Originally written by Rocky Rotella for the September 2009 issue of High Performance Pontiac magazine. The article can be seen at Super Duty Catalina.
Many hobbyists can recall the specific point in their lives that a vehicle made a lasting impression upon them. To some, it was entering a showroom and beholding a curvaceous sight, while to others, it was the first time they spied their dream car peacefully cruising a street or highway. Then there are those who revel in the days when high-performance cars blazed the countryside, leaving the smell of rubber and high-octane fuel, and the bellowing tone of large-cube V-8 power in their wakes.
Herb Patton is one hobbyist who relates to the latter. The 60-year-old product-support-representative retiree grew up in Crete, Nebraska, a small town about 25 miles southwest of Lincoln. Though Crete’s population back then was just 3,500, it boasted of two dealerships: Muff Pontiac and Jack Applebee Chevrolet. The pair supplied the area with an amazingly high number of vehicles for their sizes.
“I was only 13 years old at the time, but it seemed there was drag racing every night, whether on Crete’s streets or at nearby dragstrips in Kearney, Lincoln, and Omaha,” recalls Herb. “I remember seeing the new ’62 Pontiacs and falling in love with the styling. There were several high-performance Grand Prixs and Catalinas running around, and I watched them win regularly. It was a great time to grow up.”
Making A Connection
Herb was about the same age as Don Gay of Dickinson, Texas, and though the two had never met, the excitement of watching the early-’60s Pontiacs thump the competition appealed to both. Unlike Herb, Don’s father, Carl, owned a Pontiac dealership and let Don begin racing locally with a ’58 Pontiac in 1961 at the young age of 14.
The dealership’s service manager, James Osteen, told Herb, “Don was only 14 when he started racing, so I let him drive on my license to start with.” With appropriate credentials in hand, Don took to the dragstrip, but it quickly became apparent that he didn’t yet possess enough skill to win. He lost each match race he entered with the ’58.
Don’s Intervention
Hayden Proffitt was an accomplished racer that Mickey Thompson employed to drive his Pontiacs during the early ’60s. It proved a lethal combination. So lethal in fact, that during his tenure at Thompson Enterprises, Hayden took five ’62 Pontiacs to the NHRA Winternationals at the Los Angeles County Raceway in Pomona, California, that year and won five different classes with them: A/FX, Super-Super/Stock, Super/Stock, A/Stock-Automatic, and B/Stock-Automatic.
Just a year earlier, Hayden was traveling cross-country attending events with his ’61 Catalina. He recollects, “I was asked to make a publicity stop at Gay Pontiac to display the car and meet the Gay family. Carl asked if he could hire me to teach Don to drive and I agreed. Don was only 15 at the time, but he was a good listener and caught on very quickly. He turned out to be an excellent driver.” Carl’s investment paid off, as his son won his first trophy the following race.
Super-Duty Success
Pontiac’s Super-Duty program of the early ’60s was stealing the show at NASCAR circle tracks and NHRA dragstrips everywhere. The largest engine displaced 421ci, and its 4.09-inch-bore block was fitted with forged-aluminum Mickey Thompson pistons, 6.625-inch forged-steel connecting rods, and a forged-steel crankshaft with a 4.00-inch stroke and 3.25-inch diameter main journals.
The engine was fed by a pair of Carter AFB four-barrel carburetors, a cast-aluminum intake manifold, and in 1962, high-flow No. 127 cylinder heads featuring 2.02/1.76-inch diameter intake and exhaust valves. A McKellar No. 10 mechanical flat-tappet camshaft with 308/320 degrees of advertised duration and 0.445-inch valve lift with 1.65 rockers actuated the valves. Spent gases were exhausted through a pair of high-flow cast-iron manifolds with bolt-on collectors that could be uncapped for competition.
With a compression ratio of 11.0:1, the combination was factory-rated at 405 hp at 5,600 rpm and 425 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm. A heavy-duty clutch disc and pressure plate assembly and a Borg-Warner T-85, heavy-duty, three-speed, manual transmission backed the powerful mill. A Borg-Warner T-10, four-speed, manual was available at extra cost. The rear differential housed a 4.30:1 gear set.
