[Old Blue 66]

Very nice story Keith. Two Pontiac guys in the same town featured in the same book. That stuff never happens.

The truck looks great by the way.

[robz]

More great stories, Keith..Keep 'em coming!

[BigAquaBonney]

I had never seen this post. Fantastic, living history.

[poison heart]

I've read this a few times over the past year or so but maybe I missed it.

So whatever happened to your dads 64 GTO? You said it was sold at the fair but do you know who it went to or what ever happened to it?

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by poison heart

I've read this a few times over the past year or so but maybe I missed it.

So whatever happened to your dads 64 GTO? You said it was sold at the fair but do you know who it went to or what ever happened to it?

No - it never turned up.

I had a guy ask me about it, as a result of this thread, but the more we checked into it the more obvious it became that his car was not the same car (our car was sold with the tow bar brackets on it, headers installed, slicks in the trunk, etc).

I still keep an eye open for old insurance documents and paperwork at Mom's house, in hopes that I can come up with a VIN for some of these old cars.


Thanks for the comments, guys -

K

[66sprint]

Keith
I would really like to hear whatever details you have regarding the 66 OHC car and how your Dad got it into the 12s!

Thanks
Chris Doyle

[Keith Seymore]

Sure. My recollection was that it was the typical "hot rodder" stuff: thin head gasket, shimmed valve springs, re-curved distributor.

Where he varied from that a little would be the addition of a homemade tripower (with progressive linkage) and split header(s) with dual exhaust. It was a four speed car but I don't recall the trans ratios or rear axle ratio (although I'm sure he let it creep up to 4.11 or so).

I don't know if he ran actual class competition in the Sprint or if it was just a development exercise. I'm sure he couldn't run Stock with some of those mods and I don't recall if the Modified Production class was created in '66 (but was for sure in place by '67).

Basically we ran the GTO in B/Stock in '65; when the '66 cars came out Dad didn't like them quite as well, so he left the GTO at home when he went down to Royal to look at them.

They worked out the deal on this '66 Sprint, so he ran that for the one year and gave it back.

Then, in '67, he got the GTO back out and with the addition of the newer (larger) tripower, '67 cylinder heads and bigger tires jumped up to B/MP. The car still sits in pretty much that same configuration today.

Incidently, those OHC mods would appear again later.... .... ....on our first pickup, a '69 GMC. It had, as you might guess, a 292 cu in straight six bored to 305 cu in, complete with a homemade tripower with three Rochester two barrels, a Pontiac progressive linkage, and a homemade cast exhaust manifold into dual exhaust. A 3.11 low gear Saginaw four speed and 3.73 rear axle made for a pretty quick little truck (...at least across the intersection!). You can just see the tail end of it on a typical Sunday afternoon in post #12 of this thread (and, a little farther down, me tearing apart the big 6 in preparation for the rebuild).

K

[66sprint]

Thanks Keith. Pretty neat stuff. Wish you had some pictures of the tripower setup.

Chris

[Keith Seymore]

It's a shame - I have no pictures of that car at all.

I wish we had done a better job taking pictures in general back then.

K

[Keith Seymore]

Something I've wanted to do for quite a while:

[Keith Seymore]

Mom stopped by today and one of the things she brought was this old picture; our favorite intrepid GTO enthusiasts checking out the '65 on display at the Henry Ford Museum:



Probably taking a look at how the original trim ring fits around the cutouts in the RallyI wheels....


K

[beemergary]

Glad to be a part of your story Keith. I was at a car cruise with the 63 tempest and a fella comes up ands says nice car. He then mentions that he wishes his father in law was still around to see my car. I then ask what was his name. Van Seymore he replies. I then tell him after spending 1 1/2 yrs restoring the car I went on my very first ride and my first stop was at Van Seymore's. He got alittle smile on his face.

[Keith Seymore]

LOL! That was by brother in law, Denny.

He's been a nice addition to the family...

[bigborehunter]

Reading the OHC 6 story reminds me of a neat Tempest hardtop that was for sale years ago just down the road from my house. I was in between cars and looking for a cruiser. It was going to be either this OH6 Tempest hardtop that was a bit barn sour, otherwise original, or a 1967 GTO ragtop that was more rag than top, complete frankenstein drive train swap with a 421 tripower and really nasty automatic with high stall converter. While I was making up my mind, the tripower GTO frankenstein sold and the OHc 6 Tempest was stolen! I ended up getting a Mach 1 instead. Never forgot either car though.

[Keith Seymore]

Spring has officially sprung in Michigan!

Stopped by the Autozone bookstore cruise this morning. We've been meeting off and on all winter long but today was definitely the first "big" gathering.

The truck was clean and available, so I ended up just driving that. Those of you that have "cool" daily drivers can appreciate how nice it is to just hop in your daily and participate in a cruise or a show...









It wasn't a bad (or particularly long) winter; just didn't do a lot of automotive stuff; but it's good for the nice weather to be back!

K

[Keith Seymore]

It's that time of year; I suspect dads all across America are being asked to drive their kids around "in an old car", and my house was no exception.

Last night was my turn - took the kids for a ride and then dropped my second oldest daughter at her Senior Prom. We managed to get a few (silly) shots amidst all the seriousness:

[bigborehunter]

Very nice Grand Prix. Absolutely one of the best colors for that model too.
Cars have been slowly coming out around here. This weekend is the best for old iron. Big collection at Angel Diner all morning, then they drove through town. I got mixed into the procession while running errands and so a big red 72 GTO 455 is stuck in the middle of seven fifties and early sixties pick up trucks and four street rods.
"Spot the Loonie"

[Keith Seymore]

This is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time now; ever since I found the old tow bar hanging on the wall at Mom & Dad's house.

I put a hitch on the Grand Prix over the winter and finally got to try it out today -









That's how we used to roll, back in the day!

K

[Keith Seymore]

In spite of considering myself to be an "old school" mechanic, I couldn't find the bottle opener that I thought was in my tool box.





Fortunately, it's times like this when it pays to be "mechanically inclined"...

[70KGOLD]

Good work, not even a scratch on the lid.