Certificate of Registration
issued on  June 21, 1998 to  Donald Hinsberger  for pride of ownership of the
1947 Pontiac Torpedo Sedan Coupe
 as identified below :

 
Don (that's me of course) tells us about his Pontiac:
     This was the third Pontiac I acquired. I bought it on Sept. 16th 1990, thinking it would be easy to throw some old sheets on the seats and do the quick rewire it needed so I would have a fun car to drive to the Pomona and Long Beach swap meets that I used to go to when I was still actively seeking parts for my 47 Pontiac Station Wagon.  Nice thought but the accident on the left front was worse than I thought. I had planned on using the front suspension from the parts-car (47-2519) that I had. But after further inspection the frame was bent and I was told that to straighten it out the body would have to come off.
    I then decided to use the frame from the other car and began a total restoration of the chassis. The previous owners had done a lot of "custom" work on the body (holes cut in floor pan) to make clearance over the differential and the frame was also cut up and c-channeled to clear the axle. I took a crash course in welding and got it all airtight. The body was trailered to a sandblaster and primered.  I painted the firewall Black to match the new paint job before putting the body on the restored chassis. Both cars had come off the same assembly in South Gate CA and now the parts of both were united almost 45 years later.
    Since I painted the body in 1993 work has come to a stop. The last things I did was buy the weatherstripping and installed the repainted parking brake and steering column. I next got the window sashes ready to be stripped before repainting but that is where I got side-tracked.  My purchase of this computer I am working on right now was the biggest reason I have not got any further along. Also the family took up skiing so that keeps me busy during all my days off in the wintertime. I hope to back to it soon. It was a lot of work but it was also fun. I enjoyed the redoing the chassis most. The majority of that was when I had my left thumb in a cast from a skiing accident and could not do my regular job of delivering the mail. Even that did not stop me from getting the front and rear suspension back together!
    I noticed many interesting things while disassembling the two cars. I hope to get some of the info I learned and some of  your input from your experiences on this site soon. I have already mentioned about the "mismarked tags" that called for a six cyl. but got a 8 cyl. on the assembly line. My coupe still has the original 8 cyl. engine althought it was marked a 2507.
    It had a bit of a sticky valve but I think that was from sitting around so long. I installed a top cylinder oiler and the Marvel Mystery Oil seems to have freed it up.
About myself:
Well I think that by now you have found my email address and know how to reach me but here is some more info:

Don Hinsberger                                            Birthdate: 2-13-58
7169 Benares St.                                         Car clubs: POCI, Early Times Chapter, Nat'l Woodie Club
Downey CA 90241                                      I have 2 daughters and my wife Cindy started this whole mess
mailto:torpedo2@verizon.net                       when we brought her grandfathers 47 Wagon home in Aug. 1988

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