[kingbuzzo]

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[Shiny]

Nice!

Hope you are having fun. Nice job getting it running!

[pontiacman63383]

Got the charging system up and working and was able to actually drive the car more then a few feet. Was able to take it for a spin around the property. Even though it was a very short test drive im super excited to have got to this point. Still have a lot of little things to button up but getting very close to being able to get it legal.

Video of me pulling it out of the garage
https://youtube.com/shorts/O5rGWa2XTxE?feature=shared

[pontiacman63383]

Finally got to drive the car more then a few feet! Im a month away from owning this car for 15 year so it was perfect timing lol. I was able to take it on a short test drive. Maybe a half mile or so just to do a quick shake down. Let me know a few things i still need to address. So ordered a few parts including new tires and hopefully once i address a few things ill be able to take it on a longer test drive to make sure its ready to get plates on it.

Video of the test drive
https://youtu.be/AOfgUZoEaj4?feature=shared

[pontiacman63383]

Time for a over due update on the car. It now runs and drives and is legal. Was even able to use some year correct plates for it so its rocking some 1969 date code plates. I spent most of the summer getting the car dialed in. front end alignment, tuning the carb. Its running great but with the M22 4 speed and 3.73 gears in the rear I have a feeling that a 5 speed upgrade is in the very near future so I can enjoy driving the car more without feeling like I'm making the engine scream lol. Now that is gotten cold I've taken the time to do some upgrades. I didn't think to take pictures of but I did finally install some carpet. No more metal floors as well as I got a deal on a set of rear tubular control arms so I installed them as well.

[pontiacman63383]

Also was able to install a Retro sound radio along with some pioneer 6.5 kick panel speakers and some 6x9 in the rear package tray.

[pontiacman63383]

Currently working on my latest upgrade. I don't like dummy lights and much prefer full gauges like I'm sure most of us do. I have a set of aftermarket gauges mounted under the dash but I don't like the way that looks. I also really didn't want to spend the 500+ dollars for a re-popped set of rally gauges or even more for Dakota digital gauges. So after looking around I found a set of Auto meter quad gauges that I was able to retro fit into an old gauge cluster I had laying around. So now I will have a full set of gauges that will almost look factory and only set me back 240 bucks. I'm going to solder into the Printed circuit board so that I can just replace the existing factory sending units with the new ones that came with the gauges so I wont have to add/ run any extra wires. Made and welded in some brackets to hold the gauge in place and I like it so far. I may paint the trim ring around the gauge flat black so that the chrome doesn't stand out so much.

[Shiny]

Nice work! That looks great. Hope the wiring goes well.

[onetirefire]

Amazing keeping this thread alive over the restoration.
Nice work.

[pontiacman63383]

So got the guages mounted and was able to splice into the printed circuit board and solder in wires for the new guages. Tacked them in place with some epoxy and now it will use all the factory wiring. Ill just have to swap the sending units. Dash board is out of the car to tackle some other wiring fixes as well as adding a dash cap to hopefully make the dash look a little better but ill update that with pictures as i go.

[pontiacman63383]

Originally Posted by Shiny

Nice work! That looks great. Hope the wiring goes well.

Originally Posted by onetirefire

Amazing keeping this thread alive over the restoration.
Nice work.

Thanks guys. Its definitely been a looooooong slow road with this car but she's coming along. Getting it running and moving under its own power was such a huge motivator. I've made more progress in the car over the last two-ish since I got it moving under its own power then I did in previous 10 years before that lol.

[pontiacman63383]

Got everything wired up. Installed a new dash cap because i cant justify spending 1200 bucks on a new dash. Overall the cap looks decent. Fit is far from perfect and you can definitely tell its a cap if you look at it for a bit but from a distance it looks good so for 200 bucks im happy with it. Dash is back in the car and everything is wired up and working good. Also made a custom mount for under seat fire extinguisher. Just in case!

[pontiacman63383]

So small update and then a bit of a tease for the big upgrade in the works. So after getting the dash looking good and the new gauges in and looking good i had to do something about the old wore out factory steering wheel. So go a nice leather wrapped black momo steering wheel. Im happy with it. Gives the interior a nice clean look. So the next big upgrade for the car showed up. Super excited to get his bad boy in the car!....

