[Bruce Meyer]

The body bushings as you can see in the picks were fried so I replaced them. When cleaning the frame I found these numbers. I don't know what they mean. If you look at the body bushing on the bottom left you can see its odd shaped. It says TEMP on the side of it.

[Bruce Meyer]

Started putting suspension together. Im using front springs that I bought many years ago from HO Racing. You can see the difference in height from the stock springs that were sagging badly. Also using KYB shocks. I wish I had the old HO Racing rear springs to go with these front ones. Does anyone know how to get a hold of Ken Crocie from HO Racing? I sent him a PM here a few weeks ago but apparently doesn't visit here that often.

[Bruce Meyer]

Finished the front suspension. I used rubber bushings for A arms. I used urethane for the sway bar mounts and end links because the rubber replacements for those are crappy nowadays. For the steering components I used a kit by Proforged. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/POF-116-10013. I really like the tie rod adjusters. Next up is the rear suspension and rear end. Right now the car has its original BOP 10 bolt 3.23 gear with an open carrier. Boooo. Posi should have been standard on GTO,s
Im having a hard time locating a posi carrier for the 3.23 gear. I have a 3.73 12 bolt posi rear end but the gears would need to be changed to a 3.31 to be street friendly with a 455 and todays highway speeds. Those gears are hard to find. What do you guys think? Keep looking for a posi carrier for the 10 Bolt? Or try to find 3.31 gear for the 12 Bolt?

[SD455DJ]

Bruce, I'd opt for a new 3.08 gear behind your 455. I have a new 3.08 gear (Yukon) & Eaton posi unit in the 12-bolt (McKinnon out of a '70 GP) in my '70 Lemans with a 461 with an M-20 4-speed trans. It pulls away easy from a stop in 1st gear and runs at 2650 rpm at 70 mph. With your TH400 automatic, it's a great gear for a 455 with abundance of torque to easily overcome that gear. My brother has a '71 455HO GTO with the factory 3.07 12-bolt that easily runs low 13's and can cruise nicely on the highway.

Dennis

[Bruce Meyer]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

Bruce, I'd opt for a new 3.08 gear behind your 455. I have a new 3.08 gear (Yukon) & Eaton posi unit in the 12-bolt (McKinnon out of a '70 GP) in my '70 Lemans with a 461 with an M-20 4-speed trans. It pulls away easy from a stop in 1st gear and runs at 2650 rpm at 70 mph. With your TH400 automatic, it's a great gear for a 455 with abundance of torque to easily overcome that gear. My brother has a '71 455HO GTO with the factory 3.07 12-bolt that easily runs low 13's and can cruise nicely on the highway.

Dennis

I was thinking of using 3.08 gears as they are readily available. I am going to a taller rear tire. Either a 27 or 28 inch. With a 3.31 gear and the taller tire I figured the Speedometer would still be accurate. Im leaning towards the 12 bolt either way.

[SD455DJ]

I'm running 27" tall tires (225R70/15's & 255R60/15's).

Dennis

[OCMDGTO]

I would definitely go with the 12 bolt. Build it right once and it should last forever. 331s sound good to me unless you do a lot of highway driving

[Bruce Meyer]

Went with 3.08 gears in the 12 bolt. Axles had too much runout so new ones went in. I went with rubber bushings because I had issues with urethane bushings in another car. On these A bodys the rear suspension goes into a bind condition as the suspension travels. The rubber bushings give to account for that. Urethane does not give. I destroyed a set of upper control arms on a car that had urethane bushings. I did beat on that one pretty good.

[Bruce Meyer]

Finally got paint on it. I went with factory color Atoll Blue. Im pleased with it since it was my first time shooting base coat/clear coat. Its a bit orange peely but since I used 4 coats of clear it should cut and buff nicely. I painted it in my garage/shop. Not the best environment so there is some dirt in it. hopefully most will come out when its color sanded.

[BB70]

Looks very nice. You're moving along at a good pace it seems like.

[kingbuzzo]

Love that color

[getmygoat]

That looks fantastic! Shiney new Atol Blue., how sweet it is!

[1965gp]

Paint looks great! I’m a little partial to that color since my 70 is Atoll Blue as well.

[Bruce Meyer]

Just finished cutting and buffing the paint. I really like the paint I used. The brand is Ure-chem. The clear is their HS Glamour clear. This paint was recommended by another board member here. The prices are very reasonable compared to some of the other brands. The quality is high. They have all the factory colors too. I don't know why my pics are sideways.

[Bruce Meyer]

I fit the bumper as best as it will go. Its a new one from Ames. The gap looks too big. Its at the limit of the adjustment but I think it needs to go higher. Correct me if Im wrong. The gap is about 5/8 of an inch. What do you guys think?

[HWYSTR455]

Mine I believe is just a hair over 1/2", so guess 5/8 isn't too far out of whack.

Where are you measuring from the quarter to the top of bumper or the trunk lid to top of bumper?

Might be the pics, but kinda looks like the trunk lid isn't fitting right.

If you get down at bumper height and take a pic directly at the bumper it's going to look bigger than it should be, so might be an optical trickery.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...&postcount=100


.

[HWYSTR455]

You can always wobb the holes of the brackets some to make more of an adjustment.

If you have rubber body bushings, you kind of want enough of a gap there, if it's too close and you have body/frame flex, it could make contact.

.

[Bruce Meyer]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Mine I believe is just a hair over 1/2", so guess 5/8 isn't too far out of whack.

Where are you measuring from the quarter to the top of bumper or the trunk lid to top of bumper?

Might be the pics, but kinda looks like the trunk lid isn't fitting right.

If you get down at bumper height and take a pic directly at the bumper it's going to look bigger than it should be, so might be an optical trickery.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...&postcount=100


.

Im measuring from the quarter panel. The trunk lid fits good. That pic is a little deceptive as there is a bit of polishing compound residue on the trunk edge making it look off. I guess if I want it better I will have to modify the brackets or live with it.

[napster]

Don't know if this will help, but here are some pixs of my Goat you could compare to:

[napster]

2 More pixs. I'll get measurements if needed over the weekend.