# My 66 GTO resurrection



## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Alright so I decided I would start a thread and show the progress on my 66 GTO. I have asked questions here and there and really appreciate all the help I have received. I picked this car up 2 years ago for my 21st birthday. The car has sat in my dads shop the past 2 years with very little work being done to it. Since my college athletic career has ended I have been able to put a lot of time into this project. I started this christmas break with no experience and a brand new mig welder :cool I will do the entire car myself including paint. I will post up pics of what I have done and continue to update my progress.

I know some may look down on the way I am restoring this car but I am on a very limited budget and am doing this almost entirely by myself, with a little help from my dad. I started with zero experience an of course suggestions are always welcomed.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Well after looking the car over good I realize I am in way over my head. I have a lot of hours into this car and I can honestly say it should have been a donor car. Just about everything needs to be worked on.
So we decided to do a ******* frame off and me and my pops pulled the body off and suspended the car with 4 sawhorses and a couple 4x4's I then set about fixing both front floor pans.


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## facn8me (Jul 30, 2011)

Looks like it's coming along nicely.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

I won't bore everyone with a step by step of what I have done and will bring the restoration up to speed from when I started in december. I have welded in the floor pans and have just recently painted the inside of the car including cleaning out everythign under the dash and painting it as well. I have also painted most of the frame (sandblaster broke and am waiting to finish up the a-arms and crossmember). Like how I have it hoisted up lol, like a said this is a low budget restoration. I have repaired the front window section where the corners have rusted out. This past weekend I replaced the rear deck filler and am currently working on patching around the rear windshield area.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

looks like your doing a fine job....nothing wrong with doing things on a budget, these cars are for driving get it on the road and have fun. My Tempest was a budget build, luckily i had no welding but i did it all myself including paint in a 8 month span....and i had'nt wrenched on cars in 20 years when i started....:cheers


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Hey Logchain,
No one here's going to make fun of you. Hats off to you for jumping in and taking this on yourself. You're going to learn a lot and you'll have something to be proud of when you get done. Even guys like Chip Foose and George Barris had a "first car" somewhere along the line, they weren't born knowing how to do this stuff.

Bear


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Logchain, most of us got into this car thing when we were young. You're doing great, in my opinion. You're learning valuable skills, being constructive, and you'll have a killer rend-product. If you want to see ROUGH, pull up some of Too Many Projects' posts on the '67 he's doing. Your car is a cherry compared to what he began with. Nobody is here to put you down....we all want to see you succeed, and we're all here to help. Another '66 GTO on the road sounds pretty good to me!!
Jeff


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Appreciate all the support guys. Car has come a long ways but still got a long ways to go. Still need to do the entire trunk as well as both quarter panels. Both wheelhouses are in rough shape and one will need to be replaced due to a collision to the quarter panel that has nearly an inch of bondo on it. I didn't know they could build it up that high lol. Im going to attempt to do the quarters on my own, has anyone done them before and how hard is it? Also I get the motor back this week :cool


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Just A quick update. Got my transmission back today, had it totaly rebuilt. Have a total of 520 in it so came out pretty good. The machine shop also called me and told me my motor is ready to be picked up :cheers Gonna swoop it up Thursday. Things are startin to come together.


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## 389tripower65GTO (Feb 2, 2012)

Hey Logchain,
Exactly what the other guys said. We're all crazy enough to restore these cars,
so we all help each other out.
Lots of experience and knowledge here. I'm glad you are part of the gang,
and the car is coming along great!


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

LogChain,Take a look at what I started with......this is my 5th GTO. You will know every inch of that sweetie when you get done!!! Eric :cheers


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## bayou4us (Nov 27, 2011)

Hats off to you for doing this project and not paying someone else to do it.!! This will be a great learning experence for you in more ways than can see.:seeya:


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Appreciate all the support. Its definitely a trip, caused a lot of headaches so far. Eric I looked at some of your projects and it makes me feel better about mine lol. Picked the 389 up today from the machine shop :cheers guy did a great job. Can't wait to get it put together and fire it up. 

