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Old 08-20-2016, 09:07 PM
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TN68GTO TN68GTO is offline
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Default My story-as told by me

So while I've read the stories and talked with a lot of people about how they became involved with Pontiac, my story isn't that great but to me it's still what got me to this point. So here goes, I remember playing out back at our house on my swingset and always staring at this car that was parked out back by the wood pile. That car turned out to be a 1967 lemans with a 326/auto, gold with a black top and interior. Fast forward a few years when I was in elementary school, in the 80s, when I can remember my father talking about his favorite car and how he'd drag race with it on the weekends out in the country (I was told never to do that). He showed me pictures and the old title to his 1968 GTO that was solar red/black vinyl top with hideaway head lights, a 3 spd manuel, power antenna, and a reverb unit. I was in awe of the car even having never seen it. I can remember the sadness in my dad's face when I asked him what happened to it. He said that since he and my mom couldn't afford two car payments in the early 70's that he traded it in on a Ford Ranchero that was an automatic because my mom couldn't and refused to learn to drive a manual transmission. So in 1990, my dad started looking for a classic car/street rod that he could take to shows. He came across an ad for a 1968 GTO convertible in Sleepy Eye, Mn. After wheeling and dealing with the owner they finally agreed on a price. The car had a 69 400 block that had been tweaked with some performance parts and had a 1965 tri power on it. So the week after school got out for the summer in 1990 my dad and my uncle set off for Sleepy Eye, Mn. They drove straight there and arrived the next morning. They signed the title and my dad paid the agreed upon amount and loaded the car on the trailer and returned home very late that night or early the next morning. He had purchased a 1968 GTO convertible the car was painted a midnight blue with the original top and original black interior. Cragar SS wheels with the spinners and air shocks. Riding in that car the next afternoon was all I needed to be completely hooked on muscle cars. In 1993 my dad and I took our first road trip to the GTOAA convention in Indy that year. We drove the car all the way there through a rainstorm (supposedly the first rainstorm since the car was painted in the late 70s/early 80s). We had to stuff towels between the top and the windshield and in the door windows. The drive was about 4.5 hours of pure bliss all we could hear was the roar of the engine. After that show my dad and a few other GTO owners from our town decided to start a new car club called, West Michigan Classic Pontiacs. During the late spring, summer and early fall the parking lot of the resturant was full of classic muscle cars. My dad started making some updates to his car the following spring (1994). He painted the engine, replaced the bright accell plug wires for black ones and redyed the interior. He even installed rally II's with redline tires for the GTOAA show in St Louis that year. He must have done something correct because he earned a trophy at the GTOAA convention the following year in New York, the last convention we attended together until 2015. This was also about the time when I was beginning to bug my parents (mainly my dad) for a car of my own since I'd be 16 in the fall of 1994. So we began looking, we looked at cameros, firebirds, t/a's (all new models of course) One day one of my dad's high school friends stated he had a car that would be perfect for me so we when to look at it. It was a 1967 Chevelle Malibu, that was all original with the exception of the vinyl top. It was a 327 with the 202 heads so it had a little extra kick with a 4bbl and a power glide. It even had documentation of every oil change from new there were about 240,000 miles on the car. We purchased the car after a little debate over the price and he even delivered the car to the house for us. Right away I got to work on it with the help of my dad, my uncle (who's a chevy guru) and my dad's best man that ran a bodyshop for 25 years in town. We repainted the car with black enamel and painted the engine compartment to match the body. My uncle and I pulled the engine and installed a new/bigger cam and some other mods. Painted the engine chevy orange and put a chrome kit on the engine. (I just wanted the whole car to shine). I completed the car just in time to drive it once before the snow showed up so I had to wait an entire winter just to drive my first car. I drove the car through the end of high school and my first 2 years at the community college. Every show we went to I cleaned my car first and then helped my dad finish his. After 2 years of community college I was off to the university and the car sat most of the time. My dad didn't like to drive my car because it was manual brakes/steering. Plus he liked his convertible GTO. Eventually my dad sold the chevelle, after I grauduated with my degree I moved back to my hometown and found a job. I would still go to shows with my dad once in a while. My career started to take over and between teaching and coaching 2 sports and working on my master's degree, I lost touch with the muscle car scene. Fast forward about 12 years to January 2013, I had convinced my wife that I should get a muscle car after talking about how I loved working on my chevelle and my dad's GTO, her requirements were that it had to be an automatic, fit more than 2 people and perferably have A/C. I had no hesitation as to the marque that I was search out. Sinice I was born in the late 70s and Smokey and the Bandit was a hit I naturally gravitated towards the Trans Ams. I found a y88 T/A that had been sitting since 2003 but the engine was free, it had A/C and T-Tops (a reqirement for me) and was an automatic. After debating on that for several months I lost out on the sale of that car. I continued to look for cars to no avail. In November of 2013, I found a 1968 GTO that had been sitting since 2005. It was located just outside of Detroit, about 2 hours from me. After talking to the guy on the phone a few times I agreed to go look at it. At the time my dad had just had a hip replaced so I asked to borrow his truck and car hauler (just in case) and he, my uncle and myself were off to look at the car. When we arrived we saw a Vedoro Green 1968 GTO coupe, it was actually mostly red primer but the hood and bumper and, door jams, and underside of the decklid actually had the original paint on them. The floors were solid along with the trunk. It was optioned with a TH 400, Electric Antenna, A/C, Electric trunk release and hideaway headlights. The engine that was currently in the car was a 1972 400. The car hadn't run since 2005 but the engine was not locked up. So I bought the car. We pushed the car on the trailer and I set off for home. We arrived home later that day and I pushed the car off the trailer into storage where it sat until August 2015. During the summer of 2015 my dad had decided to return his GTO back to an original looking engine bay. With a date correct 1968 400 ys block etc. I was able to help with the engine bay restoration. That prior winter I had completely redone my dad's interior for him. My dad agreed since I had done his interior for him that I could have his 1969 400 out of his car (minus the tri power, i actually didn't want it) We were going to do a quick engine swap and replace the brake and fuel lines and I could finally drive my GTO. Well that quick engine swap has turned into a complete restoration, since I purchased the car I had been collecting parts whenever I could afford them and when I found them. The car is currently in the body shop having all of the rust cut out (there wasn't much) and replaced with new metal. The frame has been sandblasted and painted with new body mounts, I'm still planning to use the '69 block which I have purchased the correct intake and carb for that engine. While I loved my chevelle and all the jewelery that was on it. I have decided that my GTO will be restored to like new condition and will be driven and enjoyed. I was even able to meet all my wife's requirements of a family friendly car with an automatic trans and A/C. I'm really starting to think my house/garage have become more of a parts warehouse because GTO/Pontiac parts have taken over. The cosmetic restoration of my chevelle 20+ years ago was a lot of work but this complete rebuilding of this car has been exhausting and expensive and at times very very overwhelming. I will try to get pictures up soon of the GTO's and the progress and maybe if I'm allowed maybe even a picture of the old chevelle ha ha ha.

