[SupergasDil]

Now some of you may cringe at the idea of cutting holes in the dash for gauges, but there was already one hole cut on the left side which had one of the old Stewart Warner oil gauges. So I thought it would look cool to replace that with the 2 1/16" Autometer oil gauge and put a water gauge on the other side by the ash tray. As you can see, this is the only work I have done on the inside so far. I forgot how much work it is to do a resto/rebuild. Man I Love This Stuff!!!!

[SupergasDil]

And the last one for today, a picture of the engine. I still have a lot of detail work here but the bulk of it is done and boy does she sound good.
455 .060, 61 forged rods, Speed Pro forged pistons, Ohio 4.210 crank, Comp .240/.246 @ .050, #96 D Ports for 9.5 to 1 comp, Edelbrock P65B intake, Edelbrock 625's.

I kept as much of the original stuff as I could for the EL Fake-O Super Duty look. Not looking to fool any Pontiac guys but the average Joe won't know.

Sure, it's a 389 SD! Right?

[mwritter]

Man I love that bodystyle.

[SupergasDil]

Mom and Dad came over for Christmas and my Dad spent all day Christmas Eve helping me sand and mask the car for primer. How cool is that? Not bad for a 70 year old guy huh?

[SupergasDil]

Here's a couple I took today of the prime job. The pictures make the car look good. There is still a lot of small body work but at least now it's all one color and I'm gonna drive the heck out of it while I'm working on it. None of that waiting to unveil the finished product for me.

[Stuart]

Looking good! I love the stance of that car.

[61-63]

I'm 100% in agreement with Stuart's comment.

[Barrier Blue]

LOOKS GREAT!!!

[SupergasDil]

I took the car down to the muffler shop yesterday to get a set of pipes put on but the mechanic said that the crossmember was in the way and if he went under the crossmember the pipes would be too low. So check out what I did. I take it back tomorrow and he should be able to run the pipes right through. Hey, you can't see it from the top.

[63gpstanley]

Car looks awesome dude, I would be happy as it is. 'Work in progress' status can be cool even on later (post '48) cars as well, your '61 proves it.

Dave.

[J Brady]

I used a 70 big car cross member and changed the ends. worked great!

[PITTSBURGH 64]

Dil, Did you know the Pipes GTO system will fit under there. Thats what I have on my car.
I did cut my crossmember then added angle to the top for support.

[SupergasDil]

64, that looks nice.

I did mine that way because I want to be able to drop this sucker to the ground from time to time. Now the lowest part of the underside is my trans pan. When $$$ are more abundant I will add the long branch exhaust manifolds.

[SupergasDil]

Brady, do you have any pictures of yours?

[J Brady]

I can't figure out how to post pics. Have tried but they won't transfer to the sight.

[SupergasDil]

Here's one with the finished product.

[61-63]

That cross member is as slick as a whistle.

[TININDN]

Dil:

Nice job! Most pipe/muffler shops just don't want to take the time and effort to make the compound bends to get over and around the X-member - looks like you solved that problem.

What are you running for a wheel tire combo - any clearance problems?

Thanks in adavnce!

[SupergasDil]

Tin,
The wheels are American Torque Thrust 2's 8 1/2 x 17's all around.
The tires are Fusion made by Firestone 225 x 45 x 17 front 255 x 45 x 17 rear. The fronts have a lot of room. The rears will clear straight up so I could drop the car more in back but the outside of the tire only has about 1/4". 255's are as wide as you can stuff in a 61. I also added a panhard bar to eliminate any side to side movement.

[2mirrors]

Car looks good! Was wondering what is the backspacing front and back?