74 Pontiac Grandville

[Adam]

I like these big General Motors cars from the early 70's. I swapped my 84 Firebird for this. It's got the 455.

Fixed a coolant leak, there's still a small exhaust leak, and the fuel seems to leak out of the carburetor if you let it sit for a few days (not sure where yet though) Otherwise runs well.

It's got the original AM/FM mono radio - not working. I picked up a factory AM/FM stereo 8-track out of a 72 Grandville I plan to install - along with an instrument panel with a complete set of factory gauges (a rare option - most just had the lights) I plan on putting in.

The interior is good and original - but not perfect, the paint (which was already redone once) was ruined sitting out in the Arizona sun. But the body is super straight, and it's nearly rust free.

Power steering and brakes, cruise control, power seats and windows, but no tilt wheel. It has the automatic climate control, but the AC doesn't work, and the heater won't shut off no matter what I do with the controls. Unfortunately, the same fuse for the heater is also for the power windows, so I can't just pull it out for now.

[init4fun]

Hi Adam, Congrats on the car, it looks great!!!

Here is a video showing one of the most common "hidden" fuel leaks from GM Quadrajet carbs......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN0_cOviVfY

[zeno]

Nice catch ! I ran the big Old's at the time, I sure miss them.
If the blower runs to fast check the resistor module. There is a small thermal fuse on it. Just need the value off it ( temp).

Zeno

[Electronic M]

Nice ride. All my cars end up with dry carbs if they sit more than 2 days. I heard an automotive YouTuber I trust explain that since they switched to ethanol as an octane booster they no longer add anti-evaporation additives to gasoline (nearly all cars are sealed fuel injection systems that don't need it) so modern gas will evaporate out of the carb vents in a couple of days.
I've also heard one of the original uses of Marvel Mystery Oil back in the 20s before anti-evaporation additives were in gas was to add it to your tank to act as an anti-evaporation additive... Haven't gotten around to trying it for that yet. Might help in my 47 Oldsmobile that usually needs a ton of cranking to fill the carb enough to run it it's sat over 2 days...If it doesn't I've got an electric pump I might plumb in and wire a prime button for. Everything but the Burban is off driving insurance and on the cheaper storage insurance for the winter now.

[ARC Tech-109]

Had a white 74 Grandville in high school. Swapping a later HEI & Quadrajet and really woke that motor up, enter an intersection at 30 full throttle and exit at over 60! Went like lightning in a cloud of rust, you have a much better example there but I don't see the big 455 call outs below the Grandville on the front fenders, mine had them so I'm assuming they were stock. Maybe not?

One thing it it did have in addition to the 8-track stereo was a serious boot-burning heater. At -15F it would start quite easily and it didn't take long to pump out some serious thermal energy.

[Adam]

I looked into exactly those 455 fender emblems (because I wanted a pair), It turns out they came stock on the LeMans with the 455, not the Grandville.

And all 71-74 Granvilles had the 455, while the other big Pontiacs: Bonneville and Catalina, had either the 400 or the 455 those years - and Bonnevilles and Catalinas with the 455 got one on the grille. But the grille emblems were 71-73 only.

The 455 on either the fenders or the grille might have been something you could special order on a Grandville, but it didn't automatically come with them (even though they all had the 455).

At least that's what I came up with after googling it for an hour or so.

[DavGoodlin]

Adam, Thats a nice Pontiac. I swear John Candy should have had one instead of a Ford for Uncle Buck.

A Grandville was a likely variation of a Bonneville to add some sport to their full-size line. After what they did to the GTO that year, it was needed to maintain some semblance of performance.

That very model is what made me go for old Pontiac over 40 years ago. I had a 72 GP with 455, rebuilt at 136K and now in a 69 GP whose 428 was long gone.

A good friend of mine's parents ordered one new as a rare two-door version with a padded vinyl roof, triple maroon. It was nicknamed "the rocket" though it wasn't an Oldsmobile. I drove it quite often after it was handed down to him by his family, as we shared an apartment then and sometimes my 73 Fury 440 police car didn't quite run right on cold rainy days. That is One HUGE reason MoPar was not as popular in the rust belt. We had a classmate with a 1973 Olds "98" also a 2 door, that was basically another powerboat and we would race on the highway between Tech school and our apartments. Believe it or not, there was little traffic then and this was easy to do.

