[Nicks67GTO]

Nothing too cool has happened lately with the car.

I did however finally get my "new" frame up to the shop to be checked. This is a Montana frame and it is absolutly 100% rust free. Its beautiful......and I guess its crooked as hell...LOL. It took a hit to the right front horn at some point in its life and kinked the frame a touch. That sucks.

So when i bought it, it was suppposed to be a guarenteed straight frame. I called the guy up and we cut a deal and hes giving me back about 40% of the price I paid. I'm keeping the frame since its so clean and he made it right. The shop said they'll have roughly about a day in it.....theres an unexpected blow to the pocketbook. Ouch.

[Nicks67GTO]

So heres the latest. The frame is still at the shop. I was basically told i'm a second tier customer straight up. Most guys would get pissed but i'm ok with honesty, even if its not what I want to hear, I can appreciate it. I get it, they make their money on insurance claims, not GTO frames, so whatever.

Anyhow I decided on a brake kit. I'm went with TRSD 13" Signature series fronts. After seeing this kit im about 99% sure i'm going to go 12" rears too. These brakes aren't as expensive as you might think either. I got them damn near $100 bucks cheaper than Jegs or Summit offer, just by doing a little searching and comparing between vendors. They consist of 2002 Shelby Mustang 45mm twin piston calipers, 13" D&S zinc washed corvette C4 28mm thick rotors, CNC machined hubs that re drilled for 7/16 and 1/2" wheel studs, braided lines and all other hardware. They are VERY nice and the 13" brakes are HUGE compared to the 11" stuff that I have on there right now. Ill be pulling those parts for a 70' Chevelle I have on the back burner. I might be ordering the rear 12" kit as well but frame clearance issues need to be verified since my rear was ordered 3/4" narrow on both sides.

Anyhow here's a bunch of 13" brake kit pics.....

[arbys]

Those are good pictures. Is the dollar bill what's left after $2K? How did you do all your research? I wouldn't have thought to check on Mustang and Corvette parts.

PS It looks like a 3 course dinner on the table.

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by arbys

Those are good pictures. Is the dollar bill what's left after $2K? How did you do all your research? I wouldn't have thought to check on Mustang and Corvette parts.

PS It looks like a 3 course dinner on the table.

HAHA. The buck is there for reference when looking at parts...but yeah the buck lost a lot of buddies in the battle of big brake! They weren't cheap but not as bad as one would think. They were about half of what Kore3 wanted for the C6 front kit and I just couldn't justify the extra $. Tobin@ Kore3 is a cool cat and his customer service is exceptional besides that. I wanted C6's in a bad way but after consideration for everything I bought these. I got the front kit for $650 shipped. Not too shabby IMO and they'll look good behind the Mag G's i'm planning for springtime!

I did hours of research as I normally do. Lots of google searches, making phone calls and sending emails to both companies. The difference between the TRSD's and C5-6 brakes is mainly in the rotor width. C5-6 is 32mm and the C4 that comes in my kit is 28mm. The calipers were both PBR cast originally, the TRSD's are powdercoated unlike the C6's and both had similar calipers. The 4mm width wasn't a huge deal to me since i'm not going to ever take my car to speeds that require that kind of rotor cooling. It was a no brainier for me and TRSD had fantastic custiomer service when I bought their 11" kit that im currently using..

[arbys]

That boxing kit is is a sweet deal for the owner but also a sweet deal for the maker. After he has the computer program for the layout think how inexpensive it is to whip those out one after another. It's simply amazing what those computers and plasma cutters can produce with such precision.

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by arbys

That boxing kit is is a sweet deal for the owner but also a sweet deal for the maker. After he has the computer program for the layout think how inexpensive it is to whip those out one after another. It's simply amazing what those computers and plasma cutters can produce with such precision.

Agreed. The CNC and laser stuff is amazing. I'm in electrical maintenance so iv'e been around these types of machines and they're amazing. This guy has to be making a killing on the stuff but its also a huge expense for the machine up front. The price is stiff but it saves a lot of time. Boxing the frame is EXTREMELY time consuming. I'm only fitted and tacked and I probably have 8 hours in it. You also cant just go welding it all up or you will warp the snot out of these wet noodle frames. Its tack tack tack tack. It's a slow process so anything to speed it up a bit was worth it.

[Nicks67GTO]

Got my body black anodized aluminum body mounts/install kit in the mail from ABC Performance and my isolaters from SC&C!

Merry Christmas to me!

