[tallyhoe]

Love the story! I feel fortunate to still have my 3 spd.

[4zpeed]

I like the 3 spd. too, someone slipped a 4 spd. in my car long ago.

Great family owned story, the resto. looks like it's coming along.


Good luck
Frank

[OG68]

I was thinking the other day about a story my dad told me about this car. Dad was a Ford man. And he always bought another Ford after he paid off the note of the first one. The 64 Fairlane lasted four years but for the last year it was in the garage. Although fully repaired, it was never the same after someone pulled out in front of mom on the expressway.

So when dad brought the GTO home my mom was furious. She had gotten used to not having a car payment for a year and she also thought it was the ugliest car she'd ever seen. And how are you going to fit five kids in there she asked. Well dad just took it all in stride. He actually already had the car for a month but kept it at his work location in Yreka.

He told me that he was also considering a 68 Charger R/T. 440/4 Spd. Red of course. It came down to whatever dealer would make him the best deal. The Pontiac dealer won out. It may have been because the dealer was closing the store after the 68 model year. Who knows. But the GTO was the only car (or truck) that dad kept more than 3 or 4 years. Mom grew to love the car. She still gets emotional thinking about it and is glad I have it back. My goal is to get it running and let her drive it one last time. She's 88, in fairly good health and the heart of a Hot Rodder still beats strong in her chest.

[will slow gto]

Cool story about your parents!

[OG68]

Well the car is now in my garage sharing space with the El Camino. Made the 700 mile run to Redding Friday, hung the front clip and loaded the car on the trailer Saturday and then back to San Diego on Sunday. Trip average was 59 mph. Grapevine hill was taking a toll with its 7% grade and 103* temperatures. Surprising amount of newer cars were off the side of the road, but not my Silverado. Turned off the A/C, dropped it into second and kept the speed at 50 mph, never got above 210*.

I had taken the frame up last month and reunited it with the body. Had every intention of bringing to back then but I started passing a kidney stone right before I was ready to come back to SD. Wife had to fly up and drive me home.

[Jerry H.]

You can get new 15x7 and 15x8 steelies from Summit. Best thing is they ship for free. Great car and cool story!

[eaglesan13]

Nice story, and a cool car. Congrats on getting it home. Nice El Camino too.

In some of your postings the car has slotted mags on it. Do you still have those? If so, ever thought of using them? My father-in-law has a 1970 El Camino that he bought new. Right after purchase he took it to the local tire store and had a set of 14x7 Dan Gurney "Eagle" slotted mags put on it. He drove the car until 1986 and then stored it in the garage. In about 2006 I went and got it and brought it to my house where I rebuilt the engine and trans, suspension, brakes, and fuel system. It's an original paint car (Gold) with a vinyl roof so I tried to talk him into putting a set of 15x7 Magnum 500 style SS rims on it. He didn't even want to hear about that. He wanted the mags to stay on the car. They were in good shape, just really dirty, so I had them professionally polished and put a new set of T/A radials on them. I have to admit, they look really cool. Something to consider if you still had those mags and liked the look.

[OG68]

My dad put the slots on within a few weeks of buying the car. I replaced them with Rally IIs in the early 80s. Probably sold them at that time.
I still have the original hubcaps that came with the car.

[OG68]

So another milestone today with the car. After 6 months I was able to bring it home from the painters. Last time I saw it, it was in primer. I approved a paint sample which I thought looked closest to the original Solar Red. After seeing the car today, all I can say is wow! They did a fantastic job. The only issue I had was the upper dash was painted the wrong shade of Red which should have been Burgundy. But thats easily fixed.
And now the assembly begins.

[OG68]

And of course something had to vacate the garage for awhile.

[Simple Man]

That looks fantastic!

[Half-Inch Stud]

Windshield antenna or rear PWR antenna instead of rude front fender antenna?
Front Fender antenna with a base spring?

[Greg Reid]

Beautiful! What year is the el Camino? I had one similar..or same?

[OCMDGTO]

That new paint looks fantastic!

[OG68]

Thanks for the kind comments. At the moment I'm sort of overwhelmed by the amount of work left to be done. The engine short block has been completed and I expect to have it back in about a month. At my direction I have told the builder to take his time as I don't have room for it anyway. That also helps me budget wise. Got my carburetor back from Cliff. One of the last ones he's rebuilding. I'm very much impressed by his craftsmanship. The padded dash is at Just Dashes and will be done in a few weeks. All the chrome work has been completed. I still need to buy a windshield and have the headliner installed. Then I can move forward with the interior. Still trying to decide whether to buy 225/70 redlines with Rally II's or thin 3/8" whitewalls with steelies and dog dishes as original. I'm leaning towards the whitewalls since it's rather uncommon these days.
One bite at a time.

[OG68]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Beautiful! What year is the el Camino? I had one similar..or same?

The El Camino is a 70. Mostly stock with day 2 modifications and a UMI suspension.
It is for sale.

[OG68]

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud

Windshield antenna or rear PWR antenna instead of rude front fender antenna?
Front Fender antenna with a base spring?

Front fender antenna as original.

[Verdoro 68]

It's looking awesome!

Regarding the wheels - are the slotted mags out of the question? Those are part of the car's (and your family's) history. Might be cool to have set to swap on every now adn tehn.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by OG68

Thanks for the kind comments. At the moment I'm sort of overwhelmed by the amount of work left to be done. The engine short block has been completed and I expect to have it back in about a month. At my direction I have told the builder to take his time as I don't have room for it anyway. That also helps me budget wise. Got my carburetor back from Cliff. One of the last ones he's rebuilding. I'm very much impressed by his craftsmanship. The padded dash is at Just Dashes and will be done in a few weeks. All the chrome work has been completed. I still need to buy a windshield and have the headliner installed. Then I can move forward with the interior. Still trying to decide whether to buy 225/70 redlines with Rally II's or thin 3/8" whitewalls with steelies and dog dishes as original. I'm leaning towards the whitewalls since it's rather uncommon these days.
One bite at a time.

Redlines might look good. Seems like I saw a red Chevrolet pickup with redlines on it, will try to find that picture. How much for the El Camino?

Those slots look like U.S. Mags to me, the best looking slot wheels of all!!!

[John Eiseman]

Very cool.thread here. Like the back story with your car too Ed. My 69 hardtop came from the same dealer.I think, in Yreka. I'll check the PHS later on.