Gettin closer to assembling the car, lookin to make a big push here in the next month or two and get the car on the road. I have a quick question about wiring. Im gonna replace all my wiring and found a complete wiring harness on ebay. Its a lot cheaper than going through Ames or OPGI. Wondering what you all thought about it?

64 65 66 67 PONTIAC GTO WIRE WIRING HARNESS KIT 1964 1965 1966 1967 510188 | eBay


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## MO Goat (Apr 7, 2011)

Looking great and good for you for taking it on yourself! I'm doing a project now too and didn't have the stones to take on what you're doing. 
I do a lot on eBay and one tip I've learned is to always look at the seller's feedback. "Mako 1972" has 100% positive feedback with nearly 2,000 transactions so I would say he's relatively safe.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Been awhile since I have posted and a long time since I worked on the car. Just finished up spring ball last week so finally got home to get some work done. Finished up the outsides of the rear window and got hooked up with a guy on ebay that cut the top back of the roof off a donor car and mailed it to me so should have that wrapped up soon. Patched up the drivers side rear wheelhouse which was a bear. I have also started in on the trunk. Got a lot of little things to wrap up then were gonna drop the body back on the frame. Lookin to start workin again and get the money flowin, gonna pay to have the quarters replaced and more than likely shoot it with epoxy primer and clear coat for the rest of the summer until I can save up for a good paint job :lol: That is unless I get ballsy enough to paint it myself.

AlsoHow hard is it to do fender patches? One of mine needs to be patched, wondering about difficulty. Thanks


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

the epoxy primer will be fine on its own, it dries hard and is non porous and solvent proof once cured, actually you want to spray a coat of epoxy before you do filler, it will bond much better with the epoxy as a sealer coat. When you get body done hit it with a few coats if you plan on waiting for paint, if not paint over the high build primer. May as well rent a booth and squirt it yourself too, not that difficult if you follow procedure and it will save you a ton of cash.....i know....


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Instg8ter you always boost my confidence. I was gonna hit it with epoxy before body filler. I am toying with the idea of doing it all myself. How hard is body filler work? I heard its like 200+ hours, im not looking to get razor sharp body lines but I do want it to look good. Also what paint gun did you use? If I can save some money and not botch it up to bad I'm down to try it.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Thanks Log, thats what we are here for, You Can Do It!!...and yes you will spend many hours block sanding but that is the key to a nice paint job...the spraying is done in around 8 hours, so the body work is 90% of the job. Who else will care more about the finish of your car than you?...that is why a GOOD paint job costs so much, your paying for them to care. Look up Paintucation forum, lots of good folks and info there to help you make a decision, thats where Bear learned and look at that Black Beast(hardest color to spray). If you decide to tackle it let me know i have a great prep sheet that a painter buddy wrote for me, and i am sure Bear and others will chime in with some tips. I would suggest trying to rent a booth for the color and clear, usually they will let you use the good guns along with masking equipment. As for the primer a Harbor Freight or other midrange HVLP gun will be fine for spraying the primers in your garage and for practice (any goofs will get sanded away). Take a peek at my photobucket it shows the progression of the whole process, if i do another i am gonna put a camera on a wall mount and shoot a pic from the same angle every time, think it would be neat to have a slide show movie from beginning to end in time lapse.


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## facn8me (Jul 30, 2011)

Looks like it's coming along. Just got mine sanded down and a epoxy primer on it. Talk about seeing every ding dent and wave. Just take your time. Nice thing is./ If you screw up. let it dry and sand it off and start over. I have way more time than money so I do what I can. Thankfully I have no time frame to be done so the only pressure is wanting to drive it.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Alright, well im pretty sure I will try and tackle it myself. Actually I ordered some sanding blocks on Eastwood last night along with some epoxy primer lol. Couple more questions, whats the best way to get all the old paint off my car, should I take it to someone or strip it myself by hand? Also what body filler do you prefer, I get confused with all the different types? 
facn8me your car looks great man cant wait till I have mine in primer and Instg8ter your photobucket is going to be a big help. I appreciate all the advice guys.


