Andy Leach from Cal Auto Creations describes the work involved with bringing this 1933 Pontiac to the 2025 Grand National Roadster Show.
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00:00Here we are in the Sloniker building with Andy Leach from Cal Auto Creations, and Andy
00:10you brought this, I had to even ask what this car was, it's a 1933 Pontiac right?
00:14Yeah.
00:15First of all, how many 1933 Pontiacs are there to choose from to build like this?
00:21We laugh because we started the car, the owner just corrected me, it was like 8 years ago,
00:27Bill called and said I want to do a 1933 Pontiac, and it's like a 33 Pontiac, did you just say
00:3233 Pontiacs?
00:33Uh huh.
00:34But no, that's the fun part, if you cut something up enough you can make it cool looking.
00:38That's kind of what we did, this is Rick Ulfers and Eric Hanson, some of the main guys in
00:42the shop, heavily involved in the car.
00:45Who does what then in the shop?
00:47I do a little bit of everything, I do a little bit of everything too, I don't paint, I don't
00:56mind doing body work, but other than that I'm okay with everything else.
00:59So that's very specific, a 32 Pontiac, was that a personal reason for the owner, like
01:09this is a car I've always wanted, my grandfather had it or something like that?
01:14The way I understand it is Bill really likes trains, and he fell in love with the front
01:19end of a Pontiac.
01:20You have to look at the stock one over here, because the front end kind of, it's got this
01:23big shovel thing that sticks out.
01:26Like a cow catcher on a locomotive.
01:27It's actually horrible.
01:28Or you can just go over there and look at the stock one, that's why we brought it, but
01:33he fell in love with that and just basically the lines on it and everything else.
01:38So that's why I was wondering, why start with that and do what you did?
01:41So he had this, I love this particular car, and then from there you work with an illustrator
01:47and then design elements?
01:50So when we got the car, somebody had built the frame rails, they had at least started
01:55them and then we went back and reworked them all, but the frame was there, the basic frame
01:59and then the body shell, and the body shell was a mess, I mean a complete mess.
02:04So it was already cut up and then Eric Black got involved, and Eric Black does a lot of
02:08my design work with me, and we just started cutting the thing up and moving things around
02:12until it's like, oh that's pretty cool, and the big thing is the wedge section and we
02:16pushed the rear fenders up three inches into the body and pushed the back of the body forward
02:21and tipped it so it's more like a Vicky, just kind of softening the lines and everything.
02:26You start getting the major proportions set, then all the little details kind of start
02:30just falling into place.
02:31What's Matt do for you?
02:33Matt does a little bit of everything, so three, a little bit of everything, and then everything
02:37gets done.
02:38Matt started as a high school sweep up kid, and now he's like, yeah he's painting and
02:44stuff.
02:45That's very cool.
02:47A lot of changes in 11 years.
02:49Yeah, no that's great.
02:51So yeah, I heard some of the presentation you did to the judges yesterday about all
02:57the body modifications, and then the color is the huge standout also.
03:03The color, the wheels, the ride height.
03:05We should get Randy.
03:06Randy, why don't you come step up in here.
03:07Hey, how are you?
03:08Yeah, John McGann.
03:09Nice to meet you.
03:10You do excellent work.
03:12Is it a custom color?
03:14Yes.
03:16So what do you call it?
03:18If you were to describe it to people, oh yeah?
03:21Can you say it?
03:22Yeah, you can say it.
03:23Brass hole.
03:28Is this car difficult to paint?
03:30It was actually.
03:31It was very sensitive to dust, so even the smallest piece would just magnify itself.
03:37So you had to be really clean.
03:40Not that you don't do that anyway, but this one was more so for some reason.
03:44That's interesting.
03:46Even within the paint booth, just your normal way you do things?
03:48A lot of cleaning on the booth.
03:50Everything you did, it still wasn't good enough.
03:52They're never perfect.
03:53They're as close as you can get them.
03:55We're always chasing that tail, but you never catch it.
03:59Yeah, I can imagine.
04:01So what's the process of a multi-year build?
04:05You start with basically obviously tear down, and then moving sheet metal around.
04:09Where does the interior fit in?
04:11When do you decide on the color?
04:13All that.
04:14Basically, when we get a car like this, we'll get it on the frame table, get ride height established,
04:18figure out our tire sizes, and build everything around that.
04:21And then move drivetrain to where it needs to go.
04:23Basically, you want to get the ride height set.
04:26Then you get the motor trans up so everything clears and everything looks good.
04:31And then build exhaust and everything.
04:33And then you go into building the floor and starting all the structure and all that.
04:37It's kind of a process, because you want to build the house.
04:40You want to get the foundation set, and then you just start constructing from there.
04:44Get the major things set, and then that's where the fun stuff comes in,
04:48because then the detail stuff.
04:50You step back and you start looking at headlights.
04:52It's like, man, that thing needs big-ass headlights on it,
04:54just to balance out the big fenders and stuff like that.
04:57And that's where all these guys come in, because we all give each other a lot of crap.
05:02But that's where it's fun, and the passion takes over,
05:04because if everybody agrees on it, then it's right.
05:08That makes sense, yeah.
05:10And everybody contributes.
05:13Sometimes I have really dumb ideas and they've got to talk me out of it,
05:16and sometimes they have great ideas and we roll with them.
05:19It's a team.
05:21Yeah, it makes sense.
05:22So, for example, the headlights.
05:24Are you trying different production headlights?
05:26Are you making different things?
05:28For example, those headlights are actually 34 Oldsmobile headlights.
05:32You start studying all the different cars of that era.
05:36You're like, those are cool, that would fit it.
05:38And the taillights, one night, cruising on eBay late night, couldn't sleep,
05:42found these 34 Cadillac lenses, and it's like,
05:45we've got to build the taillights around those.
05:47I don't remember how we stumbled upon the 34 Oldsmobile taillight buckets as well.
05:51I think once you found the headlights, we just started studying the taillights.
05:54But then it's like, well, those two don't match up,
05:56so then we've got to model and machine a bezel that looks like they all fit together.
06:01That's the creative fun side of it.
06:04And then the last thing I wanted to ask you guys about is
06:07the Pontiac engine, which I think is cool.
06:10It's not an LS or something like that.
06:12It's a 400?
06:14Yes, a 400 Pontiac.
06:18So kind of roughly a 70s era Pontiac.
06:20Yeah, exactly.
06:22How much power does it make, and what's the transmission?
06:24A 4L80E transmission.
06:26Power-wise, we're not 100% sure.
06:28We think it's 600, 700 horse area.
06:31You don't need a ton, really.
06:33Yeah, yeah.
06:35Bill supplied the motor, and we didn't get a whole lot of paperwork with it.
06:39So that's where we think it's at.
06:41It sounds great.
06:42It sounds good, yeah.
06:43And the starter sounds cool, too.
06:44When you fired it up yesterday, I was like,
06:46it's like whatever starter motor you guys...
06:48What was that?
06:50It sounded so unique, just a Pontiac.
06:52Oh, okay.
06:53It sounded kind of like a race car,
06:55the way it spins up really fast.
06:57So I was like, that's pretty neat.
06:59I think the car is absolutely gorgeous.
07:02I'm happy to see it here.
07:04And I hope you guys do really well this year in the Salonica Award.
07:07Thanks a lot, you guys.
07:08Awesome.