[codyyy]

I've been having some bad withdrawals from my '66 GTO out in Michigan. I don't know how I'd be able to get it out here and I am almost thinking of letting it go, but that's the car I really want.
Anyway, while looking around I found a '68 GTO down here for sale and decided it was a good deal. I'm planning on sending in for the PHS on it tomorrow, but from what I gather this car originally was Verdoro green with a matching green interior, and vinyl top. The body also is saying it was originally green, because underneath its crummy paint job it has a nice green color to it as well as the interior still having green overspray. The interior has been redone some time with a horrible looking yellow headliner, yellow dash pad cover, black diamond door panels and the seats also were covered but underneath are actually black and look stock out of a different car. The car looks to have been painted yellow, and then primered black over.
There isn't much rust to speak of. The vinyl top was removed long ago and the roof is kinda crispy but not really too bad. A couple pinholes here and there, and the trunk has a couple pinholes too but that's basically it. This car would seem to be a much easier restoration than my '66.
The car now has a Pontiac 350 with I think a TH-400 trans from what I was told (used to be a 4-speed, I don't know what engine yet) however the 4-speed linkage is still there.
Now for the questions. I'm debating if I should paint this car that green and put a black interior in, or if I should paint it what I want, either Alpine Blue or just black. I guess I'll cross that when I come to it.
Also, from reading on some other threads, I can't get the dash pad off but it seems that I just have to wiggle it off. I removed the three or so screws from next to the gauges, the three screws from the glove box area, and the two screws from something inbetween those two areas. It wiggles but not much.
Here are some pictures of the car after I took out most of the interior and cleaned it up a little.





Plans are to restore it and keep it simple. Not sure how long I will keep this as like I said, I'd rather have a '66/67 unless I get a '68-up convertible, highly unlikely that I would be able to.

[cuz68]

The dash pad has clips on it, Around the side vents you need to pull on them hard to get it off.

[codyyy]

Alright I'll try that. I just need to take that pad off so I can get everything else out.
Do you guys think I should do a frame-off resto or just do a frame-on? I don't have a rotisserie but could make one, however it is kinda expensive even to make.

[webfoot]

Depends on what you want to do with it, drive the hell out of it or build a show car? You can still get the body off and restore the whole frame without a rotisserie.

I am doing a frame-off but upgrading/changing things where I see fit, but my original drivetrain is long gone so I figure this won't hurt. For instance the car originally had black interior, however I live in the desert and don't want to sit on black vinyl with the top down. Also it had manual drums and steering. I don't see why you couldn't do the same.

Looks like a pretty solid start you have there.

[codyyy]

The drivetrain in this car isn't original either. My plans are to keep it simple. Pontiac 400, Muncie M-20 or M-21, probably just go with Verdoro green with a black interior, convert front drums to discs and basically just do minor adjustments from there. I don't know if or how long I'll keep this car, so I don't want to go too crazy with it. It seems kinda backwards to restore the car I kinda don't really want to gain the one I want, but I figure this will do fine for now. I intend to drive this car, just not sure how long.
My plans for the '66 I have were to do a frame off rotisserie to it, box the frame, 1" drop springs, bigger sway bars, discs all around, T56 trans and new GTO seats, but who knows when or if I can tackle that car as it is stuck 3000 miles from me. I figure I could have fun with this '68 and then see if I can't trade it for a '66 or '67.

[webfoot]

FWIW the car I am restoring was $1400 to ship from AL to OR so it isn't horribly unreasonable. May consider that before sinking money into a car you don't want.

Also more of my .02 if you are not doing a factory resto and with non-original drivetrain, I think another factory color aside from verdoro would help you out with the eventual resale.

[6869GTO]

You should post a shipping request on uship.com for your 66 . Pay a small listing fee and transporters bid on you shipment. Let it run a couple of weeks,, initial bids will be high but if your not in a rush there could be a drop off in Mich and rather than coming back empty a transporter could cut you a deal if he's headed your way. I used it recently and was happy w/price I got after a week +.

[65WJ]

it is your car. paint it the color that makes you happy. build it the way you want to drive. Resale value will hurt a bit by doing the way you want unless someone else wants the same thing. Bottom line, is it for enjoyment or investment?

patrick

[codyyy]

It's gonna be enjoyed but not exactly what I want to end up with. I tried Uship and most of the bids were about 2000 or 1500. However, I'd still need to fly out there, gather the parts, tow it out of the barn and bring it to the shipping place as no one else out there can do that for me.
I'm not sure how keeping it near original will hurt the resale value of this car though. Like I said, I'd keep it simple with a 400, 4-speed and probably Verdoro green unless that is considered an ugly color, otherwise go Alpine Blue or black. The only non-correct stuff would be disc brakes up front, black interior and no vinyl top other than perhaps the little things like rims.
The other problem with this scenario is, my '66 needs a ton more work than this car does. This car has almost no major rust. A couple pinholes in the roof from the vinyl top, that's it. Everything else is surface.
My '66 needs a complete trunk, wheel wells, quarter patches or complete quarters, fender patches, package tray, windshield channel up front, as well as a complete interior and drivetrain. It's a bare roller.
Pretty much, I was wondering if I should restore this car and try to trade for a '66 or '67 out here. It's hard enough to find a GTO down here for under like $4000 unless it is a parts car. I'd end up selling my GTO in Michigan, which I don't really want to do but if I found another '66 or '67 4-speed post coupe I'd go for it.

[mike nixon]

I think you should find a 66/7 and drive it before you make a drastic decision to sell the 68. The 68-72's drive well and will grow on you in a hurry.

