# New Member with a big new project



## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

Hello all, I put the very long story of how I came to find this 67 GTO in to the Hello section, but just to refresh, I live in Austin Texas and just got this car last weekend. It's very original, but rough. If you have a chance, read the long post in the new member section.

To break it down, I pulled it out of my friends garage, towed it home, and with the help of my Dad have started cleaning it up and researching about it, and making lists of parts it'll need. I've run the numbers on the cowl and door jam. The car is a Plum Mist over parchment hardtop, built in Kansas City in October 1966. It's got the base 335hp 400 and turbo 400 w/dual gate, factory air, power steering and power drum brakes. It also has only 26K miles on it, but has been off the road since 1982!

Enjoy the pics!

Sept 4, 2010. Just drug it out of the garage in Houston, chain still under the front:









First rear view:









Inside is a mess but seats are not ripped up!









Dirty 400 but it's all still there, a/c and p/s too!









On the trailer!









On the way home to Austin









The ugly side!









Made it home, and wife jumped right in with my son, Holy Cow, she likes it!









New home, in my garage









Trim above the grill was in the trunk










Look forward to your comments. I need all the help I can get with this one!

Glad to have found the forum,

-Mike


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## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

More pics of the new project:

I love that hood!









Seats are dirty but not torn up!









Dual Gate









Dirty Dash









Rally Clock but base gauges









Door Emblem









Rear seat is dirty but solid:









Trunk was FULL of trim. Cleaned it all up:


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## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

And the last few pics I've got so far:


Rusty trunk, ouch!









Cleaning the car with a pressure washer:









Hood cleaned and drying:









Engine MUCH cleaner. Check out the COOL Plum Mist color on the cowl below the wipers. Pretty Rare!









Looking forward to comments. Hope you all like the pics!

-Mike


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## twinjracing (Aug 28, 2010)

Nice project looks like it will make a nice car with some TLC (Time Labor and Cash )


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## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

Well my post in the New Members section didn't post for some reason, so here is the long story to go along with the pics above. 

Greeting from sunny Austin Texas! I just got this car last weekend on Sept 4th, and have not done much more than clean it so far.

This car will need a LOT of work, but it's all there. It's a 67 2dr hardtop, original color was Plum Mist (purple) over parchment (white). It's got the original 400 V8 with a Quadrajet 4brl, Turbo 400 automatic hooked to the factory Hurst Dual-Gate (his & hers) shifter, factory a/c, power steering and power brakes, and heavy duty cooling. It will be something if I can restore it!

Interesting history. My friend AJ, who I got the car from, got the story from the original owner's son. The car was purchased new by his mother in 1967, the title is still in her name. It was damaged at the dealership when new, someone backed a forklift into the right 1/4 panel, and they did a fast fix on it, and not a great job. It sat on the lot for a while, most likely because Plum Mist was not a popular color, and interestingly, the car was factory equipped with dog-dish hubcaps and white-walls....not too sporty for a GTO. 

She drove the car locally from 1967 to 1982, and stopped driving that year (still has the 1982 inspection on the windshield). The car was parked in a leaky garage/carport and the lady died a few years later. When parked the mileage on the car was only 26,000! The car sat in the garage until the owner's son decided to put it up for sale in 2007. By now the car had stuff piled on it and was fairly rough looking, and the guy basically wanted it out of the garage. AJ found out about the car, looked into it, and managed to buy the car for $800. Pretty good! 

The car was all complete and original down to the plug wires. He replaced the gas tank, rebuilt the carb, re-core'd the radiator, installed a brand new dual exhaust system, and removed the factory steel wheels with hubcaps and replaced them with Pontiac Rally II's and raised white letter tires. Car was running and driving again. 

The car has always been in Texas, but sadly got parked in a leaky garage, so it has rust issues. AJ had a former student of his that owned a body shop about an hour away. He agreed to do the bodywork for $2000 as a "side job". AJ drove the car to him, gave him a deposit, and also a new reproduction tail light panel and driver's side floorpan he'd already bought. 

