65 GTO

[98ciHemi]

Re: 65 GTO

I didn't stop because we were in haul-butt mode to get to Tech for the ROTC shadow day. We were just as in a hurry to get home today, but next time I will make an effort to drop by. It is a bit hard to miss. ;)

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: 65 GTO

I now officially feel bad that I scraped a 71 skylark with approximately the same amount of rust....thanks todd ;)

[Thumpin455]

Re: 65 GTO

You should feel bad about scrapping a car, especially a 2 door A body! ;)

I got some stuff done again today, kinda cold out there even with all my insulation on. Did some more kick panel patching and ground the welds down that might affect the inner panel fit, and sandblasted the piece that fits between the windshield and the hood.

[Thumpin455]

Re: 65 GTO

Long friggin day. I am hurtin for certain. Knocked off at 930 and took some pics of the patch I did in addition to hours of grinding and welding, and cleaning up joints, and other crap. Its annoying being at this stage because I do so much but it doesnt really show, so it feels like I am getting nowhere and I have to tell myself I actually got important stuff done today.

Just to feel like I accomplished something I started the toy and moved it over to the shop so I can swap some parts on it and build a seat mount. I need a diversion for a day or two of this welding and grinding. The drag car is the diversion. Also its about time the 98 Formy got insurance back on it so I can enjoy that sucker again since the snow is gone.

Well here is the frame that has been sitting outside waiting to go back under the body. I put the old rear back under it so I could move it and get more room in the shop. Found out the 14" slots I had on it wont fit these brakes. Bummer, I wanted to run them on the car, looks like I will have to scrounge a set or pick some up.



And the patch that didnt take that long but its about the only thing really different other than some filled holes and ground beads.



Not much left under the car now, just the wheel wells and that stupid drivers quarter. I am half tempted to order a new one and a wheel house this week and just be done with it. Actually I am seriously thinking on that and it just might happen. It would save me a ton of time getting the wheel lip to look right and I wouldnt have a low spot the size of Kansas in the quarter.

[Huskinhano]

Re: 65 GTO

I'm with you. I think the new Q panels are the way to go in the long run.

[Thumpin455]

Re: 65 GTO

Well I got in touch of the guy with the Tempest up here, bought the car and snagged some parts off it. Its still in his trees and I will cut off or unbolt what I want, and there wont be much left when I am done. So later this week I'll head back over there with my 600' of extension cords and the sawzall with two packs of blades.

Frame is rusted, floors are gone, but it has some parts that I need and they are in very good shape including the drivers side quarter that I just ordered. Sure it is rusted at the bottom, but the sail panel is in good shape and it doesnt have a jacked up weld down the body line. So I am going to section it above the factory joint and piece it in with the lower I already have. The wheel lip is in good shape, and the wheel house rusted away from behind it, so I can fix most of the mess from the previous 'repair' and have a spare quarter panel for it.

Also the trim around the front and rear glass is in excellent shape. It had good rocker moldings, and the upper cowl and dash is nearly perfect. Just a little rust in the dash left of the column, and that is easily patched. The front roof line on mine is all jacked up, rusted in places and generally a mess. So I can section the A pillars and roof to use as patches from the Tempest. Save me some time fabricating, I can just cut and paste so to speak.

The door jambs and kick panels are rusted worse than what I have now and the doors are toast, so I cant use much of that. Its a post anyway and the GTO is a hardtop so I couldnt use the doors for much other than patch material. It does have very nice tail lights and end caps, and the Tempest center piece is in good shape so I will keep all that stuff. The last things I will get are the rear end, manual steering box, and the 3 speed from it, it was a 6 so I dont need the engine.

My idea of a NOS front fender.



A few odds and ends I can use, and one hubcap! What a treasure to find that one hubcap!



I'll take some pics of the rusted hulk before and after I start cutting, it makes the GTO look good!

[Huskinhano]

Re: 65 GTO

Good score on the parts. Time to invest in a cordless SawZall! Even 100' on extension cords and you're going to have some significant voltage drop.

[Thumpin455]

Re: 65 GTO

Nah, it wont be that much cutting really. I am just connecting the rust holes.

[Thumpin455]

Re: 65 GTO

Been busy but not always with the GTO. Long couple weeks... Had some fun eviscerating and filleting a Tempest today. Just so happens it had quite a bit of metal and other parts I can use. Took along all my power cords and we had 4 feet extra with all of them connected, its around 700 ft. Burned through 15 sawzall blades and had lots and lots of enjoyable quality time in the woods with the skeeters. My bud Andy came along after he got off work, man I owe him big time for all the help today.

This was my second trip to get parts, I unbolted what I could the last time, so most of the front end was gone. Here it is just after I started cutting. It was a nearly complete but rusted car and a tree had crushed the passenger side, so it came apart easy.







I took this as we were rolling up the cords and picking up tools. Still need to carry half of it out of the woods, but this is whats left. See anything you need?

[Thumpin455]

Re: 65 GTO

Got a line on the next couple projects.. Which one should I do first?

[Scott Liggett]

Re: 65 GTO

What a great day. Playing in the forest full of skeeters.

Hey, hey, hey I see a 69 Impala. I want details.

[Thumpin455]

Re: 65 GTO

4 door rough, missing quite a bit. He has lots of stuff out there in the woods. Thinking of building something to finance my cars. I can get you more pics of the stuff he has, most are only parts cars. Anyone like Gremlins? He has a few...

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: 65 GTO

mmmmm... Camaro

[milner351]

Re: 65 GTO

That 50's Buick? looks interesting.

of course if you're thinking of this as a fix up and sell project - the chevelle looks the most complete...

the camaro may have a higher profit margin and be the easiest to get parts for repo - but it looks like it's missing a lot of expensive parts, where the chevelle is mostly there.... but I'm guessing the floors are mostly gone on all of them!

The Tbird is cool - but those don't seem to be money makers unless they are in "try five" years.

[Thumpin455]

Re: 65 GTO

Not a Camaro its a Firebird, was a 350 auto, and the old green one is a Mercury that came with a Y block. The Merc's original engine is down the hill from it in a 59 Ford with a nice ventilation port in the side. He has 4 more 1st gens, with some patch panels I could probably combine all of them and make a car. There are three Tbirds like that, it has the original 390 in it and the interiors are mostly complete. That Chevelle is mostly a shell, if you look inside it there isnt much there. Its as if its a huge plastic model and the chassis part was left out with just the body shell on the ground. The funny part is I think it is too far gone but the others are in better shape.

The cool thing about the T bird and the Merc is they have easy to repair panels, not much in the way of complex curves where they are rusted and the floors are simple.That means I could rebuild them quite cheap and the largest expense would be engines and transmissions. They wouldnt be restorations, more like drivers, or mild customs and the Firebirds are worse than the GTO I am doing so it would probably end up a drag car, pro street, or something similar.

No shortage of stuff to do, and he is willing to sell anything. Sure it would take some work but if you are like me and have plenty of time and a bit of skill that isnt a problem. If you are a check book type, then its not worth it at all. Even though they look really rough, there is enough on some to work with and actually build something. All of these would be fun projects, not show cars and what I would get from them wouldnt be huge like $10k or anything. Then again I dont really do this stuff for money, but money helps me do things faster.

The cool part is the Tempest had lots of good parts I could use for multiple projects, and it has parts for the GTO that will save me lots of time fabricating and welding.