[Andre]

Some noticeable progress to report. Here is a picture of the painted, and polished body getting ready to be mated with the frame. The modified rotessiere has been rolled out of the way so the frame could be rolled under the body.

[Andre]

This view shows the frame in place with the body bushings lying in the mount spots ready to be mated with the body.

[Andre]

The detailing of the suspension components really adds to the overall appearance of the chassis

[Andre]

The paint on this car is really bright and shiny! As I have mentioned, I will be going with the Hurst wheels and redline tires. I'm still not sure if the red fender liners will be overkill or not. I don't really want to drill extra holes in this car to install them, but it sure would raise the pimp level on this car a couple of notches.

In the background, my friend Scott's Paladium Silver '69 GTO looks on in anticipation to it's upcoming paint work. It's a nice orignal and solid car, and not like what I started out with.

If you attended the POCI convention in Greenville, you might remember seeing this car for sale in the parking lot. Scott bought it and promptly drove it home to Florida.

You might remember in some earlier posts that I mentioned I had a '64 GTO driver quality convertible. These wheels and tires were on the car, (spoked), but the car had sat so long, the tires were flat spotted. As a result they became rollers for the resto shop.

[Andre]

I sent my original shifter out to Precision Pontiac. Pete disassembled, cleaned and replated the body of the shifter, and also replated the arm. It is like a brand new piece. The flash makes the replated body look a little different than it actually does. This is a service that I highly recommend. You can see the date code on the shifter body.

[a67goatnut]

Andre, You must be having a ton of fun! The car is sure coming together fast too! Looking GREAT!

[Andre]

Well, after much consideration, I decided to bite the bullet and opt for new glass all around. I was already getting a windshield, and the driver and quarter glass had scratches. My thought was that I usually keep the windows down, so why worry about blowing more money on something that wasn't that important.

I spoke to one of my friends who has restored several GM "a" body cars. He said that he never thought glass made much of a difference until he saw a car with new glass. It set the paint and bright work off tremendously.

So, I decided to go that route. I went with all tinted pieces. Unfortunately, the rear window has not gotten here yet as it was scheduled to be installed tomorrow. That means when the glass guy comes to do the windshield, he won't be able to do the rear window.

You can't win them all. This resto has been smooth as silk, so I can't complain. I had purchased some of the "oil based" trunk speckle paint from the Parts Place. It was not really as advertised and is still water based. Tomorrow I am going to the GM dealer and get some of their trunk speckle paint if they have it in stock.

[goatseeker]

Andre,
Did you find NOS glass or go repro? If repro who did you use and does it come with the proper GM codes? One day I hope to be doing what you're doing and am compiling a list of resources.
Thanks,
Tim

[eaglesan13]

I knew a guy who had all his glass polished when he restored his 65 GTO. It turned out very nice.

[Mr_GTO]

Andre....I HATE YOU!!!!! Bastard!

Car looks AWESOME!!!!! I have a friend who had a '66 painted Martinque Bronze and had the fender liners and it set the car off something fierce. It looked awesome.

So did you have a body shop/restoration shop do all the work?

[Andre]

I wanted to keep my original glass, but some of the scratches could not be polished out as they were too deep. The glass that I got came from Legendary I think. I didn't unwrap it yet to see if it has the proper codes, so I can't tell you for sure.

This work is all being done by a local restoration shop that specializes in Pontiacs, but has been known to do the odd corvette, Ford, and other makes.

I ordered the GM trunk paint. It will be here in a few days. It comes in a 6 pack of cans. I got 2 6 packs to be safe.

Don't hate the player.. hate the game. haha

[6t7gto]

Andre,
the GM trunk paint. does it still need the clearcoat?
what is the part number?
thanks,
david

[Jason67]

NEED.....MORE.....PICS.

Lookin' good Andre!

Thanks,

[karl emerick]

"I got 2 6 packs to be safe" >>>>>

andre,
hopefully, there are 3 more cars in your near future. LOL

k

.02,
topcoated mine with flattened 2-pt clear.

[Andre]

Karl- are you saying that it only takes three cans to do the trunk? It will definitely still need to be clearcoated. It is GM part number 1051499.

I'm hoping to post some more pictures later this weekend. Still no back glass in today. This may turn out to be a bigger challenge than expected.

[mwritter]

FYI, I used 4 cans on my trunk, and I could probably have used two more. Needed less than 1 can of clear. For some reason, the spatter doesn't seem to cover like it should. 6 cans is probably safe.

[Andre]

The shop will shoot the trunk area in black laquer first, and that should reduce the amount of cans needed for coverage.

[karl emerick]

andre,
my initial coat was 2 part urethane black using a flattening agent. I thought it was still rather glossy and scuffed it with a 3M pad to dull it slightly more and promote adhesion. followed up with 3 cans of the GM trunk spatter. I thought it looked about right with just under 3 cans as I wanted the black to show thru somewhat but I did spray the rest of the 3rd can. It's probably a matter of taste and factory variations but I had a couple samples of original floor and wheelwell sections I compared. Then I topcoated with 2 part urethane clear - again using a flattener.

karl

ok - maybe only 1 or 2 more cars in your future if you've got 12 cans
btw- when are you going to paint (or undercoat ) the rear wheelwells?

[Andre]

Oddly enough the '66 had the wheelwells still in body color, with no visible black paint just dirt, so we painted them in body color

I'm most likely going with the red fender liners, so I don't think I will do either paint or undercoat.

There will be some more progress pictures soon.


Today was our end of year picnic for our All Pontiac club- the Sunshine State GTO Association. I had served as president for the last 2 years, and was awarded a very nice plaque for my dedication. It was not that tough of a job being president, but it's good to not have to worry about the club's well being this year. We had nearly 100 members last year, and I expect we will have about the same amount this year.

Since it was a beautiful day, I decided to drive my'64 convertible, so here are a few pictures of it.

[Showbizkid]

Wow... that's a sweet ride, Andre. Nice spinners!