62 Catalina Suspension

[1962Catalina]

I am starting a 62 Catalina resto mod project and needed to know if any of the front or rear suspension components from the 59-64 Chevey B-bodies will work on the Catalina, any help would be great. Thanks , Jon

[MrPbody]

Jon,

I can't really say for sure what parts MAY interchange. I CAN tell you, Ames Performance or Performance Years can supply you with all the parts you will need for the Cat. Not Chevy parts, genuine Pontiac stuff.

I suggest, though, before looking from hell to breakfast, check with your local parts store (not an AutoZone or other keyboard place, but a real "old fashioned" parts store) to see what is available. You might be surprised hat is still available for those cars. NAPA has a prtetty good list of suspension stuff yet.

FabCraft (800-208-8242) is an excellent source for some of the odder stuff for that car. They specialize in the SD cars, but have a lot for the old B-body. PM or e-mail me and I can point you to some other places. We're not supposed to post websites here...

BTW, '62 Catalina is the most dominant single-year production car in the history of racing! But you probably already knew that... All that and pretty cars, too!

Jim

[maxwedge]

MrP, maybe he has a swiss cheese Cat and doesn't know it. LOL My pictured Max Wedge Stage 111 car had some really close match races with one, on LI, NY, back in the day.

[MagicRat]

Good luck with the project, Jon. Let us know how it's going if you can and send some pics!

[MrPbody]

Max,

I've seen a couple of those "swiss cheeze" cars, but they were '63s. There was an aluminum frame (never installed) at a POCI show in Charlseton, WV a few years ago. Pontiac did do some wild stuff when GM took off the "cuffs". Chevy guys don't usually want to talk about it...

In '62, Catalina won 35 of 36 Grand National (what we call "Cup" today) races. Fireball Roberts and Joe Weatherly were responsible for 31 of those! Catalina also completely dominated NHRA Stock, Super Stock and A/FX that year. Dyno Don won one (count 'em) race that year with his 409. It was '64 when the Ramchargers REALLY came on strong. Hemi had a lot to do with it. GM pulling all the front-door money out mid-year '63 probably had the most to do with it. There were both a Chevy AND a Pontiac "hemi" in the works that got canceled. You can see the Pontiac on the cover of Oct. '70 Hot Rod. The Chevy 427 "Mystery" engine showed up in '63, but was banned because it wasn't "production". The 396 came to us in '65, and was the production "incarnation" of that one, followed by 427 in '66.

The inevitable "what if" syndrome... (:-

Jim

p.s. This is not to desparage the old 426 "wedge"... GREAT engine. 440s have been known to make a little power... (!)

[maxwedge]

Held the NHRA speed record for 3 seasons, when I retired it in the late 80's it was going 11.0's at 122 on 9 inch tires, 3410# without driver and dead legal NHRA stock. Lots of fun, but parts were impossible in those days. The SD 62 that I used to run against actually was a B stocker at the time, as it was still heavier than my Plymouth. I miss it!!

[MrPbody]

I always had a soft spot for those big Plymouths. In high school, I pitted for a guy running a '63 in Late Model Sportsman (NASCAR). They had a 400 CID limit, so he ran a 383. Ran REAL WELL against the small blocks, but was a bit "nose-heavy" compared to the Chevelles. Still, he won a race or three... Riverside (showing my age a bit here) was a GAS! He said going into turn 9 at 160, grabbing 3rd and stomping the binders was the biggest rush of his racing "career". No disc brakes on those cars, just BIG drums and Velva-Touch shoes... 'Member them?

Jim

Jim

[maxwedge]

Yes, no stop cold we called em! My old car, I found out, is still out there running NHRA A/SA, 10.40"s now!