1967 GTO project thread

[lucky13firebird]

Looks darn good. And yes i have cracked the hubs from cpp... i drove my car last weekend too... ;-) all the way to nebraska via upstate new york lol... what wheels are those, they look amazing.

[Nicks67GTO]

Looks darn good. And yes i have cracked the hubs from cpp... i drove my car last weekend too... ;-) all the way to nebraska via upstate new york lol... what wheels are those, they look amazing.

Thanks! They are Billet Specialty Mag G's with some Ebay flat caps and open lugs.

[Nicks67GTO]

Got my Speedhut gauges in the mail so I thought I would hook them up fast and see how they look. It took a while to get them but they are very nice quality. Iv'e seen a couple guys fit these behind stock 66-67 GTO dashes without making any cuts and it looks really sharp. Almost factory install clean. I did a Volt/Fuel gauge, 140mph GPS speedometer, 8K tach with programmable shift lights, and a oil/water gauge.

The layout is kind of similar to that of the stock rally gauges and they come with a dimmer switch that can be mounted anywhere. In the pics the color is turned all the way up. Honestly the nighttime colors are much more bold in the pics than they look in person. I'm not sure if its a glare thing or my phone camera or what but they are much easier on the eyes in person.

Here they are....

[andrewb70]

Those look very nice Nick. I may have to update the gauges in my GTO. The AutoMeter Ultra-lites were cool 13 years ago, but are getting to be a little dated.

Andrew

[Gil]

x2 very nice
Gil

[steveracer33]

Great build.. and the best part is that your actually driving the car I have a 1965 lemans that i plan on doing the same thing ..update it and drive it.. keep up the good work!

[Radlark]

Awesome Build!!!!!!!

[Interceptor5588]

Great work nick, your car looks just right.

Those look very nice Nick. I may have to update the gauges in my GTO. The AutoMeter Ultra-lites were cool 13 years ago, but are getting to be a little dated.

Andrew

Auto meters will never be dated. The new stuff might, though, like the electro dashes of the 90's.

[Nicks67GTO]

Today I got the Speedhut gauges mounted to the dash. I'm really happy with how it came out. I used...

-Template from Bob {Old66tiger}
-1/4" ABS plastic from Ebay
-3-7/8" holesaw from ebay
-7/32 drillbit, drilled at 15* for proper mounting
-1" #6 screws and washers to mount the panel

I think it turned out great! Once I got everything set where I wanted it, I trimmed a lot of the excess plastic off around the edges. No sense in having that in the way. I also had to modify the metal bracket that holds the ignition switch and lighter but that was no big deal.

Next up is spraying the metal bezel and plastic dash! I'm going to use a Krylon satin black and Spaz Stix chrome paint and see how it comes out.

Here's some pics...

[captainofiron]

Today I got the Speedhut gauges mounted to the dash. I'm really happy with how it came out. I used...

-Template from Bob {Old66tiger}
-1/4" ABS plastic from Ebay
-3-7/8" holesaw from ebay
-7/32 drillbit, drilled at 15* for proper mounting
-1" #6 screws and washers to mount the panel

I think it turned out great! Once I got everything set where I wanted it, I trimmed a lot of the excess plastic off around the edges. No sense in having that in the way. I also had to modify the metal bracket that holds the ignition switch and lighter but that was no big deal.

Next up is spraying the metal bezel and plastic dash! I'm going to use a Krylon satin black and Spaz Stix chrome paint and see how it comes out.

Here's some pics...

Looks great, just a thought though from my hobby experience (scale models) you might want to use a really glossy black before the spaz stix chrome

[Nicks67GTO]

Looks great, just a thought though from my hobby experience (scale models) you might want to use a really glossy black before the spaz stix chrome

Really? What will that do for the spaz stix??

[rohrt]

That looks pretty cool!

