Joined
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23 Posts
I've lurked around for a while, and made a few posts, but I've never introduced myself or the car properly. Thought I'd make a "build" thread so I can what all happens with the car as I do it.
My name is Shane and I live in Bristol, TN. My dad ordered this car from the factory, through Crabtree Pontiac in Bristol, VA in March of 1968. He took his only week of vacation from the bakery where he worked to pick the car up in June. The delivery truck broke down and he had to go back to work on Monday. Low and behold, the dealer called that morning, and my mom had to drive their 1963 Corvair trade in to the dealership and pick up the Goat. The car has been titled in my parent's names ever since.
This is the car that brought me home from the hospital when I was born, and it is the first car I have any real memories of riding in. It has lived its whole life in a garage. It is 100% original. It still has the factory paint, the factory interior, the factory Rally II wheels and beauty rings. The original AM radio and dash speaker are still in it, and still work just fine. We know where every dent, ding, scratch, and rust hole came from. We know every bit of maintenance that has ever been done to it, most of which was done by either my dad, his cousin, my brother, or myself.
The car was parked in the garage from 1980 until 1994, because my mom wanted something smaller and more economical with an automatic transmission and power brakes. That came in the form of a 1980 Chevy Citation (which still had no AC, and only had a AM radio in it...LOL), which ended up being my first car.
While parked, one of the cylinders of the 400 locked up. My dad and his cousin tore it down, honed the cylinders, and re-ringed it. They also put new bearings and a new factory cam in it. I don't know the reason for the cam, but I still have the original one. He topped it off with a reman'd factory Quadrajet 4bbl. Unfortunately, he turned in the original carb for the core. As far as I know, that is the only major original part that I do not have.
Since the rebuild in 1994, it has only had about 8000 miles put on it, and that was mostly by me. The total miles on the car is about 120,000. I had the brakes gone through this spring, and had new shoes put on all 4 corners, new drums up front, replaced all the wheel cylinders and the master cylinder (shop used a non-factory item - that will be replaced), both u-joints, and the rear differential input seal. She is in outstanding mechanical shape.
There are various problems on the body. It has some rust holes in the quarters. The endura bumper has scuffs and a very faint "D" imprint from a little old lady that backed her DeSoto into my mom in a grocery store parking lot. It has the infamous hood bend from some kid working at a gas station in Florida that didn't know to rock the hood when closing. That happened on the very first trip they took in the car in 1969. It also has some pretty serious scratches on the right front fender, and some pretty good dents all around it.
Dad and I were going to send it to the paint and body shop last fall and let them have it all winter. We had the estimates and had a shop picked out, but then dad got real sick. He is in home hospice care now and fading fast, so the restoration was put on the very back burner. I've talked to numerous people about the restoration, and a few say to do it. Most, though, say "it's only original once," and to leave it alone. I think I like that option the best, at least for now.
I am going to wash it, and hit it with some rubbing compound, polishing compound, and then wax to protect the paint as good as I can. I am also going to try to heat up the metal around the dents and see if that will draw them out. If anyone knows how to prevent the rust holes from growing (aside from keeping it garaged - that's a given), I'm all ears. Also, where is the best place for a small amount of touch up paint that is a good match to the aged Verdoro Green? I will try to post some pics of the actual damaged spots soon, and I'll try to update this thread with anything that I do to it. This car is kind of like a child to me, so if I make you guys sick talking about it, or posting pics of it, let me know so I can totally disregard your disgust :laugh:
Here are some current pics:





With my favorite hood ornament, sitting at the dealership the car was ordered from 45 years ago

My name is Shane and I live in Bristol, TN. My dad ordered this car from the factory, through Crabtree Pontiac in Bristol, VA in March of 1968. He took his only week of vacation from the bakery where he worked to pick the car up in June. The delivery truck broke down and he had to go back to work on Monday. Low and behold, the dealer called that morning, and my mom had to drive their 1963 Corvair trade in to the dealership and pick up the Goat. The car has been titled in my parent's names ever since.
This is the car that brought me home from the hospital when I was born, and it is the first car I have any real memories of riding in. It has lived its whole life in a garage. It is 100% original. It still has the factory paint, the factory interior, the factory Rally II wheels and beauty rings. The original AM radio and dash speaker are still in it, and still work just fine. We know where every dent, ding, scratch, and rust hole came from. We know every bit of maintenance that has ever been done to it, most of which was done by either my dad, his cousin, my brother, or myself.
The car was parked in the garage from 1980 until 1994, because my mom wanted something smaller and more economical with an automatic transmission and power brakes. That came in the form of a 1980 Chevy Citation (which still had no AC, and only had a AM radio in it...LOL), which ended up being my first car.
While parked, one of the cylinders of the 400 locked up. My dad and his cousin tore it down, honed the cylinders, and re-ringed it. They also put new bearings and a new factory cam in it. I don't know the reason for the cam, but I still have the original one. He topped it off with a reman'd factory Quadrajet 4bbl. Unfortunately, he turned in the original carb for the core. As far as I know, that is the only major original part that I do not have.
Since the rebuild in 1994, it has only had about 8000 miles put on it, and that was mostly by me. The total miles on the car is about 120,000. I had the brakes gone through this spring, and had new shoes put on all 4 corners, new drums up front, replaced all the wheel cylinders and the master cylinder (shop used a non-factory item - that will be replaced), both u-joints, and the rear differential input seal. She is in outstanding mechanical shape.
There are various problems on the body. It has some rust holes in the quarters. The endura bumper has scuffs and a very faint "D" imprint from a little old lady that backed her DeSoto into my mom in a grocery store parking lot. It has the infamous hood bend from some kid working at a gas station in Florida that didn't know to rock the hood when closing. That happened on the very first trip they took in the car in 1969. It also has some pretty serious scratches on the right front fender, and some pretty good dents all around it.
Dad and I were going to send it to the paint and body shop last fall and let them have it all winter. We had the estimates and had a shop picked out, but then dad got real sick. He is in home hospice care now and fading fast, so the restoration was put on the very back burner. I've talked to numerous people about the restoration, and a few say to do it. Most, though, say "it's only original once," and to leave it alone. I think I like that option the best, at least for now.
I am going to wash it, and hit it with some rubbing compound, polishing compound, and then wax to protect the paint as good as I can. I am also going to try to heat up the metal around the dents and see if that will draw them out. If anyone knows how to prevent the rust holes from growing (aside from keeping it garaged - that's a given), I'm all ears. Also, where is the best place for a small amount of touch up paint that is a good match to the aged Verdoro Green? I will try to post some pics of the actual damaged spots soon, and I'll try to update this thread with anything that I do to it. This car is kind of like a child to me, so if I make you guys sick talking about it, or posting pics of it, let me know so I can totally disregard your disgust :laugh:
Here are some current pics:





With my favorite hood ornament, sitting at the dealership the car was ordered from 45 years ago
