1969 Grand Prix-My Frame Off Restoration Pics
 

I thought I would start a thread to document my 1969 GP frame off restoration. This project started about 5 years ago. My dads first car was a 69 GP. I had the opportunity to purchase this car from a salvage yard. Like many restorations, I was in over my head and what started as a car to tinker around with became a full frame off restoration. Over the years, I did what I could. I am a true amateur and am learning as I go. I will get pictures up when I have time. Currently the body is being painted so I will try to update pictures as soon as I get time. Here are a few pics from when the car was first purchased. It was pretty rough, but the body was solid. Please add any comments or suggestions positive or negative. I would love to hear any insight or advice anyone might have for me. Thanks
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Can't wait to see more pictures. Nice to see another GP saved!

Looks like a good solid candidate for resto. Will be waiting for more pics.

Reply 2 GP Fan
 

From one Junior member to another, The best advice I could tell anyone that is restoring a Grand Prix, (especially a 69/70 model), is to join this site. I have been working on my GP project for the past 2.5 years and unlike restoring a GTO good technicial advice and parts for a GP are hard to find. This site has both. I've bought and sold parts on the PY web site, everyone I've dealt with wasn't doing it for the money as much as they doing it to help a fellow GP enthusiast. I've made some good connections and friends along the way! Good luck with your project! Dan

I attached some my motivational pictures?

Here are some before and after pics of the frame. I had it sand blasted and then painted it with epoxy. Again learning as I go, so the paint job was amateur but it has been 4 years and the paint is still on it. So far so good. I do have a couple regrets on this part. 1. I wish I would have taken more pictures. 2. I wish I had taken all of he suspension off when it was sandblasted. I did not do that because a rolling frame made it easier to get around and I wasnt ready to go in to the project head first. Woulda Coulda....
The rear end is a 3:23 posi which was a pleasant suprise. Will get into that more later.

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Here are some pics of body after it was blasted. I believe he called it star blasting which was a very fine sand which did not warp the panels. Pretty solid or the most part considering it is a midwest car. Had some rust on the rear wheel wells and a few pinholes in trunk and a spot on the windshield, otherwise rocker, floor etc looked good. I had him blast it, then apply an epoxy primer to take care of the rust and seal it up somewhat because I knew it would be awhile before it got anymore work done. After this stage the project sat for almost 2 years while I finished school, got married and eventually had a son (and saved up some money).

Surveyor- U R right, this forum has been a life saver!

Will keep the pics coming.
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That's a neat body dolly, keep up the good work.

Smart to start off with a non vinyl top car. I peeled the top off of my 70 G.P. and surprise surprize time for a new roof skin. Like others, it's nice to see another G.P. saved !

I have a nice pair of sail panels off a '69 for patching if you need

Thanks, but I have (2) 70 G.P. parts cars, both have really good body parts. Unfortunantly, the car I'm restoring is rough inside and out, but it's an original 4 speed so I'm going to go through with it. Roof, truck, floor pans, quarters...all rusted. Pity because the car runs and drives great !
Sure glad I joined this forum. Nice to see so many other G.P. people out there. Thought I was all alone in G.P. land. After my restoration is complete I'll be offering G.P. parts from my parts cars to help support keeping other G.P.'s on the road.

Saved from the salvage yard... that's awesome! Nice work. Was the original color red?

Yes, it was originally red.

During the restoration process I bought 2 donor cars. Both local. One partially pictured, I took the engine out of because it ran well, but the body was very rusty. It also had a nice rear bumper dash and some interior that I am going to use. There are before and after pictures posted of the engine. This was one of the most tedious things I have had to do so far. The engine was pretty gunked up. I had a neighbor mechanic go through it, check compression and replace some gaskets to seal it up. I couldnt afford a crate motor or a complete overhaul so hopefully if I treat this one right it gets me around for a few years. I spent 2-3 hours every night after work scraping and degreasing the engine. I think I got it cleaned up pretty good. Sprayed some high heat primer on it, then Plastikote aerosol. I hope it sticks OK. Is this what most people do?

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I also got the gas tank off of a donor car. This was another area I tried to save money. Pry should have just bought a new one for $120 but instead I crawled under the car and risked life and limb to remove and old gas tank, then spend 12 hours cleaning it up. I polished it up, but there were a few spots that I couldnt get the rust off of well enough to just clear coat, plus I hear that can turn yellow from the heat of the exhaust so I ended up spraying a stainless steel paint on it. It looks pretty decent now, but if I see any signs of deterioration on the tank it is coming off and a new one is going on.

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Does anyone have any use for some used 14x6 Rally II's? I have 6 with tires. Also have some trim rings that are in pretty good shape if interested.

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Found some more pictures of engine being cleaned up. Also have one of gas tank on car after it has been painted and mounted on back on. Just used a rubber mat that I found (basically a tire tube) between trunk and gas tank. I did splurge a little bit and bought long branch exhaust manifolds for the engine. Also bought a PYPES 2 1/2 X pipe exhaust setup. Racepro mufflers. Lookin forward to hearing it rumble. Will get some pics of exhaust posted soon as I can.

