Pro-touring

[goat890]

Hello,
I have just(several monthes ago) purchased my first car ever. My parents have allowed me to since i just turned 16. It is a pontiac 1970 lemans. I am interested in the look of a "pro-touring" car and wpould like my car not to be a drag racing car but rather a "rally" car or at least be able to corner half decently. My question is...What exactly is pro-touring and am i in the right place to find out stuff for what i want?

[derekf]

Hi, goat890 (got a real name?). Welcome to the site. You are most definitely in the right place to find out stuff.

You'd probably want to start by reading this thread: https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11764

That should give you a vague idea as to what "pro-touring" does mean to folks.

After that, you really need to decide what YOUR plans for the car are. I would strongly suggest that you start by updating the brakes to some manner of disk brakes or rebuilding the stock disks, if your car is so equipped; and at least performing a stock rebuild on the suspension (new bushings, ball joints, and tie rod ends). Check your tires, make sure they're not bald or dry-rotted.

Safety is key, make sure your car is safe before doing much of anything with it (including driving it around) - if you're dead, you won't be able to do much with your car.

[Steve Chryssos]

Welcome to the club goat. You're very fortunate to have a muscle car as your first ride. Your Lemans is what was labeled by GM as an "A-Body" platform. A-bodies are perhaps the easiest cars to upgrade. There is a great selection of bolt on parts. The cars have lots of room for big tires on the outside and people on the inside.

I only have one caution: Asking "What is Pro-Touring" is dangerous around here. Our message board is full of grease-covered philosophers who LIVE to argue the point. :enguard: :box2:

To me, pro-touring is_________________________________
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[Lowend]

Goat - welcome aboard.
A very wise man once told me "upgrade your brakes before you upgrade your motor"

My suggestion is to look at the tall spindle swap for that car.
All you need suspension and brakes wise can be found at www.globalwest.net
Your car should take all the same suspension stuff as a 70 Chevelle

[BonzoHansen]

LeMans=Very Cool.

Please don't slap GTO/Judge/Etc. badges on it. Yours will be much cooler! JMO. And don't let any ricers in your high school give you crap. :)

Even if you don't go the 'full pt' route, you can learn many things here. Good luck!

Edit: I am not familiar enough with the car, but if a lot of Chevelle info is applicable to the LeMans, check out Team Chevelle http://www.chevelles.com/forums/index.php?

Do a lot of lurking/searching/reading.

[LTorres]

Goat - welcome aboard.
A very wise man once told me "upgrade your brakes before you upgrade your motor"

My suggestion is to look at the tall spindle swap for that car.
All you need suspension and brakes wise can be found at www.globalwest.net (http://www.globalwest.net)
Your car should take all the same suspension stuff as a 70 Chevelle

I second this motion on brakes first. Another wise man once told me that exploring all your options will leave you with a better end result. Try www.precisionbrakescompany.com

[Roger Poirier]

Welcome, from one Pontiac man to another. I bought my current GTO Pontiac when I was a 16 year old. I have had it for over 30 years.

R.P.

[Restomod]

Welcome and might I add........:postpics:

[DeepBlue68]

Welcome to the board! My biggest suggestion, as others have noted, is to sit down and plan out your build/restoration. Pick up some catalogs and books; you might spend $100 on them, which seems like a lot when you start out, but it will pay off in the long run because you'll have a much better idea of what all the parts you want to buy will cost and where you want to go with your build.

Then, you need to evaluate what work you can honestly perform yourself. If you don't have all the tools or skills necessary to do all the work (which isn't a bad thing...I would venture to say that most people aren't capable of doing every aspect of car building themselves), you need to figure out how much it's gonna cost to have the work performed by someone else. Shop around and get estimates from different places, and try to find someone that has used some of the shops in your area to find out where to go and not go for work.

After that, I would plan out a schedule of the work you want to do. Figure out what needs to be done when, what things can be done in parallel, and how much each phase of the build is going to cost. If possible, you'd like to plan it out so that you're not spending thousands of dollars for couple months, and only a few hundred for the next few. Sometimes that can't be avoided if you're doing big projects (like new engine, lots of body work, etc.), but it's nice to have a steadier expense schedule.

Some books I would recommend checking out:

1. How to Build Pro-Touring GM Machines by Tony Huntimer. If you want a good look at some of the commom types of Pro-Touring mods, this is a great place to start. Easy to read, lots of pictures.

2. Camaro Restoration Guide: 1967-1969 by Jason Scott (I think). Since you don't have a Camaro, I don't know that I'd recommend buying this one, but if you can find it in the bookstore, you should read the first section on "Planning Your Restoration." For me, this section really kinda put everything in perspective as far as what to expect from building a car. You can read the first 5 or 6 pages of the section on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0760301603/002-6025156-4952848?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance

3. Year One A-body Catalog

I'm not sure about other books that are specifically for A-bodies since I don't own one, but I'm sure if you look around on Amazon.com, or search around on here, you can find some. Good luck with your build, and most importantly, have fun and be safe!

[Roadrage David]

Hi there goat.a Lemans is a very good platform to build your pro touring/g-mashine car . and dispite what others say i dear to say that the origen of pro-touring is actualy a modernization and continuation of the transam raceing series pony car wars of the past . its copying european sports car handling under the ageing USA pony and muscle cars!!!! an overdue MUST to seriusly compeat and take these cars into this century . pontiac back then alredy named there cars afther european cars and race tracks like the GTO named afther the ferarri the Lemans named afther the toughfest race in europe!!!! same gose for the Transam. named afther the transam raceing series . pontiac had to pay a sirten amound of money on every car produced under the transam name . known for its handling capabiletys .(yes i am a poncho freak but for a good rezen lololol) over time the pro touring seen whent in diferend directions and all sorts of cars where openly acsepted . fromt trucks to 50,s cars . p[ersonally i belive they belong more to the Hod Rod seen .but thats just me . anyway you have a more then good type of car to build a pro-touring g-mashine car .there is lots of ecsperions here on this board to pick from . manny idea,s and cars here that are built second to none . some of them are way above mainstream and a guide line to base your car on ........

[ACEFOOTER]

You have found a great site to get help, information, links to even more information, and opinions (many many opinions) on how to build a solid, safe, great handleing fast car. Get your self a 2" 3 ring binder you can add to, and make your self a folder on your computer you can save information, pictures, links and whatever else you stumble across on the web. Section each out with groups like brakes-suspension-engine-body-drivetrain-fuel-safety-ect and save whatever you think is cool-relevent to your project. DON'T GET DISCOURAGED WITH HOW MUCH STUFF COSTS! There are always alternatives. Dont be afraid to ask questions, we all had to start some place, and we all still have a lot to learn. The first question people will ask you about your car is "How fast is it?" or "How much horse power does it have?" In real life driving though, most of us with some miles under or belts have found out what's most important is "How fast it stopped when Grandma pulled out in front of us." ie Brakes and suspension before engine up grades. Also look into replacing old origional seat belts with good quality belts for every one who rides in the car! Most importantly, Have Fun with the "Process" of building your project! Good Luck!

[Bill Howell]

You need not look any further than my signature to understand the meaning of life as we know it around here! :)
Welcome aboard, I kinda like them Pontiacs too!