'66 Pontiac Resto-Mod Update

[Nicks67GTO]

Looks great man!

[wmhjr]

A few more pics at the show...

[gearheads78]

I looks increadible.You should be so proud of the work you have done.

[4sfed]

WOW!!! What a thread.... and what a CAR!!!

.... Great job!

[Smock67]

Wow the GTO looks absolutely stunning. All of your hard work, dedication and need for it to be exceptional really paid off. Kudos to you sir.

[wmhjr]

Thanks guys! Getting ready to leave for the convention center. Last day today. Last night was the class awards ceremony. So far, got Best in Class. Judges were back after that all over the car - seems like it's in the running for a specialty award tonight, but I'd doubt that it'll really get one. Too many "real" show cars. "Shades of Love" (http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/ga...vehicles/23960)
is here as an example. Absolutely stunning car. There are plenty more like it here, but when you're competing with a car selected to the "Great 8" for the Ridler....

Of course, I'll actually be "driving" my car... I've had plenty of people ask me if I'll ever drive the car. I take them around to the engine bay and point to the line lock - tell them it's not for looks. They walk away shaking their head Anyway, it's been fun. Everybody seems to love the car - we've gotten tons and tons of interest, and the show chairman keeps coming over. I plan to bring it home tonight, then take a week or 2 vacation from working on it. Then back to finishing it up.

[gearheads78]

congrats on the class win!! Thats awsome!!

That 56 Chevy is nice but the whole fade thing kills it for me

[wmhjr]

Ended up picking up a Best Paint - Street Car (car that actually gets driven) award last night. All in all, a fun and satisfying show - but it certainly taught me that I'd never get into the whole "Indoor Show" scene. I'd had enough yesterday.

The car was also selected as the "Photography Contest" car at the show. I had tons of photographers taking tons of pics of the car as part of some photography contest. A bunch made sure to get my contact info to send me some results. Pretty cool.

Here are a few more pics from just before the show ended (the crowd was pretty much gone) - including a couple from a unique perspective....

[wmhjr]

congrats on the class win!! Thats awsome!!

That 56 Chevy is nice but the whole fade thing kills it for me

Thanks! The Chevy in person is actually beautiful. The guy who built it is a really good guy and has cars he drives as well. But, that chevy is incredible. The attention to detail even on the injector bodies is amazing.

[progoat]

Great pics the one top veiw with the car quartering away is my fav. and congrats on the awards.My buddy always hated some shows when he had his bagged truck, some shows he would pull all kinds of awards and others he wouldn't even get noticed it seemed.

[67rstbkt]

Congrats, that turned out awesome... Nice work.

[Shaker455]

Gongrats!

Killer GTO!

Now lets make it go better than it looks!

[wmhjr]

Aw, Geez Jeff! You just had to go there.....

Seriously, I'm taking a break from messing with it this week. My tank is dry as far as focusing on it for a few days. I'm going to spend Sat and Sun AM getting my shop organized again. Then it comes back in the shop and next week I'll be back at it. I have some wiring to finish up, and work on bleeding the brakes and the hydraulic clutch. Then I'm going to start messing with the stuff we talked about - the regulator, etc.

Hey, I just peeked at the dates for Norwalk this year..... I'm expecting you'll be there?

BTW - I've got some really funny stories from the show. You sure see all kinds. On fri AM they let a bunch of tech school kids in early. Most of them seemed to be really into tuners - which I have nothing against. Anyway, one of them walks away from a '68 Camaro with a crate 502 in it, glances at my car and says something like "Gee, too bad you don't have that guys engine in your car!" I point to my data display and show the part where it lists torque and HP (significantly higher than on the 502). He says, "yeah, but that's just a guess - a 462 will never make as much power as a 502". I simply point to the part where it says "Dyno conducted at xxx on xxx...." and tell him, "Son, it's a good thing you're in tech school because your reading just ain't quite there...."

Kids.

[Motown 454]

Congratulation's on the awards. The car looks great. You did a great job on it

[Shaker455]

Aw, Geez Jeff! You just had to go there.....