Don Gay’s ’62 Catalina
With his son’s success after Hayden’s tutelage, it was only logical that Carl equip Don with the most potent Pontiac the Division had produced to date. Carl ordered an Ensign Blue ’62 Super-Duty Catalina sedan with No. 221 Blue interior to be raced under the dealership’s banner. Its list of optional performance equipment included the No. 13B Super-Duty 421, No. 511 Dual Exhaust, and No. 691 Safe-T-Track limited-slip differential.
Assembled on June 12, 1962, at the Pontiac, Michigan, assembly plant, the Catalina was fitted with several aluminum body panels aimed at reducing overall race weight. Carl flew into the Division’s hometown to accept delivery of his latest acquisition, which retailed for $4,099. He then drove the 405hp beast back to Dickinson, where James Osteen finely tuned the Super-Duty engine, added tubular headers, and removed the exhaust system.
Just 15 years old when he slid behind the steering wheel of the Super-Duty Catalina for the first time, Don dominated A/Stock classes, consistently turning the quarter-mile in the mid-12s with a trap speed around 113 mph. He took top honors at a number of local, state, and regional tracks, regularly leaving with class trophies.
Pontiac Engineering slightly improved the Super-Duty cylinder head during the ’63 model year, and Osteen, who doubled as crew chief, installed the No. 980 castings. Don chipped away at the ’63 race schedule and eventually worked his way into the NHRA National Championship Drag Races at Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indiana on Labor Day weekend, September 1963.
At 16 years old, Don was the youngest driver entered into the field. Though competition was fierce, hot-shoe Gay mowed down the A/Stock contestants, taking the win in the final round over Ralph Swain’s ’62 Chevy with an elapsed time of 12.81 at 112 mph. With that, he became the youngest champion in NHRA history. Proving it wasn’t a fluke, he followed that feat the following February, taking top honors in the A/Stock class at the ’64 NHRA Winternationals.
Don progressed into Top Fuel racing and though it remained A/Stock race-ready, the Catalina sat idle. He advertised its availability in National Dragster magazine in 1967, and Don Visovatti of Virginia, Minnesota, became its next owner for the paltry sum of $1,800. Visovatti raced the Catalina in its Gay livery that year before repainting it a lighter shade of blue and naming it “Rainmaker” for the ’68 season. The Catalina was retired from competition in 1972.
Herb’s Encounter
With so many Chevrolets and Pontiacs roaming his town during the ’60s, Herb amassed quite a collection over the next several decades while the Catalina hibernated. “Chevys were always cheap and plentiful, so I bought as many as I could. I started buying up Pontiacs, too, and presently own 18. I always wanted a ’62 Super-Duty but it had to be just the right one. I started my search in 1999 and passed on three different Catalinas, and even a Super-Duty Grand Prix.”
Herb received a call from friend Jeff Dypwick of Chaska, Minnesota, in September 2007. “Jeff learned of a Super-Duty Pontiac in nearby Virginia from another friend, Dewey Miller,” says Herb. “It was an old ’62 Catalina racecar that was part of Don Visovatti’s estate, and was for sale. I didn’t know until after a bit of research that it was the same Catalina originally campaigned by Gay Pontiac. At that point, I was determined to purchase it.”
With truck and trailer loaded, Herb headed toward Minnesota to see the car and picked up Dewey Miller along the way. “When we arrived, I found the Catalina was in excellent condition. It was last raced in 1972 and had sat since, but it was very original. I found four other potential buyers were there, too, however, and the bidding war was on. I became the Catalina’s third owner after about six hours of negotiating and for twice the price I initially offered, but I didn’t care–I had my dream car!”
The Preservation
The 12-hour ride back to Crete gave Herb lots of time to devise a course of action. “The car was in such great shape that I decided to preserve it as opposed to restore it. It was last painted in 1969 and in a different shade of blue, so I planned to repaint it Ensign Blue, but I also wanted to retain the condition that the existing paint was in. I decided on giving it a patina like that of a vintage racecar, letter it like Gay had, and then show it and occasionally race it in Nostalgia classes,” he says.
