| Pecosbill |
02-24-2019 08:48 PM |
Finally Finished
5 Attachment(s)
It took 12 years, but the 64 is now finished. I have completed a frame-off restoration that was a long held dream of mine and have done my best to keep this car all-1964. Driving this car is like driving an original 1964 off of the showroom floor. No mods to speak of.
First off, I have "added" the GTO option to it, which some folks find to be abhorrent. I have not done that with the intention of fooling anyone; I did it because I like the look and performance better than that of the original Lemans. It started its life as a Lemans convertible with a 326 - 3 speed manual tranny, but it now sports a 389 - 4 bbl and a Muncie 4 speed, both of which came out of wrecked 1964 GTOs. Back in 1977 I pulled the 389 out of a goat that had been hit in the rear. Boneyard guy charged me all of $125 for the motor. I tore it down and took it to a machine shop and found that it was in great shape and did not even need to be bored. So even today it is an original bore motor, but with new bearings, cam, etc.
I purchased this car in 1975 from the original owner. I loved it and kept it in the carport first and later, when I had one, the garage. As a result the floor pan and trunk pan were in exceptional condition. The car was rust free, so I was starting with good bones. I drove this car for years with the 389 in it, and 12 years ago decided to go all out on a restoration.
I saved original nuts and bolts to the extent possible and did my best to obtain original style replacements when necessary. I added the NOS power antenna and the NOS seat belts (try finding those in blue!) and the reel out trunk light option just because I thought it was a neat thing to have. The suspension parts are all new Moog parts with the same specs as the originals and I also used AC Delco shocks. I also added an original tach and aluminum dash insert. The interior is all from Legendary and the wiring harnesses are from M&H.
Many of the original parts came from ebay. I seem to have hit it right in that department, as ebay now just seems to be a bunch of commercial sellers who say their parts fit a 1964 GTO when you can tell by looking at them that they don't. There doesn't seem to be many individuals selling parts there anymore. I used to check ebay daily and came up with some pretty good buys such as the wheel covers with hardly a nick in them. I just don't think you could do a restoration like this now unless you had access to someone with a bunch of original parts.
I also bought plenty of parts from Performance Years and Ames, and, when I absolutely had to, OPG or Year One. Also, you'd be surprised what original parts you could find simply by typing in the original part number into Google. Many times I'd find someone with a few of this or that part left which turned out to be exactly what I needed.
I also relied on many of the members of this Board for help finding parts or helping me figure out how something fit, especially if I had removed it years ago. I did take tons of pics prior to dismantling the car, but you never have all of what you need, for sure. Bob Vidan and Andre Rayman were a big help in securing parts and knowledge. I hesitate to name names because I will unintentionally leave folks out who also were extremely helpful. But let me say that there were many, many folks on this Board who offered parts, encouragement and knowledge when it was sorely needed.
The car runs like a top now, although we did have a few issues in the beginning such as a faulty alternator that caused a fire on the wiring harnesses in the engine bay which fortunately we got out before it damaged the paint. We also had a bad resistance wire in the new dash harness that caused the points to burn up, resulting in having to be towed home. But hopefully that is all behind us now and my confidence in driving the car is climbing.
Yes, it's a "clone" but I defy you to find anything about it that says that, even down to the radiator core support. I am not trying to make money by cloning this car; I intend to have my ashes ride in this car when I leave this earth and after that my son or grandson can hopefully cherish it. People may ask why did I spend all that money to do such an extensive restoration on a car that is a clone and my answer is that I simply love the car. I've been married to my wife for nearly 44 years and we dated in that car. It is a part of me.
One last thing to do though: I have the Sport Wood Wheel, emblem and horn button for the car, but I can't seem to locate a decent set of the rest of the parts needed to install it. I see a lot of cars that have had these wheels installed so there must be something out there that works. If anyone knows, please share that knowledge with me.
I am retiring at the end of this week...hard to believe....and for my next project I have a real basket case of a 67 GTO convertible that needs a full restoration. It is a true 242 car, but there's no telling how much damage is under that paint. I may croak before I finish that one, but I sure don't plan on taking so long to get it on the road!
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