1970 Pontiac Grand Prix, too HEAVY?

[MonzaRacer]

Basically same size as 70-72 Monte, and barely carries at best 300-500lbs more than Chevelle. BUILD ITT

[andrewb70]

Love those years Grand Prix!!!

If you don't want to build it, sell it to me, I will!

Andrew

[TanMan]

What’s up guys, it’s been a long while since I posted b/c I have been moving to a new house and renovating the old one. That, on top of a tornado in our city and the impact of Coronavirus.... well needless to say my project got put on major hold for months. But before all of that madness I was able to get a ton of work done.

Never fear though- this 1970 beauty has been getting the best 50 year birthday gift she could ever receive. Within the limits of my budget, of course.

After much research and reading these forums (thanks a whole lot to all of you), I committed to the following as phase 1:

-RideTech suspension front and rear; coilovers, a-arms, sway bars, control arms, drop spindles, etc.

-Baer Track4 brake system: 13” rotors on the front, SS4/12” rotors on the rear, Wilwood 15/16” master cylinder (manual brakes)

-Turn One 12:1 steering box, ridetech linkages, which I believe are possibly Moog

-Year One 17” x 9” aluminum wheels (Pontiac Rallye II style, of course) with Falken Azenis RT615K 275/40r17 all around

-Ford 9”, 3.50 gears with an Eaton Truetrac, 31 spline axles, all from Quick Performance and built to hold too much HP

-“Frame ON” restoration (here’s where it gets painful), I took the frame and engine compartment down to the metal, primed, painted, just trying to preserve not win awards, restored gas tank, new sending unit

So, what was left to do when winter hit and the project entered its extended/current pause:

-install master cylinder, fabricate/install all brake lines: 3/16” NiCopp
-fabricate/install fuel lines: 1/2” NiCopp
-adjust suspension: ride height, shock valving, steering alignment

This has been such an enjoyable project, just wish I knew when I could get back to it.

I don’t have great pictures but here are few:

[JustJohn]

What side mirrors are you using?

[TanMan]

My dad and I installed those mirrors about 25 years ago. If memory serves me correct, I believe they are actually ‘72 GP mirrors. This is the only thing that we departed from ‘70 on, besides all of my current upgrades. Good eye!

[OLDFLM]

Car looks great! Nice updates!! Need some full sized pics of the whole car...

[Zspoiler]

Remember that Monte Carlos as well as ran in NASCAR

[jimco84x]

Did you do all that in a single bay garage? with other storage stuff in your way too? Wow!! Looks good from here. Hope you survived the tornado without damage. Ya'll have had a few up there lately.

[andrewb70]

What size tires did you end up running?

[Tsaints1115]

Love it.

[Alwhite00]

Looks great, love the wheels, look stock but not. Keep it up man.

[68Formula]

So cool to see the updates. Awesome that you could stuff that much rubber under the front.

[TanMan]

Did you do all that in a single bay garage? with other storage stuff in your way too? Wow!! Looks good from here. Hope you survived the tornado without damage. Ya'll have had a few up there lately.

It’s a two car garage, packed with more family storage items than I care to admit. This has been a huge challenge, but hell, if it was easy it wouldn’t be worth doing.

Thankfully the tornado did not cause damage at our house, but a little too close for comfort. That, Coronavirus, and moving to a new house has all put the GP on hold. I cannot wait to tie up the last few loose ends and get this thing on the road again!

[TanMan]

What size tires did you end up running?

Andrew, I was able to squeeze Falken Azenis RT615K 275/40r17’s all around so we’ll see how the square setup works out. If nothing else, I’ll be able to rotate the tires!

And I went with Year One 17” x 9” aluminum wheels (Pontiac Rallye II). Closest I could come to stock appearance.

[BrownGeoff]

Wow! It looks incredible!

[STREETFIGHTER50]

Awesome progress! You’ve been a busy man! Let’s see them full body pics

[1965gp]

Car looks great! I have 275’s all the way around on my 70 GTO as well and the fit great.

I really like that you are keeping the feel of the Grand Prix (sporty luxury). I have a 65 Grand Prix I swapped a built 455 in that’s a blast to drive.

[trevdogg67]

Looks great keep it up!