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Jeramie

1968 GTO Convertible
1968 GTO Coupe, currently undergoing full frame off resto.
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Old 08-27-2016, 10:46 AM
Singleton Singleton is online now
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Thanks for sharing. Reminds me of the good times me and my father had wrenching on cars.

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  #3  
Old 08-28-2016, 01:10 PM
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Thanks. It's a great time, we just got back from a parts run to the TA Nats to pick up from Ames and I got to hear the detail of how my dad got his first GTO back in 1968.

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Jeramie

1968 GTO Convertible
1968 GTO Coupe, currently undergoing full frame off resto.
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Old 09-11-2016, 02:56 PM
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Good story! I never got to do those kinds of things with my Dad. He was never into cars. You're lucky you could. I try to do these things with my son now, but he's not that into cars like I am. But he still helps me when I have to fix his.

Good luck with your restoration!

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  #5  
Old 10-06-2016, 10:01 PM
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Here is my father's car in its current state.
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Jeramie

1968 GTO Convertible
1968 GTO Coupe, currently undergoing full frame off resto.
  #6  
Old 10-06-2016, 10:10 PM
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Here is my car, on the trailer coming home in November 2013.

Also in it's current state, engine/trans pulled, core support rebuilt, frame, firewall, and trunk sandblasted and ready for finishing. Fenders repaired and primed. Awaiting rear quarter work. Interior has been stripped and is awaiting it's turn for refinishing.
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Jeramie

1968 GTO Convertible
1968 GTO Coupe, currently undergoing full frame off resto.
  #7  
Old 10-07-2016, 12:02 AM
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Nice story. Unfortunately I'm the only one in my family into cars. All my Dad cared about was getting from point A to point B in a car. He spent his time with motorcycles. My son liked cars, but he liked to tear them up and have dad fix them. I couldn't even get him interested in watching what I was fixing.

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Old 10-07-2016, 10:47 AM
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Thanks for the story! I'm jealous as well. My father knew a bit about some pre-war cars but I only remember him working with me on teaching me how to use rubbing compound to bring back oxidized paint on my 2nd car, I was 16. No one else in my family is a car person.

I am a fanatical gear head, cars primarily, but also into wooden sailboats and war birds.

My 2 sons are now 17 and 13 and both have shown little to zero interest in cars. The 69 Firebird I just bought will be my last attempt I think at getting them hooked on a project before they get too old to be brain-washable into car guys haha!

Alex

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Old 10-09-2016, 01:24 PM
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I do feel lucky. My grandpa was a small engine mechanic and my dad learned just enough from him to be dangerous around a car and my uncle (dad's brother) knows his way around a Chevy so he's also helped with advice etc. I'm also around 2 of my dad's car buddies that have helped with most of the work. I'm still learning a bunch and truly have a better understanding of the workings of a car. I'm currently trying to convince my dad to repaint his car instead of fixing all the cracks and chips etc in his almost 40 year old paint job. Both of our cars are originally vedoro green with black tops/black interiors Thought it'd be cool to cruise around in cars that look like each others. Only problem is he hates vedoro green.

I'm still working on getting pictures scanned of my original project (67 chevelle malibu) and his original GTO and posted.

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Jeramie

1968 GTO Convertible
1968 GTO Coupe, currently undergoing full frame off resto.
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