Original Family Owner 68 GTO
 

Introducing myself.
I'm Ed from San Diego and have been lurking for quite a while. I plan to have a 68 GTO in the garage by January.
My mother is the original owner, She gave the car to me around 1985. I sold it to another family member in 1998. After 18 years of sitting after it was painted, the current owner has lost all interest in the car and I will once again be taking ownership.
Car is complete and is numbers matching but is stripped down to the shell. All original parts are in boxes and the car has been stored indoors in a heated garage. Engine was rebuilt during the interim but with an unknown cam.

Built in Newark May of 68, sold new at Erickson and James Pontiac in Yreka CA. Solar Red with red interior. Only three options, Radio, Remote mirror and Goodyear 205 R14 radial tires. I had just turned 16 a few months before its purchase and drove it often to school.
My plan is to keep it pretty close to original. Will be adding a factory AM/FM, power steering and a complete gauge package. I really like the dog dish hubcaps but will run with 15" steel wheels and tires.
I also have a 70 SS 396 El Camino in the garage. It's a well kept driver with suspension mods.
I'll be picking your brains over the next year or so but I also bring to the table some A body electrical experience and original owner knowledge.
Glad to be here.

Welcome. Great story, many of us wish we could get back the car we drove to school. Knowing the complete history is a big plus.

Very cool car with great history! Welcome

Love the red on red IN red. Welcome from another '68 lover!

What a cool history- can’t wait to see the build

Wow great car with an awesome story!

Excellent .... love to see them stay in the same family. I still have the 68 I drove when I was 17.

Welcome, Ed!
Sounds like a very cool GTO.
Looking forward to more pics and info.


:)

nice, got any more vintage pics to post?

Good Luck with your Pontiac !

Welcome. That is a nice story. Good for you.

Welcome!

Welcome aboard. 68' would be my wheelhouse of ability.

Great Story, welcome to the sight

Great story. A Solar Red '68 is tough to beat. Welcome!

Pretty damn cool!

Neat car, and an interesting color.

So does it have the 350hp 400ci engine and a three speed manual transmission? I think that was the base level configuration that year.

Thanks for all the comments. The car is currently in Northern Ca about 700 miles from San Diego. I plan to bring it home after the new year. But in the meantime I brought back with me a crewcab full of things to do. Seats to reupholster, wiring to repair, windows to refurbish, dash to restore, $$$$. I'm retired so I have some time to work on it and the El Camino.
Attached is a photo of the car when it was about a year old, complete with my Grandmother's cat. Still had the Goodyear radials on it. Another shop photo plus one from the 1980's at a GTOAA meet in Torrance.

Yes it does. Has the 3:55 non-posi axle.
First time my dad crawled under the car and saw the DB on the side of the transmission he was pretty happy. He had traded in a 64 Fairlane with a 289 HiPo and Toploader for the GTO and knew the capabilities of the transmission.

great pics I can never get enough of vintage pics. look at how nice all the body panels line up. somebody knew how to shut that hood properly or just had it lubed up really good.

Nice ride- welcome

Very nice story. All in the family. I think that’s awesome! Welcome to the forum.

Pretty cool. I would imagine GTOs with a three speed transmission are uncommon.

Super cool story and original pics. Welcome!

Awesome!

Welcome aboard -

Quick story: we had a '68 GTO when it was new (Silver with black accents).

We took it to a local petting zoo. When we came out we noticed a goat on the hood of one of the cars in the parking lot and thought that was pretty funny.

As we got closer we realized it was a goat on the hood of our new GTO. Dad did not think that was pretty funny.

In hindsight - it kinda was: a goat on the hood of a Goat.

(lol)

K

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1539772894

Brain fade; built in Fremont across the freeway from Newark, CA :doh:

I wondered what the Newark comment meant, but wasn't bothered about it.

It looked like a clean Cali Car that just needed a scuff-n-spray paint job.
Did he take the speedometer completely apart too ? :D

The only rust on the car was a quarter size spot on the drivers side cowl housing. They were still full of sawdust from the mill my mother worked at during the 70s.
There was older body damage that needed to be redone when my dad hit a deer back in 69 or so. Other than those few items, the body was in excellent shape during the painting process. Now the paint needs to be touched up and buffed out.

