I removed all the engine accessories such as the alternator, starter, power steering pump, carburetor, etc. I removed the hood, and stripped everything off the firewall. Since this was a California car, the nuts and bolts came apart with relative ease. I removed the radiator and core support, the inner fenders, steering column and steering box and front bumper. Before I got hold of my senses, I had the whole front clip removed, with the exception of the front fenders.
The heater core did indeed have a leak, so the heater box was openned and the core replaced. I replaced the firewall pad before repainting and reassembling the heater box. I thoroughly cleaned the engine, front portion of the frame, front suspension and firewall with laquer thinner, and repainted each the correct color. New gas shocks were installed, after painting them the appropriate Delco gray color. New sway bar bushings and links were installed. A correct set of exhaust manifolds were obtained, sand blasted, painted with Eastwood's high temp manifold paint, and installed. I replaced the starter. The power stearing pump, as well as all the brackets for it and the alternator, were blasted and painted. I replaced the alternator and fuel pump. A correct 7 blade fan was located, refinished and installed along with a new fan clutch. The brake booster was sand blasted and repainted using Eastwood's Gold Cad paint system. The master cylinder was blasted, painted, sleeved and rebuilt. The wiper motor was stripped and repainted. The valve covers and air cleaner were rechromed. I replaced the engine wiring harness, as the original was cut and spliced in several places, and obtained the correct wire holder and guides. The front lamp harness which also runs through the engine compartment was cleaned with solvent and rewrapped with new harness tape.
The underside of the hood, inner fenders and radiator core support were all sand blasted and repainted the correct GM semi gloss black. New rubber splash shields were mounted to the inner fenders. The hood hinges were blasted and painted. As each part was refinished, it was carefully reinstalled, using the correct fasteners, clamps, fittings, etc. By November, everything I had disassembled was back together...for the most part.
While this work was progressing, I would pick up the local Trading Times every few weeks looking for parts. I had planned on switching the front drum brakes to discs, and I wanted to add a rear sway bar. In the Spring of '96, I happened across an ad for NOS Walker replacement exhaust parts. Through this ad, I purchased a set of front exhaust pipes and rear tailpipes for $125. In November, I saw an ad for 1966 GTO parts. I contacted the person who placed the ad figuring he might have a few minor items that I needed. After some small talk, I told him I was trying to put together a set of Rally I's, and asked if he had any of the rims or trim pieces. As it turned out, he had a complete set with bias ply reproduction redlines and was asking a very reasonable price! And to top it off, he lived only ten minutes away. While getting the wheels and tires, he mentioned that he had a rebuildable tri-power. Another $300 and it was mine! In that same Trading Times issue, I found a guy parting out a 72 Grand Prix, and got the front rotor/spindle assemblies from him for $75. I felt like I won the lottery that weekend.
Over the winter, I rebuilt the tri-power with lots of helpfull advice from Mike Wasson of Mikes's Tri-powers. The manifold was sand blasted. The carbs were torn down, bead blasted, redyed and rebuilt using kits and new floats. I also disassembled my front grills, repainted them, polished the aluminum and chrome trim pieces, and reassembled them.
Another project in the Spring of 1997 kept me from getting a jump on my Goat, but in June I turned my attention to the undercarriage. I removed the drive shaft, parking brake cable and fuel tank. I found what was left of the build sheet on top of the tank. From what I could make out, it basically reiterated the information found on the billing history received from PHS. I removed the rear end, which at this point was the last thing left under the car. I spent many hours scrubbing the underside of the floors and the frame with scotch pads, then finished prepping with rags and paint thinner. The fuel and brake lines were painted silver to stand out against the frame. Thinking that contrasting gloss levels would be noticable under the car, I painted the frame members independently of the floorboards with a semi-gloss Rustoleum (Satin 7777). Then I covered the frame with tape and newspaper and sprayed the underbody with semi-flat Krylon. The effect is that the frame was painted separately from the car, as it would have been during assembley at the factory. In the end, I don't know that it was worth the extra effort.
I sand blasted and refinished the gas tank and drive shaft with the appropriate colors and detail. The drive shaft also received new universal joints. I sand blasted and painted the rear end, as well as the rear control arms after removing the bushings. I replaced the gear lube in the rear end, as well as a leaking bearing seal on the left side of the axle. The oil leaking from this seal had soaked the brake shoes and is what was causing that wheel to lock up. The brakes were rebuilt with new wheel cylinders, shoes and spring kits.
I had the drums turned, then sand blasted and painted them. The brake cables and housings were bead blasted, clear coated and lubricated. I replaced all eight rear control arm bushings, then reinstalled the rear end under the car using new springs and gas shocks. I reinstalled the drive shaft and gas tank. I replaced the center parking brake cable as the original had begun to fray. After a long search through the local parts store chains for over the counter mufflers which I thought I could adapt, I picked up a set of factory spec replacements from Kepich Exhaust in Florida. I sand blasted the pipes and painted them and the mufflers with high temp silver paint. All the new hangers were detail painted as well. I bolted it all in place under the car using zinc plated clamps.
By now it was late July, and I wanted to get the car on the road before Summer was over. So I decided to forego the front disc conversion for the time being.
However, the front brakes received the same treatment as the rears; new wheel cylinders, shoes and springs; turned, blasted and painted drums. The rally wheels looked to have been sand blasted at some earlier point in time, however the finish looked incorrect, so they were scuffed off and repainted. The tri-power was installed and a reproduction R-59 battery installed. The car cranked right over.
The finished product is what is seen here. After chasing down and resolving a couple of annoying coolant leaks, I've managed to enjoy the car a little before Summer was over.
