69 428 HO 4-speed project
 

Here is my 69 HO model j project. I bought it last summer in Portland Oregon. I have been collecting parts for a future full restoration. Car is very solid, but beat up some and plenty of patina lol. Was originally from Montana. One of 94 428 HO M-20 cars built.

Cool project.

:)

Is it Burgundy?

:)

Very rare GP indeed! We need to hear more about the history and MORE pictures please. Is the car complete...original drive train? Very cool!

Dennis

power flo vent. too cool. that's a/c for the high horse cars

Better than the '460' AC!
(or 260 in this case)

:D

That will be a sweet car when complete! Also was ordered with 3.90's from the looks of it. Also had the very rare 7 blade flex fan. Is that fan still there?

Also has the super rare rubber trunk mat (the big gray one), First one I've ever seen on a 69 GP PHS.

Here is a pic of the original one in my 69 Bonnie ragtop.

The cut out is factory

Great car! looking forward to any and all progress reports. please keep us posted.

I'm wondering about the special order axle. I've never seen/heard of, a 3.90 gear paired with a wide ratio trans. since the standard gear for a non A/C car was 3.55 in '69, could a special order axle go the other way and be 3.23?

Chris, give me a call sometime.

I was pleased to see that trunk mat on the Phs! Someday soon I hope to look above gas tank for build order sheet. No luck behind door panels. The car is manual steering as well, and didn't have a remote mirror either! It has all drive train components including carbon, distributor, starter etc. Axle code is g7 3.36 nodular safe t track.

Story I got on cars history is as follows: car was a special ordered car in Butte Montana. Original owners kept it until around 1975. The second owner had it until 2014. That guy passed away and his brother got the car. I bought it from him. He told me that his brother had a drinking problem and offer ran into s!*# hence the body damage. Lol. It hasn't been a driven car for about last 10 years or so. Has sat outside most of its life. Still retains most of what's left of the original paint. Story goes when car was nearly new, the original owners blew the engine while racing it. So it does have a dealer warranty Sr engine block. Had around 5k miles when that happened. I guess it was a pretty fast car in that area at the time. It has a running 400 in it now but came with all the original parts. Luckily the 2nd owner kept everything. The Sr 428 ho engine lost oil pressure in late 70s, so he pulled it and installed the 400 from another car. That's about all I know about it. Only original parts it's missing is wheels, hubcaps, radio.

A few more pics.

hawkins69 - Thanks for sharing! Wow, I didn't see the lack of PS on the PHS, but does have PDB...amazing. Definitely a customer order car. Interesting that they went for the 3.36 gear instead of the standard 3.55. Is this the std. 428, not the HO? I can't read the engine code on the PHS. If it is an HO car, did the long branch manifolds come with the car?

Dennis

It has the 428 HO engine.

:)

Yes it has long branch manifolds. Oil filter adapter as well. Both are still on the car.

As far as gear ratio selection, maybe for the rural highways in Montana?

Sweet! That is a very rare beast you have there and unusually optioned without power steering, but with the power flow ventilation. I think your right about the 3.36 gear being ordered for high speed running. Any of the previous owners have any pictures of the GP back in the day?

Dennis

Are the optional tires on the PHS G78x14 WW FG or G70's???...Hard to read.

Dennis

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the cars history. Would be cool if I did though

The tires are G78 WW FG

I wonder if anyone could chime in on how many gp's were built with powerflow ventilation? I have never seen or heard of another gp with it. I have seen it in maybe 2 GTOs ever. I didn't even realize this car had it until around a month after I bought it.

I've never seen a 69 GP with G70 tires but they were offered. At $98 versus the already pricey $66 polyglass G78 its not surprising. You could probably buy a set of G70's outright for $98 and still have the g78's that came on the car standard.

Haven't been on here for quite some time - what a great find!
I have a PHS on a 69 SJ that was bought new in Quebec and is now in Saskatchewan. At least on the PHS, the optional trunk mat is listed. I am keeping track of the car because it is very complete, but just a high-option SJ with the std. 428. (Lacks a reclining RH seat, but I have one!)

North - my 69 J 428 HO was ordered new by a guy that raced Alfa Romeos - he ordered G70x14 WWs (and auto level control - I don't know why - just get an SJ at that point!)

I've seen Powerflow Ventilation added to a 69 GP, but never on a PHS.

On the SR replacement engine - there were 119 GPs built in 69 with the code WL block for the 428 HO / manual transmission combination, but I've also seen a list of the number of blocks built - with a number of 142 made. Am curious - does the SR 428 HO have a code WL on it?

Love the red interior!

Joegpho,

Some early production SJ’s were built as J’s with all the SJ options (428, auto level, fiberglass tires, PDB, lighting group and gauge package). Apparently the SJ emblems were in short supply so the cars were built that way and then the dealers added the emblems after. The SJ actually provided a discount over the cost of the individually ordered options.

What color scheme was your car?

It does not have the WL code stamped on it, just a SR stamped code. If I recall, there was a number stamped next to it as well

I parted a 4speed HO about 20 years ago, local rot no but parts of it lives on in other cars. It was matador red, parchment top and guts. Low option car, had an M21 and 3.90.

typo

Did it have ps or a radio? I have seen one 69 gp j 400 bench seat ordered with no radio

North, do you have the PHS or the exact option load on this car?