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## facn8me (Jul 30, 2011)

Easiest way to get paint off or best? Cause I know of neither. I used 180 to take the last layer of paint off. The majority of my car still had original paint. Some place went to bare metal some didin't. If I was stripping to bare metal I woulda went with a courser grit but did not want big sand marks in what was left. Then I went 400 over the entire car. Those sanding blocks frickin ROCK. I got the 7 piece kit and am so glad I did. So a air compresser. A d/a and board sander. Sanding blocks and more sandpaper than you want to use and it'll be ready to start doing body work. As far as opinions on specific products. I'm new and just figuring out what I want. I will be putting a urethane on so all the products I get have to be compatible.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

So I take it you did most of the paint stripping with the D/A right? I ordered the 7 piece dura-block sanding kit. Hopefully those will be the only blocks I need. Thinkin about tryin the evercoat quantum 1 body filler as it says you dont need a glazing putty, all this stuff is still foreign to me.
Looks like I will pick up a good D/A sander and some 180 and 400 grit paper. Appreciate the knowledge, lookin forward to making some more progress.


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Good luck on the body work. I've painted 20 cars over the year, now, at 46, I'm swapping work at my buddies body shop. I'm doing my daughters 99 Dodge Dakota. I just wanted it shiny, now a week later it's finally in primer with tons of work done. Everything I did got redid by the shop pros, so made me feel not so good. I got to spray the primer, and may actually spray paint-on the roof, lol.. But, when the line file stopped I tore it down, cleaned it out and got it working again, while they would of sent it off..
Work body work like a blind man, feel the body and fix it. I am learning a ton with the pro's, I feel good til they tell me I'm not good, but learning.
The DA is not a body tool, it's a rough in/nib tool, all body work will be done with sanding blocks working with the body rolls of the car.. A car will never get straight working with a DA.. Quote.. LOL


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

on the rear quarters i used a 4' piece of 1/2" x 3 1/2" PVC house trim board and that only covered 1/2 the rear quarter per swipe, its rigid enough to cut good but flexible enough to hug the slight contour.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Im only going to use the DA to remove the old paint, not looking forward to the trunk as it is full of old paint/dirt. Instg8ter how many hours did you put into body filler work? I picked up some vercoat quantum 1 filler to practice around with.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

a few hundred best guess...all i know is every night i would walk around the car and mark any imperfections with a white charcoal pencil for the next night....this went on for a full two months. Mine was used as a shelf for 35 years so it was all dings and waves in the big flat panels nothing major and a fair trade off for hole free factory metal. the trick is to use a guide coat, after stripping with the DA spray a black epoxy primer sealer. once cured take a can of gray primer and spray a lite mist over the panels just enough to leave fine grey specs on the black. Start dry sanding with a block and the finest paper that will cut the epoxy the areas that cut first are the high points and the areas that are left with the grey specs are your low points fill deeper than 1/8" with filler (rage premium), under that use polyester spot filler (body icing) sand them to where they "feel" smooth with your hand, prime with high build 2K primer in the proper primer color for your chosen final color (yes there are recommended primer colors for specific paint colors)and guide coat again with a contrasting color. This process will be repeated 3-4 times in most cases before you will even want to think about squirting 1500 worth of BC/CC on it especially with us beginners. I said you would save a ton of money but you will have to earn it... With each coat you will go to a higher grit paper and be working smaller low spots, after third coat you wetsand all the way down to 500 and are basically down to removing the deeper sanding scratches....once done with water sponged on the primer it should reflect like a mirror. Also when sanding a body line apply tape to one side and sand the other just until you start scuffing the tape edge then clean and tape the other side and do the same, thats how you get razor sharp lines and not wavy rolled over ones. A bodyman told me there is no such thing as a straight "bondo" (filler) free classic car, trick is to keep it as thin as possible, by the time you are straight it will pretty much have a complete skim coat on it. Take the trunk off and start with that, once you get that flat you will be a pro....trunk and hood were by far the hardest to get straight, anything big and flat will be wavy.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Let me make a couple recommendations. Buy yourself a set of Kevin Tetz's Paintucation videos (WWW.paintucation.com and other places ) and also go sign up over at his forum. ( http://www.leopardsystems.com/paintucationforum/) When I started in on my 69 I had zero experience or knowledge with anything having to do with paint and body work. Everything I did I learned mostly from those two resources. The guys on the forum over there are terrific. Just be patient as responses can take a few days sometimes, but when they come they'll be right.

