# '65 GTO



## TriPower65 (Mar 18, 2014)

My dad was a Pontiac man through and through. He bought his first new car when he was 23 - a 1965 GTO. Ordered it with a 4 speed and Tripower. Black with gold interior because his favorite race car driver was Fireball Roberts and that was his color scheme. Poverty caps because they looked meaner. 
He traded that car for a '69 Bonneville with a 428 when he started dating my mom. I guess he thought it was time to slow down a little. I was born in 1972 and I only barely remember that Bonneville from my earliest years.
Fast forward to 1988.....he finds a '65 GTO 4 speed on a car lot in our hometown of Greenville, SC and bought it for $4500. It's been in our family ever since. It had a 396 Chevrolet engine in it and we pulled that and built a 428 with '66 Tripower in the early 90's and ran that for a short time until we broke a connecting rod. That was right about the time I was graduating from college and getting married, so life got in the way of doing anything more with the GTO.
Dad died in 2006 after a short illness and left the car to me. It's been in my garage waiting on this day since February 2013.
I have always said I wasn't going to sacrifice what I wanted to do with this car for the sake of money or time. I'm resolute in waiting as long as it takes to do this car once, and to do it the way I want to do it.
So this is going to be my build thread. I think that's what we're supposed to do in this forum, right?

I had PHS document this car for my own information. It's a documented GTO that was sold at the Pontiac dealership (Attaway-Easterlin) in the same town we bought the car. It's got some rust, but it's far from being in really bad shape. Like I said, it's a 4 speed car. Bluemist Slate with dark blue interior. Dad had an affinity for 428's from owning the Bonneville that was so equipped, so he bought a few of those and a couple of 455's over the years. We built a 2bolt version of the 428 and like I said earlier, broke a rod, so the project went to the sidelines for a number of years.

Now to current day.....
I consulted with Jeff Kauffman over a year ago about building the engine for this car. I was satisfied that I needed to bite off the biggest chunk first, again, so I could be sure to get what I wanted in the end and not sacrifice for something less. First, I took the '66 Tripower to Mike Wasson in IL to have him give the intake and carbs the guts it would take to feed the engine that Kauffman would build. He turned that around in about a month and in August of '21, I took my '68 4bolt 428 block from a Grand Prix to Jeff and got in line for him to do his work, which he said would take about a year. I told him I wanted 500hp, but more than that, I wanted torque. He and Mike were both satisfied that we could make the power I wanted with the conventional Tripower especially if I would go with aluminum heads and a few other things. I had Jeff put the build sheet together, gave him a deposit, and took my place in line.

I just took delivery of this engine in Norwalk over the weekend. I'll post the videos and pics soon, but know that we made 554hp and 604tq. From a conventional '66 Tripower with all new internals. I upgraded to a forged crank for peace of mind, Eagle Hbeam rods, KB pistons, full roller valvetrain and KRE 85cc 290cfm DPorts.

Now for the plans for the rest of the car.....

I'm going back black with gold interior and TKX 5 speed. Wider tires on probably 18" steel wheels with Pontiac poverty caps. Rear end is TBD but either 9" or 12bolt. 4 wheel discs and full coilover kit. Legendary interior to keep it as original as possible. I want the perfect mix of new and old. Putting all of this here as a basis for the build. Let's see where it evolves and goes over time. Gonna be fun.....


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

Wow what a great story and sounds like an impressive build, I'm sure dad would be proud 👍


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## TriPower65 (Mar 18, 2014)




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## Jim K (Nov 17, 2020)

Great story! welcome to our forum!


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## Baaad65 (Aug 29, 2019)

TriPower65 said:


>


I want those heads more than you know 👍


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## TriPower65 (Mar 18, 2014)

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a6OwTgqKB_BWtLcG5LYgPiDQ


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

Baaad65 said:


> I want those heads more than you know 👍


I think most of us know


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## TriPower65 (Mar 18, 2014)

Kauffman 467ci Tripower Dyno Pull - 554hp







youtube.com


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## Jetzster (Jan 18, 2020)

Fabulous!😁 Cant wait to see it complete!😀


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Neat story. My stepbrother bought a '67 LeMans convertible back in the early '90s that was Starlight Black with a gold interior. His wife sold it for $2500 around 2000, forgetting that I had first right of refusal. (I had helped locate the car originally). It was about a 15-20k car at that time. (really nice).
In the '60's, GM was really pushing the gold interiors, it seems. In '67, it was available with every body color. 
Good luck with your build. '65's are the meanest, purest GTO IMO.


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## michaelfind (Dec 14, 2018)

I love the stories honoring Dad and continuing the legacy. There are many of us on here.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

In my opinion, from experience, a 9" Ford is far superior to any 12-bolt. It's that captive pinion gear that makes it bulletproof. And, the drop-out third member makes it a breeze to change gear ratios in an hour or less instead of an entire weekend screwing around with tolerances.


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## TriPower65 (Mar 18, 2014)

Yeah.....there's no doubt about it...... I just have a hard time saying that F word. LMAO!


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## michaelfind (Dec 14, 2018)

TriPower65 said:


> Yeah.....there's no doubt about it...... I just have a hard time saying that F word. LMAO!


I completely agree. I'm running the strongest 10 bolt Pontiac made, or at least close to it, but if/when it ever breaks, I will probably make the switch to a 9" as above. Just can't figure out how to make it look more like a GM differential.


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## Scott06 (May 6, 2020)

Great story and car love the tripower. It took me 30 years to get my 65 convertible roadworthy so appreciate the fact that it stayed in your family.


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