New to Me - 68 Lemans Sport Convt Driver
 

Fellas -

Ran across a 68 Lemans Sport convt. a few days ago and couldn't pass it up. It's 350 2bbl, TH350, power drums, power steering, power windows. Mayfair Maize with black top and white interior. Has buckets and console.

Came with an original ram air hood and a complete hideaway setup.

It's in driver condition now, but needs a little bit of everything. Plan right now is to ensure it's mechanically sorted out and use it as a daily driver.

The quarters have been replaced, but the car is quite solid - excellent floors, trunk is good, too.

If I keep it for a while, it will likely end up as a GTO clone (I'm thinking Meridian Turquoise w/white top and white interior) with a mild 400/428/455. Right now I'm trying to close the deal on a complete 69 4 sp Judge that was rolled over. That would be a nice source for a drivetrain.

Kind of a neat small world story on the car - - when I was living in Charlottesville, VA, I bought a 69 GTO parts car - red, white painted top, 4 sp, and very rusty. It came with a complete hideaway setup. I sold the hideaways to Jim Sanny (Judge4u). He ended up selling them to the prior owner of the Lemans, and those are the hideaways that came with the car. I don't believe in omens or fate, but seemed like a sign to me that I needed to get the car and the hideaways...

Scott

Where's the pics? I'll show you mine now show me yours lol. Dave

Our Pontiac world is a small one!

So where are the pics Scott?

Pictures...
 

Ok, here are a few pictures...

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...mansConv68.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ansConv687.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ansConv684.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...Conv68dash.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ansConv681.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...nsConv6813.jpg

Don't take it apart!

Just clean it up, make it mechanically sound and enjoy it the way it is. Nice find!

That's the plan for now.

Thanks

Scott

Well that's now two running verts still wearing Lemans badges here in Georgia- that I know of. Clone it, and that will make it just one again. Of course I don't have much room to be critical. My car still has the hood and badges but not much of the current drivetrain was available in a late 60's Lemans...

Nice find, don't often come across a vert in more-or-less original condition that is still roadworthy.

Nice ride! I would keep it a Lamnas!

Nice car, and its not in bad shape! Keep it a lemans!

Fellas -

Yeah, I know that most of these are cloned into GTO's. Haven't made up my mind yet. However, I do like the 68-69 GTO front end much more than the Lemans front end, and I do have a mostly complete Endura setup with hideaways.

I did take a step in the right (depending on your perspective) direction today - - removed the red GTO hood and put the Mayfair Maize Lemans hood back on it. It has a kink in it, but it still looks much better.

Anyway, I got it home today (almost ran me over getting it off the trailer by myself - 230# vs. 3,600# and I won - barely), cleaned it up a bit, but didn't get to do much work. I still have to figure out if it's numbers matching, what heads and block I have (has 350/2bbl w/single exhaust - my guess is that it's original), what transmission I have (figured TH350, but shifter only indicates two forward gears), what rear gear I have (3.08?), need to order PHS, etc, etc, etc.

Car sat for 4 years w/o tags in the prior owner's driveway. It seems to run ok, but has an intermittent issue with starting - sometimes I turn the key and get nothing - no click, nothing from the starter or solenoid, but the power stuff in the car works. Will have to chase that down. Does not appear to be a neutral safety switch issue. Brakes went from nonexistent to terrible to just plain bad. Figure some of the wheel cylinders are freeing up. Half of the master was empty, too, so it's got some air in the lines.

List of things to find:
Nice 15" Rally II's - complete set with or without good tires
Complete front disk brake setup w/lines, booster, spindles, etc.
Passenger fender - mine is tweaked/slightly crunched where it meets the bumper
Front valance - mine might be fixable, but have to take a better look at it.
Spare, jack, jack base.
Owner's manual

List of things to do:
Get brakes working - wheel cylinders freed up, bled, etc.
Change all fluids
Tune up
Figure out electrical problem
Get top working (goes down on its own but needs help going up - low on fluid?)
Fix exhaust leak
If I decide to keep the 350 for now, get 4bbl intake/Q-jet, 1.65 rockers, dual exhaust (assuming compression check shows that it's ok internally)
Ensure all lights are working
Lube suspension
Fix pinion seal leak
Only two power windows work; get other two working (hopefully contact cleaner in the switches will do the trick)
Flush fuel tank?
Front end aligned

Once all that is done, I'll see about finding a running 400 or 455 to drop in it, along with a TH400, replace the interior (pearl white, Legendary), new top (white), paint (Meridian Turquoise), etc.

Scott

That's a NICE car as is. I'd leave it a Lemans and drive it.

Mike

If you decide to put the endura front end on let me know if you are gonna sell or get rid of that chrome front bumper. Id love to have it for mine. Is the front bumper bent on the passengerside?

Not as nice as it looks in the pictures. It's a 20 footer.

Once I get things sorted mechanically, I do indeed plan to drive it as a Lemans.

Thanks,

Scott

Yeah, it's bent on the passenger side. It hit the fender and crunched it a bit, too.

Scott

Its still a nice car the way it is. Work with what you have; install a 3.55:1 poisi, 4bbl, duals, cam etc. Don't change the color either.

Acknowledge another vote for keeping it original. Not much of a fan of Mayfair, however, so if/when I get it painted, I think that will change.

Thanks

Scott

PHS showed up today - no surprises - checks out as Lemans convt, 350/2bbl, Mayfair w/black top and Parchment interior, P/S P/B, P/W, tinted glass, auto trans, invoiced 9 Apr 68 (21 days after I was born), etc.

PHS shows zone 23 (San Francisco), dealer 139. Does anyone know what dealership this would have been? Car was built in Fremont. Tried to search it at Wallace Racing, but no luck.

Also, can I tell from the PHS what trans and rear gear it came with?

Thanks

Scott

Anyone know how to identify the correct bumper jack for this car? I have a few of them in the garage but was told that they look like they're for larger cars.

Thanks

Scott

Leave it a Lemans, they are always cloned and are nice just the way they are. The color combo on that car is real pretty. Great find too, good luck with it!

My car started life very similar to yours. 350, 2bbl, st-300 2-speed auto. Mine had a 2.56 non-posi rear, power drum brakes. Has a paint job from 1980 in close to the original cameo ivory color. I've done some mechanical upgrades...4bbl, dual exhaust, front discs, jeep steering box, 3.23 posi, turbo 400 trans, heavy duty front sway bar, rear sway bar, all new suspension bushings. I've added a GTO hood and the dual gate shifter, wood wheel, tilt column. The interior is still original and it retains all the Lemans badges. Oh, the 350 has not been rebuilt and has about 67,000 original miles. I see it as sort of the best of both worlds, GTO looks but still a Lemans. Have fun with it.. Looks like a nice car.