My '64 Reborn!!
 

I thought you'd like to see the before and after for my '64 Goat. My original '64 GTO, which I bought in May of '64 in Milwaukee, was destroyed in a house fire in 1986. I was able to save only the engine and Muncie.

The first picture was in rural Fletcher, Missouri, where we picked up this car in 1987, as a replacement for the original one. The farmer thanked me for "getting this thing out of my field"! It had a 400 cubic inch Olds engine and TH400, along with an Old's console. As you can see, he was tickled that I hauled it away.

We hauled it back to Winneconne, Wisconsin, where it sat for 20 years before I could afford to begin restoration. A divorce happened in 1991, which was a main reason for the delay and lack of money.

In 2006, I finally took it to a local body shop that did a frame-off. I really liked being able to do the brakes, brake lines, fuel line, and other detail on the chassis without the body in place. They put the body back on and painted it with DuPont base coat--no clear over the original Grenadier Red. I did nearly all the mechanical assembly myself and had it on the road in 2010.

We drove it to Dayton in 2013, for the POCI/GTOAA CoVention, where I had it judged by GTOAA. It managed a Concours Gold award.. The last picture shows us crossing the Ohio state line headed back to Wisconsin. Driving a GTO is the best way I know to take me back to my youth when I drove one every day.

The engine was built by Dan Whitmore and retains the correct 9770716 heads, 9775088 intake, etc. The block is a 1968 428 .040" overbored to 434 cubic inches. Dan modified the later model pistons to accommodate the earlier heads and lower compression to 9.5:1.

Such a great story and an awesome job on your GTO.

Always the best. :thumbup:

Very nice!

Great story and it shows how important even the most causal impromptu photo can be. The Granville wagon looks the part and I wouldn't mind having one of those either! I always enjoy your his-and-hers GTO set-up.

Looks great, you've come a long way. Funny how a 1987 basket case is a great starting point today. Car looks pretty solid in the first pic

It must have been heartbreaking to loose your original car to the fire...And everything else that you loose in a house fire (I know that part...).

It is a beautiful result and your wife's car is also stunning...

My own project involved a long trip packed into one weekend - about 1500-miles in 2.5 days. And rather than smiling - the man I bought it from teared-up a bit. He had bought one brand-new too - and mine was the replacement he was going to restore...it just never happened.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1645200034

Someday maybe she'll be as nice as yours.

Great story and excellent result. Love the red on red!! Thanks for sharing, Dick.

Awesome story, and incredible result!