Project Phoenix, a 1964 Tempest rising from the ashes
 

Well this is my first time starting a thread so we will see how it goes. Basically I bought this 64 Tempest for 2500 and sold the Tri Power that the guy put on it for 2600 so I started out with nothing in the car. The car had been hit hard in the drivers side rear and had caked on bondo and a quarter skin pop riveted on. I took the car to AMD and they replaced everything from the doors back. I had to source a tail panel from a donor car and the trunk lid still needs work because it is bowed from the impact. I plan to build a 467 using one of the two 455 blocks I have. It will have edelbrock round port heads and Paul Carter has already spec'd a Lunati HFT cam for me that I purchased. I dont have the cam card in front of me so I dont know the specs. I am overbuilding it because I do not want to do it twice. This car will be my regular driver and I want zero problems. I plan on installing a T56 Magnum from SST in place of the original two speed transmission. I have a steering column from ididit so the floor shift will look appropriate. The car will be silver mist grey on the outside and nocturne blue on the interior. I am retaining the bench seat. I have wilwood brakes for the front and I am running a ford 9 inch with explorer disc brakes on the rear. It has 3.70 gears and a detroit true trac limited slip. I will post updates as they occur. Right now I am getting estimates on body work.

I plan to have the original radio converted to bluetooth so I had to patch the dash where the previous owner had butchered it. Wheels are 18x8 US Mags.

???

What do you mean?

This is the 157th thread you've started in just the last 6 months.

I thought there was a difference between a post and a thread

technically "i think" a post is something you or others do in a thread. its a thread of posts...

this could be considered your first thread specifically about your projects build that you will update with posts about actual progress made instead of just general questions.

good luck on your project though, looks like a lot of work ahead.

Will be staying tuned to your thread to see how things are going. Best of luck!!!

Congrats on your first thread.
Hopefully the car will progress along nicely now that you have some of the basic bodywork at least in place.

Unless the frame came out of California, there is always room for work there.

Believe you had a shop working on that part of the rerstoration.

Do you have pictures of the frame work?

I have two 64 "GTO"s, a clone drag car and a original Tri-Power 4 speed convertible. I had Scott Tieman do the frame swap on the Convertible so I have no pics of that work done. That is why I asked about your frame and pictures. Always nice to have more under-carriage pictures.

Thanks for the Thread.

Tom V.

Congrats! Looks like it's coming along nicely...but I have to say...you have definitely started some threads. I've read quite a few of them.
In fact, there are FOUR threads started by you on the Body Shop forum right now and that's just on the front page.....lol
I'm pulling for you though man. Keep choppin' wood as they say.

Looking forward to updates!

Here is the only pictures of the frame I have. It was straightened in a jig. Also I forgot to mention I am running the complete Holley Sniper fuel system from fuel tank to EFI unit

There definitely is.

This was your 157th thread that you've started in the last 6 months. That means you've originated a thread 157 times in just 184 days - almost a daily occurrence.

You've most likely had thousands of posts in the same time period.

Good luck on your project.

Love to see a car saved ...and one of my favorite body styles. Long road ahead but you have a plan and vision.
Definitely keep the updates coming ...

Good on you for building something that others would've thrown away. Always nice to see something done that you've never seen before. I have to wonder about a 467 in a DD though. Sounds like it's going to be a handful.

I am sure you have seen of the the build threads on the forum from other members to get some ideas. One of my favorite build threads is about a GTO. The thread was started in 2013 and is almost finished. I've really enjoyed it over the years. Here's the link

http://www.gtoforum.com/f83/dans-69-restore-tale-53945/

It’s gonna be a powerhouse but I have plenty of interstate and highways around me. I am not building it too radical. I don’t have the crank for the 455 so I might as well buy a stroker

One thing AMD did to me that I did not like was left out two body bushings and just handed them to me when I picked the car up with a picture of how they needed to be modified and said have at it. Apparently the body bushings under each door in the front were too tall and they couldnt get thread engagement. I contacted Ames and they said that shouldnt be and that all the bushings were the same but nonetheless I took AMD word for it. After consulting a local bodyshop and them telling me it would be at least 200 bucks if not more I called AMD back and asked them just what the hell was I supposed to do with these bushings, they took it off the frame they should put it back. Again they referred me to the picture and told me to just cut about a 1/4 of an inch of the top bushing and I would be good to go. I am terrified of body work because I know nothing about it. Anyway I got out a fresh box cutter and using painters tape I took about a quarter of and inch off both bushings. I went outside. Took everything loose but not off, slid the bushings in and bolted them down. Took less than 30 minutes. So thats done and I am proud of myself.

nice project, nothing beats a post car, good luck

Torquewar beat me to it.

One of my all-time favorite bodies and you're bringing it back from the dead.

Keep up the good work!

OK I see where the cable actually goes thru the firewall but the end of my parking cable and the actual clevis on the pedal are a mile apart and I cant pull the cable out. How do I get it attached?

ok I got it.