[Entropy11]

This car last saw pavement 35+ years ago. I’ve had it just over 1.5yrs. I figured I would post here to document progress of how it’s going back together, and possibly get some tips when I get stuck.

The car had a few generations of mice living in the heater box over the years so I had to remove and fab up a piece of firewall. Here are the before pics:

Outside


Inside


Removed

[Entropy11]

Here are some pics after welding in the replacement piece and 3-4 coats of primer:



While stripping everything down bare I decided to replace the body mounts/bushings


I stripped everything bare then treated with Ospho, neutralized, and coated with Black SPI Epoxy Primer.

[Entropy11]

I have a post in the body section about the epoxy primer and matching the sheen to factory specs.

This was the gloss level sprayed 1:1 as it comes from the manufacturer. The gloss nearly matches 2 parts that I have that were supposedly restored to 60% gloss.



This is also 1:1 plus 12% flattening agent. Attempting to get close to 30% gloss. (My Led lights make it look flatter than it is in these pics)

[Entropy11]

Fast forward to the control arms stripped, new bushings, new ball joints, new springs, new shocks, fresh primer, front disc conversion, new SS brake lines, and the beginnings of assembly.

[Entropy11]

Inside of car is also totally stripped now. Dash & gauges in rough shape but will spend some time on them.

[Entropy11]

Ordered new PCB sheet and a few other things. The gauge faces should clean up well enough to go back in. The rear workings of the rally gauges that show through the front have too much of a rust coating on them to go back in. I ordered paint for them through the parts place which I’m kind of regretting, although I haven’t sprayed it yet. From what I can tell the gauge faces were possibly “Blue Charcoal” from the factory. Ironically that was the color of my Dad’s ‘66 GTO when he bought it new. Paint from TPP has another name. Maybe it’ll work.

Simulated wood grain on the dash is rough with some dis-bonding. It’ll do for now until I tackle it another day. I’m not fond of some of the vinyl I’ve seen so I’ll either go with veneer down the road or try to source a higher quality vinyl and send it through the vinyl cutter after I make a template.

“Chrome” paint showed up today. Couldn’t afford the Alsa branded chrome paint so we’ll see how it goes. I have virtually zero of the fake chrome plating left one the dash raised areas and surround so anything is a step up at this point.

[OG68]

Good thread for 68 dash refinishing

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=754763

[Entropy11]

Thank you OG68. I’ll give that a full read. I’ve been digging up some old posts but missed that one!

I skipped over the Spaz-Stix chrome paint for Molotow Liquid Chrome. I’ve heard good things and oddly enough you can get it for like $15.
I sprayed a handful of Alsa products years ago and would love to go that route if I had enough parts lined up to justify the $150. Whatever version of Chrome they’re on now is unbelievable. Wasn’t quite that way just a few years ago.

Swapped out the #1-3 body bushings tonight. Removed the last of the firewall tidbits from the inside to prep for primer. Removed the auto-trans shifter and cut the patch out over the old 4-speed hole that was originally in the tunnel (returning a 4-speed to the car). Will have the tail light housings out later tonight to start prepping the inside of them for paint.

[Entropy11]

Might as well add a pic of the completed engine still sitting on my test stand. I need to finish that thread I had started on that. It should be going back in within the next couple days. I can’t say enough good things about Bill Hirsch paint. Trans is a “new” M20 I picked up from Auto Gear not too far from me in Syracuse NY.

[dataway]

Keep us posted on the instrument panel work, I'll be starting that soon myself.

Have you considered the wood grain sticker with the aluminum backing? Kind of replicates the thin steel sheet originally used behind the wood grain.

[Entropy11]

Originally Posted by dataway

Keep us posted on the instrument panel work, I'll be starting that soon myself.

Have you considered the wood grain sticker with the aluminum backing? Kind of replicates the thin steel sheet originally used behind the wood grain.

I’ll keep this post updated. I need to paint the main housing on the back of the cluster but I won’t be doing anything factory there. Just something to protect it. The cluster is fun once you get in there and see how it all works.

Not sure on what route to go with the dash. Mine is pretty hammered and has been cut for a single DIN radio. I heard some of the vinyl “wood” stickers aren’t the best quality so I was thinking of trying something different. There are some high quality vinyl wood-look options with decent grain texture to them that I’d like to try.

[69gtocv]

Originally Posted by Entropy11

Fast forward to the control arms stripped, new bushings, new ball joints, new springs, new shocks, fresh primer, front disc conversion, new SS brake lines, and the beginnings of assembly.

Looking good! My only thought on your sheens is that I would have done the frame in a sheen closer to what you did for the control arms. Firewall looks pretty close. I know, too late now.

[Entropy11]

Thanks 69gtocv. I’m happy with the way it’s looking so far. It looked so bad when I got it.

