'71 455 HO GT-37 Journey Begins
 

Finally got a chance to take a look at the GT-37 I bought from Mike Robbins last year during the coldest February on record, so its been hibernating since then. Put it up on the lift to give it a good visual survey and found it to be really solid. The only bad area in the trunk floor where the original owner kept an open bag of salt that spilled and did what it does best to automotive sheet metal. The floors, quarters, fenders, core support, doors are great shape. It does need the usual lower rear window metal repair.

The motor is the numbers matching original as are the no-date heads. I will need to find another 7041267 carb and RA exhaust manifolds. The intake and crossover are proper too.

Dennis

...Some Pics....

Wow, wow, wow, Dennis! Pics!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

...more...

...and a few more...

more to come later.

Looking good. Great shape. Another one for the pole barn.

Very cool Dennis! http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-happy088.gif

Good luck! Cool car!

What's the map for this journey?

If the route extends like mine, it hemorages $$$$ at every bend.

Dennis
Is this the GT from California?
Is it a factory UB5 Hood tach car?
Should have heater nipple on top side of AC shroud?
Post PHS?

Mike...long with lots of twists and turns...

Thanks Kyle, Jack, Mike and 1oldgoat.

Dennis

Rich, Yes it is the Canyon Copper loaded car from CA, originally from Texas. Yep, hood tach, gauges, formula wheel, M-13 3-spd (they probably thought it came std with the M-22), 3.31 Saf-T-Track, and lots of little options that total up to 35 in all. I looked for evidence of a nipple on the a/c suitcase and didn't see anything (yet). Since it was a Texas ordered car made in Fremont, CA, maybe they didn't install the vent defogger system. The hood tack is an original, not sure to this car, but didn't have the nipple.

Roger, I've been hemorging from finishing 4 cars this last year; the 74 GTO, the 71 Formula, the 70 LeMans, and the 70 Tempest. I've got no more cash to bleed, so this one is going to take a little more creative (read: low cost) route. More to come once we figure that out.

Do you have any pictures of your 71 GT-37 and T-37? Or build sheet or PHS? I'm curious to learn more about your HO's.

Dennis

Many years back, I bought a 71 455HO out of a 71 GTO. It didn't have ram air, so it had the 7041267 carb. I might have sold it, but it could also be put up somewhere. The block had April 1971 dates. How closely does that match up with your car?

Mike

Love it! She's a beaut!

Mike, this car is a 12C build date, but I'm not fussy about exact date components. Let me know if you find it.

Thanks, Dennis

Thanks Pat. Now I need one of your T-shirts and 455 HO banners now that I'm in the A-body club.

Dennis

OK Dennis.
Is hood tach listed on PHS?

Rich, Yes the hood tach is on the PHS. I'll post a pic later of the PHS.

Dennis

In for the journey! :thumbup:

gotta love those dry southwest cars

Here is the PHS of the car along with some recent outdoor pics to get some natural daylight on the patina.

You can see on the PHS that there are a lot of minor options under $15.00 (17 to be exact) of the 35 ordered. Oh how I wish that the A/C was an M-22 if I could change anything.

Dennis

So since the 621 Ride & Handling package was ordered, would those Honeycombs then be 15-inchers?

Chris,

The original owner from Texas either custom ordered this car or it was loaded for showroom display to feature all the little options he bought, we'll never know. He was an Air Force Ssgt. and was eventually relocated to the Chanute base in Rantoul, Ill in the early 80's. Mike Robbins bought the car from him in 1988, so it saw 4-5 years of midwest winters and it did extract some minor surface rust on all exposed surfaces, but very minor thankfully. It is nicer and more solid than I was expecting, so that is a major plus.

Mike told me the original owner (Carlton Green) carved (more like scratched) his initials in the plastic center of the horn button, and looking for it on Friday, did discover a 'C' & 'G' on either side of the Pontiac crest. It's hard to see because he very lightly scratched them in....neat history. Carlton may be the African American guy circled in the group photo from the '80's at Chanute.

