[GpFreak]

Great thread, I admire your detail and diligence... I have to ask though, is the camera mounted on your head the whole time?

[Bliss_Street]

Originally Posted by GpFreak

I have to ask though, is the camera mounted on your head the whole time?

Nope, I'm just using my iPhone. Which has a better camera in it then the first 2 1/2 generations of professional cameras did. It's handy, easy to clean and has simple controls. I'm not about to drag out the work cameras, lights and tripod.

[OZZIEVILLE 67 2 door]

I have done a fair bit of research on shocks to send to OZ and find that KYB appear the only manufacturer to make a complete set for my 67 bonneville..

A few years ago I did order KYB and got the wrong shocks..Rear to short and no good ,the fronts I made fit by grinding out the bottom bolt tabs..

I was hoping to put a set of Bilstien but appears not a full set ,rears only..

The 67 has new coils and front end mostly rebuilt ,the rear is re-bushed.

So if one of you darksiders could list the part numbers for the KYB gas adjust I will be ordering very soon.
Thanks in advance
John L.

[Coach]

Nice ride, of course I am partial to 67 big body Ponchos. The Grand Prix is also a good match, there are differences, but the none trim parts match pretty much dead on.

-Harry

[blubomber]

Your new Cat is similar to a Bonneville although the Bonneville has a 3"
longer wheelbase and is longer in the back quarters. From the front doors forward you have lots of inter-changable parts as well as for the interior. Mechanically and electrically they will be identical and you can install options from one onto the other. Everything is in place for you to make the std Catalina single exhaust into a dual exhaust. Yo can even install long branch exhaust manifolds and really wake up the motor. A 4 bbl carb/intake and the long branch / dual exhaust is an inexpensive way to get a lot more performance. The base 400 motor has plenty of power. Good luck. Always liked the fastbacks!!

[Bliss_Street]

Originally Posted by OZZIEVILLE 67 2 door

I have done a fair bit of research on shocks to send to OZ and find that KYB appear the only manufacturer to make a complete set for my 67 bonneville..

A few years ago I did order KYB and got the wrong shocks..Rear to short and no good ,the fronts I made fit by grinding out the bottom bolt tabs..

I was hoping to put a set of Bilstien but appears not a full set ,rears only..

The 67 has new coils and front end mostly rebuilt ,the rear is re-bushed.

So if one of you darksiders could list the part numbers for the KYB gas adjust I will be ordering very soon.
Thanks in advance
John L.

Having only moved back here from SA a year and a half ago, I can feel your pain on ordering the wrong thing. As for me, I ordered my KYBs from Amazon of all places. The price was good and the shipping free. I only ordered the fronts, and while the size was correct, the lower bracket wasn't a perfect fit. But I own an angle grinder. The image shown had the lower bracket with open ended 'ears'. Mine were both holes that didn't align. I ordered them first, and didn't use them for a month. Rather then return them and left the Big Cat on jack stands, I simply used a cut off disk and opened up the hole to make them into tabs. Also, mine are grey while the image shown is white.

In retrospect, I would contact KYB directly and confirm the application to avoid my mistake; even though it worked out ok for me....for now. I will be more diligent when I order for the rears.

[Bliss_Street]

I took Gabby to get her front end aligned this morning.

I pulled out of our hidden hide-a-way, made a left and almost immediately had a Prius behind me. It was being driven by a very attractive young lady, in her early 20's. And every time I had to step on the gas, I swear she flinched or even cried a little. It was juvenile of me, but it made me laugh out loud. I have to get the cheap glass packs replaced with proper mufflers. I want the car to growl, not make college kids cry.

The good news? camber was perfect, caster is off -but will wait until the rear is rebuilt and the wheels/tires are done, toe in was way off -which I expected given she got new tie rods and tie rod ends. I even left the bolts loose on the connector.

The bad news? the rear tires are starting to crack and delaminate. So I'm facing some options.

1. Buy 14" tires. which are fairly cheap and use the rims I have (although I would clean up the rims and paint them red). I'm not liking this, because I want to give her disk brakes in the spring or summer of 2014. Which means larger rims. But this could get me through the winter and give me a spare set of winter tires.

