# It's finally happening



## gmjunkie (Jan 1, 2019)

Very excited to say that my 1966 gto has finally rolled out of my garage and is on its way to getting some color. 

I picked up the car in January of this year out of long island. Got super lucky getting a steal of a deal on a car that had began to go off a frame off restoration and turned into a stalled project. I walked away with a great deal and a TON of brand new parts. Up to this point here is the list of what I have done to the car 
- Brakes, brake lines, wheel bearings, drums all around the car
- Conversion from 2 speed to 4 speed muncie
- Finishing and breaking in the motor ( had been rebuilt years ago but never fired) 
- Tri power intake swap, with rebuilding/ painting of carbs 
- Re-covered all seats and interior components 
- installation of new wiring harnesses 
- New pypes exhaust 
- sand blasting/ painting many under body components, original exhaust manifolds 
- New gas tank 

I'll update as the body work comes along and keep updates on the progress. I was lucky to find a local guy around my age ( I'm 26) who works at a restoration shop and does his own work on the side. He has offered to take in my car as side work. He is allowing me to help him finish the car and learn as we go seeing as this is my first time doing body work. Really excited to learn on the fly and have a part in finishing the body work and paint myself. 

Here are some pictures from the day I picked it up, to now. MORE TO COME!!!


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Wow, looks great. It's always rewarding to do as much of the work as you can which helps to better know your car. It'll be a real blast with the tri-power. Really impressed with your age and that you did not spring for an LS swap. You won't regret it. Keep the photos coming. :thumbsup:


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## histoy (May 22, 2019)

Great job so far. Glad you got a great deal on what was a diamond in the rough.


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## gmjunkie (Jan 1, 2019)

Time for some BIG updates.... 

So... things really havent gone according to plan. Body guy #1 ended up having personal things come up and informed me he could not finish the project. He didnt charge me a dollar because of the little amount he was actually able to work on the car. So I did the right thing and gave him a few hundered dollars for sorage for the last months and to thank him for what he was able to acomplish. 

On to body guy #2: I met Michael on the 64-67 pontiac owners page on facebook. He runs a small restoration shop called Alive again restorations in north carolina. Michael convinced me to sandblast the car because I bought the car in primer. The sand blast revealed lots of previous botched body work. The hood, quarters, roof, inner and outter wheel wells, trunk standoffs, and tail panel all have to be replaced. Well most people would have thrown in the towel at this point and found another car, but I had too much love invested to let the dream die. I took off for north carolina to help Michael work on the car and learn some good skill in body working. 

As of today, the whole car has been stripped allllllll the way down. and we have begun to build it back up. New wheel wells and trunk hinges have been installed. All the rest of the body panels are test fitted and prepped for welding to begin within the next day or so. Once we finish welding the panels on, we still have to work on splicing in the quarter panel tail light area (no one makes 66 full quarters, you have to modify a 67). Here are some pictures of the progress so far.


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## pontrc (Mar 18, 2020)

Thanks for saving that old girl


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## michaelfind (Dec 14, 2018)

Wow! looking good. I admire your dedication. I have much old bad body work too. When the bondo starts to fall off at the drag strip, then I will have no choice but to go back and do it right.🤣


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## gmjunkie (Jan 1, 2019)

Time for some more updates!

Its been another 3 months, and the car is still under construction but finally getting to where we want her. 

Some of the highlights have been having to convert 67 full quarters to work on a 66 using original quarter pieces from a 66 tempest I found online. This was quite the task! but definitely came out very well. When we got to the point where it was time to bondo over the welds on the quarters and between the quarters and the roof we opted to do the right thing and pull out the body solder instead of duraglass or bondo. 

Fast forward a bit and we've had a few coats of primer on the whole car after the quarter panel work was done. Now onto the rest of the car. The door to fenders and doors to quarters have been panel matched. Fitment has been tweeked and adjusted exactly where we need it. I do have to say we had quite a few frustrating nights in the garage where the car just seemed to fight us. But after some hard sleep and persistence we managed to get everything the way it needed to be. As of right now we have one more final prime to do before letting the last coat of primer cure for a week or longer, then its time to trim out, wet sand and shoot some color. 

We decided to paint the inside of the trunk lid because we couldn't wait any longer to see the color the rest of the body would be finished in. All pictures of the trunk lid are straight out of the gun. Check back for some more details!


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## gmjunkie (Jan 1, 2019)

Original color (marina turquoise) using Tamco brand paint.


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## Jetzster (Jan 18, 2020)

Wow lookin nice gm! great work & color


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## gmjunkie (Jan 1, 2019)

Jetzster said:


> Wow lookin nice gm! great work & color


Thanks! its really not been easy, and at times I wish I had scrapped the car when I found out how bad it was, but its all going to be worth it in a few more weeks when I see it in color for the first time


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## Joes1966GTO (Apr 27, 2020)

Absolutely amazing, GMJunkie.....great job and keep the photos coming. I'm still at an earlier point in my '66......finishing the frame with all new suspension, 4 wheel power disks and new lines. Next is the bodywork and your photos are an amazing inspiration. Thanks and keep up the great work.


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## gmjunkie (Jan 1, 2019)

Joes1966GTO said:


> Absolutely amazing, GMJunkie.....great job and keep the photos coming. I'm still at an earlier point in my '66......finishing the frame with all new suspension, 4 wheel power disks and new lines. Next is the bodywork and your photos are an amazing inspiration. Thanks and keep up the great work.


Sounds like some nice comfort options! Im glad you enjoy looking through them. Let me know if you need any help at any point of your restoration. And remember... they dont make full quarters for a 66 you have to modify the 67 to work using sections from your old quarters! Let me know if you have any questions on anything, happy to share some tips.


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## Joes1966GTO (Apr 27, 2020)

Thanks! I certainly will.


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## gmjunkie (Jan 1, 2019)

Well were in the home stretch now! 
On the interior side, the dash was completely pulled apart, all gauges were cleaned, the dash housing was painted to match the rest of the interior. The dash itself was painted satin black, new grab bar lucite etc. KilMat sound deadener has been installed on floor pan and roof, as well as in the quarter area.
The underside of the hood, tops of wheel wells and rad core support were all painted GM underhood black. The firewall was painted matte black. All of the trim has been test fit, the jams have been prepped and trimmed out. 

We finally moved onto wet sanding the whole car to prep for paint. The whole car was wet sanded with 600. We then taped her up and shot her. She got 4 coats of marina turquoise, 3 coats of clear. Were going to let her sit and cure for a week then wet sand again with 600, in prep to shoot 3 more coats of clear. After that, its time to hit her with 1000,3000, 5000 and buff her to a mirror shine. Shes finally coming together, its been a rough ride but definitely worth the time we put into her. Shes really going to be something special.


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## gmjunkie (Jan 1, 2019)

more pics


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## Jetzster (Jan 18, 2020)

Wow Awesome GM! Paint is already lookin So brite it’s hard to look at! Keep em comi’in🤙


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