[MidnightAuto]

Nice ride- welcome

[tempest1964]

Very nice story. All in the family. I think that’s awesome! Welcome to the forum.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by OG68

Yes it does. Has the 3:55 non-posi axle.
First time my dad crawled under the car and saw the DB on the side of the transmission he was pretty happy. He had traded in a 64 Fairlane with a 289 HiPo and Toploader for the GTO and knew the capabilities of the transmission.

Pretty cool. I would imagine GTOs with a three speed transmission are uncommon.

[Verdoro 68]

Super cool story and original pics. Welcome!

[keith k]

Awesome!

[Keith Seymore]

Welcome aboard -

Originally Posted by OG68

Attached is a photo of the car when it was about a year old, complete with my Grandmother's cat. Still had the Goodyear radials on it. Another shop photo plus one from the 1980's at a GTOAA meet in Torrance.

Quick story: we had a '68 GTO when it was new (Silver with black accents).

We took it to a local petting zoo. When we came out we noticed a goat on the hood of one of the cars in the parking lot and thought that was pretty funny.

As we got closer we realized it was a goat on the hood of our new GTO. Dad did not think that was pretty funny.

In hindsight - it kinda was: a goat on the hood of a Goat.

(lol)

K

[OG68]

Originally Posted by OG68

Built in Newark May of 68, sold new at Erickson and James Pontiac in Yreka CA. S.

Brain fade; built in Fremont across the freeway from Newark, CA

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

I wondered what the Newark comment meant, but wasn't bothered about it.

It looked like a clean Cali Car that just needed a scuff-n-spray paint job.
Did he take the speedometer completely apart too ?

[OG68]

The only rust on the car was a quarter size spot on the drivers side cowl housing. They were still full of sawdust from the mill my mother worked at during the 70s.
There was older body damage that needed to be redone when my dad hit a deer back in 69 or so. Other than those few items, the body was in excellent shape during the painting process. Now the paint needs to be touched up and buffed out.

I'm rebuilding the dash on my patio table right now. Just ordered the Spaz Stick paint that Greg used for his 68.
Gauges seem to be OK, just dirty. I have a source in Tennessee that did a great job with my El Camino gauges.
I also have the wire harness to clean overspray and dirt from. Found a place that has the fuse clips for the box since the they were rusted beyond repair.
Enough keep me busy for the next few months.

[gtospieg]

cool story...waiting to see more

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by OG68

I'm rebuilding the dash on my patio table right now. Just ordered the Spaz Stick paint that Greg used for his 68..

Interested to see how that works out for you. Others have had problems getting it to work for them. Mine is still holding up well several years later.

[OG68]

Well six months into the restoration I finally finished the frame and will be transporting it back up north to Redding to reunite it with the body. Then bring both back to San Diego.
Frame was blasted, repaired and painted. All new brake and fuel lines. The original drums cleaned up nicely with Muscle Car shoes. Proforged steering components, UMI 1" lowering springs, Bilstein shocks. Years ago I installed a 1 1/8" front bar with a 7/8" rear from a 70 GTO. They cleaned up nicely (not shown in photos). Stock A arms up front boxed in the rear. I had to replace a spindle due to bearing wear and found out that 68-72 drum brake spindles are not all the same. The Chevy spindles have a larger backing plate mounting bolt than the Pontiacs.
3:55 rear axle was rebuilt with new gears and bearings; axles were still good. I considered adding a Posi but will put that off until later. New Roto Joints from UMI replaced the rubber bushings in the axle ears. New HO exhaust from Inline Tube went together easily. Will make final adjustments when the engine is installed. And speaking of the engine, it's now in a machine shop being inspected for damage after being improperly stored for 18 years after rebuild. Lots of surface rust and sludge on the lower end. If given the OK it will be given a mild refreshening. I may have to make second trip up north to bring all the parts (front clip, trunk lid, and a dozen boxes) back.
Garage space is limited so it looks like the El Camino will be in the driveway for awhile. Been trying to sell the ElCo by word of mouth and maybe the increased visibility will help.

[OG68]

More photos. Last one is when I offloaded it from the trailer in January.

[OG68]

Still looking for a matched set of 15 x 7 steelies. Dates are not important. The Rally II's are my backup. Previous owner powder coated them red (???) so its going to take some work to restore them.
Had a few issues getting the right parking brake cables. I knew the manual cars were different but the assembly manual designates the M20 as being different. I assumed my M13 three speed would be the same as the automatics. Wrong assumption on my part. Brake hardware all came from Delco. But as always, parts were missing from the box Luckily I had some new spare parts from an old S10 Blazer I once owned. I decided to keep the manual drum brakes. Cost was a factor as well as, thats how the car was built. I'm comfortable with them and the ceramic shoes from Muscle Car Brakes should help slowing it down.
I may or may not upgrade to tubular upper arms in the future. I like the UMI arms on my ElCo and it handles very well. But I won't be thrashing the GTO around corners. It will be more of a cruiser. Power steering is coming. I'll be sending a steering box from a 69 SJ I once parted out to LEE Steering for upgrading to 12.7 - 1 and a 210 T-Bar for higher effort. I have that setup in my ElCo and the steering response is great. In the meantime the manual box will do for moving the car around.

Can't decide wether to tackle the interior or assemble the front clip next. I'm leaning towards finishing the body first then moving on to the interior. And then there's the engine question. If the block is still good I be updating it to HO specs. If not, I may go with a date correct 428. Stay tuned...

[coonhunter70]

Wow, great progress!

[Simple Man]

Nice job!

[GTO 68]

Keep Going. We need another 3 speed 68 on the road !

[Half-Inch Stud]

Forgot about the stock muffs being different length, remember now.

[1965gp]

That frame looked pretty good in the ‘before’ photo

[Greg Reid]

That car is looking great! Can't wait to see it in triple red.
The pic with Grandma's cat is an interesting illustration of what factory paint looked like back then.
For steelies, try a user by the handle of 'toyswedo'. Last I was in contact with him he had some at a time that I was looking for some wider than the 6 inchers I was running back then.