The Restoration of a '28 Pontiac Landau Sedan.

My wife, Rhonda, and I, having done a frame up restoration of a 1951 Pontiac Chieftain in 1993 decided that we wanted to get a  Nickel- era Pontiac. By nickel-era cars I am referring to those that were built after the brass era, ending in the teens, but before the classic era when chrome-plating became fashionable for trim items.

Nickel brightwork has a fashionable golden glow, whereas the chrome has a cold, bluish tint. Nickel era cars have a lot to commend them; they can not cruise on highway speeds but that is not everything. Nickel-era cars are easy to work on and require few sophisticated tools, except for perhaps the slide hammer to remove the rear axle bearings. They run on regular unleaded gasoline and love modern lubricants. With my introduction to the mechanical brakes of this 1928, albeit 4 wheel, I have adopted the Boy Scout  motto "be prepared" when it comes to stopping! I am fortunate that this 1928 Pontiac has the 4 wheel mechanical brake setup; the first year for this in Pontiac. There is also a external band emergency hand brake, as well.

After a few near purchases we finally found a 1928 Pontiac Landau sedan, through "Hemmings", located in Mabel, Minnesota. We belong to the Pontiac International club (POCI) and so asked a fellow member, in the area, to look at it for us. He said that it was all there and seemed OK so we struck a deal with the retiring farmer and bought the car. We arranged shipping to the West Coast and picked it up in Bellingham in July, 2000 and we proceeded to trailer it back across the border into Canada.

Upon closer examination when we got it home we found that was as original as it could be having the original manufacture date stamped carburetor, fuel pump, generator and starting motor engine transmission. The rear end housing even bore the serial number of the car! However, all these items were working (borderline) but I knew they would not pass the mechanical inspection required before licensing in B.C. The 1928 main wiring harness, for example, was in tatters and very unsafe. Upon trying to adjust the doors I realized that I had some problems; the door frames were in poor shape as was all the lower wood where it made contact with the body.

I soon noticed that the body panels at the front cowl area and the rear over the gas tank were beginning to crack from the metal of the body supporting the car without a sound wood substructure. I knew then that I had a total restoration to consider. My wife's inclination was to " forget it........push it off a cliff somewhere...". I decided to try and save it! Little did I realize what I had taken on!

Now I was into a 33 month project with lots of research to be done. I first decided to do the replacement of all the bearings and seals. The rear axle needed a puller to be fabricated and with the assistance of  (VCCC South Fraser Chapter member), who kindly lent me his slide hammer, I was able to remove the original rear axle bearings and replace them with a sealed type and new seals. The seals and bearings I replaced at the front wheels as well. All the brake shoes were relined locally and reinstalled, with the help of (VCCC Maple Ridge Chapter). The final adjustment was with the help of (VCCC Vancouver Chapter). The body was taken apart. The body was lifted off the frame and all the lower perimeter horizontal wood was replaced, with the help of a local cabinet maker, with either birch or maple. One of our earliest discoveries was the RF cowl/doorpost wood had to be fashioned to replace the crude 2X2 that had be fitted in there after the car had something fallen on it some 20 plus years ago. The door post between the front & rear doors was so badly rotted that it did not make contact either with the roof above or the wooden rocker below; after some 16 hours of millwork a new one was fashioned and fitted inside the metal to make a solid door post. While replacing the original deteriorated wood with a new piece of wood quite often we found that the adjoining piece showed that it too needed replacement; would it ever end? However, it was finally all done and the doors now shut like a ! All the plate glass had been removed, with the assistance of (VCCC, Vancouver Chapter), and new safety glass for the windshield and tempered glass for the body was made by the ever friendly This was reinstalled by   after the car had been stripped of it original paint and repainted one of the other optional colours that was offered for this car in 1928. I also had to fabricate the front metal windshield visor and the front windshield regulator board that were missing when the car had something fall on it some 20 years previously.

The front windshield now lifts some three inches into the roof area up, for front ventilation at the lower part of the windshield!

The painting preparation was a bit of a problem which necessitated changing body shops. The first choice just was not working out for a lot of reasons. A new body shop was sourced and it all worked out in the end and our '28 Pontiac Landau painted as he had hoped for in the way that we wanted it to be. After painting, I was very pleased to have the assistance, once again, of  who assisted in the reassembly of the newly painted body panels like fenders, cowls, running boards, headlights & headlight bar back on the car, in almost a scratch free operation. After this I was fortunate to have the    (VCCC Vancouver Chapter) assist me with the rewiring of car with a harness of a competive brand that he was not too pleased with. Cliff reminded me many times about my choice for the wiring harness provider; next time I will consult with Cliff first! Cliff made me promise!

This vehicle was all completed and was on the road in early April and made its debut on the Easter Parade, from New Westminister. It was driven from Langley to New Westminster, via the Patullo Bridge, and performed without incident. It is powered by an original 6 cyl engine 186 C.I. engine that puts out an amazing 40 HP. Even its original Carter updraft carburetor, having being rebuilt, works like a dream. It cruises at up to 40 to 45 MPH with little effort. We look forward to summer shows with this car this year like the VCCC May Tour in Langley, the Peach City Festival in Penticton, in June. We are also scheduled to take the car to the Horseless Carriage show in July in Smokey Point, Wa. It is scheduled for judging at the VCCC May Tour, that should be fun and interesting.

In retrospect, it was a lot of work and I would not have been able to complete it without the invaluable assistance of many people for which I say "thank-you". I only wish that there more of these old early twenties cars around, other than model A's. Maybe there will be others who will do as I have and bring another one of these back on the road! So next time you are driving around in the Fraser Valley and backwoods of B.C. keep an eye out for a exciting piece of automotive history with the acquisition of a Nickel era car. Otherwise, in a few years club members will be wishing they had a nickel era car,and they will all be gone!

Frank & Rhonda Stirling.