Grateful GTO

[Gratefuldiver]

My car is pretty much done build wise but Im tweaking a few things this winter. A little back ground on "Blue", I bought her when I was 16 and drove it everyday in MO weather till I was 21. At that point the car was parked for about 6-7 years in storage until I could get the cash to get it up and going again.

It started with just getting it running and driving in primer. I bought a used 400 and installed it with the frame off.

1/4 panels and a full trunk replacement followed few years later

Finally about 5 years ago I got her in a full coat of Spies Hecker sapphire blue. The Engine was stroked to 461 and the 6X heads where milled to up the compression.




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[Gratefuldiver]

[Gratefuldiver]

3 years ago I decided update the suspension and installed a SC&C package which demanded new wheels to replace the 15' convo pros. We all know you cant have ugly stock rotors and drums showing through 17" wheels so I upgraded to Bear track 4 system up front followed by caddy rear disc set up for the rear. Those calipers sucked so they where quickly replaced with Wilwood D154 calipers that bolted right up to the existing brackets. That pretty much brings me to where I am today almost 26 years later.

[Gratefuldiver]

So one of the things Ive done recently was had a little flare to my wheels my drilling and tapping all the holes in the outside and installed button head bolts painted body color. Its not much but its something to set them apart from off the shelf wheels. Im working on having center caps made now

[Gratefuldiver]

This weekend I plan to pull the engine. Have a few dents in the oil pan from the car slipping off the jack that I want to remove and the seals in the heads are going to be replaced. Other then that only a few cosmetic things under the hood like new black AN fittings and repaint the engine are going to be done.

I also have a new set of Falkins to install and suspension wise I want to continue to fine tune my set up for improvements between the cones. Maybe a set of double adjustable Vari's but otherwise not much will change.

[SSLance]

Very nice car. Glad to see you finally post some good pics of her history and how she sits now. Hopefully I'll make it to St Louis sometime this summer for an event and get to check it out in person.

[instro84]

nice touch one the wheels

[rohrt]

Nice looking car.

[1965gp]

I really like the blue with the white top

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hello from STL!
Great looking Pontiac man, I love it!

[Gratefuldiver]

Been busy in the shop. Pulled the engine and trans to have a look inside and freshen up some paint. More of a paint freshen up at first but as always it ended up being a small can of worm. First thing I found was the worn valve spring shims (some all the way through in parts), not sure if the spring dampeners where cutting in to them or they weren't hardened shims. I replaced all of the shims with hardened ones, installed new valve stem seals, and took the edge off the dampeners while I had it apart. While I had the heads off I wanted to check TDC to the balancer. That's when I found I could spin the outside of my balancer(with less then 5000 miles on it) round and round like I was on wheel of fortune LOL (Performance Products Sucks BTW) I decided to buck up and buy an ATI at that point to avoid any future problems. Everything else looks pretty solid with the engine. Got a killer deal on a Canton windage tray to match my pan and now the engine is pretty much all buttoned back up and ready for paint. I was pretty sure I had some tranny issues with the TH400 so I dropped that off at the shop and had them take a look. Sure enough I had a few toasted bands but he was able to fix me up pretty quick on that. While the engine and trans were out I freshened up the engine bay and replaced my heater blower motor. I decided that running with out defrost and heat wasn't cool anymore LOL.

Other new stuff, replacing the flat Hooker SC with a new set of Dougs headers. Changed out AN fittings to all black vs red & blue. Got a new set of Falkins (already mentioned) and decided to pull the trigger of a set of double adjustable Vari's vs the singles. Looking forward to getting everything done and installed. Gave myself a deadline of March 15. That gives me a couple weeks before the first T&T. Pics to come

[Gratefuldiver]

Worn shim, new seals, and balancer

[Nicks67GTO]

Sweet! Loving the Pontiac 461. Got anymore specs on the engine?