'74 GTO Questions
 

Hi All,

I'm new to the X-body Pontiacs and recently purchased a 74 GTO that hails from Bert Adams Pontiac in Joliet, IL. Bob Adams recalls ordering the car when he was a teenager for the lot. It is special order color Starlight Black, 4 speed, 3.08 posi, gauges & tach (w/ clock), buckets, custom carpets, Power steering & brakes (converted to power disc), and RWL tires.

I'm missing the bumper jack and base, so in the market if you know anyone that has one (I'm sure is shared with the Nova and other X-bodies), I'm interested.

Does anyone know if the tach is powered off the printed circuit or does it need a separate wire (brown) like the A & F bodies?

The car was restored by Steve Kovacs in Lowell, MI and is really nice. I just have to finish the interior and a few odds and ends. The drivetrain and mechanicals were completely rebuilt and many NOS pieces were rounded up for the car. Steve installed a 3.42 gear out back for a little more go. The engine was rebuilt (0.030 over with a CC XE256H cam) and has a whopping 7.9 compression now. According to the desktop dyno it is making 284 hp at 5000 rpm at 373 lbft of torque at 3800 rpm. It should be pretty peppy. I will swap in an Muncie M-20 for a little more strength over the original Saginaw.

It will be on the road in the spring! I can't wait.

Dennis

Tach is powered off the printed circuit in the circuit board. Car looks great ! Welcome to the club. Just think, you could have the second fastest '74 GTO to ever attend the pure stock drags :)

Jody

Very Nice !

Damn, Steve sold the black car already?? Some of the parts, including the NOS dash, came from my parts stash. I know he had about four years into restoring that one. I thought it was gonna be a keeper for him. I think there were only 53 black cars built, I remember a past president of a regional POCI club that was big into X bodies telling me that.

Thats is a sweet looking car! Any reason the decals weren't put on it?

HO67Bird, Thanks for the compliments. I really like the car, but it still needs a lot of interior work and new dash bezel, gauges & lenses. Dan has torn apart the steering column to rebuild and restore it, as well as the entire dash.

74gto, Steve didn't get the chance to do this work, so we're tackling it. Steve did a great job everywhere else and has put a lot of time and work into getting it to this point.

Rob B, The decals haven't been installed yet as the paint needs to be buffed one more time before they go on. Steve bought the optional D98 accent stripe (not originally installed at the factory) but we probably won't put it on. This car has no chrome except for the bumpers, grille surrounds, head and taillight bezels, and arrowheads behind the rear windows.

Jody, so the tach doesn't need a wire from the negative side of the coil to read the pulses? If it can break into the 14's at 90 mph, I'll be happy.

I made an error on the max torque output, it should be 352 lbft, not 373. There is also a black wire coming out of the rear of the engine loom in front of the coil with a integral star washer connector, like a ground wire. Does anyone knows where that goes? I'll post a picture tomorrow of what I'm asking about.

Dennis

Dennis,

I saw that car at Steve's a few years ago (he did some work for me on the GT-37). I had no idea it came from Bert Adams Pontiac. Small world since Joliet is right "down the street" from me. Coincidentally, my W-31 came from an Olds dealer in Joliet. Bob Adams knows of the dealership.

Chris

Does anyone recognize this wire coming out of the rear of the engine loom? It looks long enough to reach the coil, but isn't needed for the car to run...unless it is for the tach? The gauges weren't connected when the car was driven into the shop from the trailer, so can't say for sure and the '74 service manual doesn't show the X-body wiring diagramatic.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

Dennis

Ground.

That wire is a ground mine is fastened to the firewall
Terry

This is what a black one looks like with that accent stripe. And also what a green one looks like with the accent stripe. ;)

http://www.classicindustries.com/pro...s/6295087.html

Dennis, here is a picture of the circuit board showing it going to the tach. The harness that plugs into the back at it will contain a wire that will go to the coil.

Break into the 14's.....LOL. You and Larry Weymouth kill me....LOL. You will be kicking my arse all the way down the strip with the power you have over me :)

Let me know if you have any more questions so I can help sabotage......I mean make your car as fast as possible :)

Jody

74gto, Only 53 in Black? I'm happy with that. Bob Adams ordered 5 black GTO's in the 1974 model year, 3 were automatic cars and 2 were 4-speeds, of which 1 had a black bucket interior and the other (mine) had white.

Rob B & a95toy, Thanks for the wire type (ground) and location. Rob, I love your '74's, especially the black one. More pics and information required. Seen your wife driving the Green car at KilKare at the CoVention. Bother are beautiful cars. I wonder why Bob didn't order the accent stripes, cause I think the cars need it.

Jody, Dan whisled every cylinder and got 7.8:1 on the left bank and 8.0:1 on the right. At least they were consistent on each bank. It makes me wonder about the rest of the machine work....It hasn't been driven at all yet, just broken-in and short drives on and off trailers. You've got nothing to worry about, low 15's here I come.

Dennis

Just so you know, The green 74 is the wife's, not mine whatsoever! :) (even though I built the thing for her) I've been told that many a times when I tried to "borrow" it to race while I had mine apart the last 2 years. :duh:
"Get yours done because your not racing mine!" was the typical tune coming from her mouth....
I've owned the black 74 since High School, been around a LONG time.

Previously, I never had the stripes on my car and liked the clean look of the solid black but when we finished Carole's, Our Host here gave me a deal on a complete decal set they had in stock. We put the GTO stripes on hers even thought its actually a Sprint and had the sprint stripes. No one made them for a 74 Sprint in the green and yellow and if we had them made, it wasn't going to be cheap and would take awhile so we went with the GTO stuff and added the grilles and hood. It really helped break the green up on it so when I finished mine (again) this summer, I decided to have the matching stripes on mine also to complement the "his and hers" car thing. Except mine is a lot faster! :thumbup:
I need to update my avatar photo, that from before I minitubbed it, dumped a bunch of money in it, and repainted it. :doh:

Rob B, that black one of yours looks NASTY !!!

Jody

It can be! ;)

I made the mistake of showing the picture of your car to my now 9 year old son. All the way to school he says " I like the big tire. Can we do that to our car dad?

Jody

Just gotta Mini Tub it! ;) You wouldn't know it was done unless you knew what you were looking for in the trunk. I used the Detroit Speed tubs and frame ties this time and even though they aint cheap, they are quality parts that fit and look great. You could honestly back half a car quicker than doing a mini tub the right way. I run a 29.5x10.5 tire under the car that fits perfect. Really happy with the way it all came out. Caroles car is set up similar to how mine use to be. We can fit a 29.5x9 under hers. Eventually I'll end up mini tubbing hers. Its addictive.

Rob B,

What times does it run? 1/8 or 1/4 mile? Tell us more about the drivetrain and more pictures!

Dennis