[mess1153]

Originally Posted by MrWrestlingII

Until then, get it mechanically up to snuff and drive the piss out of it.

That is exactly my plan!!!

[bsblguy]

National parts depot carries gto parts now and are here in Charlotte. There also is an auto parts store local that is good for getting some mechanical parts. Got the correct heater valve fromthem that non of the pontiac parts places have. Also got the correct accumulator for my ac from them way cheaper thanany place else. One of our club members has a lot of parts you may need like correct air cleaner. Have fun with the car. I know how empty bank accounts can get working on them.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Tim Younker

Make it mechanically sound and safe. Then drive the piss out of it.

Originally Posted by MrWrestlingII

Until then, get it mechanically up to snuff and drive the piss out of it.

Originally Posted by mess1153

That is exactly my plan!!!

My opinion is a little different. If there's piss in your car, I would recommend removing it before you drive it

[JLHarper]

I have read the entire thread but saw one on the Carolina Club...Im sure they would help decode it and check for original components: gaskets, hoses, alt, ect...

Find out exactly how unique it may be.

Looks like the floor mats are from another Pontiac model..cant really see them well.

Good luck...some good guys up in that area to help you I'm sure

[mess1153]

Found a close up of the trunk. Maybe you guys can tell if this was factory or not.

[1970455HO]

Came over from the Tech forum to read about this.
Glad to have you and love the story.
You're correct you can only repeat what you were told.
I have 2 cars one is a 1970 GTO 455HO,the other a 1968 Firebird.
Both have interesting stories.
I've only shared story with a few people because people are always saying "Are you sure". My reply "This is what I was told".

Enjoy the car and anything DAD has shared with you, make sure you pass the story to your children if you have any!

Vaughn

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by MrWrestlingII

When you first get the car it's natural to want to start modifying it immediately. Most on this forum have done that at one time or another, and ended up regretting it... myself included. As others have stated I would suggest you take allot of time before making changes to the car.

I definitely agree with this. I told myself, "I'm not doing anything major until after the summer." (except necessary items like upgrading cooling system, etc.) In a few short months, I've discovered that I don't need stuff like a stereo, power steering or air conditioning.

[Lightfoot]

Really great to see a survivor like that. Odd not only that it has the wheel discs, but having the 4-speed_A/C combination is not very common either. What region of the country was it originally from?

Speaking of wheel covers, the one on the driver's front doesn't match the other two, which look correct for the year. I've seen that (LF) style before but I couldn't say what year or model it goes to. It's another oddball.

Originally Posted by mess1153;

Just priced out the white walls and I am going to be into those for about $1,100 just to get them here.

I presume that's because they are 14". Changing to a 15" wheel would probably save you some on tires. If it was me, I'd go with blackwalls, if I was going to use non-Rally wheels.

I'm also going to go out on a limb and say those tires on your Dad's GTO are not the original equipment. Unless someone removed them early in the the car's life & set them aside (highly unlikely). Bias belted tires are hard pressed to last 38K, and if they are non belted bias, they would be nearly worn out or bald. Perhaps the DOT codes on the tires & PHS info could disprove my theory but I have a hard time making the tires match up with the "story".

Also if the car was driven approx 37K by the daughter before she was killed, she either drove it more than two years or put a lot of miles on the car in a short period of time, which would accelerate the wear on the tires. This could partly explain the high number of dings & scratches.

[Lightfoot]

P.S. I like the looks of the wheel cover on the LF much better than the two 'originals'. If I was going to stay with the 'stock' rims, I'd try to find three more of that model.
Only drawback is it confines you to the 14" wheels.

Also, I would check the date codes on those tires, (not for fear of dry rot). I'm guessing the brother of original owner installed new rubber when he procured the GTO in 1986.
Or maybe your Dad did and has totally forgotten about it.

Seems like I've heard bias ply tires are not subject to the same age related failures as radials.

[zeebo]

i love survivor cars like this and i love your 70! lots of great help and advice/sources on py so welcome and we are happy to help! there is a huge wealth of knowledge here. these are exactly the kinds of cars id love to own---low mileage original unrestored muscle--what a jewel! if it were mine (2 cents time) i would see if you can locate the build sheet and get all documentation in a folder and make copies. get the phs invoice and window sticker..then, id do a big boy clean and detail on her and get her running and driving 100%...i agree for safetys sake you need new tires..and with the repop ones they have today, you can either go with the 14" or upgrade to the rallys and 15" tires. i have to agree with the other posters; i wouldnt change much, she is only original once. id fix what was broken or missing, say if the radio didnt work, and leave it alone. get the scratches touched up if you like and give that 400 a sweet tune and drive her! with the advent of the internet, it is easy now to locate original parts and get anything you need..

