The Point of No Return -65 GTO B/MP Drag Car Tribute
 

Started the teardown the morning at 9:30, took an 1 1/2 hours for lunch, out at 5. I mostly just watched and told my helper what to do. Here is what is planned:

Radio and Heater Delete
New front springs
90/10 front shocks
Aluminum front brake drums (Thanks Bob Vidan)
2x4 AFB's on vintage offy low riser intake
HO exhaust w/ pull cable cut outs
Rear cheater slicks on black steel wheels
small front bias ply blackwalls, with Radir wheels if I can't find 2 Hurst wheels soon
Rear air bags

A complete tear down and re detailing by "Honest Jerry's Speed & Equipment'.

We'll probably work on a couple of days a week, so I 'll probably post more pics next week.

Jerry,that is going to be cool!!!!!How about some retro tow hooks?

Cool! What headers are you going with? Open of course!

Way cool Jerry! Can't wait to see the end result!

Not a fan of headers, so I'm going with Ram Air/HO manifolds and cable controlled exhaust cutouts in the head pipes.

One other bonus I found today as we were tearing the front end off the car was the previous owner had already installed the lightweight front grills. Man, they had even me fooled until I lifted the entire front section with the grills, T-section and lower bar still connected. I could tell the weight difference immediately!

Those have been on my mind too, John. We'll see as the project progresses.

Sounds familiar. I'm seriously considering putting a 9" under mine, going with a Gutsram, cage, VFN hood with SD style scoop, and a few other things. Hoping for mid 10's and run with the NSS guys this year. Got all the parts but the Gutsram.

here you go guys they have the 65 and 67 also available glass bumpers head light bezels basicly the whole car

http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm

Got in a few hours on the car today. No pics, as all the work was underneath. Pulled the exhaust, driveshaft, all of the emergency brake cables and hardware. Pretty much stripped underneath from the firewall back now. Tomorrow we plan to start tearing down the engine and getting ready to pull it and the tranny, etc. Then all the fun of cleaning, plating and refinishing will begin.

BTW, John G., Keith S. is getting me some pics of the tow tabs on his 65. I'll see if we can't work that out.

:D

I sent seven or eight pics to Jerry but here are a couple just to whet your appetite...

:D

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...rackets001.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...rackets004.jpg

Got in a couple of hours since the last post. Pulled all of the heater/defroster stuff. Pulled the radio and installed the radio delete plate. Waiting a board member here for the stuff to make the heater delete plate for the dash. Starting the mock up on the 2x4 setup.

Ok guys let me know your opinion. This is a nice Offy alumnium intake. It will clean up nice. Would you paint it engine color to try to camoflauge it or leave it natural. Let me know what you think would look the best.

I would leave it natural, but that's a personal preference issue.

Natural!

I'll get it all cleaned up and see how it comes out.

I had a set of those toe hooks on my GTO for a few years.

Towed the car with my 78 Trans Am. Had the floater hubs and skinny tires for the back. Chained up the front tires, moved the skinnys to the front, and put the slicks from the trunk on the rear.

Tom V.

That High rise Offie would look good natural...:)

My personal preferance is painted. I feel it gives a "it belongs there feel" verses An "I added it feel":) its kinda hard to camflage 2x4's

I also think the earlier SD scoop also looks pretty tough on a 65

The edit is gone but here is a pic of a members car with a SD scoop. it looks Awsome IMHO:)

http://home.earthlink.net/~jdoran177...20(Medium).jpg

No real progress this week. I did get the carbs to the rebuilder and the front bumper to the fabricator who is going to fab up the tow tabs. He's going to keep a pattern so if anyone else wants a pair we can make them up quickly. Hope to get the rest of the front end broken down and the engine and tranny pulled out this week.

Jerry, I'd say natural too for the intake. My thought is, if it's the original intake, or any part, paint it the proper color. If it's from another source to replace an original part, keep it natural or as it came to you.

I've got an aluminum tri power intake and if I ever go with a tri power setup, I'll keep it natural. It isn't concours correct for the car so why go to all the trouble to hide it when someone will spot it for what it really is anyways. ;)

But it's your part, and your choice in the end. :D

I glass beaded the intake today, and it didn't clean up as good as I hoped. I may need to paint it after all.

Actually got some work done today. Worked about 6 hours and finally got the engine pulled and the firewall stripped. Just a few more things to pull off the engine, and then the FUN part of cleaning, refinishing, replating, repainting, etc.

