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Dan's Colo Restore Story

29K views 92 replies 16 participants last post by  Colorado67GTO 
#1 ·
I thought I would start sharing my restoration story. I have a 67 GTO I purchased about a month ago. It has blue exterior, black interior, bench seat, automatic on the tree, PS, 4bbl, 2.93 posi, AC and that is about it. I bought it from the original owner and so far, it looks like everything is original. Even the keys I received from the seller have the numbers that match the PHS.

Before I started the disassembly, I took about 400 pictures to try to document every aspect of the car before I started pulling it apart. This car has had very little modification so I felt it was good to document as much as I could.

I then started the disassembly. So far, I have removed most of the brights, the front and rear glass, the back seat, head liner, and package tray.

I have found a few things I hoped I wouldn't find, but were expected. There was rust under the lower trim pieces and I also found that the driver's side front fender doesn't look original. I figured the fender wasn't original because there were not holes for both of the pins on the badge. The badge had one good pin (and fender hole) and the other one was cut off and the badge glued to the trim. I guess for a 50 year old car, I can't expect it all to be perfect.

I have found some technical things I will have questions about, but will post those separately when I get to them.

I have made a spreadsheet on an old computer I am keeping in my garage. I am numbering and labeling every part and taking pictures of the assemblies and sequences so I have something to refer to when I start reassembly. I am linking the folders for those pictures to the parts or the part assemblies.


I know people like to see pictures, so I have attached a few. I will post more pictures as I progress. Let me know if you would like to see any other specific ones.

Thanks,

Dan
 

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#7 ·
Thanks guys. I am about to start tearing down the doors, but other items have slowed me a bit, not least of which is title issues. It doesn't look like anything serious. Just the hoops I have to jump through with an out of state title and that it was signed in the wrong place. Every time I talk to the DMV, I get a different answer. It is probably not that uncommon.
 
#8 ·
I am making good progress on the disassembly. I have removed the back bumper, the gas tank, and the trunk lid. I will have to do some verification on the gas tank because it looks new. The person I worked with to buy the car said he had put in a new one. I will just need to verify that it is the correct one.

I also removed the old carpet and found a couple of surprises. First, when I removed the carpet, I found that the carpet had been replaced. That wasn't the surprise. The surprise was that when they replaced the carpet, they just sprayed adhesive over the old carpet and installed the new carpet over the top of it. Maybe it was to add extra strength to the rusted out floorboard :wink2:.

I found the second surprise under the original carpet. It wasn't the protect-o-plate or the build sheet (I wish). It appears to be the back of the vehicle load sticker in the glove box. It has a date (7-5-66) and what appears to be a GM part number (#9773287). The company that made this is still in existence, so I sent them an email to ask about it. I haven't yet heard back.

I will be working on the dash next and then be looking to remove the front clip and hood. Then, I should be pretty close to separating the body from the frame. I have lined up the company that will do the stripping, so I am excited to get to that point.

I do have a question. Does anyone know of a good company that does chrome plating in the Denver area or along the front range? The old standby was Denver Bumper, but they have since closed.

I have added a few pictures. One thing you won't see often is there is no cut-out on the floor for a shifter as this is an automatic with the shifter on the "tree" and a bench seat. I also included a picture of that piece of paper that I found that looks like it is the sticker back. Has anyone else found anything like that? I suspect the installer just put on the sticker and then dropped the backing on the floor of the car before the carpet was installed.

I am still working on title issues, but the sellers have been great. They are just going to get a new title with only the surviving owner on it so she can sign it and the Colorado DMV won't have to ask for more legal documentation from them. I hope to get the final title in a few days.

Thanks,

Dan
 

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#10 ·
It has been a while since I posted but I have been making pretty steady progress. I am probably going to bribe some friends and family with a Bronco's party and get help removing the body from the frame to send off to blasting. I also sent the bumpers away today to be reconditioned. I will post pictures when I remove the body.

I do have a question. I had a body shop guy come out and take a look at my car today. In his defense, I did tell him he wouldn't get the car until I completed the rust repair, so he kind of had to use his imagination. That said, he said a rough ballpark estimate was going to be around $20k for just the fine body work and paint. The car is pretty straight so I don't expect too much work there. This seems very high to me. I have seen estimates for ALL the repairs (floor panels, trunk, quarters, body work and paint) for around that amount. What did others pay for similar work? Am I just suffering sticker shock and that is really what it will cost? I would appreciate your input.
 
#16 ·
Yep. I am going to strip it all the way down to the frame, get it blasted and paint it. I will be doing the engine, transmission, rear end and front end as well.

There appears to be a little damage to the drivers side horn. Please see picture. I am trying to decide if I need to fix this or not. It seems cosmetic at this point. Thoughts? The rest of the frame appears to be in really good shape.

Also, I was talked into converting to front disk brakes. I will keep all the original drum brake parts in case there is ever a need to put it back to stock. I have a lead on a 71 Chevelle with the single piston calipers.
 

