65 GTO

[DanStokes]

Cool job. So how's Walt doing? Good to see him pitching in. I like Walt a LOT - he's a good guy.

Dan

[milner351]

nice work! amazing what another motivated person can do to your morale....

[Huskinhano]

I don't think that LeMans is in much better shape then the GTO when you started on that.

[Thumpin455]

The difference between the LeMans and the GTO is night and day, the rust is there but it isnt nearly as extensive on the LeMans. If I had started with the post, it would have been done a couple years ago.

I like Walt too, great guy and lots of fun to hang out and talk to. Kid knows his way around cars pretty well so having him here wasnt like one of my kids or the teenage neighbor that used to come by. We got lots done in a very short amount of time, we hardly worked on the car.

Here is what I got done today. After finally getting the brand new can of POR15 open, I used the entire can in the trunk, quarters, inside the fenders, and on the front wheel wells.





I also bolted up the exhaust manifolds, tomorrow the brake and fuel lines, along with the starter, oil filter, and front end will go on.

[Thumpin455]

Walt and I have been hardcore thrashing on this thing so we can get the other project done by morning so he can ride it back to Houghton for school. Hopefully the clear will be dry when we put it back together.

Today we got the front end lined up, some more parts bolted up, and a bit of refinishing done. We also swapped the 2.93 Olds rear under the LeMans, so its almost ready for its $5k build, at least the rear is under it and I have the old one getting worked to go under the GTO. Here is how it looked a few minutes ago before dinner, with the sun setting and screwing up the camera work. Shooting the grill surround tonight, so that will be ready to go on tomorrow. Then I can work on getting the rest of it plumed in, wired up, and adjusted.







Soon....

[1badmonkey]

LOVE LOVE LOVE how that lemans looks, sits... has a total kick ass vibe to it. gto is amazing

[Thumpin455]

Pic with nice morning light... Shows all the bad stuff quite well.

[Scott Liggett]

I think it looks good.

Best time for taking pics is just before sunset, magic hour, where the sun is shining on the car. Even my car looks good in that light.

[DanStokes]

Todd - looks GREAT! I REALLY like that you saved this from being made into 15 Kias - and I really don't hate Kias. Just that we don't need to give up all of our wonderful old American iron to make them.

I'd be proud to have it in the shop.

One of these days I'll remember to take a camera when I'm driving down near the medical center here in town. There's a PERFECT '65 LeMans 2 dr. HT that was the owners Mom's car from new. The owner uses it as pretty much her daily driver so I see it out in front of the radiator shop where she works in the office. No, it's not for sale - for ANY price. It's that blue/gray color but I forget the interior color. Has a GTO hood as the LeMans hood was damaged somehow and the GTO hood was the only one available. Last I spoke with her she would give a lot for a perfect (rust and dent free) LeMans bonnet.

Dan

Dan

[Thumpin455]

Well if she were closer to Michigan I would gladly trade her a flat hood for the GTO hood Dan. I would even paint it the factory color and make absolutely sure it was rust free and no dents anywhere. Maybe if someone wants to make a road trip with a truck and happen to be going that way....

[silver_bullet]

WOW... Looking goooood!! Being from the "rust belt",
I can really appreciate your efforts!!

[milner351]

Nice work Todd and Walt!

[Thumpin455]

Found out the hard way that POR15 does not stick to good metal, but it sure sticks to rusty spots. I think I am done using the stuff, every can has been sealed shut when I got it so it has to be ripped open the hard way. On suspension and parts under the car, sure it works great. Never again on the body.

Short story, I gotta repaint a good portion of the car now. Might as well do the whole thing in the spring and fix all the stuff I missed before, along with fixing the stuff that is showing up already.

I got the front end on most of the way, will have pics later.

[Scott Liggett]

Found out the hard way that POR15 does not stick to good metal, but it sure sticks to rusty spots.

I found the same thing. It doesn't stick to non rusty, or clean, smooth metal. You have to rough up the good metal significantly to get it to stick for the long haul.

[Thumpin455]

Yeah, its a pain in the ass, but why not look at the bright side instead of getting discouraged? It doesnt look too bad, but man the pics really show the spot where I ran out of clear on the third coat. The paint is lifting on the drivers side fender, just a small spot, but enough that it will make me reshoot the entire fender just to be sure I got it all. Might as well order a hood for it and shoot that too while I am at it.

Repainting it will allow me to fix some spots I messed up, the pin stripe, and all the chips it has gotten sitting around in pieces. Just going to get it running and driving before I do the repaint, that way its a simple job without anything being screwed up in assembly. All the jambs are done, the weather stripping wont need pulled, just spend the time getting parts of it right. Might find a new door for the drivers side while I am at it, this one still needs tons of work.

Here it is with the front end almost done. The headlight buckets are painted and ready to go in again, the bumper is all I need to install to finish the exterior, but it needs one more piece for the pass side wheel well. After that, the body is done enough for now. Over the winter I will try to put EFI on the 70, and get the Mustang done, maybe pull the LeMans in and do something to it too. None of that will happen if this thing doesnt spend the winter at Dave's house.