The 455-4V was lower compression but it sure didn't take away much, it had a performance rear axle. Mostly, it started and ran super. As it was never garaged, it had a block heater with the plug hanging out above a headlight. Got lots of curious looks, especially after it started showing signs of rust everywhere and his younger brother sideswiped a guard rail. It was only 9 years old when it would no longer pass inspection and taken for its last ride to the junkyard with only 99K on the clock. I last sat in it in 1984 at that yard, before it was crushed. remembering the good times when it dusted just about anything made after 1971. It was fun to put the pretentious spoiled punks in their place on cruise nights.

Best night ever on the streets of Allentown (before they banned cruising) was when four of us were out in the Rocket and had some wiseass jocks pull alongside in a clean, modified 69 camaro and begin acting up at the red light. Laughing they were at the old beast with its creased-in passenger side and flapping roof with white fuzz exposed, then took off in a peel of smoking tires. Just mashing it down in the Rocket would smoke the radials, so he launched soft and then mashed it at 15 mph. The speedo literally jumped from 20 to 45 in 1 second, passing the chevy at 50 before we had to hard brake a block later.
Reaching the next red light, we looked over to see some sullen little b***ches not laughing anymore - that was a face-off for Chevy LOFL

[ARC Tech-109]

Thankfully Minnesota doesn't have the comprehensive inspections like PA has but then again I sometimes wonder why, if we did 90% or more of what we drive would have to be scrapped. That being said back in the 80's and thru the 90's we had an excellent supply of the older tanks with the big motors bruising the roads and modern cars be it the Olds 88 or Grandville and they were cheap. During my high school years (1986-1989) I worked at this small town used car lot & garage and had access to all the land yachts one of which was a 1974 Olds Delta-88 2-door hardtop with the 455 under the hood and a limited slip out back with dual exhaust. It had a worn distributor that got replaced with a later HEI and the timing not set to the book... oh man that thing could go. The motor mounts were also broken so I pulled them out, drilled two holes thru and bolted them together essentially making it solid, the car had a mean growl at full-go but nothing that couldn't be covered up by the 8-track. The best I could do was 10 MPG but it could handle a 5.0L Mustang with the automatic from say 30 MPH on up and embarrass a Z28 no problem.
Sadly the car was junked but the motor lived on in a later Olds Delta 88 as a transplant, this was the big reason we kept a number of the old boats around as the 5.7 diesel motors were starting to come apart and the owners wanted a working solution, most got 350 motors but there were a few exceptions and for these I was paid well. The one Delta 88 that got the 455 olds also got the 455 call-outs from a ??? I don't recall but they looked totally factory on those fenders.

[Adam]

This Pontiac feels faster than the '72 Buick Centurion I had (with the Buick 455). I doubt a totally stock '74 Pontiac 455 is that much hotter than a mostly stock '72 Buick one (I ditched the smog pump and put dual exhaust). I suspect the Pontiac has a higher rear gear ratio.

[ARC Tech-109]

Honestly I don't know who had the better "street power" be it Pontiac, Buick or Oldsmobile. My only Buick 455 experience is limited to a 1971 boat tail Riviera that ran like a thief in the night. Where I was at during this time the Buick motors like the 350 & 455 were not a common as the Olds and poncho's and were a bit difficult to work into the later GM cars that were getting the diesel swapped out. The one thing I found odd was a 75 Regal with a Buick 350 using a 2bbl where the same year Olds and Pontiac 350 used the Quadrajet.

[Adam]

I've since removed the front bumper guards - looks way better like that. (Will probably remove the rears too)

Too hot to do anything in the garage now (I put a small air conditioner out there last year, but it's not enough) And I was in the middle of trying to figure out why my 1970 Zenith 14A9C50 22" color has low high voltage too - now I'll have to wait until the fall.