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[QUOTE=The-Surveyor;4753382]From one Junior member to another, The best advice I could tell anyone that is restoring a Grand Prix, (especially a 69/70 model), is to join this site. I have been working on my GP project for the past 2.5 years and unlike restoring a GTO good technicial advice and parts for a GP are hard to find. This site has both. I've bought and sold parts on the PY web site, everyone I've dealt with wasn't doing it for the money as much as they doing it to help a fellow GP enthusiast. I've made some good connections and friends along the way! Good luck with your project! Dan[QUOTE]

Dan-Couldnt agree more. The forum is a great source for all kinds of info. People are very kind and patient with me when I have what would be considered a dumb question to many. I like the pics of your 70 too. Love seeing pics of restorations. Are you getting close to completion?

That wasnt necessarily by design, but it worked out nice. The only negative is that I do plan to put a vinyl top on so had to drill holes and will screw in studs to mount molding clips to. That part made me a little nervous. I hope I got the holes in the right places! Will have pics of that later. But you are right, both of my donor cars had vinyl tops and they had a lot of rot on the corners of the rear window. Did not have that problem with the restored car.

Those look like the correct 14 x 7 "JK" wheels. Look for a two letter code to the right of the valve stem on each one. Where are you located?

The engine looks great, nice job! Gas tank looks nice too.

Everything is looking great! I would agree the wheels you have are 7 inch. The trim rings look like they are for a 7 inch wheel.

Nice work so far! :D

You might be right. I will have to check the codes. Now that I think about it, I actually have 8 rims. A few without tires so I can measure the rim width. I am located in eastern Nebraska.

I am hastily trying to catch this thread up to present day, so I will try to be more detailed with future posts.

Just checked this morning. Yes, they are "JK" wheels. I have at least 5 of those.

Does your GP have the original XH 400? I'm glad to see somebody is saving a GP and not pulling the motor to put it in a GTO.

Those are correct for both '69 GP and Firebird. If looking to sell, post them in the G Body and Firebird parts for sale sections and I'm sure you'll get someone that wants them. You may also want to post the date codes as well, these are the stamped numbers to the left (month) and right (day) of the valve stem hole. They should be an easy sell to someone within driving distance from you. Shipping them can be costly and may be more difficult to sell that way.

Grant

Thanks, That is good to know. I will probably post a set for sale. Any suggestions as to a reasonable asking price for a set of these rims in this condition?

If the outer wheel lips and lug holes are all nice, I would say $50 to $75 each.

You got two 69-70 GP's for parts cars along with this one? Where do you guys keep finding these cars?!! Even at the largest swap meet in my area total 69-72 GP parts consisted of one (72) rusted dented fender, one (70) grille pair, a 69-72 dash complete with cracks and 3 center console inserts. And yes all items were priced as if they were at Barrett Jackson to boot. Vintage GP cars and parts are impossible in my area and you guys just keep finding em left and right while I get to play Indian Jones in the great GP crusade! Everybody that's got some parts they don't need or want to sell lets get those parts posted in the classified section here or post that you might be parting out a car, every bit helps.

Yes it does have the XH 400 in it. The engine came from a donor 69 GP that was too far gone for restoration. Has about 90,000 miles on it but I am hoping with a little TLC it will get me down the road for at least a few more years. Having the quadrajet rebuilt and got long branch headers to put on as well.

I was lucky. I searched for almost two years before an elderly man over heard me mention that I was looking for a 69 GP. He told me about a salvage yard in a very small town about an hour away that had one. I thought maybe he was blowing smoke, but I called, and sure enough they had 3 of them. Only one was in restorable condition. Now when it came to finding quality quarters.... They might as well have been located at the bottom of the ocean. Hopefully PY starts selling repros soon to make access to those types of parts alot easier.

I knew I wanted to paint it green but it took me awhile to decide on a shade. I ended up going to Fathom Green. Attachment 301121

Exhaust
 

I also installed a PYPES 2.5 inch dual exhaust system with racepro mufflers. Went in OK. Made it a lot easier because I installed it when the body was off the frame. I dont really know how to weld so I just used clamps to mount it. Doesnt look as good but they are holding everything together so far. Will see if it leaks. I had to mess with it for awhile once the body was on to get the tail pipes where they looked ok. Will pry cut them off at a 45 degree angle. Should I use anti seize on clamps to keep nuts from seizing up due to the heat or will it be ok without? Once again, I was in a hurry and did not take a picture of the frame with the exhaust mounted!
All comments positive or negative are welcome.

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I think your doing a fine job! I wouldn't use never seize on the clamps, just tighten them up good. I always turn the clamps so the nuts are up. This makes the exhaust look better then having the threaded part of the clamps all sticking down. Keep up the good work.

Present day pictures
 

Here are some current pics. Making progress but as you can tell from the pic with no interior/dash etc I have a lot of work to do. Hoping to at least have it running before it gets too cold. I like the stance where it is now, but no bumper, carb, alternator, interior etc in yet. Probably at least a couple hundred more pounds. It has factory springs on the front. Does anyone have any idea how much I can expect the front end to settle once I start driving it? I am hoping it doesnt drop too much.