[captainofiron]

Really? What will that do for the spaz stix??

it will make it more chrome like, the flat stuff will make it look powdery and not smooth

basically like not sanding the primer before you shoot color

Spaz Stix actually sells a base coat for the chrome, but its just gloss black paint

[Nicks67GTO]

Well a bit of an update....

Not too much has gone on but i'm really sick and bored out of my mind.... so here goes. Its February, the actual temp was -24 this morning and I don't have a heated garage so nothing is getting done. I do however have some time off in March where i'm going to get a bunch of stuff done.

I tried my best to make the stock dash, I talked about above, work with a cleaning and painting. It looked horrible. That was a complete failure. I'm not sure if I just couldn't get all the contamination/old armorall off the dash but it just looked horrible. So for now all of this is going to go behind my current dash that's in the car. Its not in bad shape but it needs redone. Ames sells a re-pop dash that's supposed to be really nice but they are off like a 1/16" and they don't have the nice stain-able wooden insert that fits the AC cars yet. They said this summer it should be available. I'm not going to hold my breath so ill just live with the 48 year old stocker for now.

I am starting to get some parts in the mail though and I also got a text today from Jim @ GMtilt.com {BirdsandBowties on here} and hes starting on my rebuilt tilt conversion steering column so that's cool. I'm looking forward to getting that.

Then this showed up in the mail a few hours ago!!.....Gen IV Vintage Air

[Nicks67GTO]

I got a little work done today. Its really nice out and spring is here.

So to recap, i'm installing Speedhut gauges behind the stock dash, a Vintage Air Gen IV system, a tilt column from Jim @ GMtilt.com and i'm dynamatting the under dash area. Im going to get to cracking on the vintage Air install Monday....

Iv'e found that dynamatting the underdash area is a MF'er. It just takes a while. I bought Dynamat extreme off Amazon. I'm still waiting for my tape to get here to finish the seams but the dynamat itself goes on really easy and I can already tell by thumping on the firewall and dash that this stuff kills vibration and noise. There is no more hollow sound. Its a dead thud anywhere I tap....





I sent my beat up 67' stock non tilt steering column off to BirdsandBowties here. His name is Jim. He owns GMtilt.com He specializes in converting stock columns to tilt. When he does them he installs new guts, wiring, switches etc, paints the column, converts it to tilt, leaves the collapseable internals, rebuilds everything and the finished product is top shelf. Its supposed to ship out Monday. These are a few of the shots he sent me the other day....







I also got a peek of what the dash will look like with my new gauges. Im really excited. I think this turned out great.

I'm waiting for PY and Ames to get an actual stainable wooden insert for the repop dashes since they are apparently off just a hair. According to PY a few weeks ago, right before the merger this will be this summer. Then I will be buying all that stuff and doing a new dash and insert and making it all purdy. Until then the good old beat up stocker will have to do.

[analyte]

The dash and column look great. Will you be able to install the VA without pulling the dash completely?

[Nicks67GTO]

The dash and column look great. Will you be able to install the VA without pulling the dash completely?

The only thing left in the car, as far as the dash goes, is the steel structure that's welded in. I wont be pulling that but I would like to get the VA in first just for ease of install. In the VA instructions it doesn't say you have to pull the dash though, so i'm pretty sure it can be done without issue. The VA unit actually bolts up to a plate they give you that attaches to the firewall and blocks off where the heater core used to be.

[analyte]

That is great, I'm subscribed to follow your progress.

Kerry

[1965gp]

Just read entire build thread and I love this car. Very well done!

[teamwoody72]

great job on the build. Im at the point where I need to select wheels and tires and im stuck. I found the wheels I want but need help on the tire size to eliminate any rubbing issues. I am going with 18x8 4.5 b.s front and 18x9 5.25 b.s.rear. What is your recommendation on tire size. I was thinking 275/45 rear and 245/45 front. attached are pics of my project which is nowhere near as nice as yours. also I will be using black pmd center caps. any help is greatly appreciated