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#82 ·
Yep. I am going to strip it all the way down to the frame, get it blasted and paint it. I will be doing the engine, transmission, rear end and front end as well.

There appears to be a little damage to the drivers side horn. Please see picture. I am trying to decide if I need to fix this or not. It seems cosmetic at this point. Thoughts? The rest of the frame appears to be in really good shape.

Also, I was talked into converting to front disk brakes. I will keep all the original drum brake parts in case there is ever a need to put it back to stock. I have a lead on a 71 Chevelle with the single piston calipers.
Wow it must have been parked outside for awhile with all the interior rust
 
#17 ·
Sounds like a good plan. I have had a couple frames powder coated after blasting - really like the results. I powder coat most of the brackets, control arms, and cross member. Not seeing the damage on your frame. If the front end looked right before you took it apart, and you plan to use those same piece-parts, I wouldn't mess with it. Good stuff. Matt
 
#18 ·
Perhaps the damage could be hammered out with a hammer and dolly, but it does look cosmetic only. I would definitely convert to disks up front. Those discs and calipers should work, I used a 72 lemans front disk set up on my 68 GTO. Do not forget you need a disc brake master cylinder and a proportioning valve for disc brakes, too. On a side note, my earliest date of my GTO is a receipt for a battery in Colorado Springs circa 1983...pretty ironic huh?
 
#19 ·
To respond to one of your previous questions/posts about the $20k paint job: speaking as someone who did all his own body and paint work (because I myself got an $18k paint job quote from a restoration shop), I feel like I'm in a position to say that figure is not unreasonable. Yeah, you heard me right. Not unreasonable. Because now I understand how much time, labor, and effort goes into getting a high quality paint job. When someone says "it's all in the prep" - they're simultaneously telling the truth and making it sound a lot simpler than it really is. I'm talking hundreds of hours (literally) of priming, filling, guide coating, sanding, priming, filling, guide coating... all by hand (no machines allowed) just to get the body panels flat and straight. Then you apply one last coat of primer, wet sand the whole car (again by hand) with 600 grit to get all the previous sanding scratches out... all this just to get ready to start spraying material: sealer coat, color coats, clear coats. Done? Not hardly. After the clear is partially cured you get to start sanding again - the whole car - multiple times: 1000 grit, 2000 grit, 3000 grit... to get the surface of the clear coat "flat" and remove all the eggshell - this you can do with a 3/32" stroke random pattern air sander, if you're careful - but there's a very good chance that you'll break through the clear coat anywhere there's a sharp edge (in which case you get to start over and resand, respray the whole car) - so you'd best do those areas by hand and pray you still don't break through them. Once all the eggshell is gone, then you get to start in with the buffing compounds (2-3 different grades) for final finish and to bring out the gloss.

That's where the $20k goes. There aren't any shortcuts to getting a show quality paint job. It's not all THAT difficult in terms of the skill required, it's a significant investment of time and labor. What you're basically doing is paying someone else to care as much about your car as you do.

And, I can tell you again as someone who's done it all himself ---- I can tell you where every single paint defect is on my car, and they're there - trust me. Had I opted to pay the $18k I would have at least been in the position of being able to go back to the shop and say, "Hey, fix this". Now though, if I want those defects gone it's on me. (That's why they're still there :) )

Not that I'd do anything differently, I wasn't in a position to be able to pay that much for a paint job and still couldn't - probably never will be. Yeah, the car looks darn good, usually gets compliments on the paint at shows, and I'm kinda proud of being able to say that I did it all myself too. But to be brutally honest, it'd look better if I'd been able to spend the money.

Bear
 
#70 ·
Well said Sir....it really all depends on the level of paint you want, show, 3 footer, 10, footer. as bear said the prep is where you make it happen, i started with an all metal no rust body with just door dings and minor bumps. A few hundred hours latter i deemed it straight enough to spray. No smooth car is bondo free, it takes a skim coat and multiple sands with long block to geth the 7' body line on the back quarters straight, then you have to deal with a continuous arched panel from the line down. Bears post covers it and his paint finish speaks for itself!
Remember that the original paint was a one step lacquer and not Show quality. Even new cars have slight orange peel. I waited too long to clear sand and buff so it has a slight peel still but after 9 years i know the 4 coats of clear are on, bonded and hard as granite. If i ever get the energy to wet sand and buff another 10-15 hrs ill take it to show. I built it to drive and am glad i did it all myself, gives you a sense of pride and every time you drive them you get that 17 year olds smile.

My 66' is barrier blue(Bahama Blue Metalic) which looks like a close match to your original Blue.
 

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#20 ·
It has been a while since I posted, but I have made some significant progress. I completed all major disassembly. I kind of had to hurry through it because the blaster finished the body earlier than I had anticipated and had to prepare my garage for it. This weekend, I took them the frame to blast and got the body back. More rust than I knew about, but I kind of expected that. I guess I will get good at metal work.

I did have one disappointing discovery. The rear upper control arm mount on the rear differential was cracked. It was either that way when I got it or I did it when I was hammering out the bushing. The axle shop told me that if I couldn’t push the bushing in by hand (which I can’t), they could fix it. We will see. Keep your fingers crossed.

