vice Grip Garage. Now I’ll start watching you! Thanks for the work in making these cars run and the video editing.

Old car nut here. 😊. That beauty wants and deserves to be loved back to nice driving condition. Would reward the effort with saving a neat car!

On the bent push rod, I usually snap a pair of vice grips on them sideways and then hit the vice grip upwards with a hammer. Never had a problem doing it that way. You're gonna toss the bent rod anyway.

I love 4 Dr hardtop. I'd own this Catalina.

Awesome buy guys! The rear end is probably very tall as they were in those cars. Pontiac used majorly highway gearing and were even 315 or more. 295 but I can't recall so grain of sail on that last number. LOL. Burn outs might be a gear away or a supercharger and cam away LOL.

Good video!

That's a very interesting and unusual car to find intact in a junkyard. Most that still exist are gone beyond any help. Yours looks like it's definitely worth some body and paint work, while cleaning up and keeping the original finish, which appears to be very good overall. I question why you didn't remove both valve covers, even though you eventually suspected valve actuation problems. The engine appeared to be firing through the carburetor--a sign that an intake valve was open while the fuel was burning. Backfiring usually indicates that an exhaust valve is open while the mixture is still under combustion. Additionally, the timing chain on the 1965-1971 Pontiac V-8s used an aluminum cam gear that had a nylon covering fused to it. The nylon is notorious for stripping away at about 90k miles--sometimes less. If necessary, always replace them with a steel gear. Instead of using the Edelbrock intake manifold, you might have considered reusing the original 2-bbl intake with a rebuilt Rochester 2-bbl carb. They have a high CFM rating, they're plentiful, easy to rebuild, and the kits are readily available. The money saved could have gone for all new lifters. Also, it's important to check the rocker arms and pivot balls for galling. As far as the vinyl top goes, it appears to be original, with the stainless moldings it has. Just remove it completely, as cracked, dried out vinyl acts as a sponge for water. Don't worry about the surface underneath, as GM primed and painted the roofs even on vinyl top-equipped cars. My comments aren't meant to belittle you or the success you have accomplished on that classic Pontiac that someone simply "threw away". I worked on these engines from 1971 until the late '90s, as the "resident mechanic" for my family's and my Pontiac Lemans, GTO and Firebirds. They're very robust and reliable engines, but they are much different from Chevy small blocks. Thanks for the presenting your interesting, informative video.

🔉🎵🎵That's the sound of the man ... working on the chain Gang

Pontiac doesn't use locking type rocker arm nuts like the small/ big block Chevys. They're torqued down to 25 lb-ft.

Sounds like a rod knock Pontiac are good for that

I would have drug it home. Great find.

looks like u guys r having fun there! I say patch up the rusted parts, repaint it in its original color, put some nice rims on it, and change the ekzos (or maybe the muffler).

Cool video. I had a 65 Corvair that had that same knock and it was a similar situation. 2 cylinders weren't firing and the noise went away when it was fixed.

THOSE PONTIAC V8'S ARE NOTORIUS GOING THROUGH TIMING CHAINS COULD BE ANOTHER REASON IT RUNS LIKE CRAP

Same body as my 1966 Impala

i had a 70 catalina, wish i had have kept it...

Awesome car! Who would scrap that in this day in age?

i would daily that!!!!!

Man, I see stuff from the NE, the Midwest, Michigan...lived in those areas a few years growing up. Shake my head at all the rust & rot, brings back memories of absolute hackery going on to keep things on the road. Was up in Michigan last summer driving my F350 SD and a few people commented on the lack of rust on it (there is exactly 0 on it, no undercoating even on it) and it is 25 years old

Nice sweet cheap local guzz-cruizer!

Sounds like you might have a crossed spark plug wire

Weird that it's in the same place we traded it.

This is my comment to help the algorithm

62 GP next!

Somebody's been under that hood tinkering. The Accel coil, new radiator upper hose and I'm sure there's more that I can't see on camera.

Seems like you guys know just enough to get you in trouble. And it was obvious that you had both valve covers off all ready. And there is no way that that car was running on 5 cylinders. You have to not do that stuff if you want your channel to go anywhere big. Too many gear heads out there will catch you on it. Don't get me wrong you guys seem nice enough and your entertaining. And you have enough knowledge to do what you need to with a little Google help. It's very nice to find a nother revival channel of a couple of fellas that you can actually stand listing too. Wish you both success. Look forward to seeing more. Happy wenching.

If ya don't get rid of that temporary fuel filter, your gonna end up with a good bonfire.📛

Would have made a excellent demo car!

Lmfao 😆 😅 how much you wanna bet some pissed on them drivers side doors. 😂 Anyways besides that horse 🐴 poo Sweet car man. New subscriber here.

Fix the brakes, a new exhaust and new tires on it clean it up and daily drive it.

Is it safe to assume that this was videotaped months ago, look what they're wearing

did i miss it?? did we ever check the oil or change it?

If it had heads changed Pontiacs ran bottle neck studs, you just run them down and torqe them. To make the adjustable Pontiac used to sell hardened washers that put on top of the rocker ball then you install crimped SBC nuts and you Pontiac has adjustable ricker arms.

Yikes!

I Think the nuts are on upside down

You guys are doing a fantastic job!!!!! So fun to watch!

What was that sitting on pickup truck tires? 😂

That engine looks like a small block 400

Those arent adjustable like chevys , tighten them all the way down

How hard is it to get a title for junkyard car? I want to buy a vw van from local junkyard

Is that a 400 Pontiac?

Small block checy lifters will work in Pontiacs

Dude that is a 400

Flat cam, rocker arm or spring

Vehicles are not a she and this pontiac could do with 4 new gas shocks and a set of headers and a dual exhaust system for starters.

AHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhh Fix the stuck valve BEFORE u run it a lot !!!!!!! your piston is smackin valve.