Despite the fact that my helper hasn't shown up in over 2 weeks, my wife was in the hospital for 4 days last week, and I took off to the Charlotte swap meet for a couple of days, I have made some progress.

I have gotten a lot of the small parts and pieces cleaned and painted, including the springs, shocks, brake drums, pulleys, alternator brackets, master cylinder. The Offy 2x4 intake and M/T valve covers are restored and ready to go. The alternator and starter have been to the electric shop and restored to show condition. The front swap bar, drag link, idler arm, and tie rods ends have been cleaned and painted. And today I painted the engine. First time I've painted any acrylic enamel in over 15 years. And using a new gun, it took a while to get the finish right on the engine. No pics today, I'll try to get some next week.

Some pics of the painted engine, springs and parts, & intake. BTW, for you guys running MT valve covers, what do you use for valve cover bolts? The regular bolts aren't long enough, I'm wondering if the RA IV style bolts would be long enough? Anyone know?

Here's the cheater slicks with the 15x7 black steel wheels for the back. Also here is a pic of the Radir wheel I have for the front in 15x4. The 5.60x15 Pro Trac's are on order for them.

Ive got the stems w/ wingnuts for mine:)

I've thought about those, but I'd rather stay with the stock look if possible.

It's been a very long time since I ran those, but I also ran the stems with the removable wing nuts.

If I remember right they are 1/4-20 right?? if they are some off of a 454 91'-5' truck would probably work. it has aluminum valve covers and the bolts have the little "bats" and 3/8"heads. I have also used allen head cap screws before on my M/Ts and they looked nice.:) besides they stayed pu and didnt turn like the stems and wingnuts did:(

its looking pretty good:)

Pontiac valve cover fasteners are 5/16-18. I made some out of 2-1/2" long (or close to that) stainless socket head cap screws with stainless tube spacers. Easy access and not as 'in your face' as the tall wing bolts.

The car is really looking good Jerry, keep the progress reports coming.

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/DSC01595.jpg

Well, today has been a big downer! My helper hasn't shown up for almost a month, but had called to let me know what was going on. Last week he called to say he would be here Thursday and Friday. He didn't show. I started trying to reach him Monday, and called his cell several times. Today about lunch time he called me back.

It seems he has taken another job as a firefighter, and has gone to school for 18 weeks immediately! He is going to school during the day, and then working his regular job at the hospital at night.

Although I don't blame him for taking this opportunity, it really leaves me in a quandry. I would have never took the car this far down (or had him take it this far down) if I had known that he wouldn't be able to put it back together.

Physically I just can't get down and under the car to paint underneath and replace everything. If I get down, I can't get back on my feet with the braces I have to wear. I can do the little things on top, but just can't do hardly any work below knee level where you need to get low.

I guess I'll try to find someone else to help out, but this is a very small town mostly filled with retirees. I probably should have known better than to start this and to count on someone else.

The p/o of my car had regular bolts holding down the M/T valve covers and I misplaced a couple of them at some point. I found some that worked perfectly in the help section at the local parts store - I don't remember what the intended application was, though. Might be worth checking into. Of course, I'm sure I ended up paying $5.00 for $1.00 worth of fasteners, but I was in a hurry to get things back together.

I just got some regular zinc plated bolts in there now. Doesn't make much difference at this point as I don't know if the car will ever be finished.

Just thought I'd post what progress I had made in the past few months. I've gotten all the little parts refinished, painted, etc and all my bolts, fasteners, hood hinges, etc back from the platers. I'm just waiting on someone to paint the underneath of the car, the front frame, firewall and inner fenders. Then everything will be ready for reassembly. I've talked to one guy and he promised to help, but then he started two more jobs. So, the car is still just sitting in my shop until I can find someone to work on it. I was hoping to just about have it finished by now.

Got a little work done it the past few weeks. It's been hot here and my shop is not air conditioned and very hot in the afternoons, so I don't go in there much. Got the trunk painted today. The light is the trunk photos is terrible, but it turned out pretty good. A couple of pics of the bolts and fasteners. And a pic of the driveshaft that I spent 4 days on sanding, puttying, sanding, puttying again, sanding again,etc. It was pitted so bad it looked like it had been shot with a shotgun before I started, it looks a ton better now. Hope to get some help soon.

from one jerry to another,keep up the great work and keep the pics rolling

Got my carbs back from the rebuilder and mocked up my manifold this morning. Also got my manifolds coated and the stripes on the driveshaft. Got a call yesterday from a guy who was interested in helping me finish the car. He was supposed to call this morning and come by but I haven't heard from him yet. My luck!