[pontiacman63383]

So while waiting on a few things for the big upgrade i have planned here soon i decided to shift focus and see what i can do about the headlights on this car. So it is a custom S but i dont care for the chrome bumper and decided to add the gto bumper with hideaway headlights. I got the "custom S" badge mounted in the grill where the "gto" badge would normally. With my engine i don't have a lot of vacuum and don't want to mess with all of the vacuum pods on the hideaway set up so i decided im going to make them electric. Luckily being a pontiac fan i just happen to have a 4th gen firebird parts car so i decided to fit the motors and controller onto the bumper. Mocked up a bracket and i may have to tweek the arm off the motor but in initial test fit was very promising. They open and clos(though they stop just shy of fully opening by about an 1" so ive still got to do some adjustments. Over happy with it and wont need to mess with any of the vacuum stuff now.

https://youtube.com/shorts/DAQEOqmIf...uYFFcZQa1AwpKm

[grivera]

Originally Posted by pontiacman63383

So small update and then a bit of a tease for the big upgrade in the works. So after getting the dash looking good and the new gauges in and looking good i had to do something about the old wore out factory steering wheel. So go a nice leather wrapped black momo steering wheel. Im happy with it. Gives the interior a nice clean look. So the next big upgrade for the car showed up. Super excited to get his bad boy in the car!....

This is a great thread - appreciate you keeping it updated

How difficult was it to install the dash cap? Are you happy with it? Any more pics of it from other angles?

[pontiacman63383]

Originally Posted by grivera

This is a great thread - appreciate you keeping it updated

How difficult was it to install the dash cap? Are you happy with it? Any more pics of it from other angles?

Thanks! Its definitely been a slow but fun process. As far as the dash cap goes, overall I'm happy with it. That being said this will never be a show car. Not even close so my expiations of the cap were not high to begin with as I didn't need to to be perfect. So the install wasn't terrible but definitely took a lot of time and double checking. So it was an e-bay special. The overfit was ok. The biggest problem was it was a very tight fit over the old dash so it keep wanting to pop up in spots. luckily I've got a large collection of 5lb lead weights so i used a bunch of those as well as a lot of tap to hold everything down and in place and even with that I still had a spot on the top of the dash that didnt hold. I was able to re-glue it so it all sits flat now. I will say that they cut the holes around things like the vents and cluster short of actually touching the pieces so you can see a bit of the old dash spots. I guess you could technically install this with the dash in the car but with the issues I had trying to keep it all flat on the dash and in place I would absolutely remove the dash for install. So my overall option. It looks great if you just walk by and look in the car and it absolutely looks way better the the busted up old dash. Even when driving it and are looking at it from the drivers seat I say it looks good but It is far from perfect. So if little issues bother you or you are looking for a really good looking dash I would pass but if you want a decent looking drivers quality dash for 250-ish bucks and not shell out 1k to have your dash redone it's definitely a good option. I've added a few pics to show the close up fitment. Can get more if your want a particular view of it

[grivera]

Great review - appreciate the info to hep me decide!

[pontiacman63383]

Got the electric hideaway door conversion done! Overall im very happy with it. Was able to use all of the orginal equipment. I did have to drill a hole and notch the support bracket for the door arm but that was it. I will be able to return it to orginal if i wanted. I pulled all the parts off a parts 2000 firebird I have. I did end up replacing both of the motors so i have about 100 bucks total in the set up. I would only have about 30 if i left the orginal motors. Links below to videos of it working and a video of the setup on the back side
From the front
https://youtu.be/6lgK22u83HQ

Back side
https://youtu.be/CRJERiLWXCI

[Shiny]

Nicely done!

[pontiacman63383]

The big upgrade is finally done! Or at least installed in the car. So i upgraded from the m22 4 speed and went to a tkx 5 speed. The 4 speed was fun but with the 3.73 rear gears it felt like i was abusing the motor to drive it over 60. So the 4 gears had to go. Came really close to going with a 6 speed but couldn't bring myself to destroy the floor with the massive cut out it would need. Went away and did the hydraulic clutch as well as the heavy duty cross member. Overall the install went smoothly. I did have to swap out the bellhousing dowl pins for some off set ones after taking all the measurements but that was probably the hardest part. The transmission slid right into place. I still need to measure and order the new driveshaft before its ready to drive. Can't wait to take this car down the road again!