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Regarding the roof. It will have a vinyl top put on in the spring. I talked to a lot of people regarding the paint/clear coat underneath and got a lot of different opinions. Some said the adhesive would not stick as well if it was applied to clear coat, others said just prime and put vinyl over, and some said apply basecoat and no clear. Talked it over with my paint guy and we agreed that he would apply the base to seal it, but no clear. Saved on time and materials. Any opinions on that?

It depends if you installed the standard springs or went to the heavy duty springs. they will both settle some but the heavy duty springs not as much. I had heavy duty springs on my 71 GP before the frame off resto, but I installed the original standard springs during the resto. I wanted the car to sit lower and more of the original height like from the factory. As far as the vinyl top issue, I painted and cleared the entire car and have had NO issues with adhesion problems. After dealing with having the vinyl top removed and clean up surface rust and painted and reinstalling vinyl top occationally throughout the years, I wanted MAXIMUM protection. If using the right adhesive, it will stick to anything.

You are doing a great job on the car !! keep up with the pixs.
Never seize on studs will help from rusting on. Or buy some dynomax stainless clamps and don't ever worry. Or even buy some stainless nuts would help on zinc clamps.

Regarding stance...you may see it settle down slightly if standard springs. About 1/2-3/4" usually.

Your roof yes paint and clear it to seal it up well. Once the vinyl roof trim is installed just etch the clear with some 320 grit to assist the adhesion.
But like grand 71 said if using right adhesive it will stick. Cutting the smooth ness off finish will great;y assist.
I would recommend having someone that has expiernce or a professional shop install vinyl.
It is a big noticeable part of car...just like apint and if not done right it will show.

Great job. Dave

Looks real good , Race pros are Pretty loud ,Had a set on my 68 gto with 3' xed and dumped before the rear-end ,i had to pull them off .it wont hurt to clear coat the top and install the cover , Get some band claps for the exhaust they don't leak from my experience.

Thanks for the advice guys, keep it coming. Pretty well set on the base coat on the top without clear since it is home from paint guy already. But still good to know and I dont plan on car seein alot of moisture, so hopefully it is sealed up ok.

Not sure if heavy duty springs or not. They are original stock springs. Car did have AC if that matters. Regarding that. I dont want to install AC right now. Can I put the condenser box on the firewall and just seal up the holes that will not be used? I dont really want to buy an AC delete panel as I may decide to install AC later.

Here are a couple pix of donor car. Lately have been spending time
taking parts from donor and cleaning and painting when needed and reinstalling in good car. Planning to use dash out of donor car. I was hoping to re use the engine harness but I would have to repair one of the wires. I am thinking maybe it would be money well spent to just buy a new one. Anyone have any experience with this?

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Yea you should be able to do that. The GP's with a/c called for heavy duty springs.

I was having alot of electrical issues before my resto. I replaced both the dash and the engine harness and that resolved those issues. The harnesses dry out with age. Especially replace dash harness if replacing dash. JMO

SJ emblems
 

I found two Model SJ fender emblems in the trunk of one of my donor cars. I have one original box. They dont look like they have ever been mounted. One is basically perfect condition and the other is near perfect. (scraped a little bit of red paint off when I was polishing, dont know if you can see in pictures :mad:) I would use them but unfortunately my GP is not an SJ so I might as well get rid of them. Planning to post in for sale section. Is $100 including shipping too much to ask? Tried to research a little but not seeing alot of NOS SJ emblems out there to compare.
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Let me know if you need anything .I have some stuff left over and I too had 3 cars too chose from..Nice Job

Thanks Bob, I used your restoration album as a reference for alot of my own work. It was very helpful during reassembly, picking out tires/rims etc. As of right now I think I am OK on parts, but down the road I may need some black interior parts such as door panels.

Carb Question
 

So I took the Rochester Quadrajet carb to a mechanic last week to have a rebuild. He called yesterday and said that it is not worth rebuilding, there is too much wrong with it. He recommended getting an Edelbrock or Holley and said I could get one for around $400. He doesnt sell them so I dont necessarily think he is pulling a fast one but a $120 rebuild sounded alot better to me than a $400 new carb. He said he doesnt trust the online shops that sell rebuilt Quadrajets. I am not sure what to do at this point. Any suggestions? I am not totally concerned about originality so I am open to a different brand. Is there anything out there that fits the the factory manifold without modification and will still provide decent performance? Or is there a reputable place to get a good Quad that would be a better option?

Dash installation
 

Installed dash this weekend. Actually went pretty smooth. Labeled wires when I removed from donor car and everything hooked up nice. The cable that goes to the heater box from the temperature "warm/cold" switch really pushes hard. Any suggestions on how to improve this before I brake something? Also there is a vacuum line that I cant figure out where it hooks up. I have a picture attached. Anybody know what this hooks up to?

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Looks like the heater-a/c control vacuum check valve that should be on the engine side of the firewall and connects to the rear carb vacuum fitting with another piece of vac line.

The vacuum line hooks up to the back if the carb fitting were the power brake line is attacked to ,, i believe,, its for the all of your vacuum operated vents,, Make sure ever thing works before you rap-it up ,,