I ended up doing the frame and firewall at the same time. I thought from what I read that they were both originally 30%. Maybe I screwed that up, but yeah, for now it’ll stay!

I was having issues spraying the upper dash at 0% (Flat). The increased flattening agent was giving me issues seeing that I couldn’t use reducer or I’d impact the gloss level even more. I’m going to use some SPI Production Clear I already have here, flatten that, and then spray it over the upper dash. Figured it’ll also give even more UV protection than the primer already has.

Going off the top of my head, I still have the inner fenders & core support @ 60%, underside of hood @ 30%, and possibly the steering linkage @ 60%.if that one is correct. I’ll do the lower dash cleared with gloss as well as the heater box. I read somewhere that the heater box was sourced outside of GM and arrived in gloss from the manufacturer.

Things like the steering column (as it passes through the engine compartment), steering gearbox, and little parts that were possibly bare metal from day one are all treated with several coats of Flatwater Inc’s Sharkhide protectant.

Not shooting for or expecting perfection by any means, but figure if I’m taking the time to prep and spray them I might as well get it somewhat close to factory. The car isn’t going back to the factory interior/exterior colors any time soon so maybe it’s also some OCD mixed in! Haha

[dataway]

I remember when I used to clean my GTO back in 1976 ... the fender wells and such had been rubbed down so many time with WD-40 and the like that they became fairly glossy, same with the fan guard, top of core support etc.

[Entropy11]

Made some more progress. Interior floor and backside of firewall painted (epoxy primer again). Ready for seam sealer on the inside now.

Got the clutch and new trans together to install as one. Installed it all back into the car tonight. Thankfully I convinced my wife to be a second set of eyes and hold things steady for a few minutes. It went fairly smooth aside from some issues with my new motor mounts. Looks like the old ones will still have to do the job for a while. Trans x-member was a little time consuming but can’t complain for a solo job lol.

[dataway]

Jeez, your flying!

[Entropy11]

Originally Posted by dataway

Jeez, your flying!

Haha yeah! Fighting the weather at this point. Determined to hit the road before the snow hits. All progress is about to stall out for a bit as we head to FL for a few days this week. Getting the feeling that if I get it moving I’ll be making that trip down the road sitting on an upside down 5gal bucket!

I believe the car was last on the road 35-36 yes ago so I’ll be happy to help get one more of these old forgotten about cars back on the road!!!

[dataway]

I'm hoping mine will see the road for the first time in 35 years this spring, and the sad part is ... I've owned it the whole time

[Entropy11]

Originally Posted by dataway

I'm hoping mine will see the road for the first time in 35 years this spring, and the sad part is ... I've owned it the whole time

Nothing wrong with that, you’re getting it back on the road now, and from reading your posts you’re really doing it justice with some quality work and materials!

When our cars last saw the road I couldn’t drive yet and was still probably in tears after my parents sold their ‘72 Gran Torino Sport. I seriously would cry when we’d see the car around town years later … I spent nearly the first 10yrs of my life with that car… it was family to me!!!
Always knew I’d have to find a GTO some day, it was the one car of my Dad’s (his was a ‘66) that he never stopped talking about after all these years. That’s my other rush on this car… his health issues are now keeping him from helping me, so I’m determined to get it running and get him back in an old goat. I always thought it was cool that he always called it his “goat”… before I even knew about the name. Haha

[Entropy11]

Back from a week’s vacation and not making much progress. It’s my own fault though. I gambled on my recently expired seam sealer (Lord Fusor 019) and lost. It was 2mos beyond expiration and I used it in desperation because I couldn’t find the other sealer I misplaced. I was replacing all the interior floor panel and firewall related sealer (I used sealer on top of first prime coat).

Well anyways, it decided it don’t want to set and would rather smell like a corpse soaked in gasoline, stuffed in dirty socks, then dumped inside my car. I missed my “window” to paint the following day (was worried about it not setting and just smelling forever, and my window was based on one day of favorable temps without firing up the garage heat). The smell lasted 3 days and thank God finally setup and dissipated. What a mess. I’m done with Acrylic sealer forever and sticking with their epoxy instead.

Getting more parts ready to prime tonight and might give it a shot Thursday depending on temps. Plan is to spray second and final coat on everything prepped so far… lower dash/glove box lower, dash underside, inside firewall and inner cowl/kick panel area, inner/outer heater boxes, and front frame to bumper brackets. If I can get the core support prepped and insulator mount areas welded by then, that’ll get sprayed too.

Sorry- not a worthwhile update, just keeping record of the progress so I can look back and laugh when it’s all done!

** also trying to lookup specs on driveshaft length and how to properly measure. I have no idea if the previous owner knew enough to swap the 4spd driveshaft for an auto driveshaft during their not quite completed “conversion”. Hoping they didn’t know that part. Also grabbed a new trans slip yoke from Denny’s Driveshaft on my way home!