[Nicks67GTO]

Time to get out the torch and start tubbing/caging it. Maybe ditch that 400 and stick a Big Block chevy in it with a 14-71 blower through the hood!! It would make a heck of a racecar right??? RIGHT??? Everyone's with me on this one?? RIGHT!!!???

J/K ....Cool deal on this. Im going to be honest. Its probably worth a fortune at auction, thought it soundsl ike you wouldnt want to do that.

If those are the original tires, I would pull the wheels and stick modern radials on some rallys and store the originals. No way would I try to run original tires on anything but they do have value so it would be best to store them on the original wheels. Pull them off and change them. Thats a no brainer. Next I would love to tell you the car is ready to roll right now but the truth is, there is probably dryrot in the bushings, body mounts and hoses etc. Check everything thats rubber for wear and dryrot and replace asap. You dont want to be left stranded because of rotten rubber. Enjoy man. thats a cool car you got there. Ive got something like that in a 70' Chevelle, but its got 140K miles on it and has had a repaint but my Dad's owned it since the early 70's and its in really good, unmolested shape. Its hard to find them like that.

[Bob Timmermans]

Originally Posted by JLHarper

Nice one...congrats!

I'd leave it the way it is.....plenty of GTOs came from factory without Rally Wheels.

First thing "modern" owners do is put on Rally wheels for the sporty look, then something else....

Seems like 99.7% will have Rally Wheels.

The original unmolested cars have become the cars of keen interest these days.

There are not many "true" unmolested GTOs around...period.

Thats a very nice (rare) example!

Jeff

X 2 , love it like it is.

[Alf ista]

Welcome to the forum. Great car with an interesting, if sad, back story. Good advice from the guys on here. If it was me, I would try and keep it as original as possible as well. Way more interesting than something thats brought back to "as new", imho.
Hugh

[A.W.Dille]

Originally Posted by JLHarper

I have read the entire thread but saw one on the Carolina Club...Im sure they would help decode it and check for original components: gaskets, hoses, alt, ect...

Find out exactly how unique it may be.

Looks like the floor mats are from another Pontiac model..cant really see them well.

Good luck...some good guys up in that area to help you I'm sure

Yes JL we have a member that is up on codes and original equipment in the club and is pretty sharp, whether it be a GTO, Firebird or any Pontiac. And we have several Club members in Charlotte and the surrounding area that can help him with what he may need for the car and help with other things. and there are several members of the Carolina Classic Pontiac Club that are on this board and you can find a lot of us at AutoFair, whether showing cars or selling parts, and you've likely ran into a few of us in the past. And all of us are more than willing to help whenever we can. Myself I hope he leaves the car as is for awhile, adds character and there is nothing wrong with one that is a little rough though you hate for something to happen to it, I know, my 71 could stand some work on the body again but for now it's fine and I can drive it about anywhere I want. As far as modifications there are things on mine I look back and regret doing but that is in the past and mine will never be restored to original condition, just going to be a driver that will never see the drag strip again. The track will be reserved for the Grand Prix.

[mess1153]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

Really great to see a survivor like that. Odd not only that it has the wheel discs, but having the 4-speed_A/C combination is not very common either. What region of the country was it originally from?

Speaking of wheel covers, the one on the driver's front doesn't match the other two, which look correct for the year. I've seen that (LF) style before but I couldn't say what year or model it goes to. It's another oddball.
I presume that's because they are 14". Changing to a 15" wheel would probably save you some on tires. If it was me, I'd go with blackwalls, if I was going to use non-Rally wheels.

I'm also going to go out on a limb and say those tires on your Dad's GTO are not the original equipment. Unless someone removed them early in the the car's life & set them aside (highly unlikely). Bias belted tires are hard pressed to last 38K, and if they are non belted bias, they would be nearly worn out or bald. Perhaps the DOT codes on the tires & PHS info could disprove my theory but I have a hard time making the tires match up with the "story".

Also if the car was driven approx 37K by the daughter before she was killed, she either drove it more than two years or put a lot of miles on the car in a short period of time, which would accelerate the wear on the tires. This could partly explain the high number of dings & scratches.

Wow! Lot's of great feedback here. The car is originally from the Philadelphia area. Not gonna lie, I think the A/C combo is also indicative of a female driver. Sounds like an option the gents back then would have forgone. You are correct, the front driver side cap is different from the rest. The rest are the originals, the odd one is from a 67 GTO....or so I am told. The story on that is when my dad got it from the brother one was missing. He asked for it and the guy said he thought he had it in his garage and would look for it and get back to him. He never heard from the guy again. My guess is that the tires were replaced at one point too, but I will definitely check the tires for any sort of dates. What I can tell you is that PHS dictates that the car came with white walls which is why I am planning to put them on new now. I was looking at the 14" since that is what was on there. The PHS shows as G78X14 WW. Here is a close up picture of the tire, well as close as I have right now. They look very old, but I was still able to drive on them when I had the car last weekend. I have a couple of videos, but not sure how to put them on here. I can tell you that my dad says for certain that he never changed the tires so that I do believe.

