69 GTO Build

[ekmxryda]

does it do burnouts yet

No real burnouts yet, I spun the tires a little when I first fired it up and was testing the clutch. Will have to hire the Top Gear film crew for the first real burnout!
Need to break in the engine and get it tuned, I might need to find someone local to help me check it out and make sure the base tune is good enough to put some miles on it.
My plan was to bring it down to Slowhawk Performance to have them tune it on the dyno. Hopefully soon, before I forget how to do a burnout!


Was able to finish installing the door glass, the Ebay glass from India will do for now.
Maybe someday I will get lucky and find nice original green tint glass.

[ekmxryda]

Hood quickly installed over the weekend. I am so used to working alone it felt strange to have the extra help.
Once the car is back on the ground I can finish aligning the front clip.

[andrewb70]

Who made the billet hinges?

[Way2qwk4u]

Yes inquiring minds want to know who made those. They look nice.

[Charlie_in_OC]

I'm also curious about the hood hinges, Thanks!
It looks like they plenty of adjustment for hood alignment

[ekmxryda]

Hey guys,

Hinges are from Ring Brothers, they are made really well, no slop in the movement with the bearings at every pivot point.
I will let you know how it goes adjusting them down far enough.
Hinge is hitting the lip of the fender right at the bolt for inner fender, and need to drop it another 1/4" or more (see pencil)
Got an email in to them to see if I am missing something.

[Motown 454]

The car looks great! Your doing a great job. Sweet hood hinges.

[ekmxryda]

Thanks Wayne, still making progress.

Went in to work this morning and came home to a surprise on the front steps!
Luckily the porch pirates missed grabbing these, that would have been sad.




Nice to see that Forgeline has figured out a good way to protect them in transit. Nothing worse than unboxing something and to see damage on your shiny new parts.



Super happy with how they look, was second guessing my color choices before and after I placed the order.



Hope to get the tires mounted soon!

https://forgeline.com/wheel/ga3r

[joeko23]

Eric, I don’t have the ring brothers hinges, but mine also touch in that spot on my 69 Camaro. I put button head bolt and grinder the hinges in that spot a little bit to get them to come down a little more.

[ekmxryda]

Hi Joe,

Thanks, I will try to use an elevator bolt under the hinge and try grinding a flat spot on the bottom of the hinge where it is contacting.
Nice work on the Camaro, I will be following your progress.

[ekmxryda]

Brought the wheels and tires into buddies shop the other day.
They fit the car great, happy with the offset and I am hoping once I fully adjust the fenders and square things up I wont need to bend in the front bottom corner that barely touches when turning right to left.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!








This lighting makes it look like the tire is on the lip of the rear quarter but I have 1/2" of clearance.

[andrewb70]

I wish you would have done a polished lip. It would give it some much needed contrast. But that's just my opinion. Merry Christmas!

Andrew

[csouth]

Very nice progress!!! What size wheels did you go with? I also had problems with the RB hinges for my Cutlass. The design is different of course, but my hood that fit flush prior to install also sits like yours. RB said they would try to help me get it fitted.

[ekmxryda]

Hi Andrew,
Still going for that SR71 blacked out look. Wanted to keep using different levels of gloss for the different blacks on the car.
I think when it is out in the sun the gloss black on the wheel lip will make for some nice contrast.
Had thoughts of trying a red pinstripe but not sure if I like it after doing a quick Photoshop test.



Thanks Chris,
I went with the same staggered setup as the C6 Grand Sport Vettes
275/35-18 and 345/30-19

Will let you know how the hing fitment works out.

[csouth]

Thanks Chris,
I went with the same staggered setup as the C6 Grand Sport Vettes
275/35-18 and 345/30-19

Will let you know how the hing fitment works out.

Cool! I'm going to reach out to them again this week because I think I know what my issue is...
I went with 275/35/19 and 305/30/20..... I see you're on a chassis so your rears are wider

[1972gto]

Real nice work,
I’ve got a 72 GTO that also has RB hinges. Im also facing the exact same problem. Contacted them a while ago but it wasn't much help. I forgot about them cause the car went into paint and finished all mechanical stuff. Please do let me know if you figure out how to get the hinges to work.
Thanks.

[ekmxryda]

Real nice work,
I’ve got a 72 GTO that also has RB hinges. Im also facing the exact same problem. Contacted them a while ago but it wasn't much help. I forgot about them cause the car went into paint and finished all mechanical stuff. Please do let me know if you figure out how to get the hinges to work.
Thanks.

Thank you,
Yeah they told me to try and push down on the rear of the hinge more! I would have expected a better answer, its sad the R+D department at Ring Brothers missed this issue.
I think they will have to be modified, it doesn't seem right cutting into such a good looking part but I cant see another way.
Will chop off the aluminum for the front gas spring mount and try to make a less bulky 11 Gage sheet metal bracket to take its place that I can bolt onto the bottom side of the hinge.
Once it is all together and mounted on the fender I don't think it will be noticeable.
Hey if it works I will make a bunch and get rich selling them to you guys!

[ekmxryda]

Cool! I'm going to reach out to them again this week because I think I know what my issue is...
I went with 275/35/19 and 305/30/20..... I see you're on a chassis so your rears are wider

Hey Chris,

One of my 69 GTO friends is running a 295/35-18 in the rear.
I would try to find a used tire cheap and do a test fitment.
Also check out page 15, post 287 a while back Mike posted up some good shots of his 19 and 20 inch wheels, I forget what size tire he runs.
Maybe he has it on his Youtube page?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq3boPseJyg

[1972gto]

Yeah i see no other way also. could yoy please post pics of the modified hinges once you work on them. I’ll be doing the same modifications you’re gonna do.
Thanks for the help.

[ekmxryda]

Yeah i see no other way also. could yoy please post pics of the modified hinges once you work on them. I’ll be doing the same modifications you’re gonna do.
Thanks for the help.

Will do.
Hope to get around to it soon.