# 1966 GTO Sport Coupe Resurrection



## RustWrangler (Sep 15, 2011)

Hey Guys,


I finally after looking and looking found a GTO that I thought at the time was a good deal. upon better inspection now I have it home Have found LOTS of rust after a few stiff drinks and hanging my head kicking the dirt awhile I have mustered up the faith to say I can fix IT! First time ever attempting a project of this magnitude but I have been drawing from some of the other guys threads like TMP and Thumpin and a bunch of others and I have to say thanks for the inspriation.

I will start an actual build thread when I get going (I'm waiting on my workshop to be built ) but it looks body wise everything from the fender well up is solid, everything below is crap... so new rear quarters, trunk pan, floor pan, possible tail pan (I might be able to save the original) possible inner and outer fender wells basically the whole rear bottom half of the car lol

But here she is now in all her glory I look forward to getting started and hope I can do as well as a lot of you have done!


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

Looks good to me! you're gonna need a welder, some tools, and a lot of Jim Beam :cheers.....Eric


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## RustWrangler (Sep 15, 2011)

Thanks Eric, yea the pictures are a little decieving she's rough but i'll get her straightened out.

speaking of welders yes I need one, I was looking at the Eastwood mig 135 or 175 to use anyone have any thoughts or recommendations?

I have never welded anything before and it will only probably ever be used for autobody repair. I know from what I have read that I should get one that I can use the gas(argon) with. 

other things I know I will need to invest in include a new Compressor thinking something that can push 15cfm at 90psi should do the trick. A sandblaster, and a good paint gun. cheap recommendations on any of those would help also. any other specialty equipment you guys think will help? I have most of the common tools, cut off wheels, DA, etc...

Thanks!


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

ahhh another 66' post car....roll up your sleeves and dive in. i had not wrenched on my own cars in 20 years before last september when i got the Tempest in all her glory. I was lucky to find an original bodied car that needed no welding, so i got off easy there. Original plan was to job the body and paint out until i saw a few estimates. Ended up doing everything myself over a 10 month span, so "you can do it", and this is the best place to gather information from. My photobucket shows the process from start to end. Best tool i got from Harbor freight was a set of jack up wheel casters, allowed me to move the car in tight spaces without starting it and by myself. They have sandblaster and HVLP gun for primer if your just planning on using them for the project and not on a daily basis. Just give a shout if you have any questions, glad to help, and welcome to the reservation Rust....:cheers

1966 Tempest pictures by instg8ter - Photobucket

Brian


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## RustWrangler (Sep 15, 2011)

Thanks Brian,

yea I had been tagging along with your project for awhile to, that's a beautiful tempest you have! I'll Definitely be asking a few questions when I get rolling on mine  

does anyone know if there's any kind of shop manual or disassemble handbook that describes how to properly disassemble the car (such as window trim, moldings, windows, etc..) 

Thanks,
Rod


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Fisher Body manual, and GTO restoration guide check amazon.com...:cheers

Rust, your camera will be your best friend so keep it charged and close. during dis-assembly keep a photo log from every angle so when you go to reassemble you can see what the installed piece looks like installed correctly. Bag and tag every part of the assembly together then in a bin in sub assemblies (Interior, front suspension...etc.). Start a photobucket or other archive so if your card goes bad, harddrive whacks out to have them backed up, remember a pictures worth a thousand words. The other nice thing is your resto will be archived to go along with the car. The one thing i wish i would have done is mount a camera on the wall and mark the tires on the floor and taken shots from the exact same angle of every phase, would have made a kickass slideshow....arty: (just throwin it out there would love to see it done.)


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

Rusty, Eastwood stuff is pretty good. you don't need a lot of welder to fix body panels. You should consider a torch also , for straightening and shrinking/stretching panels. Contact Randy (05 GTO) he has 2 66 Gtos that he restored, he also lives in Georgia. He is full of.....good info! Happy Thanksgiving, Eric:cheers
P.S. Brian just went down the same road you are going....


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## RustWrangler (Sep 15, 2011)

Thanks guys! all good advice, I am settling in for a long haul on it so I want to take my time and do it right. I've got a 67 Chevy stepside truck I am going to run through quickly first just to get some practice on the welding, bodywork, etc... so when I start cutting and welding on this one I'll have a little bit of experience, that's the plan anyway lol....

Right now I'm thinking about the best way to Preserve the GTO in its current state until I can really get started on it, I have been sanding all the surface rust off and spraying it with rustoleom rust reformer and primer. I'm thinking I need to pull the interior out and hit everything I can see or reach with some POR15 when I am done with the exterior. or am I just being overly cautious and should save the work and just leave it be for now until I am ready to work on it?

Is it worth the work to try and preserve it or will it not really get any worse in the next year or two? 

Brian, I'll have to see if i can set my shop and camera up like that for a start to finish slide show that would be pretty cool! 

Eric, thanks, I hadn't really thought of a torch looks like another one for the Christmas list! 

Hope yall had a great Thanksgiving!
Rod


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Wrangler, you're doing the right thing, IMO. Rust NEVER sleeps. A few bucks and hours now may save you many in two-three years when entire sections need to be replaced (if the car isn't inside, that is). I remember a friend of mine opening up the trunk of his rarely-optioned '65 GTO that he had stored outside (but in dry central CA), and he was shocked when we were looking at our feet through the big hole that used to be the trunk!! Good luck on your project, coupes are not really common, but make great drivers with very few rattles and squeaks!!


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## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

That looks like a lot of fun! As for welders, I had really good luck with the Lincoln Welder from Home depot, think it was the weld pak 140? or 120? Anyway, worked great until it was stolen from my old shop in Abilene TX. I now have a century inverter arc and a 220 wire feed with no 220 in the garage. Guess i'll be welding in the laundry room haha

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## RustWrangler (Sep 15, 2011)

aw that sucks Flambeau! if there is one thing I cant stand its damn Theives.... And yea you might have to make ya a 220 extension cord to reach out to the garage lol I 'll give the Lincon's a look though Thanks!


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## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

RustWrangler said:


> aw that sucks Flambeau! if there is one thing I cant stand its damn Theives.... And yea you might have to make ya a 220 extension cord to reach out to the garage lol I 'll give the Lincon's a look though Thanks!


Yeah it did suck! Think the ones at home depot are between 290 and 500$ depending on whether you want gas capabilities etc.


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## MaL (Jun 12, 2008)

Careful pulling off the belt line and trim around the windows. They are hard as heck to replace!


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

You want one with the gas, it will provide much cleaner welds. I picked one up from Tractor Supply for under $300, works great and I get the tanks from NAPA.


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## RustWrangler (Sep 15, 2011)

good info, Thanks Rukee and Mal,

yea I remember reading about Instg8ter or brians issue's with his in another thread so I'm sure when I hit that point I will be asking for tips because as far as I can tell most of all my trim is in great shape


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## MaL (Jun 12, 2008)

Not only did I peel mine like a banana, I had to buy replacements that had lost their original finish and pay more to have them re-anodized. Yeah, I can be a real *dumbass* sometimes. haha 

arty:


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

I never dared to take mine off, was lucky to have a rust free car with original paint and painting back to same color so i masked around them and just hit them lightly with 000 steel wool to clean them up.


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