I'm rebuilding the dash on my patio table right now. Just ordered the Spaz Stick paint that Greg used for his 68.
Gauges seem to be OK, just dirty. I have a source in Tennessee that did a great job with my El Camino gauges.
I also have the wire harness to clean overspray and dirt from. Found a place that has the fuse clips for the box since the they were rusted beyond repair.
Enough keep me busy for the next few months.

cool story...waiting to see more

Interested to see how that works out for you. Others have had problems getting it to work for them. Mine is still holding up well several years later.

Well six months into the restoration I finally finished the frame and will be transporting it back up north to Redding to reunite it with the body. Then bring both back to San Diego.
Frame was blasted, repaired and painted. All new brake and fuel lines. The original drums cleaned up nicely with Muscle Car shoes. Proforged steering components, UMI 1" lowering springs, Bilstein shocks. Years ago I installed a 1 1/8" front bar with a 7/8" rear from a 70 GTO. They cleaned up nicely (not shown in photos). Stock A arms up front boxed in the rear. I had to replace a spindle due to bearing wear and found out that 68-72 drum brake spindles are not all the same. The Chevy spindles have a larger backing plate mounting bolt than the Pontiacs.
3:55 rear axle was rebuilt with new gears and bearings; axles were still good. I considered adding a Posi but will put that off until later. New Roto Joints from UMI replaced the rubber bushings in the axle ears. New HO exhaust from Inline Tube went together easily. Will make final adjustments when the engine is installed. And speaking of the engine, it's now in a machine shop being inspected for damage after being improperly stored for 18 years after rebuild. Lots of surface rust and sludge on the lower end. If given the OK it will be given a mild refreshening. I may have to make second trip up north to bring all the parts (front clip, trunk lid, and a dozen boxes) back.
Garage space is limited so it looks like the El Camino will be in the driveway for awhile. Been trying to sell the ElCo by word of mouth and maybe the increased visibility will help.
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...4&d=1560046481

More photos. Last one is when I offloaded it from the trailer in January.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...2&d=1560049725

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...6&d=1560050116

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...7&d=1560050176

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...8&d=1560050205

Still looking for a matched set of 15 x 7 steelies. Dates are not important. The Rally II's are my backup. Previous owner powder coated them red (???) so its going to take some work to restore them.
Had a few issues getting the right parking brake cables. I knew the manual cars were different but the assembly manual designates the M20 as being different. I assumed my M13 three speed would be the same as the automatics. Wrong assumption on my part. Brake hardware all came from Delco. But as always, parts were missing from the box Luckily I had some new spare parts from an old S10 Blazer I once owned. I decided to keep the manual drum brakes. Cost was a factor as well as, thats how the car was built. I'm comfortable with them and the ceramic shoes from Muscle Car Brakes should help slowing it down.
I may or may not upgrade to tubular upper arms in the future. I like the UMI arms on my ElCo and it handles very well. But I won't be thrashing the GTO around corners. It will be more of a cruiser. Power steering is coming. I'll be sending a steering box from a 69 SJ I once parted out to LEE Steering for upgrading to 12.7 - 1 and a 210 T-Bar for higher effort. I have that setup in my ElCo and the steering response is great. In the meantime the manual box will do for moving the car around.

Can't decide wether to tackle the interior or assemble the front clip next. I'm leaning towards finishing the body first then moving on to the interior. And then there's the engine question. If the block is still good I be updating it to HO specs. If not, I may go with a date correct 428. Stay tuned...

Wow, great progress!

Nice job!

Keep Going. We need another 3 speed 68 on the road !

Forgot about the stock muffs being different length, remember now.

That frame looked pretty good in the ‘before’ photo

That car is looking great! Can't wait to see it in triple red.
The pic with Grandma's cat is an interesting illustration of what factory paint looked like back then.
For steelies, try a user by the handle of 'toyswedo'. Last I was in contact with him he had some at a time that I was looking for some wider than the 6 inchers I was running back then.
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...8&d=1539700935

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

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

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. :3gears: :thumbup:

Cool story about your parents!

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.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1564527671

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

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.

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.

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.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...3&d=1581824917

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

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...6&d=1581825479