[roger1]

I know I went dark on you guys here with my GTO at 99% complete but I'm sure you all know how disrupting a move can be!

Here's a photo of the GTO just before heading out from Texas to it's new home in Colorado. This was on February 1st. The 26ft Uhaul is loaded to the hilt! I'd bet it was overweight too. I hired movers to load it on Texas end and again when getting to Colorado to get it unloaded. My brother drove behind with our loaded SUV pulling my utility trailer loaded with our riding mower and anything else I could fit on it. We unexpectedly ran into snow on the second day of the trip. The weather report lied to us! It got a bit hairy and there were a lot of cars and trucks in the ditch along the way. It was slow going but we made it OK. The GTO sure got dirty though! After getting everything unloaded I rented a car and my brother and I drove back to Texas. He headed home and my wife and I started preparing for the second trip and final load to go up with.



The second trip was with a smaller Uhaul truck towing my El Camino. My wife followed behind driving my BMW. The house was empty and went on the market the next day.



My wife and I arrived at the new house on February 13th and have been getting settled in since. A lot of work but we are having a blast!

I can't wait to start making my new workshop my own. I'm thinking of having a mezzanine or loft built in the back. Getting the house the way we want it both inside and out takes priority though. Maybe I can start making plans for my workshop by summer. I'd like to get to the 100% complete mark with the GTO as well.





The heated floor is just amazing. It stays at 67-68 degrees in there 24 hours a day through the winter and surprisingly, doesn't cost that much since it's natural gas that heats the system. What's also nice is that the shop floor has a drain so the cars can be washed inside during winter. The floor was leveled with precision too as no water is left standing. The house also has an attached 3-car garage so only my GTO and El Camino will be living in the workshop.

I just got my new license plates for the GTO yesterday. It was pretty easy to get registered. I did have to drive it down to the local Sheriff's office for a VIN inspection first. No problem though. Also, you can see in the photo that I have put up a bunch of shelving so I could unload all my boxes of shop supplies. Probably temporary though. I also got my air compressor hooked up.





So I guess I'll sell that nice set of 1969 Texas plates that I bought for the car. I haven't even looked into whether Colorado allows the use of YOM plates yet. If they do, I'll start watching ebay to see if I can find a NOS set.

Getting my El Camino registered made me somewhat nervous. Colorado requires emission inspections for all cars 1976 and newer if you live in certain areas. Turns out our new property is right on the line of an exempted area. And I mean right on the line. If my property had been another 100ft or so to the south, the inspection would have been required! My El Camino would not pass that since it's an '83 and I put a '96 LT1 engine in the car. Luckily, when I was at the DMV their database showed my address as exempt and all went fine.





I've only driven the GTO twice. Once around the neighborhood just to make everything still seemed good before venturing out to the Sheriff's department for the VIN check. It seems to run and drive well but I need to drive it a lot more before getting confident enough to take it longer distances. I still haven't had an opportunity to go through all the procedures for programming the Edelbrock injection system. However, the engine seems to be running just as it should at this point. Things to finish on the car are just minor items. Charging the A/C system and installing the tubing for the windshield washer are a couple of them.

Originally Posted by dataway

I've watched some of the videos, amazing what they can do.
And yes you are a wizard or something

Originally Posted by Bruce Meyer

Very nice. You have got the hood, fenders and front bumper lined up way better than the factory ever did. Ive never seen a 68/69 lined up that nice.

Originally Posted by keith k

Yep ... Roger's looks the way they did in the re-touched advertisement photos, but not in real life. Beautiful.

I can't thank you guys enough for those nice compliments!

Originally Posted by Andretti

Wow, you've accomplished so much. She's beautiful!
https://imgur.com/a/QwQveeu

Thanks and very cool how you did that transformation!

Originally Posted by Skidmark

What's next Roger? Anymore cars on your bucket list to restore? It's been a pleasure following you on your GTO restoration thanks for sharing. I learned so much from your experiences. Take care.

Thanks!
I have had several people ask me that question. I really don't know at this point. I hope to think I have another restoration left in me. I do feel like just getting my new workshop the way I want it to be will be a long-term project in itself. After its done, I will start thinking about what comes next. Maybe a '65 to '67 Corvette convertible. That's kind of been in the back of my mind some. I wouldn't want a matching numbers car though. I'd enjoy it making it a mild restomod like what I've done with the GTO and it's almost sacrilegious to modify a matching numbers Corvette.