I've gotten a couple of minor project done this week. Picked up the tow tabs and got them painted. If anyone else would like a set I have a template I could email you. (Thanks Keith for the detailed pics that my fabricator used to make these up). I also had this bracket made up. Let's see if anyone is reading this thread. This bracket will mount under the dash. What will it be used for?

You are welcome. Those look about right...

;)

Exhaust cutouts?

:confused:

Damn Keith, you're good! I matched the knobs to the vent knobs to give it that 'factory' look. What do you think?

:D

I think they look great!

K

I have not had a good week working on the car. I thought I was going get a couple of the problems fixed that were on the car when I bought it. First, the front seats had the covers reversed. Next, they had painted the whole dash the same color, not painting the 'suede' correctly on the top part of the dash. And third the new winshield was already leaking. The guy who does all my upholstery work also does glass work. So he comes to pick up the seats and pulls out the windshield for me. This is a great time to repaint the top of the dash. While looking over the project yesterday morning, I notice that the interior A pillars look like they have never actually been painted. So I sand the A pillars and paint them semi gloss black. Everything good so far.

Next I sand, tape off and prime the upper dash. I wouldn't have even used any primer, but the 'suede' paint is lacquer, and I didn't want it raising up on me. After priming, I pulled off all the taping before scuffing and painting. I didn't notice any problems at that point. Then I scuff the primer/sealer and retape and paint. The paint looks pretty good and the lacquer drys almost as quick as you spray it. I leave it, clean the spray gun, put everything up and then go back about 30 minutes later and pull the tape off. Guess what? The tape pulls off some of the old paint underneath it! So now it looks like I get to redo the lower dash too! Evidently this wasn't prepped properly. One damn thing leads to another. Why can't people just spend a little time, do some research and do the job right the first time? Crap like this really gets me pissed off.

1 step forward a 2 steps back
 

Good news and bad news today. My new helper showed up for work today. He is a good guy and a great mechanic. We worked on a few minor things, then he started underneath the car. He was getting the axle tubes and diff. cover ready to putty the pits. He told me he believed it would be a lot easier if he pulled the diff cover off and blasted it. OK by me. After draining the dope out of the rear end, he was cleaning out the bottom of the housing when I heard a big OPPS! He crawled out from under the car with a chunk of a 'tooth' that he found in the bottom of the housing. Sooo, here comes out the rear end. At this point he only had to take the 4 control arm bolts out as everything else had already been unhooked. After he gets the housing out, we inspect everything. Thank God the ring gear and pinion look OK, so he pulls the chunk out and is taking it to check the spider gears.

I did get the dash repainted and the block off plate for the heater control panel installed. I'll be glad when we can start going back together instead of continuing to tear apart.

do you have any pics of your heater block off plate? I have a 65 tempest I was going to use a 2nd radio delete plate if I have to.
Also I would like a template of your towhooks if you still got it.

PM me your email and I will email you the template. I'll try to get a pic of the block off plate in a couple of days.

Here is a pic of the heater block off plate. It is home made. I think it turned out ok. (Thanks, Terry Hunt). Also a pic of the spider gear that we replaced in the rear. We're making slow progress. Start work at 11, work a couple of hours, take a couple of hours for lunch, and then knock off at 3. Then rear housing should be detailed and ready to be reinstalled by the end of the week.

Sounds like good hours....are you hirin' any more "free help"?

:D

Seriously, glad to see you are making headway and the heater plate looks great.

K

FINALLY got the rear axle bolted back up yesterday. Maybe I'll get some paint on it today. Has two more issues with it. One axle bearing was bad, and believe it or not, it was assembled minus the drivers side axle seal! I had to look at it several times because there was no signs of leakage, but sure enough, there was no seal in the housing on the drivers side. I did get the firewall painted last Saturday. Hope to get the rest of the front clip and the underneath painted by the end of the week. Then the reassembly starts.

how did it not leak?
was it full of fluid?

It had plenty of 'dope' in it. I have no idea my it wasn't leaking. There wasn't even any sign of leakage. I only drove it about 30 miles before I tore it down, but from the looks of the engine and undercarriage, it looked like it had been driven several thousand miles since the restoration.