Another Friggin' Newb! (with a 67 Le Mans)

[5hundo]

Hey people!

I just wanted to jump in and say "Hey". I've had this car for a few months now. It was traded to me as part of a Real estate deal that I made. It's a 67 Le Mans coupe with a 455. Here are a few pics of the body, which is fairly straight and rust free, with the exception of a little surface stuff:









Now, for some engine pics. As I said it's a 455 but the bad news is that it's a 455 Olds. The engine was just balanced and blueprinted a couple years ago and the car has had very few miles since it was installed, as it overheats and leaks tranny fluid. I haven't really had a good opportunity to spend a weekend on the car, which I think would really help. I did buy an electric fan and some other odds and ends, though and I might throw them in this weekend. I'll let you know if I make any progress. In the meantime, here are those pics:





Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm really trying to figure out what to do with this thing. I could turn it into a GTO clone, I could take all the markings off of it and keep people guessing, I could make it a really nice looking Le Mans, etc. Some fresh ideas would be fantastic.

Thanks for looking!

[67goatman455]

haha, have you still not done anything with it yet? i am on gtoforum.com, i have the same user name. everyone on here is very knowledgeable and dont be afraid to ask questions.

[5hundo]

haha, have you still not done anything with it yet? i am on gtoforum.com, i have the same user name. everyone on here is very knowledgeable and dont be afraid to ask questions.

No, I haven't done anything with it yet. :(

(Depressing, I know...)

I'm really kind of stumped right now. I really don't know what direction I want to go. I have no problem making it a GTO but anyone who looks at the VIN is going to know in 2 seconds that it's not a GTO. So, I could leave it a Le Mans but I can't stand those tacky plastic tail lights that the Le Mans has.

I'm hoping maybe someone can give me a shove in the right direction. Maybe by spending some time over here, I'll gain some inspiration...

[67goatman455]

inspiration? easy, go to the multimedia section, there is a thread i started called 'can someone make my dream', you might find that helpful. IMO, do what you think is cool, dont worry about everyone elses opinion on how it looks. also since that isn't a pontiac engine i wouldn't be too worried about if it is a real gto or not.

[jackfrost]

put what you like on it. forget what other people might think.

btw, why is the 455 Olds bad? if it was competently built, it'll be a brute for ya.

[5hundo]

btw, why is the 455 Olds bad? if it was competently built, it'll be a brute for ya.

There is nothing "bad" about the 455 Olds, necessarily. It's just not a Pontiac engine. I think it would be nice (since it's not an 'all original' car) to keep it at least all Pontiac.The build up and B&B was done by a really reputable shop. My brother had it done and gave me the paperwork afterwards, so I know for a fact that it was done right.

The Olds 455 is very obvious to spot because it has that "elephant trunk" water pump on the front of the engine. It just seems out of place when you look under the hood, that's all...

I think if I found a Pontiac 455 and started building it up, I could check the classifieds from time to time and find a 68 Cutlass (or something the like) and throw the Olds motor in that when I'm done building up the Pontiac 455. Besides, it might take me a few months to find a set of 4 bolt journals for the 455 Pontiac. I've heard those are getting pretty rare these days...

[ProdigyCustoms]

Looks like a killer body. Welcome aboard

[5hundo]

Looks like a killer body. Welcome aboard

It's been repaired in a few spots and has some surface rust here and there but it's not too bad.

The driver's side quarter panel has some bad spots but they're manageable...

[JT_67Tempest]

Welcome to the site!!! I just joined a little while ago, great to see another 67 here. I have a 67 Tempest. I did change out the front end to a GTO front end although I have no plans to make it a GTO clone. I only changed the front end because I like the look of the scooped hood and mesh grille. I upgraded from the stock 326 to a 455 as well.

Welcome and have a great time here!

Johnny

[PT Goat]

Welcome - glad to have another Pontiac around. They've been popping up like weeds lately.

[shizzy]

looks like a great project. I personally wouldnt do the GTO deal. keep it lemans.

BTW, the 455 has the later "J" heads. they are known as the smogger heads, but its still a good engine. Im sure lots of your cooling issues are due to the lack of fan shroud

[JT_67Tempest]

I was having a bunch of overheating issues when I switched from the 326 to the 455. First I found that the heads weren't surfaced properly and that was causing a leak. After that my timing was way off and had to advance it some. Then finally the water pump pulley was a non-AC 8" pulley, switch to a AC water pump pulley 6.5" and that helped to circulate the water better. Now my car is behaving much better temp-wise.

Johnny

[motorheadmike]

Okay this is really simple:

Build what you want. If you want a GTO clone; build it. If you want a Lemans with GTO tails; shove them in there. **** the purists. It is your car, hotrod the piss out of it until you are satisfied. Just keep it within good taste.

Pull the Olds motor and sell it. Chevys in Fords is one thing, what you have is just weird. I may be a good running engine, but is it a workable platform on a budget? Probably not.

Get a 5.3 or 6.0L LSx motor and get a basic carb package on it. Or do a cheapy FI system on it and run an eBay turbo. Contemporary and affordable.

And don't forget wheels and suspension... :D

[5hundo]

I was having a bunch of overheating issues when I switched from the 326 to the 455. First I found that the heads weren't surfaced properly and that was causing a leak. After that my timing was way off and had to advance it some. Then finally the water pump pulley was a non-AC 8" pulley, switch to a AC water pump pulley 6.5" and that helped to circulate the water better. Now my car is behaving much better temp-wise.

Johnny

I'll measure the water pump pulley. I'm not even sure what one I've got on there. If it's the 8", I'll switch it out.

Thanks for your input, everyone. I'm still not sure what I want to do with it but I'll keep y'all posted...

[JT_67Tempest]

I'll measure the water pump pulley. I'm not even sure what one I've got on there. If it's the 8", I'll switch it out.

Thanks for your input, everyone. I'm still not sure what I want to do with it but I'll keep y'all posted...

From the looks of it, it looks like you've got the smaller pulley. Also your lower pulley looks smaller than mine. My original pulleys both water and crank were both around 8".

Johnny