UMI's 1972 Pontiac LeMans, Restoration and Pro-Touring Build

[csouth]

Your better off with the LSx. I was going to build a 462 blown pontiac. By the time I would have built the motor the way it would be set up to handle the power, and still be reliable it would have cost me 10k. You can buy a 6.0 LS motor and just beefing it up a little you will have a great power plant with EFI. You dont need an LS3, a LY6 is cheap, a L92 is more expensive but worth it in the end. The big thing is the fuel system, but if you guys are up to it I have drawings for your own legit EFI stainless tank.

You willing to share with non- UMI peeps?...lol

[Nicks67GTO]

Sell the rear on Performance years board. Call Quick Performance in Ames Iowa and get a nice 9" and be done with it.

[UMI Performance]

I just got back from the body shop, the interior and the glass is out and the car is on the rotisserie.

The floor boards in the car are in great shape, not a single hole. The car does need a drivers side quarter panel and driver door is rusted bad (see images). The quarter has been patched before so we will be replacing it. We also need inner and outer rear wheel wells on the drivers side. We are debating on a min-tub but not sure what to do with the rear seat yet.

[Mr T81]

Nice project, can't wait to see the end result.

[UMI Performance]

Buck is making some more progress on the body at the body shop while we wait for parts to come in. We are replacing the driver side quarter and inner/outer wheel wells.

On the passenger side we found out they don't make a patch panel for the quarter so we are going to have make one.

[KnightMare]

minitub it!

[SShep71]

I would like to move to second the notion of minitubbing, all in favor? What are the plans for the frame?

[paint2361]

[QUOTE=Novaguy73;962591]

We debated over this for a long time but decided to go with LS1 and T56.... Pontiac Firebirds and Transam had the LS in 98-02... does that still count as Pontiac powered? lolQUOTE]


Nah not really but I cant say I blame you. It would have a lot more cool factor with the poncho for sure. Like you, Im going back and forth over building a 4.25 stroke 400 block Pontiac with some kauffman D ports and a hydraulic roller.....or do I just stick a damn LS in it? The price isnt too far apart from my rough estimate. To have a good Pontiac built with forged internals and done the right way youre looking at 10-12K. Im pretty sure a guy could do a boneyard LS3 transplant for around that and stick that new self learning fuel rail mounted LS fuel injection setup on it and be done??

Keep it Pontiac powered! If you want an LS powered car... go build a newer Camaro or Corvette
I kept my 67 Firebird Ponco powered and I love it! Sure I could of built a bad ass LS motor for the cost on a mild Pontiac but in my mind, if I'm not burning a bunch of fuel, dripping a little oil or shacking my neighbors walls at 6AM I'm not driving a 60's HotRod

[Nicks67GTO]

minitub it!

I agree. It would be pretty sweet to stick some 315's back there!

[Nicks67GTO]

[QUOTE=paint2361;965860]

Keep it Pontiac powered! If you want an LS powered car... go build a newer Camaro or Corvette
I kept my 67 Firebird Ponco powered and I love it! Sure I could of built a bad ass LS motor for the cost on a mild Pontiac but in my mind, if I'm not burning a bunch of fuel, dripping a little oil or shacking my neighbors walls at 6AM I'm not driving a 60's HotRod

Yeah I know. Ive heard that a lot. Iv'e got a very mild 455/6X4's in the car right now. Ill probably just pull that down, port the heads, stick some cheap forged rods/pistons in it. Go with a small hydraulic roller/RPM/Q-Jet and keep it a fairly mild 475hp/550tq car. If I won the lotto I would be building an aluminum IAII 535 ....that would be badass......

[UMI Performance]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

We talked about mini-tubbing the car but decided against it. We would like too but decided not for a few reasons. One, we are trying to keep this car as "Pro-Budget" build, basically we are building a realistic car that most of our customers are and can build. We want to race a car that is bscially stock suspension with UMI upgrades. Also the rear seat in the car is extremely nice and we would like to haul passengers so we decided to leave it as is. We should be able to run a 285 or 295 rear tire in the rear.

We have some more pictures coming soon! We are waiting for the frame to come back from sandblasting and the rear quarter to arrive.

[Nicks67GTO]

Did you box the frame at all? I cruised through the pictures looking and half of them wouldnt come up so im not sure. In case you didnt, can I ask why not? If you were going to box a frame what gauge and type of steel would you use?

[rohrt]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

We talked about mini-tubbing the car but decided against it. We would like too but decided not for a few reasons. One, we are trying to keep this car as "Pro-Budget" build, basically we are building a realistic car that most of our customers are and can build. We want to race a car that is bscially stock suspension with UMI upgrades. Also the rear seat in the car is extremely nice and we would like to haul passengers so we decided to leave it as is. We should be able to run a 285 or 295 rear tire in the rear.