During this process I learned from ABC Performance that 67' Pontiac's had 2 more body mounts than Chevy, Buick an Olds....this is right...isn't it? I got sold 16 mounts/hardware where C,O&P only use 14.....anyone else heard of that?

[Satyr1966]

When I was replacing my '66 GTO body mounts at a friends shop, he also had a '66 chevelle on a rotisserie. The GTO has 2 mounts on each side on the front where the chevelle had only one per side.

[Nicks67GTO]

Got a little work done today...

I had a hole in my frame for no good reason. It looked like someone used a cutting torch and cut it out years ago. I'm not sure why someone would do this? Anyhow I got that cleaned up with some 1/8" steel....

[xkeots]

Originally Posted by Nicks67GTO

Got my body black anodized aluminum body mounts/install kit in the mail from ABC Performance and my isolaters from SC&C!

Merry Christmas to me!

During this process I learned from ABC Performance that 67' Pontiac's had 2 more body mounts than Chevy, Buick an Olds....this is right...isn't it? I got sold 16 mounts/hardware where C,O&P only use 14.....anyone else heard of that?

yes,

I just got the same. The extra 2 are for the front radiator support to frame. I am getting ready to mount my body to frame but I have a 67 convertible auto.
thanks for pix as my card in my camera wiped out.
Jack

[Nicks67GTO]

The extra mounts are for under the front of the main shell. Chevy, Olds, and Buick only used 1 mount per side, where Pontiac added an extra mount per side.

[Greg Reid]

It's a lot of fun to weld something like that after doing sheetmetal for a while, huh?

[charles bledsoe]

Frame's looking real good! Should turn out real nice once painted. Please continue to post pics of your progress.
Thanks!!

[Old Blue 66]

Based on the pics, the new pieces look like they were made from the factory. I think you should give yourself more credit. Its looks great!

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by Old Blue 66

Based on the pics, the new pieces look like they were made from the factory. I think you should give yourself more credit. Its looks great!

Thanks! Unfortunately I started looking really close at the cleaned up weld areas and I was taking too much off with the smooth hydroformed look. I went back over all of it leaving the welds exposed and only cleaned them up a touch. Oh well no one will ever see them unless they're looking too hard. Too bad too.... I like that clean/smooth frame look.

[Nicks67GTO]

Truth time....it takes me forever to get anything done on this car. I'm 31 with a wife and a kid that are priority 1 ....and I work nights many times 6 days a week. It takes me forever sometimes. I just looked back and realized it took me 6 weeks to get this done. When I was single and in my early 20's it would have been done in 2 days...LOL. Oh well.

So i'm finally done welding up the frame and making the crossmember perches. I decided to leave the welds raw and semi-unfinished. I cleaned them up a bit but left most of the weld in place. I hated to do it but no one will see any of them but the welds by the gas tank and I didn't want to compromise the strength just for a nice look that no one will really see. I took it to the powder coat shop about an hour away yesterday. They re-quoted my frame for $325-350??!! That seems CHEAP! Iv'e seen the work they do and its very nice. In fact there was another 67' GTO convertible frame sitting there, done in a semi gloss finish and it was beautiful. Iv'e also seen their work after 5 years in the weather and it still looks brand new. I decided on satin. I also took some time off in March so i can swap everything over to the new frame, get my new SC&C/SPC chassis pieces in and order up my new wheels.

[Nicks67GTO]

Here's a few pics of a sweet 67' GTO with the Billet Specialty Mag G's Ill be ordering this spring. Ill be running a bit taller tire profile to fill the wheel wells and probably a touch higher ride height than this guy but you get the idea.

[old66tiger]

I had my frame power coated and it is the way to go. The guy that did it, blasted the frame and powder coated it inside and out. absolutely fantastic.

[Nicks67GTO]

Originally Posted by old66tiger

I had my frame power coated and it is the way to go. The guy that did it, blasted the frame and powder coated it inside and out. absolutely fantastic.

That's the plan. There's a shop in Cedar Rapids {45 min south} that does really good powder coat work. Iv'e seen their frame work first hand. They quoted me roughly $375 to get it blasted and coated??!! Seemed like a no brainer. They must have some kind of wand they stuff in the frame to get the insides?

[old66tiger]

Hey Nick. It looks really good. Are the cross member perches in the factory locatuon? If you ever decide to run a TKO or a LGT 700, you may want to consider making these perches about 6 inches longer to accommodate the relocation of the cross member.

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