Bear


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Been really busy lately but still making progress. Got the rear end blasted and painted along with the core support and some other parts. Finally got the rear end put back on the frame tonight along with some new KYB shocks. Hopefully get the front end put together next weekend, which means its almost time to drop the body back on :cool just need to finish welding up the trunk.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Just another quick update. Finally took the plunge on the trunk tonight after looking at it for about a month. Wasnt as bad as I thought it would be, ran into a little trouble in the top but will be an easy fix tomorow. My exhuast system also came in today along with a rear disc conversion. My old man took on the job of removing the old bushings from the A-arms, After a lot of drilling, sawing, and cussing he finally got one side done. Those bushings are a bear to remove.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

find someone with an arbor/bench press and they are a breeze


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## likethat (Oct 5, 2007)

I have a 20ton big press it was still a pain in the arse to get out the bushings front and rear. I made spacers to put in the ones that where flexing with the press.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Things have been moving along. Used my dads 12 ton press and replaced the bushings and the lower ball joints. Finally got the trunk mostly finished just some body filler work to hide the seams of my butt welds. Almost done reassembling the fornt end as well. Getting close to dropping the body back on. Hopefully put the motor back together this weekend :cool


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## facn8me (Jul 30, 2011)

Coming along nicely


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Nice work! Thanks for posting........


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Another update. Football season really slowed progress down, but we did get a bi-week this week so I was able to get home and progress a little further. Had the car sandblasted a couple weeks ago and treated it with some phosphoric acid. Was able to get most of the bottom undercoated (It was a Montana car and was undercoated from factory)
One more question, what is the best way to weld the trunk braces in to make sure they will align properly with the frame? Should I set the body on the frame and tack-weld them in the correct position?


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

a lot of guys spend a lot of time trying to get the Ziebart off that has protected the frame and pan and in my case the original body for the last 45 years, good call on just re-coating. We ourselves are the only ones that see the underside unless its a 100 point show car. If someone asks me why i did'nt strip the frame I say its a dealer installed option so why would i spend 100 hrs trying to remove it when it will last another 45 years.


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Hey fellas. Been a long time since I have posted on my progress, which sadly hasn't been much. Life has settled down though and I have a decent job so I'm putting my attention back towards the goat. Goal is to have her on the road this summer. We have the body back on the frame. Only body work left is to have a lower quarter patch and a full quarter replaced, looking to have that done professionally here in a month or two. Just finished up the motor as well  Saw it all painted up for the first time this past weekend and I couldn't believe it was mine haha. I will post some pictures.
The issue I am having now is with the rear axle housing. It seems like the axle housing where the axle slides in is slightly bent up on the passenger side. I can slide the axles in but the car only wants to roll backwards. Any ideas what the problem might be? I was thinking the pinion yoke might need to be ran down and fully tightened but I'm not sure. Most likely I will try to find a new 10bolt housing and just replace the whole thing which I'm not looking forward to doing, it was a pain getting this one in with the coil springs and all.
Thanks again everyone looking forward to continued progress in the coming months.


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

looking good, If you have the big power brake booster the rear drivers side of those tall valve covers might hit the booster.


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

No sir, tightening the yoke down is not a good idea nor will it correct anything with the axles. Tightening the pinion nut down will only pull the pinion gear closer to the housing. Bad things can result from this. Matt


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## Logchain (Nov 29, 2011)

Then I am really at a loss for what the issue is. I know when we first got the car it rolled forward and backward just fine. The only thing that has changed is after market axles but those seem to be fine and I doubt that would be the problem.


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

When you lift both wheels off the ground, will they turn? Assuming you have drum brakes, are they adjusted too tight? Matt


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

If it was "rolling fine" before but now it's not, then the problem pretty much has to be related to whatever you changed since the time it was rolling...

Bear


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## G8assassin (Apr 15, 2015)

Did a search for KYB shocks to see what people are using on their 66's GTO's. Came across this old thread and was wondering whatever happened to this guy? Did he ever finish his restoration? Last post was in 2014.

I'm in the middle of my first restoration and it was nice to read someone else doing the same thing and making great progress.

-KB-


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