Hey all......I would like to present my "new" 1968 GTO convertible.....ain't she a site of beauty? I traded my old rust bucket, a 1968 LeMans convertible, for this work of art. At least she is virtually rust free (or at least solid floors with straight almost rust free quarters). Believe it or not, it is a near complete car, minus a front bumper and radiator, it just all needs to be put together. Now let the fun begin.
Last edited by mrvandermey; 10-15-2012 at 09:25 AM.
To start off, this car IS an upgrade from what I had. Plus all the missing parts (body parts, engine and tranny) I have sitting in my garage. For I had expected to replace those parts on my old LeMans, so I am good there.
Now to answer your questions. No, not original color. Original color was white. It is an automatic, with a Hurst dual gate his/her shifter. It has a 10-bolt rear end. No it did not come with an engine, tranny or drive shaft, but I have a 1972 400 YS code engine with 7K3 heads and a Turbo 400 tranny to go in it for now. Sadly, although this is a true 242 car, it is not a numbers matching car.
When I put it all together it will be that red color with black top and interior. My last car was consumed with rust damage. The floors and quarters were simply horrible. But it also had severe frame issues and almost every body part needed to be repaired or replaced. The only good parts were the doors and trunk lid. So this new car is truly an upgrade.
Last edited by mrvandermey; 10-15-2012 at 12:28 PM.
Reason: typos
here is my old car, a 1968 Pontia LeMans convertible (GTO clone).....I traded this straight accross for the new project. On this car , it looks good from 20 feet away going 20 mph, but it had issues from front to back.
1) frame is rusted and damaged, then poorly repaired.
2) floors are rusted with a poor patch job.
3) quarters are rusted, repaired by placing a fiberglass patch and a mental skin over the rusted areas (did not cut out old rust).
4) engine is old and tire, burns oil and runs rich.
5) interior is complete, but door panels and carpeting are from some other car besides a GTO or LeMans. All the regulators are stripped.
6) inner fender wells, both front and rear are rusted.
7) front valance is fiberbglass, is cracked and held on by zip ties.
But believe it or not, I was still able to trade it straight accross for the new one, and I even told the buyer/seller of all the known issues.
If your new project car is as rust free as you say I think you did great on the trade. Don't get so overwhelmed by the beginnings of the project. It took me 14 years to be in a position where I had the space and the money to really get started on my car, take a deep breath and itemize what needs to be done!
If your new project car is as rust free as you say I think you did great on the trade. Don't get so overwhelmed by the beginnings of the project. It took me 14 years to be in a position where I had the space and the money to really get started on my car, take a deep breath and itemize what needs to be done!
Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, it is really dry when it comes to rust. I have gone over this car a dozen times, I know there is a small amount of rust (about 1/2" wide by 2" long) on the driver side quarter, right on the wheel well lip, there is a silver dollar size rust spot in trunk and of course there is minimal amount of rust on the cowl under the windshield. So it is not perfect, but doable. According to the magnet test, there is one baseball size spot on the passenger quarter that is a bit heavy on bondo.
Heck, I was only $3,900 into the LeMans, and now with this car (traded straight accross), and the parts I picked up (engine, tranny, fenders, misc), I am about $6,500 into it. I am already in the process of prioritizing my build. Just checked with body shop to schedule it to get media blasted (since car is already in pieces) and primed. Still working on getting engine running.
Looks like you did good. Do you have all the body panels for it, or have to find them? Front clip could get pricey, but rust free is worth it's weight. Nice find, good luck on the build..
Looks like you did good. Do you have all the body panels for it, or have to find them? Front clip could get pricey, but rust free is worth it's weight. Nice find, good luck on the build..
Yes, I managed to collect the entire front end, minus a bumper. I have both fenders, both inner fenders, the front valance, the hood and the full non-hide-away headlight grill/assembly, all for $1,200.
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Alky GTO
Dead Man's Party
...............here's a before--during--and almost done pic of my little project!
The Jury
Linear Mode