Immediately upon returning home, Herb disassembled the Catalina and took its body to E-3 Restorations in Lincoln, Nebraska, where owner Ed Dedick stripped it to bare metal using aircraft-grade paint remover. According to Dedick, the body was completely rust free, and the only cosmetic surgery required was removing a few dents from the aluminum fenders and a small dent in the right rear quarter-panel. Ed then prepared the aluminum and steel body panels for paint.
The Catalina was treated to three coats of PPG urethane primer. It was then block-sanded, sprayed with three additional coats of primer, and block-sanded once again. Dedick followed that with two coats of PPG epoxy sealer, four coats of PPG Ensign Blue lacquer, and five coats of PPG clear lacquer. It was then wet-sanded with 600- and 1,200-grit papers, and polished with 3M products.
Knowing that Herb was striving for the appearance of a preserved racecar, Ed gave the finish a unique dull-and-aged look. “We applied five coats of PPG lacquer thinner directly onto the fresh finish and let it sit for 48 hours to dry since the thinner softens the lacquer surface. The good base preparation gives the finish a consistent dull look throughout, providing Herb with the aged appearance he was after,” says Dedick.
With the exterior refinished, Herb had Jim Hetzler of JC Hetz Studio in Muscatine, Iowa, apply the weathered graphics. “James Osteen told me that the side graphics frequently changed,” says Herb. “I settled on replicating what was on the car when Don won the ’63 NHRA Championship. The Gay family gave me approval and Jim applied them perfectly.”
The Powerplant
The Catalina’s original 13B Super-Duty block was tired and in clear need of a rebuild. Since Herb’s intentions not only included showing the Catalina, but making occasional dragstrip passes with it, he elected to save the numbers-matching block and transfer most of the Super-Duty components onto another.
Beginning with a typical ’62 389ci block, Herb increased its displacement to 407 ci by boring it 0.060 to 4.15 inches, and filled its cylinders with a set of forged-aluminum Sealed Power pistons and Hastings rings. The original forged-steel Super-Duty connecting rods rotate about the 389’s original 3.75-inch-stroke Arma-steel crankshaft.
Herb topped the block with the Catalina’s existing No. 980 heads, cast-aluminum intake manifold, and Carter AFB carburetors. A No. 041 hydraulic flat-tappet camshaft containing duration specs similar to the McKellar No. 10 was employed. Unlike the original Super-Duty cam, however, gross valve lift measures 0.520 inch when combined with 1.65-ratio rocker arms.
A Melling 60-psi oil pump pressurizes the lubrication system from within the original Super-Duty oil pan. Spark is initiated within the original dual-point Super-Duty distributor and specific canister-type coil. Electrical current is transmitted to Champion No. 44 plugs by way of Taylor wires, and total spark lead measures 30 degrees. Herb reinstalled the 180-degree headers that Visovatti custom-made, which feature 1.75-inch-diameter primary tubing and 3.5-inch collectors without mufflers.
The Aftermath
Since its completion in early 2008, Herb has taken the Catalina to a number of national shows and races. “I enjoy letting people see the car and talking with them about it. Many believe it still wears its original exterior finish, and I especially love hearing stories about the car from those who had a connection with it. That includes the Gay family and James Osteen, Arnie Beswick, Bill Blair, Warren Johnson, Hayden Proffitt, and Jess Tyree.
When asked what he best likes about his Pontiac, Herb replies, “In my opinion, it’s among the most recognized ’62 Super-Duty Catalinas in the world. Don Gay won two major championships with it, and beyond a repaint and an engine-block swap, it appears all original and just as it was raced then. I plan to rebuild and reinstall the original Super-Duty 421 engine and three-speed transmission, but it’s otherwise staying like this. I want to preserve this piece of Pontiac history as best as I can.”
Conclusion
Research has documented only 179 Super-Duty Catalinas produced during the ’62 model year and there’s no telling how many survive today. A great number of those have been flawlessly restored and look as good as or better than the day they rolled out of the assembly plant. Herb Patton took a different approach, however, and the weathered exterior on this Super-Duty truly gives the appearance of an unrestored racecar. You’d swear this Catalina just rolled out of a barn.
Special thanks to Jim Howe of the MidAmerica Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa, for use of the track during the photo shoot.