[Kokamo]

Hey guys, I'm kinda new to the PY forums, but not new to cars. I figured I'd post up a little blog of what I'm doing....let me explain.

Here in the past year I built up an 85 S10 drag truck...700ish HP, glide, backhalf, etc. Ran low 10's, high 9's. Got fed up with the costs and all the BS of going to my local track dud to how far away it is. (over an hour and a half one way) Sold the truck and thought that I'd do something special for my old man.

Back in 69 my dad bought a very near new 69 GTO from a local dealer. He got a little help from his dad (my grandfather) by co-sighing for him. He got the car, paid it off, had fun with it, had the motor out doing mods and other BS we all do. Transmission was out at least once every 2 months, etc, etc. Well, in 78 (the year before I was born) he was at work late and driving back home in the pouring rain....it was dark, late, around 2am, raining like hell going about 40, then out of nowhere a Chevy van was stopped in the middle of the road with no lights on....nothing he could do to stop. So the car was totaled and it was sold for scrap.

Ever since I have been old enough to know about cars, he always told me about the "Goat" he used to have. From what he (and my mom) told me, it was a 69 GTO, 400/400, Midnight Green with a white vinyl top, parchment interior and non-hideaways. Here in the past 10 years or so, he told me he wanted to get another GTO someday, but the prices were so high that he'd prolly never own a decent one ever again.

So after seeing , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3SvdWcAks it gave me the idea and motivation to do something extra special for my old man. So I came up with the idea of finding a car that would be worth restoring or fixing up....restore it to the specs from what he and my mom told me about it and give this car to him for his birthday as a complete gift from me...title and all.

So with the little bit of change I got out of my little drag truck, I'm on a quest to make this "want" my old man has into a reality. Now, this won't be a show car build or a points winning build, but it will be something similar to resto mod.....except for the mod part. Not a frame off or anything as I can't hardly afford what I'm doing now. I want to build the car as close to back to factory as I can, but then again, I don't want to go so far out on it that he has nothing to work on himself....I know he likes fixing and tinkering. That's just one thing I want him to be able to do on his own. I just want this car to be able to go to a local cruise-in and to turn some heads.....not a show car, but somewhere between one and a nice driver.

So, I recently picked up a 2 owner 69 "GOAT" for a pretty decent price. Not factory matching numbers, but it is in fairly decent shape for the most part. I bought this car from a craigslist deal and bought it over the phone and had it shipped to me from 1000 miles away....basically sight unseen aside from a few pics and details from the owner. The car has a 15 year old resto on it and it's starting to show it's age. I know it will need plenty of work, and I'm prepared for the most part. So once I tear into it, I'll find out what it really needs vs what I think it needs......