New 66 GTO project
 

Picked up a pretty solid 66' Hardtop on father's day. PHS is out of the office for the week so I haven't been able to request the build info, but what I do know is that it's a Burgundy on Black, 2 speed, console, reverb, power antenna, rear defrost, soft ray windsheild, & has the holes for shoulder belts. The Floors, trunk pan, braces & drop offs, Quarter Skins, outter w'houses, & have all been welded in & the outter rockers are tacked in place, inners look patched.. might have some work to do on the rockers. Frame is super solid, but has a little bit of damage at the left rear shock mount, it looks like someone slipped with an air chisel lol, Should be an easy fix. I cant wait to get started on the restoration, I'm sure I will be on here regularly, for words of wisdom/inspiration/parts.. Looking forward to getting reacquainted with everyone, & I'm sure meet some new great people. I'M STOKED! 😁

Good score Goatboyjohnny!! Good luck on your project. Be sure to take lots of pics and post progress along the way. I'm sure if you have questions these folks can answer them. Congrats on the 66. Looking forward to following along on your build!
CB

Motor ideas?

Looks solid. I'll be glad when I can get around to mine. Putting the engine together in my garage now. By the way...Burgandy ROCKS on these cars. Consider a parchment interior.

CB, Thank you sir! I will for sure be posting tons of pics!

Mcmurb, I have access to my dad's original 69' WT motor out of his Goat, the car I grew up in.. so thats a major possibility, but if PHS comes back as a Tri-Power car, i may have to hunt for a correct set up.. Lots of possibilities 😁

Greg, yes it is a very solid start. Super happy I found it, I'll share the story later when I'm not at work. & YES BURGUNDY DOES ROCK! MY FAVORITE🤘 😁 I do like parchment, but was thinking Ref would really pop too, & you don't see that combo very often,, just like the Motor, lots of possibilities 👍

Looks like a solid place to start!

Good score.

Thanks Old Goat! I am super excited about it. About 4 years ago I had to sell my other 66 project, had family emergency, and it was not a priority. I have been casually looking for a good 6 or 7 months but hadn't even gone to look at anything until a couple weeks ago. I really wanted a goat but oh my have the prices of decent projects gone up. I paid
$2,300 for my last 66' and that was a complete car, minus drivetrain, but did need everything restored, it was a two tone post car and I knew a lot about the cars history. I had source a correct block and date coded Tri-Power setup, but that was about as far as I got before I had to/chose to sell... Fast forward the 4 years since then and I'm looking at rotted out, total basket case Lemans and Tempest for 2,500-4,000.. YIKES!!

So when I woke up last Friday and this baby on Craigslist for 3,500 I jumped on it quick. By that evening I was on the phone with the gal that had posted it, and her story about the car.

Her dad had bought the car site unseen and had it delivered to a resto shop in Dayton, OH. The restoration began from how I understand in 2007. Some point shortly after the work began the owner passed away suddenly, MAJOR BUMMER.. The daughters were in charge of their father's estate. No one in the family had ever even seen the car. While going through documents, one of the daughters found the title to the GTO, I guess that's when they remembered he had the car.. No one in the family had any idea where the car was, or what kind of condition it was in..They searched every body/resto shop in the Dayton area with no luck. The daughter that I bought the car from, and her husband both work at different dealerships in the Dayton area, and both put out feelers with bodymen, mechanics, delivery drivers.. nothing for over 2 years.. One of the parts guys that worked with the daughter on an almost daily basis had a good buddy that was somehow involved in the Paint/Body trade, she knew him in passing, and the parts guy mentioned it to him, and wouldn't you know.... HE HAD THE CAR!!... she said she saw this guy almost weekly, knew him on a first name basis.. Turns out the resto shop had gone out of business a few years prior, and no one could ever get ahold of the owner of this GTO, nobody knew he had passed.. The car ended up in this guys warehouse because he was a friend of a friend of the owner of the closed shop.. So sure enough she took the title and compared it to the vin tag and they matched... What are the odds.. I don't know for sure but it sounded like she didn't have to pay any storage, the guy being a friend of a friend and all.. so she's had it in her husband pole barn for a few years and finally got around to putting it in her name to sell it.. I was the lucky one who contacted her first. She had several people ready to "come and get it right now" but she was true to her word and let me have first dibs..

She had told me one quarter and the floors were done. When I got there and both quarters and wheelhouses, trunk floor, braces and drop offs, and the rockers had been done., I didn't even try to haggle.. All the glass except the back window (wich is the only part I still have) was there, but we lost the Windshield on the way home,, it cracked on us.. too many duke boy roads lol.

The fact the car is Burgundy too.. it was just meant to be !!! I hope some of you were able to follow my rambling story, and that I wasn't too much of a run-on sentence.. I am no writer lol.. I love these cars, all Pontiacs really, but especially GTO's, and I have met some of the coolest people because of them. I love when a car has a cool story!

Before I left I asked the daughter, Nicole, if it was alright to send her pictures of the progress, she said she'd love that, her husband too. I told her I'd do my best to do her Pop's proud.... Mine too ! I saw she was choking up as we pulled away. I'd love to take them for a ride when it's done... Bring it full circle..

Can't wait to interact with all you guys with updates and I'm sure lots of questions.

Thanks to all!!!

good story...looking forward to pics of your progress

Super nice find Johnny. :thumbup: You were super lucky you were the first to contact her, and her hold on to it for you.

So you know... all A-bodies for 66 and 67 had the attachment points for shoulder belts. Not sure about 65.

Shoulder belts were an option from the factory or could be installed at the dealer. My first 66 I bought back in 1970 had them from the factory. It's rare to see a surviving 66 or 67 with them. The 66 Tempest Custom I had in 72 did not have them. Shoulder belts were not mandatory back then to be in the car or used. IIRC, seat belts were required by the government, brought on by the insurance companies, to be in every car made from 63 up. But it was still too early for mandatory seatbelts usage.

Gt, thanks for the info, I knew it was something like that, but couldn't remember if all 66s had them or a mid year change (the mounting points I mean). My dad's 69 had shoulder belts that never left the headliner lol,, but they looked nice ! Thanks again!

Actually Gary, I don't think seatbelts were mandatory until later...like '67 or '68. My '66 doesn't have any seatbelts at all and I've never noticed any sign that they've ever been there.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...o/DSCF0028.jpg

Seat belts were federally mandated beginning with the 1966 model year.

Wrong, " Title 49 of the United States Code, Chapter 301, Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, which took effect on January 1, 1968", see below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_b..._United_States

Huh! It seems my memories of 1966 (I was 13) may be faulty. Imagine that.:o

Great story, and sounds like good people that sold you the car.

Enjoy the restoration, you are off to a great start.

Anyone who is bringing Goats back to the road is a friend of mine! Well done.

Thank you McMurb & Tempest! I'm going to try to make it to my uncle's tomorrow & take some inventory on interior & driveline parts.. He's a huge hoarder, & there's no telling what I might find.. it seems like I remember him having a set of 66 buckets stashed in one of his buildings, which I remember thinking "why the heck does he have these, he's never had a 66?" & I know he has consoles. But his place is kind of a disaster, so wish me luck ! Lol

Well, my uncle's stash was a bust as far as a set of buckets go, but I did find a few odds & ends that might come in handy depending on what direction I decide to go. Pretty nice auto console, a couple T-10s & a couple muncies, Bellhousings, 4 speed pedals & z bar, 66 timing cover, etc.... so it wasn't a total loss. I'm going to run PHS tomorrow morning I'll let you guys know what I find out.