# Question... Want to Clone My 71 lemans to GTO.



## projectszero (Oct 9, 2008)

I have a 1971 Pontiac Lemans Sport Convertible, I am wanting to clone it to a GTO. My question is, what would I need to do cosmetic wise to clone it to a GTO ? I know I would need the endura bumper, hood, rear bumper, what else is there ? Emblems ? Decals ? ? Thanks in advance.


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Back in highschool I put a GTO clip on my 71 Lemans, front clip was $100 with hood, fenders and core support. Got the rear end out of it, 3.55 posi, boxed lowers and sway bar for $75.. But I was only making $2.75 an hour, so inflation must be added.. I only paid $125 for the 71 Lemans Sport!! Anyway, I'd try to find a donor car and save yourself tons of money.
Rear bumper is the same. Fill panel may be different, cut outs for the dual tips.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

.........and if you find a donor car, it'll BE a GTO, and you would be money ahead building it instead. Who knows, though. If you can get the parts, it's an easy project. Heck, go all the way. Make it a Judge! Jetstang, back when I was making $2.75 per hour or thereabouts, my buddy wrecked his Cameo Ivory '67 GTO the first day he got it. We went down to the wrecking yard, and got the entire front clip, including the radiator and AC condensor, for $100. It was even the same color!! Bolted it up and away we went.....Those were the days....I remember that there would be 3-5 GTO's in just about every junkyard I went to. Sigh....


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## Indecision (Oct 24, 2010)

geeteeohguy said:


> .........and if you find a donor car, it'll BE a GTO, and you would be money ahead building it instead.


That isn't necessarily true. If his car is in good condition and he just wants to cloan a goat he could arguably find a donor car that isn't worth restoring, but has the parts that he needs to convert his in a condition that he could work with.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Good point...I agree!!


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## projectszero (Oct 9, 2008)

I would like to make it a judge clone. If Im gonna clone it, might as well go all the way. LOL.


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## Thumpin455 (Feb 17, 2010)

I bought a bent 72 GTO back in 86, it took me until 97 to find the rust free hood, fenders, and headlight buckets, I found a slightly bent 71 GTO bumper in a junk yard in 87, but the rest of the car was done. Ive had offers over $1k for the front fenders and a bit more for the hood. The days of $100 front clips is long gone. Good luck finding the T41 stuff.  

I would leave it a LeMans, they are cool too. Even going to a 70 GTO front would be expensive, if you can find the bumper. You can get most of the 70 parts aftermarket. Unless you want to go fiberglass, then its a bit easier. VFN sells a one piece for $775 or thereabouts. Aftermarket 70 front fenders are around $500 each, and $500 for the hood. GM fenders were bringing stupid money for a while there for 70-72 because each year is unique to the GTO.


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## projectszero (Oct 9, 2008)

Dang, you're right. I did some more research and I am gonna have to come up with some good money to make it a nice clone. I didn't realize how much money I would have to drop in it to clone it. Maybe I should just leave it as a lemans sport. Im putting the car in the paint shop this week. Currently the exterior is black with yellow stripes, I do not want to go back to the yellow racing stripes, but being that my interior is custom yellow/black I need some yellow on the exterior. Any suggestions on a pin striping or something for the exterior ?


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## Indecision (Oct 24, 2010)

projectszero said:


> Dang, you're right. I did some more research and I am gonna have to come up with some good money to make it a nice clone. I didn't realize how much money I would have to drop in it to clone it. Maybe I should just leave it as a lemans sport. Im putting the car in the paint shop this week. Currently the exterior is black with yellow stripes, I do not want to go back to the yellow racing stripes, but being that my interior is custom yellow/black I need some yellow on the exterior. Any suggestions on a pin striping or something for the exterior ?


Judge stripes dude.


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## projectszero (Oct 9, 2008)

well, I actually ordered the Judge Stripes from ebay , cost me right at $302.00. It's just that Im not sure to go ahead and put the stripes on, even though Im not following through with the cloning process , or if it would be best to just do some pin stripping of some sort. It really does need some yellow on the exterior, interior has a lot of yellow that the previous owner customized.


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## projectszero (Oct 9, 2008)

Now dont laugh,,,, but here is a pic of the inteior to show you what I mean by "YELLOW" lol..


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

:agree judge stripes for the color...spoiler can always be added, when you find a deal on one. Was it 71' 455 HO had an air foil wing and in 72' they switched to a Firebird like Duck tail spoiler although very few were made. Resto book shows the ducktail on a 72, wonder if you could modify a TA one as they are a more prevalent and look similar.


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## Indecision (Oct 24, 2010)

The seats aren't bad, but I would repaint the dash and stuff black if I were you... it's a bit much. Maybe some yellow pinstriping to keep it matching the seats, but the whole yellow dash is brutal.


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

Buy a few cans of vinyl die and black the interior out!! Then forget about the yellow. A bad die job is better than that IMO.. Mask everyithing off good to reduce overspray.
Look at my profile, I made a Jury car and it turned out great! There are so few Lemans/GTO's out there that it doesn't matter, nobody knows what it is now days anyway. Why wait on finishing the car trying to find a front end. Paint the bumpers like they did in the day and call it good.:cheers


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## DukeB-120th (Oct 19, 2009)

Yeah man, I feel like you are going to be less than satistfied if you just stay with a car that has such a significant aspect of "that's the previous owner's handiwork." Why work within the confines of what someone else did to YOUR car? I support making the exterior black without any pinstripes or doodads and starting a war on the yellow interior.... unless the yellow and some sort of exterior yellow flashes are what you actually REALLY LIKE... then go for it.


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## projectszero (Oct 9, 2008)

Well, I would love it if the whole interior was blacked out. I just dont have the cash right now to reupholster the door panels and seats. I am dropping the car at a paint shop this week and all of my money is going towards the body/paint. I found the dash caps on ebay for less then $150 so a new dash is not a problem. My concern is with the door panels and seats, I dont want to paint them with vinyl paint and then have it come out worse. Im just gonna take it slow and do little by little and have the interior reupholstered . Unless someone here on the forum can vouch for the vinyl paint, then I may go that route. Anyone here use vinyl paint ?


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

I've used vinyl die, it works good. You just have to make sure to totally degrease the surface and follow the prep directions for the product. Some shops just use paint for the interior, saw them do that on unique whips, glad I can't afford to take my car to them. Using the die on the seats may be sketchy, but for the panels that don't flex much it shouldn't be an issue, dash and doorpanels..
I bought a dash cap and it doesn't fit that well, you can still see the old dash edges under it, I have a dash mat on top of the cap. Guess I need to die it and try to mount it up correctly..


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## DukeB-120th (Oct 19, 2009)

projectszero said:


> Well, I would love it if the whole interior was blacked out. I just dont have the cash right now to reupholster the door panels and seats. I am dropping the car at a paint shop this week and all of my money is going towards the body/paint. I found the dash caps on ebay for less then $150 so a new dash is not a problem. My concern is with the door panels and seats, I dont want to paint them with vinyl paint and then have it come out worse. Im just gonna take it slow and do little by little and have the interior reupholstered . Unless someone here on the forum can vouch for the vinyl paint, then I may go that route. Anyone here use vinyl paint ?


There ya go, just be patient, save up, and do it right so you can be proud of your ride! :cheers


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