The guy took out the tail lights and removed most of the trim off the outside and put it in the trunk. He started sanding the car and put it in primer here and there as he did it. Then, a few months into the work his business went under. The car was pushed outside, sadly with the hood off and trim removed. AJ had no idea. The body guy's wife actually called AJ a few months later and told him that he should come get his car, as she'd heard that he was considering selling it for $3000 and was going to tell AJ it had been stolen (!!) AJ was furious and rightly so, and went to get the car. When he got there the engine had water in it from being left outside with the hood off, and was locked up. The rust was much worse too, as it had been left out with many areas sanded bare, and it rains a lot in Houston. Also the idiot sold the new tail light panel and left the new bare floorpan patch panel outside and it was now totally rusted.

AJ towed the car home, pulled the plugs and put ATF in the cylinders to try to get the engine free, and then put it in his garage in disgust, and it's been sitting in there for two years now. He called me up a few weeks back, told me he was never going to have time to fix it, and asked if I wanted to come get it. Which I did today!

It rolls easy and we had no trouble getting it on the trailer. My wife's Suburban towed it fine. When we got home I was shocked, amazed and tickled. MY WIFE LIKES THIS CAR!! I think she was happy it was not an old station wagon or Chevy Citation. She actually jumped right in it with our baby son Tucker and helped us get it off the trailer and into the garage...and let me take her picture in it...PROOF!! I'm still in shock. This is the first car in memory that I've drug home that she's liked, and it's in terrible condition. HA!!!

All the exterior trim, tail lights, headlight bezels, header panel, and wiper cover were still in the trunk. I got my shop vac out and sucked all the rust scale out of the trunk, vacuumed the interior, and pulled the rotten carpet up in front of the bucket seats...holes there...ouch.

The car is rough, no joke. but all there. The seats are filthy but not ripped up at all, it really has low miles on it, still just over 26k! It rusted under the windshield trim and the rear window trim, common on these cars, and water pooled in the trunk and front floorboards and rotted them. It's going to need patch panels on both front floorboards and a full trunk pan, as well as around the front and rear windows. It's also going to need a lower 1/4 patch panel on the left rear, and a full 1/4 panel on the right rear, and the tail light panel. I WILL have to learn to weld or this will cost a ton to fix....

The doors, front fenders, header panel, and hood are all pretty much perfect and rust free. The frame is solid, exhaust is still like new, and the car has all the pieces. I'm betting I can get the engine to break loose too. And MAN the doors "thunk" solid when you close them, no rattles at all, despite all the "needs" it has you can tell the miles are really low, it's all still so tight!

Dad and I are going to pull the body off the frame. This project will take years. I'm torn about the color. Plum Mist is a really rare color, and the car will be worth more if it was done in the correct color, especially since it's a matching-numbers car, but I'd love it in silver or black.....and with white interior any color will work. We'll see, that's WAYYY down the road.

Enjoy the pics!

-Mike


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## 1970 Lemans (Jul 25, 2009)

Congratulations on your find and acquisition. I am certain you and your Dad will get a tremendous amount of satisfaction in bringing it back.

You didn't solicit votes, but FWIW I vote for keeping it plum mist.


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

nice find, enjoy!:cheers:cheers


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## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

Oh I have a feeling it'll be re-done in Plum Mist. I'd love to see one in person in that color. In some pics they look almost black, in others VERY purple. Will be on the lookout for one!


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## Thumpin455 (Feb 17, 2010)

Rough? you call that rough? Thats a four week resto right there! Hardly even need a welder! Looks nice and always liked that color. Congrats, looking forward to the build!


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## nedorama (Sep 13, 2010)

Congrats, looks like a winner and a fun project at that.

Don't know how old your son is, but for my daughter, I bought the Wesco 4-point seatbelt. Installs very easily and works if your kid is in a booster. 4 Point Passenger Car SeatBelts 

Easily reversible when he grows out of it back into the lap belts.

As someone who is dealing with this now, template on your existing quarters where the "GTO" badge holes are as the replacement quarters if bought new don't have holes in them.

Good luck!


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## nedorama (Sep 13, 2010)

And yes, redo the Plum Mist. When done right it's a fantastic color, and having your car match its original paint is fun. 

If you haven't, order up your car's documentation from PHS (Pontiac Historical Services) - you can find out a lot about your GTO. PHS Historic Services


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## Koppster (Jul 27, 2008)

Mike

Great story, great pics, great car! Glad to see another GTO lover from Texas on the board!