I decided to use POR15 on the frame and rear axle. It seems like a good compromise between powder coating and regular paint. I will put a few runs in the axle.:yesnod:

For the natural metal parts, has anyone ever used the POR15 clear? How did it work or would you recommend it? If not, what clear would you use?
 

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#24 ·
I am catching up on my posts. A lot has happened.

First, my axle shop was able to weld the control arm mount on my axle and recondition it. It looks like it should hold, but we will see. He replaced all seals, bearings, and races. He checked out the posi unit and said it was fine. Since the ring and pinion were fine, I had him leave the 2.93 gears in there. As this thing sucks the money, I decided to not unnecessarily replace parts. So, I guess I won't be able to smoke away tires indiscriminately. Maybe not a bad thing.

I did the frame with POR15. I did the whole process, starting with their cleaner. As the frame was blasted, it really wasn't too greasy and I thoroughly rinsed it afterward. I then used the metal prep etching. This leaves a zinc powder on the frame. It was a little unclear if you were supposed to wash this all off or leave it. The POR15 instructions say that if you are using the POR15 Rust Preventive paint, the zinc is the best surface preparation for that product, but also said it should be thoroughly washed. I did wash off the frame, but not to the point it removed all the zinc.

I then applied a couple coats of the black POR 15 Rust Preventative paint. I just applied it with a cheap brush and it really turned out great. The brush marks smoothed out great and was easy to apply. That was the good news.

I then applied the top coat. This was a completely different story. This was much thicker and was very difficult to put on smoothly. I thinned the second coat with the POR15 thinner, but still ended up with brush marks. Kind of sad after how good it looked before the top coat. I figured I would sand and reapply for any areas that looked bad after I assembled it. I really primarily did this for rust prevention.

One more thing about the POR15 system. A previous post said that the finish appeared chalky without the top coat. What I found is even after the top coat, you could get a chalky appearance if you touched it before it was cured. Not sure if it was picking contaminants off of my gloves or the zinc was coming to the surface.

Here is a picture.
 

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#30 ·
I am catching up on my posts. A lot has happened......
Dude, you are flying along on this thing! We started about the same time with our '67's and I haven't even started thinking about engines and trannys. I don't think our 2 '67 Turquoise GTO's will be making their debut at the same time! All looks good, seems like you are taking on more of your own body work than I am capable of, but I've taken on more mechanical (rebuilt my own rear end with new bearings, races, and posi unit). Between us we would make one good restoration team.

I even have the same harbor freight rolling stool!
 
#25 ·
I had my transmission rebuilt and already have it back. Thankfully, there were no bad surprises. He did say that it had a mild shift kit in it and he left it there. The transmission will probably be sitting for a while as I am pretty far from being able to put it in.

I took my engine into the machine shop and received great news there too. No major problems. Overall, it was in really good shape. I do have to have a .030 bore and the crank has to be ground .010 under. The heads and block were both flat and did not need any milling.

So now for the holy wars. I have been reading a lot about what to do with the engine and as you can imagine, I have received a lot of opinions. Here is what I am planning. Let the opinions fly.

First off, I don't plan on racing this engine either on the street or strip. That's not to say I won't ever get my foot into it, but only to feel that "youthful exuberance" as others have said.

I plan to leave the 670 heads basically stock, reusing the intake valves, springs and rockers. This is on advise of the machinist who says they are all fine. He did install hardened seats and we will be installing new exhaust valves. I wanted stainless steel valves, but finding them was easier said than done. I am letting the machine shop source them and if they can't find them, I may just end up with chrome steel.

I am also going to re-use the push rods after replacing the bolts with ARP bolts and getting them magnafluxed. I don't plan many trips beyond 5000 rpms, let alone 6000, so I figure it should be fine. We will see.

I am using ICON FHR series forged pistons. They are flat top pistons, but the valve reliefs give a +10.8 CC dish to lower compression. Based on my machinists calculations, it should be around 9.3:1 compression. This should be good as I am at altitude, about 5300 feet.

I plan to get the EX260H Comp Cam. The plan is to keep all the torque in the lower range.

Let me know what you think.

I do have a question. Summit has a kit with tappets and a double roller timing set. I have had some say that I shouldn't use a double roller set. What, if anything, should I be concerned about there?
 
#26 ·
One more post for the evening. I am about to buy my sheet metal. I found a source for US made steel, which I have read is thicker, but the person I talked to at Columbia parts said the fit is not as good as the imported metal.

I am torn between better fit and thicker metal. I am not very experienced at welding, so I am attracted to better fit and more of a stock look, but the thinner metal also could be a concern for burning through, etc. I did purchase a new MIG welder (Lincoln 140) and plan to practice my MIG welding before actually starting to weld them in.

For those with experience, what do you think? Thicker metal or better fit?

Also, has anyone used Columbia Parts? I found them on Ebay, but I can order from them directly, so they can bundle shipments, etc.
 
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