As far as building the car MIne was similar to your s a Vedero / black car 400HO 4spd 3:55's per the PHS.

It'l never be that god awful shade of green again as long as I own it. [ Did I mention I don't like V/G?]

Paint it what color you like and keep the body close to stock appearance and you shouldn't take a huge hit on resale.

Mike

[codyyy]

Originally Posted by mike nixon

I think you should find a 66/7 and drive it before you make a drastic decision to sell the 68. The 68-72's drive well and will grow on you in a hurry.

As far as building the car MIne was similar to your s a Vedero / black car 400HO 4spd 3:55's per the PHS.

It'l never be that god awful shade of green again as long as I own it. [ Did I mention I don't like V/G?]

Paint it what color you like and keep the body close to stock appearance and you shouldn't take a huge hit on resale.

Mike

I would love it if this car was a 4-speed convertible. I don't know what it is, but the 68-up cars look sweet in convertible form. As far as the green goes, no I don't like that color, but from looking on ultimategto.com to see some ideas, it looks like some people swear by it. My '66 was originally Mission Beige and what's left of its paint is still that color, which is awful.
I got the idea for Alpine Blue because there is a guy that lives down the road from me that has an Alpine Blue R/A GTO, I think a '69. Blue interior too. I really like that color. He daily drives a '67 Lemans and that's what made me stop and talk to him. I haven't seen that car in a while but now I see a silver '67 convertible around town so maybe that's him, he also has a black '68 GTO I think he said.
I will drive this car and go from there, it does look like the '68-up might be a more comfortable/sporty ride and I love the view from the driver's seat. I just like the Coke-bottle shape of the '66 better but oh well.

[codyyy]

I would drive a '66 or '67 but I don't think that is possible unless I buy one.

[cuz68]

Originally Posted by codyyy

I would drive a '66 or '67 but I don't think that is possible unless I buy one.

What girls dont like A red car. You just need to look around and find some parts,

[mike nixon]

Originally Posted by cuz68

What girls dont like A red car. You just need to look around and find some parts,

A red repaint will make me walk away from a car quicker than any other color unless it's red on the trim tag. Red's generally sprayed on cars for resale and that means it was done cheap and has a lot of hidden problems.

Mike

[codyyy]

I don't want red anyway. If it's a fast car or fast looking car, I'd like to keep the color more subtle. It's gonna attract enough attention as it is, I don't want it to completely stand out.

[codyyy]

Also, a coworker said I should strip the car with aircraft stripper instead of using a D/A sander. Should I go this route or get a D/A sander and better air compressor to run it? And should I use that rust conversion stuff in the trunk or just sand/aircraft strip it to bare metal and then prime and splatter paint? Thanks.

[codyyy]

Also, a question about the motor. The current motor is a Pontiac 350, which by any means is not the correct one. I'm having trouble finding a 400 or 455 near me and would prefer a running engine over one I'd have to rebuild, but I'm wondering something.
Would it be wise/worth it to perhaps turn this 350 into a 383 stroker vs. buying a good running 400 or 455? I want the most bang for the buck while staying out of Chevy choices if I can.
I read about the new Pontiac 383 stroker kits in a magazine a long time ago, I think Pontiac Enthusiast. Back then it was an interesting read but the magazine gave a rough estimate on how much it would cost to build one, and IMO it would be much cheaper just to buy a good running 400 or 455.

[PaulatFast]

NO! Good God we don't need 383 stroker Pontiacs. Not cheap. 350 pontiacs don't belong in GTO's in any shape or configuration. Remember there are four million 400's out there in circulation, not a difficult motor to find. Ask a Pontiac friend and have him ask his friends... you'll have a motor in a week!

I'd use the stripper, matter of fact, I do use stripper.

Verdoro Green is a great color when done right. It was by far the most popular color in 68 for a reason. Your nieghbors 69 isn't Alpine Blue if it's a factory color. Wasn't offered in 69. Alpine is a very light blue. personally it's one of my least favorite colors for 68. Aluetian Blue is darker and has a kind of gun-metal blue appearance. Check it out if you want to go with a blue.

[codyyy]

Originally Posted by PaulatFast

NO! Good God we don't need 383 stroker Pontiacs. Not cheap. 350 pontiacs don't belong in GTO's in any shape or configuration. Remember there are four million 400's out there in circulation, not a difficult motor to find. Ask a Pontiac friend and have him ask his friends... you'll have a motor in a week!

I'd use the stripper, matter of fact, I do use stripper.

Verdoro Green is a great color when done right. It was by far the most popular color in 68 for a reason. Your nieghbors 69 isn't Alpine Blue if it's a factory color. Wasn't offered in 69. Alpine is a very light blue. personally it's one of my least favorite colors for 68. Aluetian Blue is darker and has a kind of gun-metal blue appearance. Check it out if you want to go with a blue.

Alright I'll do that then. Right after I checked I looked up the kit and it's like 1700 bucks, way out of my range. I just want a good running engine that will last a bit until I could afford to build it the way I want.
I'm not a big fan of the Verdoro green, I kinda like it but would take a different color instead if I could. I really want something more subtle and although I think black would look best with the chrome bumpers and stuff, I don't want another black vehicle. That Aluetian Blue color you mentioned is definitely something I like. Silver or a Gun Metal with a touch of blue in it would be perfect for me.

[tigercars]

Paul is right. Alpine blue is a light color. There were six blues offered by Pontiac in 68 along with a turquise but Verdero Green probably out sold all of them combined. Colors are subjective and if you are like me a little color blind but you know what you like when you see it. Good luck.