We have some more pictures coming soon! We are waiting for the frame to come back from sandblasting and the rear quarter to arrive.

Subscribing.

I like the exhaust you had. Looked like a 3" system. Looking forward to seeing the frame all finished and back together.

I was going to say to say for most people on a pro-budget could not afford to go with a LS option, and building up what you have would make more sense finacialy, but I see that the original motor was a 350 not a 400 or bigger. So cost wise it would be a wash going with a built up pontiac vs going LS.

My brother has a Stroker built 455 in his 69 GTO convertible. 290 CFM KRE heads and SD perfrormance old faithful cam. And a NOS system. 3" exhaust, 12 bolt 3:55 gear. Runs mid 11s. Its Loud, fast and fun but not much fun on a long cruise.

On the flip side

One of my cars is a 64 tempest convertible with a 326 2 speed, 2:56 rear that get 20mpg. It not fast and not much nice about it but I enjoy the heck out of it. More so then my much nicer 455 68 bird that I'm afraid to park anywhere.

So each their own. Build it the way you want to drive it. I'm not apposed to the LS option. It will sure make cruising more enjoyable.

[UMI Performance]

Did you box the frame at all? I cruised through the pictures looking and half of them wouldnt come up so im not sure. In case you didnt, can I ask why not? If you were going to box a frame what gauge and type of steel would you use?

Hello, Sorry about the pictures. Photobucket is acting up on hosting our images so I am switching them over to our own server. He haven't boxed the frame yet but we are going to. The frame is currently out for sandblasting, as soon as it comes back we will begin boxing frame and we will be sure to post lots of pictures. We will most likely be using 1/8" or 3/16" steel for the boxing. Thanks for looking!

Subscribing.

I like the exhaust you had. Looked like a 3" system. Looking forward to seeing the frame all finished and back together.

I was going to say to say for most people on a pro-budget could not afford to go with a LS option, and building up what you have would make more sense finacialy, but I see that the original motor was a 350 not a 400 or bigger. So cost wise it would be a wash going with a built up pontiac vs going LS.

Thanks for looking!

The exhaust that was on the car was actually a pre-built Pypes kit and it was a 3" system. It was a nice system for the price.

On the LS engine we tried to keep it as pro-budget as possible. The engine and transmission are both from a junk yard car with a 100K miles on them. With the price for the LS1 and T56 it would be a wash compared to building the 350 and adding a manual or overdrive transmission. So like you mentioned we actually kept the price down low by not building the LS engine or upgrading to an LS2, LS3 or similar. You can find the LS engines at a decent price in donor cars or online now a days.

Your Tempest sounds awesome! Nice car... don't see many of them around

[UMI Performance]

Alright guys, now we are starting to get to the more exciting stuff! Our LS1 engine with T56 transmission just showed up from Hawks Third Generation Parts . Both items were removed from a 2000 donor car. When they pulled the transmission 2nd gear was stiff (usually is) so we had a Stage 2 rebuild done on the transmission before they shipped it.

If anyone is looking for any type of LS engine I recommend contacting Hawks, I had the privilege to visit their facility over the summer and it is extremely nice and well organized. Although they specialize on 82-02 F-Body parts they have a full lot of donor LS cars.www.hawksthirdgenparts.com

[csouth]

Looks like a good start. Should be fun car when done...

[UMI Performance]

Drivers side rear quarter panel and wheelhouses came in today from Goodmark. Our frame should be back from sandblasting early next week. More updates coming soon!

[UMI Performance]

The frame is scheduled to be back from sandblasting today, we are excited to get it finished. In the meantime below shows the areas of the frame that need our attention. A few body mount holes need repaired and the previous owner did a few home repairs to the rear control arm mounts. It also appears they installed a new back section of the frame at one time.

We will grind out all the old welds and re-weld the frame while boxing it in. Should look like new when we are complete.

[Racerxtx]

The frame is scheduled to be back from sandblasting today, we are excited to get it finished. In the meantime below shows the areas of the frame that need our attention. A few body mount holes need repaired and the previous owner did a few home repairs to the rear control arm mounts. It also appears they installed a new back section of the frame at one time.

We will grind out all the old welds and re-weld the frame while boxing it in. Should look like new when we are complete.

Boy that thing is/was rough!
Convertibles had boxed frames from the factory. Maybe you should try to find one to swap in instead of trying to fix the original frame.

[UMI Performance]

Boy that thing is/was rough!
Convertibles had boxed frames from the factory. Maybe you should try to find one to swap in instead of trying to fix the original frame.

The areas in the pictures are pretty rough. The good thing is it is only those areas, the rest of the frame is very nice. It won't be too hard for us to fix this and box it in.

Thanks for looking,
Ryan