Rick


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Congrats, nice find, lucky.. I would just get it running, fix floor, throw a carpet in it to complete the interior and enjoy it. Do a little at a time, but keep it running, non running cars get old quick.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

Wow, great story and a great project car! 

I'm with keeping it plum mist.... and I also vote for steelies in body color and pie pans with some redline tires.

Welcome aboard!


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## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

Thanks for all the comments and tips! 

I wish I could patch the floor and go, but it's rougher than it looks in the pics. But the rust-out is SO ODD. I will say this is the oddest rust-out I've seen. I'm a native Texan, but went through high school in New Jersey, and my first few cars were rusted northeastern salt road cars. I'm used to rusted fenders and 1/4's, crusty frames and frozen bolts, all the parts that get soaked with salt slush, you know? 

This car is so weird, it has NONE of that. It's never seen salt. If not for the rust-out around the front and rear windows it would be SUCH a solid car. The frame is SO CLEAN, no rust on it at all. Ditto the suspension, engine comparment, fenders, doors, rockers, floorpan in front of the rear seat, and door sills, it's so weird! 

There is not much metal left around the front or rear window glass where the trim was, and the front of the dash is rusted there by the windshield as well. The footwell in front of the driver's seat is basically gone, and there are holes in front of the passenger seat too. It looks like it rotted around the front and rear windows, and then water got through there and filled the front footwells and trunk, and it just made a heck of a mess! The flat panel between the trunk lid and rear window rusted too. 

I'm guessing the water also went around the trunk opening lip and ran down the tail light panel, which is what rusted it. Also there is surface rust on the INTERIOR, I'm guessing water sat in the front floor for years and in the summers it must have been steamy inside the car. But once the floor rusted through the water drained out. The car was always on it wheels on a solid floor, and so the undercarriage never got exposed to water damage. It was just stored so poorly for years. Such a waste! A dang TARP would have saved it I bet!! 

You just never know what you're going to find do you??


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## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

Oh and you've all about convinced me to go back with Plum Mist. The cowl area where the wiper arms are is still that color and the paint is really good. It looks dark in the garage but sparkles in the sun. It's such a "groovy 60's" color. I never thought I'd have a purple GTO though!

1967 GTO Plum Mist pictures, photos, and videos, from cars on webshots - I found this link to a car optioned like mine in Plum Mist. Mine never had a vinyl top though. It is a neat color!

As for the wheels, we'll see. The car came with the four original steel wheels and the oldest tires I've ever seen, and also three of the original dog-dish hubcaps, which are sharp, but I LOVE Rally II's. I may restore the steelies and little caps and save them for car shows and have the Rally's for daily use.

Again, way down the line.

Thanks again for all the comments!

-Mike


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## Jerry64 (Apr 20, 2010)

Bad thing about the southwest cars is the get sand in those areas and if left out in the elements,the area stays wet and it promotes rust.


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## nedorama (Sep 13, 2010)

so many of these cars were stored so poorly when a $20 WMT tarp could have helped (although that may have trapped condensation underneath; you never know. The good news is you're on a mission to fix it!

The Rally II's are a classic look; I had a set of 15x7's that came with mine in the trunk as well as the 14x6 with the "deluxe" LeMans Hubcaps... sold those off and took the rims to be sandblasted and powdercoated and then clearcoated. Diamondback radials takes Firehawk radials and physically bonds the redline rubber into the tire - it's not painted on and is a great looking and performing tire. Down the road, you may want to consider.

Trunk rot is common, OPGI sells the full trunk pan and it's the first bodywork I had done on mine. Instead of the zolotone splatter paint, you might look at something like the black crinkle LineX once it's replaced - that stuff is impermeable and tougher than nails. Not correct, but it's the trunk...


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## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

Thanks for the tips! 

I've been reading a lot on this. Anyone know if the trunk and interior floorpans should be replaced before taking the body off the frame?? I read that convertibles can flex, do hardtops as well??

The entire trunk floor will need to be done, and the footwells under the dash.

Thoughts?

I'm trying to plan this out.....step-by-step. Need to figure out what to do first here.... I'm itching to tear into the car and get going. I'm thinking I want to take the front sheetmetal off, then the interior out, and then pull the body off the frame.

