[bird72]

70-73 Bird gripes:

Incorrect spoiler end caps. using later pointy end ones instead of sawed off bottom 70-73 ones.

Cars that came with rain gutter shiney trim (Actually applies to 70-81): Gets dinged / beat up, so people leave off when repaint. BUT, they leave ON the back vertical corresponding piece, goes back of side window channel above door edge corner. Looks really stupid without the rain gutter top part. Take it OFF also, duh.

70-73 Trans Am scoops hacked into Formula hoods. Do I need to explain this one, why it is beyond dumb?

70-73 with back bumpers painted body color or black. Please just buy a later one without chrome bumper. It is one of the coolest parts of a 70-73, so don't kill it.

L88 scoops hacked onto a bird hood, luckily they are a dying thing.

Traction Bars. Yeah they work kinda, but they reek of the 70's. Put them in the bedroom with the Farrah Fawcett poster.

Trans Ams with wheel flare spoilers deleted (Mostly seen 75 -81). I think you really want a Z28.

Esprit's made into hot rods with the emblem still on.. That is cool, but the Esprit emblem has to go. Conjures up images of fine dining, yachts, and golf courses.

[MikeCio1]

Originally Posted by bird72

Esprit's made into hot rods with the emblem still on.. That is cool, but the Esprit emblem has to go. Conjures up images of fine dining, yachts, and golf courses.

Dont forget images of Jim Rockford!

[HaloMedic]

In an earlyer post Mikenoun said:

I'll definitely add "rear sway bars" to the list! Can't tell you how many times I've seen them on 69-earlier GTO's, and of course on 69 Trans Am's. No Pontiac had a rear sway until 1970.

My first GTO was a 66 covt, and one of the options listed was the ride & handling pkg. it included a rear sway bar

[2manyponchos]

Originally Posted by HaloMedic

My first GTO was a 66 covt, and one of the options listed was the ride & handling pkg. it included a rear sway bar

Did you buy your car new? There is no factory documentation that supports the above statement that I have found. Possible that it could have been dealer installed off of another GM A-body? Just seeking to learn.

[66GTO Jim]

Originally Posted by HaloMedic

My first GTO was a 66 covt, and one of the options listed was the ride & handling pkg. it included a rear sway bar

What documentation are you referring to when you say "one of the options"? Are you assuming a sway bar was part of the "ride and handling package"? A sway bar may have been part of other GM car line A-body ride and handling packages but it was not part of Pontiac's Ride and Handling Package for the 66 A-body cars like the GTO. This is well documented.

Jim

[MikeNoun]

Your 66 GTO rear sway bar was added. As stated above, the 'ride & handling package' had nothing to do with a rear sway bar, and your rear sway bar most likely came off a 442.

[Jack Peters]

My '71 has the r&h package (Y-96) and no sway bar. Never had one. Had to get the GTO to get that. Y-99 was the code for that.

[marxjunk]

MY biggest pet peeve is people calling a GTO a GOAT...it makes me wanna kick them in the balls so hard they get a Peter Griffin chin....

Ive hated the term since high school..I know to most its a term on endearment but to me its durogative and an insult..

[PLAY400]

68 Firebird RA clone without front bumper center emblem, chrome grill bars, small fuel line and no vent lines for a starters yet it has the open scoops, all the decals and nicest RA hood and carb pan set-up you ever seen. And they tell you it is ORIGINAL GRRRRRRRRRR

[goquick]

Originally Posted by PLAY400

68 Firebird RA clone without front bumper center emblem, chrome grill bars, small fuel line and no vent lines for a starters yet it has the open scoops, all the decals and nicest RA hood and carb pan set-up you ever seen. And they tell you it is ORIGINAL GRRRRRRRRRR

BUT BUT BUT that fuel line is the "high Efficiency" option. I've seen those also, and was told that by one idiot/scammer (take your pick which he was).. The first thought I had hearing that answer was "is he too stupid to understand why he deserves a knuckle sandwich?"

[BN]

I find it very refeshing to find a nicley restored Lemans or Tempest that's still a Lemans or Tempest.

[67 LeMans 326]

You wouldn't beleive the number of people that comment on our car in the same manner. People can't beleive out LeMans has lasted this long without being cloned and then the other people ask when am I going to clone it. LOL

[1967Tempest]

Originally Posted by BN

I find it very refeshing to find a nicley restored Lemans or Tempest that's still a Lemans or Tempest.

