“A Tradition Of Performance” Website: · “A Tradition Of Performance” Website: . President...

“A Tradition Of Performance” Website: www.gtoaa.org

President Bob Alexander (970) 221-0754 2950 Neil Drive, Unit 10 Fort Collins, CO 80526 [email protected]

Club Store & Board Member Robert J. & Connie Maher 5829 Stroebel Road (989) 781-0807 Saginaw, MI 48609-5249 [email protected]

Legend Editor & Board Member Tom Szymczyk phone (856) 439-0314 30 Sandhurst Drive fax (856) 866-9003 Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054-6206 [email protected]

Board Member & Past President Bill Markowski 1341 Stolle Road (716) 652-1911 Elma, NY 14059-9734 [email protected]

Membership Coordinator / Board Member Beth Butcher P.O. Box 213 (970) 493-3932 Timnath, CO 80547-0213 [email protected]

Chapter Coordinator / Commercial Advertising / Board Member John & Diana Johnson (573) 581-8013 620 N. Jefferson Mexico, MO 65265-3217 [email protected] fax: (573) 581-6486

Chief Technical Advisor Steve Lucas 230 South Hudson (630) 964-8508 Westmont, IL 60559-1936 [email protected]

Feature Editor Jim Sternburgh (AKA Jim Stern) 3820 Ohio Ave. Unit #5 (630) 258-2615 St Charles, IL 60174 [email protected]

Webmaster Sean Mattingly 335 East 360 North (765) 608-1109 Anderson, IN 46012 [email protected]

Concours Judging Chairman Jon Wacholtz 706 13th Avenue SW (507) 433-5201 Austin, MN 55912-2726 [email protected]

Convention Coordinator Steve Hedrick 3676 Morgan Way (636) 942-4020 Imperial, MO 63052 [email protected]

1964 Mike Schulz (952) 472-2125 4878 Edgewater Dr Mound, MN 55364-2006

1965 Scott Tiemann (517) 647-2433 11817 E. Grand River Portland, MI 48875

1966 Marvin Minarich, Sr. (815) 467-0381 26265 West Highland Drive Channahon, IL 60410 [email protected]

1967 Terry Weiner 409 Ronnie Drive Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-1151 (847) 952-1800 ext 3004 (days)

1968 Ed Dreksler (352) 622-3281 2208 N.E. 40th Terrace Ocala, FL 34470-3171 [email protected]

1969 Kevin Beal (603) 313-9696 PO Box 367 Marlborough, NH [email protected]

1970 Quint Stires (603) 903-0142 26 Kingsbury Street Keene, NH 03431 [email protected]

1971 Dan Jensen (517) 647-2474 & 72 11929 E. Grand River Portland, MI 48875-8444

1973 Bill Markowski (716) 652-1911 1341 Stolle Road Elma, NY 14059-9734 [email protected]

1974 Terry Doolittle (541) 476-4280 543 Serenity Lane Grants Pass, OR 97526-9795

2004-06 Jonathan Schwenn (414) 687-6470 735 Longwood Drive Algonquin IL 60102 [email protected]

Judges Jon Wacholtz (507) 433-5201 706 13th Ave S.W. Austin, MN 55912-2726 [email protected]

GT-37 John Sawruk 667 Oxhill Court White Lake, MI 48386-2336

Paint Gary Cave (301) 868-3483 & Body 7805 Ferry Avenue Clinton, MD 20735-1702

Differentials Position Open

Volunteers may send resumes to Steve Lucas, Chief Tech Advisor

Exhaust Systems Gardner Exhaust Systems 15 Glenn Pond Drive Red Hook, NY 12571 (845) 758-8003

Engine Interchange & Heads Ronald Rocchi Pontiac Performance Engineering 9444 N. Marion Morton Grove, IL 60053-1258 (847) 966-0998 [email protected]

Carburetors Jon Hardgrove 204 East 15th Eldon, MO 65026-2524 (573) 392-7378 (8-5CST)

www.thecarburetorshop.com

VENDOR DISCOUNT PROGRAM Participating Companies

A&M Soff Seal 800-426-0902

The Paddock, Inc. 800-428-4319

Performance Years GTOs 800-542-7278

Warpath Restoration Parts 440-845-4612

Year One, Inc. 800-950-9503

The Legend

Tech info

Magazine subscription: USA $30 per year, Canada $33 US funds, all others $40 US funds. Send subscription request to GTOAA, PO Box 455, Timnath, CO 80547-0455. Visa & MasterCard accepted, add $2.00. Send card number, expiration date, and signature. Missing newsletters or change of address: direct correspondence to Beth Butcher, PO Box 213, Timnath, CO 80547. Include membership number. Copyright 2007. Chapter publications may reprint articles with appropriate credit. GTO Association of America, Inc. is a limited liability, non-profit Colorado Corporation, tax exempt under Internal Revenue code section 501(c)(7). The Legend is published monthly for $30 per year USA (Canada $33, foreign $40) by the GTO Association of America, PO Box 213, 4324 Dixon Street, Timnath, CO 80547. Second class postage paid at Timnath, CO 80547, USPS # 013-191. POSTMASTER send address changes to The Legend, GTOAA, PO Box 213, Timnath, CO 80547.

