My 1968 "Refurbishing"
 

I hesitate to call it a restoration, so let's call it a "refurbishing" :)

I've been posting a bunch of questions recently, so I thought I'd put up some photos.

I bought this car about three weeks ago in the Bay Area. The overall sheet metal and body condition were outstanding being an original California car. The paint was very faded, and the interior has some sun damaged areas, but overall the car was extremely straight. Not a lick of rot, no damaged panels, and the car drives great.

The only downside is the car currently has an Oldsmobile 455 in it, but the PO was at least sanitary in his install - reconnecting the Air Conditioning, replacing the frame mounts with Olds mounts, and doing a pretty sanitary wiring job as well. The car came with the original 400 engine block, which I will at some point rebuild and replace (the current motor runs awesome, so I'm going to save that expense for later)

I have the original window sticker and the car was very loaded. PS/PB, tilt wheel, Speed Warning sensor, Fuel Warning Light, Air Conditioning, Map Light, 4-way power seat - a well optioned car. I have all the PHS documentation for it as well.

I've spent the last few weeks making sure the mechanical condition was good. Had the transmission serviced, put a 3.36 POSI rear end (to replace the factor 2.93), added a TACH, got the wiring straightened out and other general maintenance. I replaced the leaking steering box with a fast-ratio unit and did some body panel alignment, as well as many Peformance Years orders to get things back in order.

This has also given me some time to enjoy the car before I stripped it down this past week for paint.

My plans for the car are to keep it *mostly* original. I am going to have the exterior painted Verdoro green instead of the April Gold. I'm going to keep the gold interior, but the dash and center console are faded in weird areas due to sun damage, so I'm going to repaint the dash and console black. I'm going to mimic the color scheme of the Parchment interiors, actually. Black Dash, Black Console, Black Carpet - but door panels, seat covers, headliner, etc. all Gold. I even called Legendary Interiors last week, and I'm having custom-made door panels in April Gold, but with Black Carpet along the bottom. It should have a very factory look to it, and I think the black/gold combination will offset very nicely.

Here are pics of the car from the original craigslist ad, and a couple I shot as I drove the car back 800 miles from northern CA to Washington state.

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...c6f97f121c.jpg

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...f868e51ea3.jpg

https://ncudhq.bn1.livefilestore.com...A/P1000569.JPG

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...w/P1000567.JPG

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...s/P1000574.JPG

These are the last images I took of the completed car, right before I pulled it in the shop and started the teardown. Sun was going down, so the pictures weren't great. I really LOVE the Year One Rally II wheels. I had these on my '72, but that project got put on the back-burner until this is done. I also replaced the Grant wood wheel with a repro Pontiac wood wheel which I like much better.

I also cut the closed hood scoops and converted to a Ram Air setup. The great thing about GM cars, is that that even though my car has an Olds 455, it's a Q-jet car and the factory Pontiac Ram Air Cleaner fits perfectly.

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130401_001.jpg

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130401_002.jpg

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130401_003.jpg

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130401_005.jpg

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130401_008.jpg

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130401_009.jpg

This is the stripped car, just before it was picked up for paint. The rear bumper came off when the painter picked it up (needed a hand with that), and the door glass and quarter windows will come off up at the shop (didn't want the glass to rattle around). I happened to have a set of 14" Rally II wheels that came on a '72 Firebird I have, which are perfect painting wheels. ONE of these will come off, get refinished, and become the spare for the car since it originally came with Rally II's.

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130406_001.jpg

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130406_002.jpg

https://lcx8pq.bn1.livefilestore.com...130406_003.jpg

Albert. That dont even look like the same car, I love those wheels, How long did thay say it will take to paint it?

Can't wait for the "after" pictures!

Subscribing

Looks like a very nice car, I just finished my 68 Ram Air I refurbish a week ago. did everything but paint (which it needs) Had it out Friday and enjoyed it for the day, Looking forward to your finished pictures.

Looking good. I've been thinking about getting a set of those 17s, but it looks like I'd have to drop the suspension to make it sit like I'd want.

Is it originally a gold car? I've always thought gold on gold was a nice color combo for these cars.

Awesome, paint shop jail!

Thanks everyone. Yes, originally Code G April Gold. Going to be Code Q Verdoro Green :)

Should be about a month for paint. I have a friend who does great work out of his home shop. His prices are so good for the quality, so it's hard to book time. But 4 weeks seems fair. Plus I'm going on vacation at the end of the month, so when I get back I'll have a freshly painted car!

Wait...you WANT a Verdoro Green car? That's different.

I've had my car since 1991. I'm ready for a different color.

Yup, sure do! A green GTO is exactly what I wanted. Many years ago I wanted to do a 68 Chevelle in Green. So I was actively seeking a GTO that I could make Green.

Is there a better green than Verdoro on our cars? Was Verdoro used on other cars of the era or would you recommend a different shade?

I think verdoro was specifically a pontiac color name, but it was the most popular color choice in 1969 & 1969 for GTOs.

If you're set on verdoro I wouldn't change it now. You are the owner, paint it plaid if that floats your boat!

My beef is mostly with how common it is, I like the color. Seems more often than not you'll find folks looking for one that's not green.

One of the most striking '68s I've seen was gold on gold. I think it's a great combo so I was surprised you wanted to change it.

I think the problem is that the original 68 Gold is more of a light green, as far as I can tell. So it's not really "gold" or "green" and to me, look bland. Of course, I have not seen April Gold done in person, but this is what see online...

http://ultimategto.com/carshows/gtoaa05/68_jk036_1.jpg

I could see that. I guess my opinion is April Gold over Ivy Gold is better than Verdoro Green over Ivy Gold.

When I repainted my car I thought real hard about painting it Aleutian Blue or Nightshade Green. I'd love to have something that's a little more unusual but in the end I decided to stick with green since that's what it's always been.

If I'd have known you wanted a green car maybe we could have worked a deal while you were in the Bay Area :D

Yes the Ivy Gold interior does limit my options. But then I saw this car, and I thought it was pretty well done.

https://dealeraccelerate.s3.amazonaw...7_low_res.jpgp

If I take this look of car, with the Black treatment used on a Parchment Interior, my hope is it will look good. A little original, but not so "customized".

http://image.highperformancepontiac....o+interior.jpg

Howabout Black with the Ivy Gold guts?

I think your idea of doing a parchment themed interior with the ivy gold instead of parchment will look fine. Most non experts will assume it's 'factory'. Verdoro Green was a color of an ashtray that John DeLorean's wife (I think) saw at a dinner party in 1966, and loved it so much that the color was blended for use on the '67 Firebird. Super popular color in '68 and '69, and was a special order color on the '67 GTO. There's a Verdoro Green '67 on the Ultimate GTO Picture site, and it's a beaut. I love the color, I always wanted to build a verdoro green/parchment '65 GTO convertible, and may some day. The color got a bad rap because it faded to 'army green' with neglect and age. Paint that was kept up, though, to me, is beautiful. Go for it!

Thanks! I hope it turns out well. I've really wanted a green car. I thought green/gold would at least be different from the sea of more usual colors.

I already have 4 black cars; 68 Charger, 78 Trans Am, 72 Vega and my daily driver. I wanted something a little different in the color spectrum as I seem to get nothing but Red and Black cars.