Pre Sixties: What type of vehicle do you have?
Frank Klonowski: My car is a 1949 Pontiac Silver Streak sedan. It still has the original 239 flathead inline six and three speed manual. Also still a 6 volt charging system.

Can you give us some history of your car or truck? Where did you find it? How long have you owned it?
I got this car in June of 2017 from a friend of mine, who brought a bunch of old cars from Alberta to Ontario. I had tried for a couple of years to get one off of him to no avail. We are also bikers, so I figured I would offer a trade. He finally agreed to let me have the 49 for two old basket case Harley Ironhead Sportsters I had sitting around. The car ran and drove after sitting for almost forty years! It was somewhat mechanically sound but the body was a little rough. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle myself. I also ended up with a 1951 Pontiac parts car, which came in handy later on.

What work has been done? What work have you done?
I’ve done almost all of the work on the car myself, with a little help from my family and friends. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? I had a lot to do to get it road ready. I had to replace the front windshields, which was a nightmare trying to get new glass. I had two different auto glass places tell me that these two piece windows are extremely hard to find. It was Speedy Glass in Orillia that got them for me and installed them with a new window seal. While they were at it, I had a new seal installed in the rear window as well since the old seals were dried out and leaking. I got a new master cylinder for the brakes as the old one leaked badly. Thanks Shay. I lowered it 3 inches all around. I made an exhaust “Y” pipe to run from the stock manifold to the open lake pipes. I frenched in two pairs of 59 Caddy tail lights and put 6 volt LED’s in them. I traded the previously mentioned 51 parts car for an old Fulton Sun visor. I also traded a beat up vintage gas pump for a set of fender skirts. I replaced the rocker panels and made a new driver side quarter panel. That was scary as I’ve never done anything like that before. The original seats were in good shape so they just got Mexican blankets. I stripped and painted the dash then polished the chrome pieces before reinstalling them. The door panels and rear package tray were shot, so I made new ones and wrapped them in black vinyl. Then I painted her with 14 cans of rattle can flat black. Then I had my younger put his artistic touch on with some pinstriping. He hadn’t touched a striping brush in five yearsbut it turned out amazing.

Do you have any work planned for the future?
I have lots of future plans for the Pontiac. I plan on frenching the head lights. I am going to lower the car a couple more inches. The roof is going to get repainted gloss black with lots of metal flake and lace. My brother has other ideas he wants to do on the roof as well. I told him he can do pretty much whatever he wants as long as he uses the lace I bought, and there’s tons of heavy flake. Another thing I will do in year or two is do an engine swap with a low mile 235 OHV chev which I already have. It already has headers and is painted. I just need to do a dual carb set up, and get some bling for it before I put it in. I’m thinking I may shave the rear door handles at some pointbut I’m a hundred percent sure on that yet. I’m sure the car will never be finished. There will always be something I want to do to it.

What’s a favourite memory with your car or truck?
Every time I drive her, is a favourite memory. A couple of notable ones were when I took my mom for her first ride in the car. She was as happy as a kid in a candy store. Another one was getting into Motorama in the back room. That was absolutely amazing to have my jalopy sitting among the gorgeous rides at that show. It was weird for me to see people taking pictures of my 49. It felt good to know that all the hard work and late nights paid off. I can’t wait for car shows and cruise nights to start back up.

Anything else you’d like to share?
The main reason I wanted this car is because it’s my late father’s birth year. He and my brothers and I were always wrenching on something and having a beer or two together. I did this as a tribute to him and the good times we shared. My brother Jabber did the tiki style pinstriping on the trunk in his likeness. I would like to thank everyone who helped me out along the way. Either with parts or labour or advice. Pre-Sixties, Parry Automotive, Memorial Avenue Automotive, Chris Stapley, Clint Nicolle, James Ripley, Billy Ripley, Jabber, Amy Nikki and Mikey. Cheers!

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