Seriously, I'm taking a break from messing with it this week. My tank is dry as far as focusing on it for a few days. I'm going to spend Sat and Sun AM getting my shop organized again. Then it comes back in the shop and next week I'll be back at it. I have some wiring to finish up, and work on bleeding the brakes and the hydraulic clutch. Then I'm going to start messing with the stuff we talked about - the regulator, etc.

Hey, I just peeked at the dates for Norwalk this year..... I'm expecting you'll be there?

BTW - I've got some really funny stories from the show. You sure see all kinds. On fri AM they let a bunch of tech school kids in early. Most of them seemed to be really into tuners - which I have nothing against. Anyway, one of them walks away from a '68 Camaro with a crate 502 in it, glances at my car and says something like "Gee, too bad you don't have that guys engine in your car!" I point to my data display and show the part where it lists torque and HP (significantly higher than on the 502). He says, "yeah, but that's just a guess - a 462 will never make as much power as a 502". I simply point to the part where it says "Dyno conducted at xxx on xxx...." and tell him, "Son, it's a good thing you're in tech school because your reading just ain't quite there...."

Kids.

I'm only kidding Bill and you need a break as you really busted to get her in the show....I know your really not a trailer tot!...LOL.

Yeah, kids can be silly but that's okay....get'em at the track!

Don't know about Norwak for me this year...was there a few years back.

If I do go I'm gonna blast out on my Harley.

You going?

[T_Raven]

When I first started watching this thread I didn't think I'd like the color choices much, but now that it's all together I think it looks great!

[wmhjr]

Just played around with Photoshop last night for a little bit and did this. Kind of an interesting perspective... BTW, my son and I unloaded the beast out of the trailer yesterday evening and it's back in my shop. I have relatively low ceilings in my shop so I can't put a full lift in, so I plan to install a set of MaxJax this weekend. Then it's back to work.

[Jim Nilsen]

Congrats on getting an award the 1st time out, that's an achievement most would think they could never get with an unfinished car. It proves you have really done all of the hard work it takes to have a truly great car for eye appeal.

I am hoping to do a couple of shows to just get opinions and if I do anywhere close to an award I will be surprised. Best engineered car is what I am looking for and if I get a peoples choice I would be ecstatitc.

You have the biggest headaches that can appear ahead of you to work out and I hope they all go better for you than they did for me. The mechanicals I thought would be easier than all of the pretty stuff ,because detailing for the look is the first thing people see and the mechanicals are something most of us who have fixed cars all of our life think will just go so easily. Doing new things and using new parts proved me wrong, I hope the last of it works better for you.

I can hear the voices saying : Oh My God ,he is chipping the paint and ruining that car, the first time it hits the autocross.

Take the break and really get your focus on the details that make it dependable. Having to rip backwards into a nicely detailed car was disheartening to me, maybe it won't be that way for you and you definately have spent more money I think than I did to ensure that.

I hope all goes smoothly and we can cross paths this year and share without the barrier of the keyboard. Meeting in real life adds so much more.

Goodluck and happy wrenching

[wmhjr]

Jim,

Thanks for the comments! I "think" I've got the mechanicals pretty well sorted out. The engine has been test run and dynoed prior to installation here - including ignition, etc. Mostly everything mechanical is new. Not including just having the convertible top put back on (the frame is all in place, aligned and operational) I think I've got the following to complete:

Complete the wiring. This is 98% done. All new. Just need to finish a few grounds, install the battery, and test. Everything is well documented.

Bleed the brakes. All lines and components are new and already installed.

Bleed and adjust the hydraulic clutch. Again, everything new and installed already.

Front end alignment and set pinion angle.

Check for leaks, break in the rear end.

Reconfigure the fuel delivery (regulator, etc). I'm going to do everything else first and make sure that it's all correct - and then when I've got a known good working combination I'll mess with it.

That's about it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't be terrible.

[rockytopper]

Forget all that. Roll that baby in the sunlight and share the pic's. Some of us who want to steal your paint job for our cars are dying to see it in the day light.

Very nice ride you have created. Congrats.

No worries when I priced that paint at the local paint store and the guy behind the counter gave me the quote I said nevermind Lets go with that first color I gave you.....