TreySmith

Hello, I am 16 and I am considering restoring a 70' Lemans.. I found one nearby for $2000 needing some quarters, door skins, and fenders. My mom hates it when I talk to her about cars, so I think this will just be my little secret .
I work at a body shop, so I have the "hook up" on body repairs.. But I want to do the 70 GTO front end conversion, it looks alot nicer than the chrome bumper.. From what I have seen, I would need fenders(and nose) to do this right?

I want to do this car right, so how hard is it to take the body off the frame? I want to take the frame off, sand it, and roll it through the paint booth.. And how do paint the car the right way? I was thinking about taking the front clip off, and painting the car like that, and putting it back on, is this the right way? I want all the cracks and stuff painted, but they half ass everything they do.. If anyone has done this before, please help...

And how do you get the car "arrow straight"? We did a 71 Chevelle today, and it looked kickass, but when you looked down the side, you could still see that it wasn't perfect, and was kinda wavy..

I am not worried about the interior until the time comes.. It looks nice in the pics he sent me, so I am not worried.

Tri-Power

i was 13 when i started mine, but i had some serious help from my dad. I would say go for it if you can afford it. I don't know crap about '70s though. I went into my car knowing i had time on my side, so we took everything off, and did it right. It really isn't that bad to take most body panels off. You should have a good head start working at a body shop.

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1966 GTO bored 389 Tri-Power, Powerglide(#'s Match)

{GTO, Lariat, Galaxie, Glastron, & Yamaha} -Tyler-
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jetstang

Nice project! The 70 is the only Lemans with the Chrome to the top of the grill, so it is an oddball and worth keeping! You can put a GTO hood on it with the current front end, straight up bolt on. Don't worry, 99% of the world will think it is a Chevelle anyways, so don't worry about the GTO clone thing. Also, the endura nose is very expensive, and you will need different fenders. Lemans show nice if done right.
Bad body work is caused by DA ing the car, you need to prime/block/repeat until there is no deviation in the body to get it laser straight. Don't worry about perfect, just get it the best you can unless money/time is no object.
Good luck with your build and do the best you can. Nice car and Pontiacs make great power with simple bolt ons.

67/04gto

if u what to puta gto front clip on ull need the front fenders,hood,core support the endura bumper and all the little hard ware to put it together.i would just leave it the way it is,just my 2 cents,casue theres alot of clones running round,

TreySmith

I was thinking about having the Lemans parts painted as well, so then if I wanted to, I would always be ready to convert it back... Idk though, I am going to see the car soon, and then I can tell how bad it is.

Here is a pic of the inside.. What do you guys think for $2000?' Is that too much for a 100% original #'s matching car?

jetstang

Car looks good for $2K, try to talk him down to $1k if you can, because that is what we do, gives you and extra grand for work. A bunch of cleaning and the interior will be alright, install a new carpet. How is the engine, tranny, and brakes? The car will need a bunch of money, but looks solid.

TreySmith

Someone offered him $1800 arleady so I can't go lower... He said he bought the car in 86 then parked it under a carport.. He said he drove it around every now and then but hasn't drove it in 2 year or something... So I am sure a little gas down the carb and an oil change, and it should start up... Guessing the breaks work if he drove it..

Ranger01

Yea, you can think that, but it isnt always the case. Ive seen an engine that sat for a year without being properly set up for storage and it needed to be rebuilt. As for the brakes, that all depends, they can be in good shape or bad. People will drive cars that the brakes are bad without even realizing it untill its too late.

TreySmith

Ok, he said he would go down to like $1400.. Going to look at it tomorrow I think.

Rukee

If you don't buy it, give me his #!!

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