65 GTO

[Thumpin455]

Thanks but really the pics make it look better than it is. Way better.

Been working on it for a while today, got the front drive and a few other things in place. Turns out the alternator needs some work, so I am ordering the 100amp upgrade for it, and a couple more to put on the other cars around here.



Finally got the wheels on after battling some viral bug that kicked our asses lat week, along with a couple snowstorms that dumped more white stuff on us. The rears look kinda small to me, but the front fits the wells good.

[milner351]

Todd this is one for the record books - seriously - don't put yourself down, ever - this and your other projects are truly heroic efforts.

VERY disappointing the new wheels were bent - do you think they were made wrong or got bent during shipping?

bummer regardless - sucks to have to fix new parts!

[Thumpin455]

The messed up thing is it was a South Carolina car. Rusted top down rather than bottom up like the salted cars here.

I make it look good in pics. In person its obvious that it started with a very poor body and had someone barely capable of doing the work learning as he went.

But thanks. If it doesnt snow here over the weekend, I will throw the wheels under it, roll it out and get some shots of it.

That car took balls, don't play yourself down. I would have never touched it and being from Mi I don't consider myself afraid of rust.

[Thumpin455]

I make it look good in pics. In person its obvious that it started with a very poor body and had someone barely capable of doing the work learning as he went.

But thanks. If it doesnt snow here over the weekend, I will throw the wheels under it, roll it out and get some shots of it.

None of the shops around here have it, two of them asked for a part number for it with the whole useless parts guy "ITS NOT IN THE COMPUTER AND I CANT READ A BOOK" attitude.

So I order it from Summit, Jegs, OPGI, or Performance years. They all have it. Last time I asked, Eastwood had the eggshell blue but not the metallic.

The car turned out nice, that was one hell of a project. I think those rims are really going to set it off.

[Thumpin455]

None of the shops around here have it, two of them asked for a part number for it with the whole useless parts guy "ITS NOT IN THE COMPUTER AND I CANT READ A BOOK" attitude.

So I order it from Summit, Jegs, OPGI, or Performance years. They all have it. Last time I asked, Eastwood had the eggshell blue but not the metallic.

I remember trying to find that Pontiac blue engine paint back when I did my 69 Firebird, can be a pain in the rear. Still have a few cans laying around for reserves.

[Thumpin455]

They tried that too, made it worse. Kinda cheap tires.

[Scott Liggett]

When I see the tire tech adding a lot of weight to a tire to balance, I have them stop and break the bead of the wheel and rotate the tire 180* on the wheel, then rebalance. Usually, this will reduce the amount of weight needed to balance.

[Thumpin455]

Thanks guys. Im not a fan of billet and chrome either, this one has chrome valve covers because they were on the 70 when I got it, otherwise it would have stock painted covers. Stock stuff works and best of all it just needs bead blasted and painted to be worthy of going on the car. I dont build show cars, I build drivers, and shiny shit doesnt have much use on a driver.

The Fury sounds cool, had a bud with one of those that had a 383/727/3.23 suregrip in it. Lots of fun with that green behemoth. I think it was a 68 or 69, but still a fun ride. Looking forward to your build thread, and dont fear rust provided you have a welder and a place to do the work. As long as you arent painting it black or dark blue, it doesnt have to be perfect.

Well the tires came in this morning, so I took the wheels in and found out two of them were bent. Brand freaking new Wheel Vintiques from Summit. You would think that new wheels wouldnt be bent and need a bunch of weight to balance. Call me irritable about that. So they marked them so I could put them on the rear and not have an issue with the steering wheel shaking like mad. The tires are a bit taller than the fronts I had on it before, but that is ok. They should fill the wells a bit more this way.



We are having a few friends over tomorrow, so today was spent running around getting ready for that and getting the house ready. I am too bushed to stick the wheels on right now. Cant wait to get the center caps for them, maybe trim rings too. Should look pretty kick ass this way.

[Al Von]

I'm with Scott. I am not into billet or chrome. Just come up with a theme, clean and paint it!

Thumpin, this build has inspired me to build one of my dream rides. I recently found a '71 Fury III sedan on CL. I am waiting for the owner to pull the motor & trans to keep for his other project. You saved this Pontiac from certain destruction, so I going to save this Fury. It was a TN car, so the underside is fantastic, but the roof is almost rusted off under the tar paper! At least THIS car I can do rust repair standing UP!

Thank you!

[Scott Liggett]

Looks good. I am not into a bunch of billet, and aftermarket chrome brackets and pulleys never line up right. Hell, $2000 March front drive kits dont line up either. And, too much chrome looks like you stole the motor from a low rider. I stayed with just chrome air cleaner and valve covers, then clean and paint pulleys and brackets like you have done looks the best.

Looking forward to seeing a video of this running.

[Thumpin455]

Damn Summit, you fast. Ordered the wheels on Sunday, they got here today. Wasnt expecting them until tomorrow at the earliest. These are some nice steel wheels, tires will be in later this week at a local shop. I would have gotten them from Summit too, but I dont own a balancer so why not just get it all done at once? The control arm bolts for the rear are here, when the trans is done and going in I will install them. Need to dig a converter out of the stash for this thing, I think I have a 2200 around somewhere.



Pulled an alternator apart that I know works, cleaned it up in the bead blaster, shot some clear on the body and Pontiac blue on the pulley and fan. Came out nice. Might upgrade it at some point to a higher amp unit, if I do then I might just polish it up a bit. I think the blue is a nice touch without being gaudy. It kinda blends in.



Engine bay is looking better, shot some black on it after cleaning it a bit. Will run the wires after I get the alternator and distributor in. If I didnt want it all purdy, it would be running right now.



Painted up the pulleys and alternator bracket, turns out the upper pulley was wrong so I had to find the right one. Then the alt bracket had something on it after the bead blaster that fisheyed the paint, so had to do it again.

[mlcraven]

Great to see you're gathering momentum again. Really like the wheel/tire size choice.