Cool barn find

[1965gp]

New guy here- located just north of Houston. Mainly build old Pontiacs but get into other projects every now and then. Usually don't build to the level of the projects on this site- just nice drivers.

I wanted to share some pics of a barn find a friend hooked me up with. Turns out the car was local to my area and in storage a couple miles away.

Here is the story as near as I can tell- the car is a 1968 LeMans convertible. The family I bought the car from bought it in '69. The car was originally sold in Chicago and somehow made its way down to Houston. It was the wife's daily for the majority of its life and then was passed to the kids. The daughter drove it to high school then the son.

after the Husband passed away in 89 the now widowed wife made plans to move to KY. She put the car in storage and moved off in early '91.

After the mom passed the daughter was liquidating the estate and realized her mom still had the car in Houston and had been paying for storage the entire time!

i was able to view the car but no one had any info on the status of the car, engine, etc- didn't even have any keys.

I made a deal and met the daughter in Dallas to pay for the car. I agreed to have the car out that week and to clean out the storage facility for them.

Here are some pics of what the car looked like when I found it:


https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/d77d30359b95cd7b7aa8480caab3ab6b-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/99b075b121103935640baf9c0fdf87c3-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/dd11af48d9a4f932b608fbf9cd6d562a-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/78bce2b1490716bceeeb551a5bcaa3f8-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/8317dda25494e497efce0437f58f48dd-1.jpg

[1965gp]

After I got the car home we soaked the cylinders down with marvel mystery oil for a week. Then spun it over by hand a few times. Finally we changed the oil with VR1 cranked it with no plugs so the mystery oil would pump out and oil pressure would build up.

I put a quadrajet I had on it, new plugs and wires and it fired right up! Smoked like crazy but it ran! I had a clean gas tank left over from another project so we swapped it in. The brakes needed a master cylinder and the Trans is still kind of up in the air- works but makes some racket every now and then. The car was now running and driving. Time to address the paint and windshield.

The paint is single stage and very porous. I ended up having to wash it with a very fine scotch bright (kind you get at the grocery store) to get the dirt off of it. After it was clean I attacked it with a buffer and it started to come alive.

The interior was covered in mold but simple green did a great job of cleaning it up.

Finally I had to add some wheels...

[1965gp]

Here are some pics of the car this past weekend- about 5 weeks after picking it up:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/f300d74e190961ea4930661076015302-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/58193d734a5b38162fa208f4c90a6807-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/57bd2fa6c20da03813229df7cf246343-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/10/bcb4578cb716d15532d2da5db5428ca9-1.jpg

[1965gp]

I found all kinds of stuff in the car. The original warranty paperwork, the extended 'lifetime' warranty paperwork, the receipt to have the car painted, new seat covers, new top,brakes and front end from 1991 ($15k- that was a chunk of money to invest in a LeMans in 91!). The car has almost no rust, just a few bubbles around the quarters. Overall the car is in amazing condition - I couldn't be much happier with the progress on the car.

Originally I had plans of making it a GTO clone but now have decided to leave the car with its current patina and drive it until our 72 Formula gets out of paint.

Anyway- thanks for checking it out- one of the cooler projects I've found.

Jeremy

[Aficionado]

Uh, wow. Nice save--Beautiful!!

[BuddyP]

Yeah, Wow, what a story! That cleaned up very nice. Nice work!

[howehot]

Great find and story to go with it.

[1965gp]

Thanks for the comments- it still needs a few things to be a driver but so far I am really enjoying it. I know most everyone here goes 18"s and larger for wheels but I figured since this was going to be pretty much stock the 17"s fit the car better. And I just really liked the idea of having Hurst wheels....

[NOT A TA]

Nice find, congrats!

[Todd in Vancouver]

Very nice and nice to see it being driven

[rockytopper]

Wow!!!

[ChevelleNV]

great find...

[19,69camaro]

Cool car! I like the 17" wheels a lot. I think they fit the look better than 18's would. Just drop the nose down and inch or two to even out the fender gaps and that thing will be perfect

[CamaroMike]

Lucky! That thing looks great!

[1965gp]

Yea the car definitely needs to come down some. The springs look to be original on the front but they sure sit high for as old as they are. Neither of my 70's sit that high but then again they might have sat lower originally or it could be an illusion of the 70 fender vs the 68 fender.

[snappytravis]

Pretty amazing how things clean up with a little elbow grease,, Good Job, Have fun!

[Jennie4226]

Amazing.

[68lovebuzz]

What a score! cleaned up beautifully. Drive it as often as you can.

[shortrack]

super cool story!

[Auto Rod Technologies]

WOW,, that is way to cool.. I'm restoring a LeMans in my shop now.. It was very similar in color and a convertible, It is a different year though..

[wizbang]

That is an amazing find! :cool:

If only I could be so lucky to come across something like that.:crying:

[Jennie4226]

I agree with you.

[epeterson]

That thing cleaned up amazing! Congratulations!

[dropit69]

very cool read..congrats on finding this..!!! looks awesome !!!

[Bonehead]

Epic!

[LeighP]

Beautiful car. Cleaned up great!

[snappytravis]

You know I love the pro-touring cars, But that baby is Sweeet! hard to beat a deal like that. Marvel Mystery oil and Elbow Grease! Looks good have fun!

[Gratefuldiver]

Sweet ride, thanks for saving it!!

[1965gp]

It's been fun so far. Bad weather in TX has kept it in the garage but should be a lot of fun come spring!

[TonyHuntimer]

WOW! Nice one! That's going to be fun this summer. :)

Tony Huntimer
TestCarDatabase

[Posi12Bolt]

doesnt even look like the same car! I love barn finds!

you got a helluva good one there!

[1965gp]

Just a heads up to anyone building a 68-69, you can not run 275's on the front of these without suspension mods like you can on the 70-72 cars. I successfully trashed a set of redline tires. My 235's just showed up so hoping to get them on this weekend.

[MrQuick]

what was hitting?

[1965gp]

Bottom of the fender at the front wheel well

[MrQuick]

I was gonna say take it in for an alignment and give it some more caster.

[pro67coupe]

Awesome car. Great find

[1965gp]

I put the 235's on and they seem to clear everything. Look fine in person- I was really worried about them being too small.