VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1937 Pontiac Silver Streak Tail Light Help..

Hello all...

For many weeks now I have been trying to:
1) Determine if this part actually belongs to the car
2) Locate a replacement lense / housing.

I know from many that Chevy and Pontiac share the same "GM" family genes (sort of speak) so hopefully someone can (as best to thier knowledge) verify if my rear lights do belong to the car. I have seen many pictures of the rear of the car and all had basically the same rear tail lights.

My Project (1937 Pontiac Silver Streak Model 224):


The Part in question.. does this belong?
Rear Light Housing/Mount (fender mount)


The part I need to replace, light glass

I think you have the correct taillight for your 1937 Pontiac. Although the Canadian 6 cylinder Pontiacs shared a lot of mechanical parts with Chevs, the taillights were different in 1937.

Picture is a page of a 1937-52 GM Canada Chassis Parts Catalogue and shows the taillight detail. The catalogue lists only this style taillight for the 1937 Pontiac models 26 and 28. I believe your car is the model 26 with the 224 cubic inch engine which is the same as the 216 Chev with a larger bore.

In 1938 GM Canada introduced the model 25 (with the 216 engine) which was very similar to the Chev and shared many more parts, including the rear taillights and the basic Chev body. The model 26 was again offered in Canada in 1938 with the 224 engine and the larger body and it carried over the same Pontiac taillights from 1937.

By the way, the original GM number for your 1937 Pontiac taillight lense is 920678. Good luck with your restoration.

AWESOME!, I may have this catalogue as the car came with 3 originals. Incase I can't find the part referencing.. would anyone know who would sell these? I have checked with ChevysOfThe40s, AntiqueChev, and INIReproductions.. no luck

But I will keep searching...

Thanks!!

Hope you find a parts catalogue in the lot you got with the car. If not, it's worth searching Canadian swap meets and eBay for the Canadian Pontiac chassis parts catalogue as I don't think they were reproduced. The US Pontiac model 26 had a different engine and probably a lot of other differences from the ones sold in Canada.

Welcome Streaker...

Glad Tom (Headligher) sent you some info as he knows alot about these beasts.

Your tail lights are 100% USA Pontiac items. Very common, readily available. I have some of these lenses I think and some other 37 Pontiac stuff so drop me a PM. I think I even have an owners manual for your car! I'm slow resonding as I haven't had much time to visit here recently...

For simplictity sake, your 1937 Canadian Pontiac is a USA Pontiac Body with a Canadian built Chevy driveline. 1937 was GM Canada's first attempt to "make a Pontiac out of Chevy parts" to try to dodge some import taxes and keep the pricepoint low as Canadians did not like to pay for top tier products.
The engine is a 216 chevy, bored oversize to 224. Besides the GMC oversize pistons, all engine parts are the same. You should have a Chevy transmission but the 1937 cars I've seen, use the Pontiac rear end so the tail of your transmission is different and you should have an open driveshaft with u-joints rather than the Torque-tube setup.

My 1938 Canadian Pontiac is nearly 100% 1938 Chevrolet Coupe with a different front clip. GM Canada added some other items to try to differentiate the Pontiac from the Chevy so my 216 engine is Pontiac green, I have a column shift, hand brake under the dash, tube shocks, automatic choke and obviously a Pontiac instrument cluster sitting in a 100% Chevy dash. Both the Chevy and Pontiac guys find these cars interesting!

So, for your drivetrain help, this is your best site; for body/interior help, you'll need to look at some Pontiac sites.

Have fun!

Tim

Thanks Headlighter... after a few days looking through the box of goodies, turns out I do have the catalogue, plus 2 other books including the "Manual of Construction Service" and some shematic drawings... I immediately turned to page in the picture, and yep! it was there!.

I also saw that my car did come with a sway bar,.. some really good reading materials!

I thank you for heloing me get in the right direction, it started with the picture...
so far I have 9 catalogues of vendors who sell parts, 4 magazines, and found 6 forums to help me on my way!

Glad I could help.
Original parts and service literature are great references during restoration and these will be a huge help.