2. Buy a nice 15" rim and move to wider tires which will plant her better. I was thinking 245 to 275 depending on space and rim selection. This is the middle ground. A nice steel rim like a Crager Soft 8 is available in my bolt spacing and size. Tires wouldn't be cheap but I wouldn't buy crazy cool ones either.

3. Buy a very nice 17" rim and very nice tires. This is expensive, easily the cost of the motor rebuild. it would set the drive train work back quite a bit.

Honestly, I'm leaning to the 1->2 plan.

Edit: I'm currently on 215/75/14, which are basically a trailer tire. I have found one that is intended for a car, and the set of 4 is $300.

[indetrucks]

Love your car and LOVE this thread. Thanks for all the detailed pics and descriptions of the work you did.
Also love this pic

Even though you aren't going anywhere in the car, your dog is owning it like "Let's do this man, lets go!"

[Bliss_Street]

Originally Posted by indetrucks

Love your car and LOVE this thread. Thanks for all the detailed pics and descriptions of the work you did.
Also love this pic

Even though you aren't going anywhere in the car, your dog is owning it like "Let's do this man, lets go!"

Thanks, the dogs LOVE this car. They both love how they can sit in the back and pop their head out the rear windows. The lack of a B pillar is perfect for them.

And when I'm out in the garage, they almost always sit in the car to be close to me (except when I'm forging; dogs, glowing metal and loud banging is a bad combo).

[Griffinspc]

I converted to 15" wheels early on for my Ventura. I went with

Front P215 / 65R-15 BFG Radial T/A
Rear: P235 / 70R-15 BFG Radial T/A

The front could have gone a little larger but overall I'm very happy with the 15" vs. the 14" that had a tendency to wander.

[Bliss_Street]

Originally Posted by Griffinspc

I converted to 15" wheels early on for my Ventura. I went with

Front P215 / 65R-15 BFG Radial T/A
Rear: P235 / 70R-15 BFG Radial T/A

The front could have gone a little larger but overall I'm very happy with the 15" vs. the 14" that had a tendency to wander.

Any reason you went with a different width and aspect ratio up front as compared to equal sizes all around?

[Griffinspc]

It was really only a leveling issue. My Ventura sat high in front and this was the easiest way to even it out. I also wanted as much rubber as I could get at the back and these barely allow me to get my fingers in between the tire and the body. I could have gone with P225 in front and still not scraped though in a full turn.

[Bliss_Street]

Originally Posted by Griffinspc

It was really only a leveling issue. My Ventura sat high in front and this was the easiest way to even it out. I also wanted as much rubber as I could get at the back and these barely allow me to get my fingers in between the tire and the body. I could have gone with P225 in front and still not scraped though in a full turn.

Good to know. Did you tweak your speedo? for that matter, where does the speedo cable attach?

[Griffinspc]

No, left speedo alone. (Don't wear one either )

It's not a daily driver so the little bit of speedometer and odometer difference wasn't a concern. I really like this site for it's information potential:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tir...0r14-235-65r15

If this holds you can see the differences from 14" to 15" easily.

[Bliss_Street]

Originally Posted by Griffinspc

I really like this site for it's information potential:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/tir...0r14-235-65r15

If this holds you can see the differences from 14" to 15" easily.

Nice, I used this one to get me with in a 2% margin of error. If I get caught doing 100mph, I figure actually doing 102 or 98 is something I can live with.

[Griffinspc]

We're Pontiac owners, we don't speed!

[Griffinspc]

My puppy loves and protects my Pontiac too.



PS: I too went with KYB shocks all around.

[Bliss_Street]

Arrgggghhhhh, that pic makes me want to get body work and a paint job badly.