No I didn’t keep it but I had the original window sticker at the time.

I meant low option by GP standards, it had steering, brakes, am etc but no power interior options or air etc.

The owner had a 69 2+2 convertible Canadian big car that was the same color scheme with a 427-390 horse
4 speed car that was also untouched but rotten. I think he won some lottery in 69 and bought both cars new.

I'm glad to see someone bought this car to save it. I inquired about it when it was first posted on the Portland CL probably two years ago or so now. Such a cool GP and far more rare with the red interior. Great options... love the rarely seen power-flow vents, only seen a couple of other GP's with that option and both were delivered to Canada. Congrats on picking up such a cool GP!

Grant

Here's another one for you, John...

Thanks! Once I saw it I had to have it. It would have probably been parted out if I didn't rescue it. It's a bucket list car for me as I grew up in a 69 SJ that my dad still has. I will do a very nice restoration on it once I gather the parts needed.

Don't have exact numbers, but around 340 were built with Power Flow Ventilation.

I have an invoice for a 1969 Grand Prix SJ with 31 options that was ordered with Instant-Aire and trunk mat, and the MSRP was $6296.16, but this wasn't the highest priced GP I've seen. I have one that came in at $6423.21 and only had 24 options, including special paint Nocturne Blue. I've only seen one 69 GP that came in under $5,000 MSRP.

Mike

Is that around 340 for Grand Prix, or all Pontiac models?

Just the Grand Prix models.

Oh thanks. Very interesting!

Thanks, economy axle, haven’t seen one on a GP before,

My first '69 SJ that I bought in 1982 had that too, 2.93 ratio...

I was out to visit my car this weekend. I looked for build order above gas tank but had no luck as the tank has been out in past. Oh well I did snap a pic of trim tag. Also was wondering about the ground strap from firewall to carb stud. Is that part of it still attached on firewall?

Too bad about the build order not being there, but that's not uncommon. That's been my luck on the last two '69 GP tanks I pulled, once the tank has been out before they tend to disappear. Yes, that clip on the firewall is for the ground strap, that end of the strap is like a flat blade terminal and it simply pushes in to that clip. I just noticed your location... I lived in Bend from 1994 to 1997 and then LaPine until 2002. My son & ex still live in Bend. I bought a loaded '69 GP 428HO auto from the owner of Eberhard's Dairy in Redmond in 1996.

That's a great story! Small world. My dad's 69 limelight green sj was from Lapine. Thanks for the info on ground strap. Are those exact straps hard to find?

No kidding, does he still have the Limelight Green SJ? You're welcome. Yes, that particular one is difficult to find. The later ones with an eyelet on each end are a little easier to find.

He does still have it. It's now a non factory dark green, has a 455 with tri power. Nice car, someday I'll have it and return it to original colors and put original 428 back in it. He bought it back in 1993 I believe. I just love these cars. I have been mainly a GTO guy, but the Grand Prixs are a special car unmatched by anything. I will have to add that ground strap to my parts needed list lol

That's great, he's had that one a long time. Sounds like a beast! Yes, these GP's are great cars. I too have had several GTO's over the years and was what initially brought me to Bend... did you ever attend The Tiger Run show? I'll check my parts stash for that ground strap, I may have one?

I did attend Tiger Run events. I went to first one in 1991 at age 6. Then went to all of them until around 2009 when I moved out of state. I would bring my 72 endura lemans as a teenager, then I bought, restored and brought my 69 GTO to the last few that I attended. I moved here to Bend last year. I vaguely remember seeing a few GP'S over the years of attending. That would be great if you had an extra strap laying around.

Small world indeed... my first year for Tiger Run was in 1993 when they had it at the college there in Bend. I drove my older brother's Solar Red '68 GTO convert up from Sacramento that time. The following year I took my Limelight Green '69 GTO hardtop which was held at the fairgrounds in Redmond. That following September we moved to Bend. Had a lot of fun at that show over the years and I'm sure we crossed paths a few times. I took the "Eberhard's GP" to the 1996 show. You may remember a Castilian Bronze '69 SJ 4-speed there in 2002 in the for sale section, that car now belongs to a buddy of mine who's brother actually bought it new... there's been a few articles written about that car. Anyway, I'll PM you after I get a chance to look for that strap.

I remember that bronze car! One of my favorite GP colors! Also great on 71 GTOs. Thanks for looking

Not sure which car you're referring to so I just list them all.

The now-scrapped (in 1985) 69 Model J that my dad bought off of our neighbor was Midnight Green with parchment interior - no vinyl top. That was the 1 of 3 HO 3spd car.

My current car is a late production HO M-20 Model J, white with white vinyl top and black interior. Not crazy about white but with 119 total HO/stick cars one cannot be too choosy!

The std 428 SJ/auto that I am keeping tabs on is brown with saddle leather and some off-color vinyl top. The invoice does not show a vinyl top for this car. The docs I got for that one are from GM of Canada; by memory I think it sold new in Dorval, just west of Montreal.