65 GTO

[JOES66FURY]

You work on aircraft every day.... Good thing for preflight checks. =P

Oddly, when I work on planes I am unbelievebly focused....its my own stuff that the ADD kicks in and the mind goes walkabout.

[Thumpin455]

I figured you had a plan, just tossing it out there just in case...I forget things....all the time...ALL the time...like oil filter, drain plugs....gaskets....important things...most days I haev no business working on things....

You work on aircraft every day.... Good thing for preflight checks. =P

[JOES66FURY]

I figured you had a plan, just tossing it out there just in case...I forget things....all the time...ALL the time...like oil filter, drain plugs....gaskets....important things...most days I haev no business working on things....

[Thumpin455]

I dont mean to criticize at all...the overall transformation is nothing short of amazing...but the hood hinges look like poo lol!

Of course they do, all I did was bolt them on. When I get the GTO hood then they will get cleaned and painted, until then they can look like poo. At least I have two sets now.

[JOES66FURY]

I dont mean to criticize at all...the overall transformation is nothing short of amazing...but the hood hinges look like poo lol!

[Scott Liggett]

Turns the big metal box into an antenna. Or, you could hire a local kid to stand on the roof with a aluminum foil covered wire hanger.


Looks like you will be cruising the Goat this summer. Keeping my fingers crossed for ya.

[Thumpin455]

Thank you Al Von, it has been so much fun I plan to do it again, starting with a less rusty car. If there were no pics of this it would be a disservice to guys with cars that dont need as much who are afraid to get started, at least in my opinion.

Lately there has been progress, but mostly it is cleaning things and getting parts together. Winter always ends up with the shop being trashed, so tomorrow might be a day where I get out there and make space to do things again. It all was just shoved in to get it out of the snow. Crap is everywhere and its annoying the hell out of me. You know its bad when I am like damn, I gotta clean this crap up.

Stuff happened and I ended up working on beaters instead of on the GTO, but here are pics of what I have done. The th350 is clean, it looked like it came from the bottom of a grease pit, then drug through a large pile of topsoil, thick crud all over it, but now its nearly clean enough to rebuild.




The control arms and backing plates waiting to go back on. If I can scrounge up a swaybar this thing should handle much better than it did when new.



Need to bead blast and paint the diff cover, but the rear is ready to go now. All painted after sandblasting it and getting the rust off. Thats a bunch of crap on the floor isnt it? Maybe you guys think I am so fast because I dont bother cleaning up out there.





Thinking about spraying some bed liner in the wheel wells, keeps the sound down, protects the metal, and looks nicer than overspray. Looks kinda sad with no rear under it. The boxes of new drum brake parts are up by the front wheel.





Still need to get back to work under here, but I have almost all the stuff I need to get the engine running. Mechanical fuel pump, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, ignition parts, radiator/mounts, and most of the other crap. Just need to run trans cooler lines, but I wont bother with that until the trans is in there with the radiator so I know where to run them.



The new cheap sound system. Plays Pandora on the wireless LAN because the radio sucks out here. Had to put it in the tool box because it wont get a decent signal anywhere else.

[Al Von]

Thumper, your thread has been one inspiring story. Thank you for chronicling the transformation.

[Thumpin455]

Aawwww thanks guys. Im not sure I will ever attempt anything that is this rusty again, but if you are going to spend the time, it may as well be a GTO. If I can do it, maybe everyone can because I am just an engine and transmission guy. Had to learn to weld and do body work the hard way, just tearing in and doing it.

Dan is welcome any time he can make it to this side of the bridge, as are the rest of ya. In summer we can probably go fishing. Then there are the opportunities for burnouts on the paved back roads.

If you guys only knew how much time goes by without me working on anything you would consider me a sloth. Sometimes its months, and 2010 ended up with me not doing much of anything. Maybe its just how much I get done when I actually go work on it. Things might be picking up because the VA decided to try some new meds to save money, and so far they work better than the old stuff. That means I can walk, stand up, and I even played with one of the dogs out in the snow tonight. It sure would be awesome to get my knees back.

Today I got a present on the big brown truck. Still waiting on the rebuild kit for the th350 I ordered from Summit, but I got the control arms and Pypes system today. Then I ran into town and got the brake parts I needed for the rear and an HEI ignition module, so now I have spares. It would be damn cool to have it running and drivable when Dave gets back from South Carolina, so that is the goal. He will be 68 in May, this thing needs to be done.

[DanStokes]

Todd has a way of making the rest of us look like sloths. But I AM chipping away on mine! I'm really pleased that he saved the GTO - 1st. gen GTOs are getting scarce. I hope to get up to Da UP and meet him one of these days.

Dan

[K.Lewis]

niice transformation! I've been watching this build for awhile, and it's given me inspiration to get my projects started!

[Thumpin455]

Ran some lines for it today, the fuel line was being a pain but Dave's hired hand helped me with it. Decided to wait to install the carpet I ordered for it a couple months back until I can fix the glass. Why put it in twice or screw it up while its in there? Yanked the rear end, since its just an open Olds rear that is more than an inch wider than the stock one to put the fuel line in easier.

Then I ordered some parts. UMI control arms for the rear, upper and lower, a Pypes 2.5" exhaust system, and a rebuild kit for a Th350 since I discovered I have one sitting on the floor with the right length tail shaft. I needed a 350 so I could use the LeMans driveshaft instead of the th400 length one, and with 2.56 gears it would never get in fourth around here.

Dave is on a trip for over a week, so I have some time with nice weather, and a helping hand to get it running before he gets back. Tomorrow we will dig in and get some other stuff done. Most of this doesnt show well in pics, so none to add yet. Still want to get the hood for it, but it can wait.

I wonder how long until we get a burnout video of the one wheel peel....

[Monk]

'65 Goat one of my favorite body styles.
High school friend's brother had a red one, black interior, Cragars.
It was the bomb.

[jonohull]

I joined just to say "great thread." It has given me hope that I can fix my rust-bucket as well.

[Thumpin455]

Holy smokes, I havent updated this since the end of October.

Despite the holidays taking up most of the time, gotten a few small things done the last few days. Its nice that I can breathe again, almost forgot what it felt like to take a deep breath and not cough up a lung. When you get to this point, most of what you do isnt even worth taking pics of. Got the insulation on the floor, need to cut the carpet or buy a pre-molded one, and still getting the 2.56 rear cleaned up to stuff it under there. No idea about the transmission yet, would be hard to run a 2004R with that gear up here, it would never lock the converter or get in 4th. The Th350 I have has the truck tailshaft so its just as long as a Th400. It doesnt need a Th400, and I want the driveshaft that fits a short 400/2004R for the LeMans. Gotta have something laying around here.

Trying to get the engine wired and all the lines run, thinking about a universal aluminum radiator from Summit, and it still needs the exhaust figured out. Looking at the LeMans it appears I have to cut into the rear window to fix it, so the interior should wait until that is done. The front glass can be made to work with a little persuasion. Still bummed about breaking that windshield. Might have someone else put it in for me, glass is scary stuff... easy to crack and shatter.

Next month I think the hood for this and the 70 will be ordered, along with another 65 quarter. If I have enough left over from this month, maybe a 70 passenger side quarter too since I need one. Trying to save on shipping by getting them all at once.