Must.Stick.To.Plan

[geeteeohguy]

Great project. Two suggestions, one a little late: there is no need to remove the front brake drum from its hub assembly. It's a pressed together unit. Simply remove the grease cap, unscrew the spindle nut, and there you go. The drum is machined with the hub in place. I cringed when I saw the pic of the torch and the hammer! Second suggestion: don't rebuild the rear end unless it's noisy, whining, or worn out. These rear ends will run hundreds of thousands of miles with no problem. Replace the trailing arm bushings, yes, and possibly the axle seals if they are leaking. If not, I'd leave them alone. The potential of destroying a perfectly good rear differential, even with good intentions, is very high if you take it all apart. They are precision units and need special tools to set up correctly. Again, clean it, paint it, reseal it, but other than that, leave it be. As for the engine, I'd remove it, replace the timing chain, water pump, and freeze plugs, reseal it, and paint it, and re-install. No need for an overhaul if it's running fine. Save the $$$ for paint on the body.

[Bliss_Street]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Great project. Two suggestions, one a little late: there is no need to remove the front brake drum from its hub assembly. It's a pressed together unit. Simply remove the grease cap, unscrew the spindle nut, and there you go. The drum is machined with the hub in place. I cringed when I saw the pic of the torch and the hammer!

Yeah, 20/20 hindsight is fantastic. To be fair, the shop manual shows them as a 2 piece construction, all the advice on this forum, and the advice of not one, but 2 GM engineers indicated they were in 2 pieces. But they aren't damaged and will get replaced in the new year with disks. No harm, no fowl. Duck joke intended. At least I know better now, which was the point.

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Second suggestion: don't rebuild the rear end unless it's noisy, whining, or worn out. These rear ends will run hundreds of thousands of miles with no problem. Replace the trailing arm bushings, yes, and possibly the axle seals if they are leaking. If not, I'd leave them alone. The potential of destroying a perfectly good rear differential, even with good intentions, is very high if you take it all apart. They are precision units and need special tools to set up correctly. Again, clean it, paint it, reseal it, but other than that, leave it be.

Respectfully and politely, I have to say no. That would defeat the entire purpose of buying the car. If I were to take that attitude, I would have plonked down 20 grand at a Meecum auction. We bought this car with the aim of learning about brakes, transmissions and motors. The differential is part of that. If we mess it up, there are plenty of businesses in a 50 mile radius that will take our money while laughing at us and rebuild the diff. Not to mention, I want to install an LSD. If, as suggested, it can be done in 2 hours in a drive way; why wouldn't I break open the diff and do it?
But the back end is a mess. It grinds going over bumps, has a lot of lateral play going into corners. When I jacked the front up, she squatted unevenly, listing badly towards the drivers side. I can see the travel range in the dirt on the shocks isn't even. It needs to get broken down, serviced, replaced, cleaned up and properly sorted. Everyone has to do something for the first time, and this is ours.

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

As for the engine, I'd remove it, replace the timing chain, water pump, and freeze plugs, reseal it, and paint it, and re-install. No need for an overhaul if it's running fine.

Again, completely contrary to the purpose of buying this car. Not to mention, she is piddling trans fluid and oil all over my floor. Her piston rings aren't sealing that great. She isn't making her rated power for sure. The shifts are soft and not firm. She has plumbing supplies spliced into her cooling loop (no joke, there is a piece of pipe in there). She needs to be set up for unleaded fuel. The exhaust looks like it was installed with a hammer. An AC unit that...well let's just say that is a whole project in and of itself. The transmission is coming out and going to a reputable shop to be looked over and spruced up. The engine is coming out, getting torn down to the block. It will go to a machined shop and get cleaned, checked for cracks and that it's still flat and true. Then it will be getting all new modern internals. The heads are getting broken down and properly rebuilt. Then it will be lovingly put back together with a new carburetor, intake manifold and headers. It may only have 37,766 miles on it, but they haven't been well looked after miles. She deserves better. She should be making 400hp at the crank, drawing disapproving looks from moms, and thumbs up from kids.

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Save the $$$ for paint on the body.

Now that is just crazy talk. I bought a 47yo car that was designed to last 7-8 years. Doing that and saving money are sort of polar opposites.

All too often we see cars that look great with cool paint jobs, until you get close and see the disaster they are hiding. Cars are made to go, handle, and stop. Those are the priorities. If we are in the US long enough to get to the paint, we'll be happy. But if I have to sell her, I want to sell a mechanically sound car that needs paint rather then a cool looking car that needs $15k worth of work under the skin.

And I love that color of your GTO. It's a perfect understated color.