# Eggplant Jones



## sethccole (May 4, 2019)

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my build. I picked up Eggplant Jones (EPJ) just after I got back from a deployment. I've wanted a '68 GTO since I was a little tike and saw one at a car show. I'm talking more than 20 years ago. Fast forward, and one of my buddies finds this car and I drive out the next weekend to pick her up. Previous owner (PO) states the car is 90% complete in the restoration, the lie detector determined that was a lie, but I picked her up anyway for a cool $13,500. 










What I knew: 
Pontiac 400, 3 speed TH400, original to car.
Freshly rebuilt drive line: Verified with the shop who did the machining, PO didn't have the paperwork so I have no clue what was done.
Runs and drives: It fires right up, no grinding, shifts well, broke the tires in second etc.
Two gauges worked: RPM and Temp. 
Shaved door handles and trunk lid: Hate, hate, hate this. 
PO removed the heat/ac 

What I know now:
Gets around 14MPG on the highway in third at 3200 RPM ~70 MPH. 
The dual electric fans are on the wrong side of the radiator which causes over heating when in traffic.
The spacer for the alternator bolt is missing which causes it to back out of the block and hit the mechanical fan.
Needs a new harness.
Needs tons of little things: marker lights, dash inserts, bolts, etc.
Needs some big things: suspension rebuild, body work, fender rolling, paint, new interior, etc










That's how she sits.

This is how I think I want her to look. Excuse the poor forza picture, and yes, I know that's a '69, not a '68.










List of wants:
428 Stroke 
Fuel Injection
Overdrive
6/71 Blower, under-driven, with fuel injector hat
Gauges that work, haha....but really
Door Handles/locks
Heat/AC
Roll Bar
Mini Tubs
Updated interior
New Fuel System
New Wiring Harness

Plan of Action:
1) Roll Bar/Tubs
2) Paint/Body
3) Overdrive
4) Wiring Harness
5) Fuel Injection/ fuel system
6) Updated Interior
7) Heat/AC
8) 428 Stroker Kit
9) Supercharger
10) Profit

In the next few posts, because I don't want to lose this one, I will show where we are up to date!


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## sethccole (May 4, 2019)

So lets go back to the beginning. I picked up the goat in running and driving condition, but due to the distance, had to trailer it home (I have no friends). 



















When I got her home, the first thing I did was drive her to the local hobby shop and throw her up on the lift, check the suspension, and do some preventative maintenance.




























I was nervous about some jingling I heard while driving (later determined to be the backing plate for a few of the center caps on the wheels). I screwed in the speedo cable, but it has the wrong gears on it. Then I took her home and daily drove her for a few months.










A few things showed their ugly head.










If you look close, you can see dents in the fan from the bolt backing out. What a racket at 60 MPH (I think).

Fast forward a few months and I'm getting serious about doing work on her. I knew there were things I wanted fixed that I couldn't do myself so I started shopping around and found a guy in OKC to do most of the work that requires an expert, because I wanted it done nicely. He says he doesnt have time at the moment, ok, cool, and that kept going for about 5 months. I lost faith and started looking for individual shops myself. A few weeks later, I stumble on Lander's Fabrication out of Elgin, OK. Fan...freaking...tastic people there! The following are photos from their work. 

I started with having them put in a bar and minitubs. Then all the fun started happening. 














































NEAT!! No worries. Lander's has me covered. 
































































Oh! And the wheel tubs came in! This also includes a frame notch which should let me run up to 335/28" on 10" wheels. Gotta get that power down! 




























I also asked them to box the frame and to check on the body mounts prior to. Guess what! Yup. Rotted.



















So, there are all the updates as of today. I should have her back prior to the beginning of the year, then on to paint and body. I'm going to have her thrown on a rotisserie and taken to bare metal as you can see four colors on the car:










The white is the original, then some kind of metallic maroon, then purple, hence the name "Eggplant Jones" which my boss's boss christened. She will more than likely be dark grey with black accents. 

Pending any questions or comments, I'll be back with more info when it's available!


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## tiretread (Sep 28, 2015)

Very cool car and I love the name. Seems it has finally found the right owner.


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## O52 (Jan 27, 2019)

Headrests for a 68 is very uncommon. Does the passenger seat recline? (even more rare)


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## DustyOldGTO (Jun 26, 2019)

So it looks good and drives good, lots of hidden rust. Is that accurate?
I've seen a few youtube videos complaining about how common this is becoming in with classic muscle car resales.
3200 rpm at 70, sounds like 3.23 gears.
Good luck with your project!


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## sethccole (May 4, 2019)

O52 said:


> Headrests for a 68 is very uncommon. Does the passenger seat recline? (even more rare)


I dont think so. The PO was trying to make a Judge clone,so they aren't the original seats. The back supports are actually from a blue interior.



DustyOldGTO said:


> So it looks good and drives good, lots of hidden rust. Is that accurate?
> I've seen a few youtube videos complaining about how common this is becoming in with classic muscle car resales.
> 3200 rpm at 70, sounds like 3.23 gears.
> Good luck with your project!


Thank you! I'm hoping most of the rust was under the carpets...
The gears are either 3.23 or 2.9...something. Thats whats on the build sheet at least.


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