65 GTO

[Thumpin455]

Thanks guys, it does make me feel good to have it moving and near finished.

[Deaf Bob]

You can be proud!
I am..

[STINEY]

Pure mechanical music. Nice work and congratulations.

[yellomalibu]

Motor sounds good, starter sounds a little in need of a shim or two.

Awesome, by the way! Congrats on it's reincarnated maiden voyage!

[Thumpin455]

Walt came by and shot some video after bleeding the brakes with me. Here it is, being driven for the first time in who knows how long.

[Thumpin455]

It has run before, and all the parts are in good shape so it should run good. Need tuning, but that can wait. Eventually I will get it all working and running good, after the cam is broken in.

[mrocketscience]

Sounds a lot better than my Pontiac did on first fire up! Cool deal.

[Thumpin455]

Hey Bro. sounds great! But, shouldn't you take it easy on the new engine?

Its far from new. The heads were on the 70's 455 for years. The bottom end has been in the blue Formula, the 70 GTO, a 71 Formula I have stashed at the farm, and my 76 C10. Its been around and has about 5k on it. Runs freakin great. Its a .040 over forged piston 400, Charlie did the machine work so it will live. Besides, it wasnt even going over 4500 there, and I am still breaking in the cam and plugging leaks.

Burnout is coming, with a different set of tires though. It should be able to spin the 2.56 gears pretty easy. Its a cruiser so it has manifolds instead of headers, but its still healthy. Not sure if I will drive this one or not, since it was built for Dave. With all the stuff going on though, it might not be a good idea to give it to him right now. Makes me sad, but he will get to drive it for sure sometime this summer, I just have issues with it being down there at his place now.

As for me having fun, the 70 GTO is legal now, the Innovative wideband O2 is here, just waiting for me to install it, and I have a new 3" exhaust system for it. The 70 is MY car, so it will get driven by me. I wanted to go do cruises and shows with Dave, him driving the 65 and me in the 70, but it doesnt look like that will pan out.

[Scott Liggett]

Happy uncorked engine noises. Go have fun with it this summer. Drive it until your problems are forgotten.

[cantvalve16]

Yahhhhhhh! Way to go!

Now, uh, burnout video!

[RayCR]

Hey Bro. sounds great! But, shouldn't you take it easy on the new engine?

[JOES66FURY]

sounds great!

[Deaf Bob]

Why was there ever any doubt it would run??
Congrats on getting it fired!
Now license and insure it drive the wheels off it..

[Thumpin455]

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAA!!! /evil laughter....

It runs! IT RUNS! IT RUNS!

Here is a pic after the first fire and the smoke was still rising off it.

[Thumpin455]

Finally got the pass side door panel on, cant find the clips for the handles. GGRRRR... So the interior is almost done, and its about time. Was going to do the work under it, shifter, cooler lines, converter bolts, dipstick tube, starter, but ended up fixing my trailer instead. Trailer looks good, but it now sits three inches higher than it did before. So the fenders need redone.

So with everything going good tomorrow, we might have some running video. I have a friend coming by so we can do the brakes, she helped me with the brakes on her car on Friday, so she is going to help with the GTO tomorrow. She is good at pushing the pedal to bleed them. I dont want to get the transmission working until the brakes are functioning, and I am still concerned about leaks. So tomorrow is the day to find out about the brake lines. Tighten everything again, then add fluid and see where it goes. Do I bend and flare well? We will soon find out. That reminds me, I need to swap the brackets for the front hoses from the LeMans to the GTO, since the repops fit like crap.

I have one Qjet on it now, came off Dave's boat. I know it works, but it needs rebuilt. I have a fresh one on the shelf right now, but I also might use the one from the Trans Am, because that one rocks. Still need to go get some fuel for the thing, and hopefully I have all the plumbing done so it wont leak. So a trip to town to get door handle clips and 87 octane camel whiz will be first thing in the morning.

IT WILL RUN SOON DAMN IT!