X1,000,000

[goquick]

Originally Posted by 67 LeMans 326

You wouldn't beleive the number of people that comment on our car in the same manner. People can't beleive out LeMans has lasted this long without being cloned and then the other people ask when am I going to clone it. LOL

When I had my Custom S, I got asked the same thing! It's like they can't believe I had no interest in making a liars car! I always told them I would keep mine like it was, as the 1 year only model it was so they could appreciate real GTO's more. Out of the 14 68 and 69 Tempest, Custom S, and LeMans' I've had over the years, all but 3 of them were turned into fake GTO's by people after I sold them. One is paraded around the STL area as a Judge convertible, and all it was is a 69 Custom S convertible with a 354 that I had added repo ram air ex. manifolds to when I rebuilt the 354. (with the 3.42 rear gears it ran 13.04 at 105mph with a 744 cam, H/S 1.65 rockers, and my work in the heads) The "judge" still has the 354 in it as it was and the liar that owns it tells everyone it has a "option delete" package! Idiots actualy believe him too.
The other car that gets under my skin that I owned is a 68 LeMans some one turned into an "early Judge". Yep, that guy is also friends with the 69 Custom S convertible guy. Oh according to them, Judges only came in "hugger orange"! No kidding, thats what they tell people.

[goquick]

Originally Posted by BN

I find it very refeshing to find a nicley restored Lemans or Tempest that's still a Lemans or Tempest.

x1,000,001

[rockertype]

I find it hard to stomach so called "restoration" companies like Year One and Ames that have "Original" "455" hood and trunk emblems for 1967 & 1968 Firebirds.


Original 455 emblems???

[BN]

Nice, correct old car that has generic $9.99 one size fits all floor mats that are the wrong shape when exact original repros are available.

[nedorama]

Originally Posted by codyyy

I'm not a fan of clones either. My guess is that it will probably cost about the same to restore a Lemans or Tempest to stock or to clone it, so that's why people do it. More appealing to crowds too.
Personally I sometimes feel that at times it would seem easier to have a less desireable model or a vehicle that it doesn't really matter much what model it is. Like a Catalina, I don't think anyone really cares what submodel it is although a 2+2 or SD would be nice, a plain jane would get the looks as well. You don't need to clone it at that point basically.

Actually, for me, it cost more, having just finished mine up. When I bought it, it came with '66 GTO front grilles, rear tail panel and lights (uninstalled). Sold those. In the course of restoration, plenty of people make repop 67 GTO front grilles, rear lights, rear chrome trim, rear tail panels - no one makes the same for LeMans. Had to comb through 3 years of auctions to find decent tail light trim (that still needed to be reworked/rechromed) as well as waiting to get a LeMans grille that didn't have those vertical plastic teeth broken... Many similar parts issues.

A lot of people asked if I was going to turn it into a clone, and the answer has always been "No way." I wanted mine to be a LeMans from the beginning, and it will stay that way.

I like to call mine a "restomod," where I've restored some things, but added things I wanted different from stock. I certainly don't warrant it as "bone stock" although I did get the PHS history as well as having the original paperwork (which was fun). Here's some of them, which I agree on a "concours" restoration would be sacrilege.

• 15x7 Rally II's with redlines vs. 14x6 whitewalls with Deluxe hubcaps - loved the look of redlines and Rally II's. The whitewalls and hubcaps were definitely an acquired look.
• 200 4R Transmission with Eaton Posi - not stock, but what an improvement over the ST-300. Uses the stock shifter.
• Edelbrock Performer intake, carb and air cleaner
• 80's Camaro steering box - less boat-like steering
• Disc brakes on front and rear
• Front and rear sway bars (helps significantly)
• Alpine stereo - previous owner had installed what looks like the factory 8-track holder below the dash; great place for the Alpine, which lets me hook up my iPod to it.
• Tach added to blank plate in gauge cluster
• Orange turn signals in front vs. the clear with orange bulbs.

[Coach]

Well I bit the bullet and removed the air cleaner engine call out decal this weekend. Looks a little naked in there, but what the heck. The Grant wooden wheel will be there until I can afford to have the stock black/clear wheel recast. And the fuzzy dice, they stay, if you don't know, you wouldn't understand, lol.

-H

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by BN

Nice, correct old car that has generic $9.99 one size fits all floor mats that are the wrong shape when exact original repros are available.

Repop floor mats are available for my car, but they cost $185/set out of the PY catalog...I can live with the generic ones.