I been out of the restoration scene since selling my '67 hard top a few years back.
I picked this up last month and excited to jump back in.
The car is original Tyrol Blue/ Parchment, YS 400, factory A/C, Auto.
The car needs a ton of new sheet metal, full floor, full trunk, full quarters, tail lamp panel and outer wheel wells.
Disassembled and removed all the engine accessories.
Removed the intake manifold, water pump, timing chain cover.
I wire brushed the entire engine by hand and removed the old flaking paint
Repainted engine, intake manifold, bought new timing cover.
Installed new gasket set on valley cover, intake, exhaust, timing cover, valve covers, water pump. Spent over $1500 on odds and ends parts
Using Ram Air exhaust manifolds again
Date coded Alternator with resistors and capacitors
Date coded belts
Vintage NOS spark plugs
Upper pulley zinc plated like original
It took a long month with sourcing the correct parts, wrong parts shipped and returned and waiting on certain parts out of stock from vendors but the engine and trans is finally complete
Jim,
the engine was rebuilt by the previous owner I bought the car from. As you know in this hobby you always buy "as is'.
I removed the valve covers, valley pan and oil pan as I was cleaning up the engine. All sources point to a fresh stock rebuild
new timing chain, new cam, new bearings. I installed new gaskets and been priming the engine every day for the past 2 weeks. I have 60 psi oil presure and oil up to the rockers.
So as Richard Rawlins says. "let er rip tater chip!" All I can do is start it up and see how it sounds
I am confident it will be fine and eventually I will start it up when its sitting on the bare frame so if there is an issue its not a big deal to tear it back down.
I was wondering that about the engine myself. It does look good. Have to ask, why would you buy a car that needed so much work? According to your initial thread, alot of metal has to be replaced. Sentimental value?? A challenge?? Just curious. Best wishes with the restoration.
Good Question Nicholas
I dont know if you saw my older thread with my '67 silverglaze hardtop but after the restoration I had an opportunity to buy another car so I sold the GTO.
I regret selling it and missed that car so over the past 2 years i was browsing on Ebay for a new project.
I am a big fan of factory AC cars and GTO's with air are hard to find.
Any car you find will need a trunk and patch panels on the lower rear quarters. With all the new sheet metal available for these cars why patch with the old 3 piece trunk or use patch panels on the quarters. The floor is actually very solid but a patch panel was put in on the passenger side and I hate seeing shoddy welding seams from under the car so i am replacing all the metal. Its easier this way actually.
I got a good deal on the car it really isnt that bad considering what else is out there
Thanks for the question
Thank you for your response. You certainly have the enthusiasm and skill to make it a beautiful car. Take many pics and post them. We all like looking at things like that. Many thanks, Nicholas.
I will be happy to keep posting progress pics as I move on
I am all over the place with this build because my body man that's doing the metal work has a full shop right now so as to not to waste time I am doing anything I can not related to body or chassis
Normally the car would of been off the frame and in a body cart now but with the amount of metal work, I am having him do most of it while it's still in the frame to keep everything square
Once most of the metal work is finished I can put on the cart and do the frame
Next up is reconditioning the factory air and heating components
More pics to follow
Felt a kinship to your threads as your story is similar to my own. Also parted with my Montreux blue 67 back in the 70s, so I purchased a rolling chassis Tyrol 67 in '03. Finished her with Montreux last summer. I noted you went with ram-air manifolds, so did I but later experienced issues with starter (too hot) and starter wire (melting). Hope you have better luck than I did as I installed a mini-starter and rerouted wiring. Starts great now even when hot.
The problem with GM starters and hot Pontiac engines is that the the starter case expands and causes issues with the armature and windings. I spot welded the seam with a mig welder and that helped alot but even on hot days the starter still sounded weak so I used a high torque mini start and never had an issue since
I normally despise after market parts but its down low and out of sight
I look forward to watching the progress that you make. Keep the pictures coming. I just bought a 67 GTO that is in pretty good shape, and I look forward to doing some work on it. I'm sure I'll learn from your efforts.
Worked on my pedal assemblies. All ready but the rubber pedals and stainless dress up is on back order
Just killing time and doing small parts till my metal man can start on the body
I think I will be moving on the the gauges and dash next
It's a dirty knuckle breaking job.
All my front control arms have been sandblasted and refinished
New Moog components too. Just need to press in the bushings with an arbor press
Justvdetailed the rear axle.
The rear was all rebuilt and is from a 1968 GTO 4 pinion Posi with 3:55 gear ratio,
I sandblasted the axle. Drained and refilled with new gear oil and additive.
Replaced the dented rear cover with new, new brake lines, Brakes and inspection marks and decals
Looks great, well done with all the detail into it. If your car does not already have these, while you have the rear end out and can get to everything, I would add either the factory style reproduction upper/lower control arm braces https://www.opgi.com/gto/D250054/ or spring for a set of aftermarket braces. 1964-1967 GM A-Body Control Arm Reinforcements/Frame Braces [4029] - $129.99 : UMI Performance, Inc. The 4 speed cars had them, but it does help to add some strength to the frame mounting points if you plan on "using" the car.
Sandblasted the wheels over the past weekend
Applied self etch, Painted back of wheels in gray enamel, taped and sprayed with Argent silver then charcoal.
New caps and lugs
You Rally I guys have it easy..haha:smile3:
A lot more taping and masking on a Rally II
My 67 is in the body and metal phase right now.
The metal work is being done by JMCR. The shop knows Pontiacs and they have a few gold and silver awards from POIC.
The first thing that was done was fitting the doors using new door hinges before cutting out the quarters and so there is a benchmark knowing the doors now fit perfectly
Here is the rear sheet metal removed
I have full rear quarters, inner and outer wheel houses, full 1 piece trunk floor, 2 trunk extensions, and an NOS rear tail light panel.
Still a lot more tear down to go. Hopefully new sheet metal will be fitted next week
Looking better, but it would scare the heck out of me to cut everything off and then rebuild and hope it all lines up. I would have tackled 1 side at a time to make sure I had the structural integrity left in the other body panels to keep things aligned.
Just how I would have done it, but I don't do this everyday either. :thumbsup:
This is the only way to do it when you are replacing the wheel houses and the full trunk.
The inner wheel houses were not that great after closer inspection so they were repaired using new wheel houses. Its a big project to replace the entire inner wheel house so piecing together was the logical way to go.
Using a one piece floor pan too that goes all the way to the rear seat support. Its a nice piece and well worth the money
The fitment is pretty good too
Had some unforeseen rust in the drivers side rocker so both the inner and outer rocker was replaced.
Now getting back to hanging the new sheet metal for final fitment
Thanks
I am in NJ
I have a metal/body man doing the bodywork and then will hand it off to my painter. I enjoy doing all the intricate work or disassemble and restoring parts and final reassembly
My body man has been back on it the past 2 weeks
The new sheet metal is finally going back on and looking like a car again.
Even with new sheet metal it takes time to align gaps and still make everything fit
All the metal work is now complete and I can finally make real progress and move forward.
The 1 piece floor is in and I decided to replace the firewall too since someone previously used a floor patch that cut into the firewall and was an amateur job at best
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