# Hot Rod Power Tour Prep



## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

Dear Pontiac Friends,

Most of you know me as “Chief”. My son is “Thor7352”. We have been working on his 1964 Tempest restoration over in the restoration forum, but now we are taking a break to cruise with The Hot Rod Power Tour. Because the Tempest isn’t done yet, we will cruise with my 1965 GTO. The “65” is a Red hardtop with 389 Tri-Power & 4 speed. We are not going the whole distance of the Power Tour, just one leg of it from Indianapolis, Indiana to Muskegon, Michigan. To get the 65 GTO ready we need to make a few improvements. Here is the plan:

1) install a quick ratio steering box (because my arms get tired turning a corner with the 4:1 ratio)
2) front end alignment (1st time in over 29 years, but we replaced the center link last fall)
3) install a low pressure electric fuel pump back at the tank with a switch hidden under the dash (on rare occasions car has symptoms of vapor lock at the most inconvenient times)
4)	Install new tail lamp wiring harness (because at some point in history someone must have towed a trailer and attached trailer wiring. The harness is just old and no good anymore.)
5)	Repaint battery tray.
6)	And of course to state the obvious, oil change , lube job, check brakes, wax job, etc
7)	And finally…argue with my son, Thor, to see who get’s to drive it for lap around the track at Indy!!​
A little bit about the car….The car has been in the family since 1982. My Dad bought it to replace his 66 Tiger Gold GTO convertible that was rear ended on the Ohio Turnpike in 1981 when I was driving it home to Pennsylvania where I lived at the time. My folks were retired and living in Arizona. My Dad found the 65 in Arizona. I bought from him in 1988. 





























Anyways, I don’t want this post to get too long. We will keep posting with updates as we get ready for the Power Tour and Photos of any cool Tempests, LeMans & GTO’s on the power tour.

Chief


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## Thor7352 (Oct 11, 2010)

I'm driving it on the speedway.....


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

LOL cheif and Thor, have a great time, i was hoping my Tempest would be done to do the Muskegon to Metro beach leg. if i get her together maybe i will catch up with you two there, have a laundry list of finishing though, after painting it myself last weekend. have fun and be safe...arty:

1966 Tempest pictures by instg8ter - Photobucket

Brian


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## Thumpin455 (Feb 17, 2010)

Wish I could do it this year, just didnt work out. Maybe next year I can get my brothers to go along with their cars. Have fun, take lots of pics for us.


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## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

Status report on the 65 GTO Hot Rod Power Tour Prep

Thor & I took some vacation so we are going full speed ahead getting this car ready, Here is where we are at.

1) quick ratio PS Box - this crashed & burned, the new coupling (rag joint) was for a 13/16 input and the new box has a 3/4 input shaft Ames sent a different one 2nd day air but it was also a 13/16. 
2) Front End alignment - Sucess here, the car needed 2 ball joints, we can do this at home but because of time had the alignment shop do it, car handles great now and doesn't wander anymore.
3) Fuel pump - done, a little disappointed it must run all the time but hopefully no more vapor lock!!










4) tail light wiring harness - Done, all the lights work fine now and we should be safe for the trip. The wiring harness was an exact replacement.

5) Repaint ugly battery tray - Done

6)Oil change filter lube job adjust clutch ets - Done but noticed this on the front stabilizer, you would think this would be a simple job but nooo this took forever to accomplish.









So got new bushings but they were way too big









So trimmed with hack saw then fine tuned on beltsander









Bracket must have hit a curb or parking lot stop so it needed an attitude adjustment








Finally all set ready to install. Rubber looks crooked but with stabilizer it is straight. Also replaced stabilizer end link bushing & hardware.











7) it is going to be interested to see who gets to pilot that 65 at Indy, hopefully both of us!! Thor paid for the Power tour registration but it is my car.......

8) Thor also repainted the wheels to freshen them up alittle.


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## Thor7352 (Oct 11, 2010)

Chief's age is showing.... he seems to have forgotten that in addition to the HOT ROD POWER TOUR entry fee, I also paid for the hotel, oh and the full tank of gas that is in it ready to get us down there.... No attorney is going to side with him driving on the Indy circuit, besides it'll be dark and hard for the old guy to see.

-Thor


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Cheif, I suffered from the same fuel issue for years with my '67. It was vapor lock. A fan shroud and decent fan fixed the problem. The car was boiling the fuel in the lines and carb. I also very recently re-installed the vapor return fuel line set up my car came with , and it works fine. No need for an electric fuel pump IF all else is up to snuff. Throw a cheap repop plastic shroud on it...it just may "fix" the fuel problem!!


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## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

*Fan shroud*

Geeteeohguy,
I totally agree. I need to put a shrould on it. I will need to get a repro 17 fan first and then the shrould. The fan now is a 19 inch fan. Then it will look really cool. I also need to put the carb gaskets in with the slot to let hot air out. I goofed and put the solid ones in. I have them, just need to do it. The car still has the 5/16 lines and that may not be helping the situation either. Thanks for the input.
Chief


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## Thor7352 (Oct 11, 2010)

*Power Tour Score:*
Chief 0
Thor 534

*Miles Driven (Including Indianapolis Speedway  )
-Thor


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## chief65 (Jun 6, 2011)

*Hot Rod Power Tour was a Blast!!*

The Hot Rod Power Tour was a blast!!! We strongly recommend it for our Pontiac friends. Not a lot of Tempests, Lemans or GTOs but a wide variety of cool cars to see. I will post pictures later after I find out if it’s OK to post pictures of someone else’s car. As a minimum I need to photo-shop out the license plates so no one gets mad at me for posting a picture of their car. 
About driving on the Indy track – Thor won the argument and drove. Anyways it was fun to see him having a blast driving on the track. (Father’s day is coming and I hope he remembers that I let him drive)
The 65 ran mostly good. The new electric fuel pump died 15 miles from home and we had to bypass it with a piece of fuel hose and just use the mechanical pump. The old vapor lock problem happened about 3-4 times. This was the problem I was trying to avoid with the electric pump. On very hot days (it was 95F in Indy) after sitting at a traffic light for a long time then when you drive off and get about 75 – 100 feet away from the light the car runs out of gas for 2-3 seconds and then it is fine. It seems worse after turning from the light. So I will get a new fuel pump, switch to carb gaskets with slots, and replace all rubber hoses, if that doesn’t fix it, I will look at the sock in the tank. The car does need a fan shroud. The heat riser in exhaust manifold is open. Any other ideas to fix this??? But all in all we had a blast!!!
Chief


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Try the fan shroud first....worked for me!!!! It's amazing how much more air gets pulled thru the radiator core at slow/no speed with the shroud. Adding one to my '65 recently brought the temp down 15-20 degrees (after driving the car for 29 years without one!) and I live in Fresno, CA, where it tops 100 for many days of the year. The '65 never had vapor lock issues, though. My '67 did, and as I said before, the shroud flat out fixed it.


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