I'm planning (in my head now) to take the body to a local shop for the rust repairs. I'm going to tackle the frame, suspension, and drivetrain myself (with my retired father helping). I just don't want to do something I shouldn't here. 

The past few late nights I've found myself in my chair in the garage with a beer, just staring at the car. What a gorgeous design these are.

-Mike


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## 242 FRED (Sep 18, 2010)

Hey Mike, and hey to all...I've been lurking as a visitor for a while, but reading this was the final straw; I just joined up. When I saw and read about this car, I couldn't believe it. I could do an intro elsewhere, but here seems perfect. You see, I have always been a Chevy guy, my first car was a 68 Camaro bought at age 14. I sold it by age 20 after getting frustrated with the fact that I could never build up a car to look or run like the ones I saw at the wed night cruise / street race events. Got married, kids, house, figured I'd get back into it but swore next time i'd get into a 66-67 Chevelle or GTO. Figured on the Chevelle as the GTO seemed like a totally unatainable dream. I have come so close to buying so many cars in the last couple years...hours and hours on ebay, want ads, etc...still on a budget and not yet ready to buy a "nice one", I was limited to searching for, well, junk. Then one day I happened accross a 1967 GTO about 10 miles from my house! This past June. It caught my eye from a 1/4 mile away, I stopped to look at it quick but had to go to work. While at work all I could think about was that car, funds not in place, but that car...I came home that night and told the wife how I felt. She understood, I bought it the next day...forking over the cash as several people were stopping to look at it roadside. I had to sell our boat to help balance it out, but hell, "at least we have the car" as I keep saying. I'm currently rounding up parts, planning on having it on the street by the spring time. So anyways, the wierd part Mike (and all) is the car...it's a '67 real 242 PHS doc car (by me) in Plum Mist, parchment interior! Want more wierd? It's been off the road since 1987, and like Mike's, the original reg/insp stickers are on there. 80326K on the odometer. Original 4sp car, 3.55 rear safety-trac still in it. Rally gauges, no ps, no pb, looks like it was ordered to race. The motor and trans? Gone. Someone converted it to SBC back in the day, evident by the chevelle mounts, hacked harness, etc... I have spent the last few months rounding up parts, I have obtained a rebuilt 400 from a 71 GTO, orig 96 heads, .30 over, an edelbrock rpm manifold, RA IV edelbrock copy cam, headers, edelbrock 750 carb, etc...and a TH350 w/shift kit, and a TH400 stock, plus tons of parts...pulleys, balencers, alt's, starters, gaskets, driveshafts, etc...This car is extremely original, solid and untouched. It has been painted a dark charcoal grey, and the quarters have been patched up 80's style bondo/boody fab, but overall it is pretty tight. Anyways, sorry for the long rant but I knew you guys wouls get a kick out of the similarities (esp you Mike). It's 2am here now and I should be sleeping, and I work alot soooo, at some point soon I'll serve up pics and jump in the forum more often. Until then, cheers. -Fred


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Great stories, great cars. I like Jetsang's advice, though. Get it running and fix it as you go. It's very easy to get overwhelmed by a totally disassembled car and to give up. You have a great starting point, and a lot of the car will clean up with time and labor. I think the upholstery will be ok. Just a step at a time to get it going: fix the rust first, then get it running, clean up the interior, then the body and paint, etc. Do it as you see fit (but please keep it Plum Mist) and most importantly, have fun. Plum Mist is one of those really rare colors that is actually attractive!!!! With a parchment interior and redline tires, it's a dead knock-out.


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## ppurfield001 (Jan 21, 2008)

Nice stories, guys. Good luck to all with re-doing their classics. I vote for the Plum Mist paint as well.


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## 81X11 (Sep 14, 2010)

Wow very cool story about the other Plum Mist car. Post pics when you can! 

I put up a big metal 2-car carport this past weekend next to my house's 2-car garage, and the daily drivers are going in the carport. I now how room to tear the GTO down. I've got a friend-of-a-friend that has a restoration shop coming over to look at the car and give me some direction on how to attack this. He'll be doing the bodywork, and I'm going to do as much of the rest of the car as I can myself.

Will post pics as I start taking it down. Plan is to go back with Plum Mist. ; )



-Mike


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