As far as the girl goes, the year I am not certain of. I know that she was killed, but she may have driven the car three or four years. What I do know, again from my dad, is that at some point she dies and then the car gets stored. I'll have to look around and maybe I can find the archived story somewhere.

[mess1153]

Originally Posted by A.W.Dille

Yes JL we have a member that is up on codes and original equipment in the club and is pretty sharp, whether it be a GTO, Firebird or any Pontiac. And we have several Club members in Charlotte and the surrounding area that can help him with what he may need for the car and help with other things. and there are several members of the Carolina Classic Pontiac Club that are on this board and you can find a lot of us at AutoFair, whether showing cars or selling parts, and you've likely ran into a few of us in the past. And all of us are more than willing to help whenever we can. Myself I hope he leaves the car as is for awhile, adds character and there is nothing wrong with one that is a little rough though you hate for something to happen to it, I know, my 71 could stand some work on the body again but for now it's fine and I can drive it about anywhere I want. As far as modifications there are things on mine I look back and regret doing but that is in the past and mine will never be restored to original condition, just going to be a driver that will never see the drag strip again. The track will be reserved for the Grand Prix.

A.W, if you have someone like this in the club, which I would love to be a part of, it would be fantastic if he could help me. All I want to do now is learn more and more about the history of the car itself and of the GTO in general.

[mess1153]

Originally Posted by zeebo

i love survivor cars like this and i love your 70! lots of great help and advice/sources on py so welcome and we are happy to help! there is a huge wealth of knowledge here. these are exactly the kinds of cars id love to own---low mileage original unrestored muscle--what a jewel! if it were mine (2 cents time) i would see if you can locate the build sheet and get all documentation in a folder and make copies. get the phs invoice and window sticker..then, id do a big boy clean and detail on her and get her running and driving 100%...i agree for safetys sake you need new tires..and with the repop ones they have today, you can either go with the 14" or upgrade to the rallys and 15" tires. i have to agree with the other posters; i wouldnt change much, she is only original once. id fix what was broken or missing, say if the radio didnt work, and leave it alone. get the scratches touched up if you like and give that 400 a sweet tune and drive her! with the advent of the internet, it is easy now to locate original parts and get anything you need..

Thanks Zeebo! I actually do have the PHS already and I am planning to get the window ssticker reproduced. The rest sounds about exactly what I plan to do with it. I think I have decided to get new tires on the wheels and hubs and roll from there. Maybe later down the line fix up the Rally's I got and then throw tires on those too. This way I will have two sets and can swap them on and off when needed.

[mess1153]

Originally Posted by Nicks67GTO

Time to get out the torch and start tubbing/caging it. Maybe ditch that 400 and stick a Big Block chevy in it with a 14-71 blower through the hood!! It would make a heck of a racecar right??? RIGHT??? Everyone's with me on this one?? RIGHT!!!???

You know it Nick! I already ordered the kit to cut the hole in the hood and throw the blower in! While I was at it I ordered chrome rims and a lift kit with a set of 15" subs to go in the trunk! Hahaha!

[Lightfoot]

Perhaps one of the 70-72 GTO gurus will be able to narrow down which tire brands were typically installed OEM on the cars from the Baltimore plant back in the day. I believe it was pretty consistent per year per model, and it varied from plant to plant. I realize they could have gotten large batches of one particular brand of tire, only to change to another midway through a model year's run. Your GTO is an early build (September) so that would help narrow down the possibilities. PY member Keith Seymore might have some valuable insight on this subject. I'm merely speculating. But I do know a thing or two about tires in general. The blackwall comment I made was strictly about my preference, not what was available or unavailable on your GTO.

This one is a Firestone. It looks like a Sup-R-Belt from the tread, which would be typical original equipment for that era. The narrow white-wall is also typical of what GM would have chosen for their sporty cars.
I worked at a Firestone dealer in 1978-80 and they were still selling Sup-R-Belt & Deluxe Champion bias ply tires, but they were right on the verge of being phased out of production. May have even happened while I was there.

Radials would be the way to go for replacements. Those bias belted tires are harsh on bumps, etc.

[mess1153]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

The blackwall comment I made was strictly about my preference, not what was available or unavailable on your GTO.


Radials would be the way to go for replacements. Those bias belted tires are harsh on bumps, etc.

Understood completely. I think what I was going for was to match the build sheet exactly. I was looking at the wide oval Firestone tires from Year One and another place that I found that was still selling them. That's probably why they are so expensive! Haha