Dennis

I think I answered my own question. There was no 15-inch wheel option on the GT-37. So they'd be 14x7 Honeycombs originally.
http://www.gt-37.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=1043

Forgot to mention the warm weather picture is when Reliable picked it up Feb. '15 in sunny warm Mojave, CA, and the cold weather picture is of when it arrived in Michigan a few days later with the temps at zero wind chill at -40...poor car.

Dennis

UPC-WU2, That is one awesome website you created and I visit it often. Yes, you are correct that there wasn't a 15" wheel option available on the non-GTO A-bodies in '71.

Dennis

Dennis that is an impressive PHS option load!

Glad you got that car, I am sure I will see it soon.

Super nice car! Congrats and enjoy!!!!

All those nice options, and didn't order hood lamp...

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps241bd375.jpg

...But they ordered the dual horns instead instead of the single 'weenie' horn...

Hi, Dennis, nice to see the pics!

According to this, 15-inchers were available, no?

http://www.gt-37.org/gallery/main.ph...serialNumber=4

I suppose the only way to get it was with the Handling Package?

Diego, You are correct, only with the handling pkg., which I wish it had. I'm not sure if it was available on GT-37's??? Anyone no of one with the Y99?

SDennis

I don't think you could even get a rear sway bar on a T-37? Or T-41?

748 LeMans received 15" wheels, don't know if the GTO was segregated from these though?

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1464030696

:confused:

John, Thanks for posting that statistic...I'm not sure what was truly available from Pontiac, but I have never seen a GT-37 with the Y99 Handling Package, or any non-GTO with it either. I'm not saying there weren't any ever ordered and assembled (it would be neet to see a car and/or paper work on one), but it would be a revelation to me.

Dennis

Driveshaft Correct?
 

I've seen driveshafts on olwer hp A-bodies from Oldsmobile, but I thought, especially in a 455 HO powered car, that it would have a solid continuous shaft from u-joint to u-joint???? It also has remnants of what looks to be a magenta stripe on it...

Dennis

Think that's original? Check Dan's T-37 for comparison...

original driveshaft has been replaced.

Not.

We didn't think so either. 2-piece driveshafts with the rubber slip joint looks very lo-po and generic (non-factory) to us, from another A-body division. So, time to Get a new one made.

Dennis

I may have an extra Dennis, can check for you.

Looks like another great project Dennis, with most of the hard to find stuff there! So any idea if '70 Grand Prix 455 car driveshaft would be the same? If Chris can't come up with one I should still have the GP one! Sold the rear to another member years back, but still have that driveshaft somewhere?

Lyn.

Chris & Lyn, Thanks for the offers. I'll let both of you know, but I have to check both Dan's and my stashes first. I jumped the gun by saying I need a new one made...in reality, we may have an A-body shaft lying around as well.

Lyn, the GP has a 118" wheelbase vs, the 112" for the A-body, so the GP driveshaft is longer. Thanks anyways!

Dennis

The GP driveshaft is the same, right down to color bands.GP engine sets way back. The rubber isolated driveshafts, first ever ran across them were short ones out of '69 Birds. For some reason Olds started using them a lot around '71-72. Have pulled them out of quite a few Cutlass I was parting. My bet, the rubber isolated driveshaft you have Dennis has to have come out of a longer wheelbase Abody, then was shortened on one end

Roger, Thanks for the schooling on the GP driveshaft length being the same as the A-body. I forgot about the engine setback with the deeeep fan extension on the radiator shroud.

Dan recently bought a true survivor 1970 F-85 Olds with 39k miles and 100% original. It is a factory 310 hp 350/TH350/3.23 high altitude gear car. It is totally rust free high dessert car (SW Colorado). The paint is tired but the interior is mint (Olds version of Bermuda blue with optional blue vinyl guts), the point is it has the same rubber isolated driveshaft and has the correct stripe code colors for Olds. Soooo, I'm thinking it may have come from another F85/Cutlass. I wonder if Buick Skylarks had the same shaft....?

Dennis

Wouldn't the manual trans (especially with a 455 HO/M-22) car been equipped with the rear fram reinforcements like on the GTO's?

Dennis

BTW, the pictures in my previous post are of the Ames repops we installed on my 70 Lemans. There aren't any on the GT-37 right now and not sure there ever were.