GTOAA TECH ADVISORY STAFF online: visit www.gtoaa.org, click on "Tech Advisors"- links to PY Forums

1 November 2007

IN THIS ISSUE Volume 25 Number 11

November 2007

1 Officer & Staff Info

2 First Gear Tom Szymczyk

3 From The Prez’s Pen Bob Alexander

4 Too Many Loose Ends John Sawruk

6 New Additions Curtis Knauss

7 Sweating The Details Jeff Lovich

10 Cover Car Feature Randy Pribyl

13 Chapter News John Johnson

14 Club Store

17 Chapter Directory

19 Lucky Or Blessed Jim Stern

24 Engine Bay Detailing Jim Pontiff

26 Ad Policy

27 Classifieds

Dues Reminder As we have mentioned in just about

every issue this year, membership dues will go up to $35 starting in January 2008. (Canadian members $40, other countries $50 US.) This increase offsets the many printing and postage increases we have incurred over the past ten years. In today's dollars, your membership is still less than the cost of a tank of gas in your GTO. Or half a tank in your tow vehicle if you trailer it.

So, if your membership renewal is for January 2008 or later, please remem-ber that the $35 dues start with that month. Membership coordinator Beth Butcher sends out renewal reminders two months ahead and again one month ahead of your renewal. So if your re-newal date is January or later, your re-newal reminder card will reflect the $35 dues. If for some reason you send in the old $30 dues amount, Beth will pro-rate your membership for ten months instead of twelve.

Chapter Survey Time Starts Now

On page 13 this month, John John-son reminds chapter officers that the 2008 GTOAA Chapter Survey will be mailed sometime in November. If your club holds elections in November, this gives you the opportunity to record the updated officer information for the new people for 2008. Please make sure we get the proper addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail contact info.

The Chapter Survey package also contains four half-price GTOAA mem-bership forms for those 2008 chapter of-ficers, which are good up to the February 15, 2008 deadline. So get working on that Chapter Survey ASAP. See John's article for complete details. I'm sure John will remind you again next month.

Reader Ideas Member Carl Dickson wrote to

point out that in the car show results in the Convention issue, the Popular Vote cars had colors listed and the Concours cars did not. Good point. I will try to squeeze in that info next year. It will just require smaller type to make it fit.

While we're on the car color subject, many people have noted that some cars (in Popular Vote where colors were listed) show actual colors (Reef Tur-quoise for example) and some are just listed as "blue" or "gold." Yes, a blue car could be Nightwatch, Tyrol, Adriatic, Montreux, Fontaine, Fathom, Barbados, Impulse, Alpine, Nordic, Yorktown, Atoll, Lucerne, etc. Or some special or-der or custom mixed color.

The problem is that unless the en-trant writes down the actual color on their entry form, all that goes in the Meet database is "blue" and that's what ends up in The Legend. So it's up to each en-trant to provide sufficient information. I print what I receive from the host chap-ter, who in turn sends the information that was provided originally.

Carl also suggested that the Con-cours cars be grouped by year. Someone else recommended listing the Concours winners alphabetically. Either way is okay with me. Let me know what you would prefer and I will try to enter things that way next year. Thanks to Carl for opening the door to these ideas. More Ideas Welcome

Your thoughts, suggestions, com-plaints, comments, letters, and ideas are always welcome. My e-mail address is [email protected] and my phone number is (856) 439-0314. Feel free to call anytime up to midnight Eastern Time. Operators are standing by.

The Legend 2 November 2007

HIGHLIGHTS: Liability Insurance Increase for 2008 Insurance Forms Available on Our Website Online Upgrades Update Pitch for the 2008 Meet in Saratoga Springs, NY

Though most of our chapters have concluded their cruises, car shows, and other events for 2007, I’m sure several are already planning for success in 2008. Liability insurance coverage is always an important consideration in your event planning process. Due to the feedback I received at this year’s Council of Presi-dents' meeting, I learned that more and more property owners are asking for two million dollars in liability insurance cov-erage. With that in mind, I investigated the feasibility of increasing liability in-surance coverage for our compliant chapters from one to two million dollars.

After reviewing the cost difference with our insurance agent, I learned that we would pay approximately $600 more to increase our coverage. After a quick review with the Board of Directors, we basically decided it was a no-brainer to increase the liability insurance coverage, especially since the increased premium will not break the bank. Furthermore, our compliant chapters will still not be required to pay to obtain coverage for their events.

So, starting in January of next year, compliant chapters will be able to secure two million dollars in liability coverage for their events. The Directors and I sin-cerely hope that this increase in coverage will accommodate the requirements at any venue. Don’t forget to submit your request for an insurance certificate well in advance (at least one month) of your event date.

Chapters, to make it easier to proc-ess your insurance requests, please note that you can access all insurance related

forms and instructions on our website. Just look for the link on the main page, then access that link and print the insur-ance coverage summary and review it carefully. You must ensure that that you understand the limitations of our liability coverage. Next, print the request form and the instructions. Follow the instruc-tions carefully while you complete the request form. It should only take about 10 minutes to complete the form. Then, send the form to J.C. Taylor and you should have a certificate within two

weeks. Again, if you have any questions on insurance related matters, contact our agent at J.C. Taylor at the number pro-vided in the insurance instructions.

Along with the addition of the in-surance documents to our website, other important and exciting upgrades con-tinue to progress. Last month, I men-tioned that you will likely see an online membership maintenance system and an

online Club Store by the end of this year. Thanks to the efforts of Jon Schwenn, our 2004-2006 GTO Tech Advisor, and our Webmaster Sean Mattingly, the timeline for the aforementioned capabili-ties remains on track! Frequently check the website for these and other upgrades in the upcoming months.

Though this year’s Meet ended only four months ago, it is already time to start thinking about the 2008 event. The Electric City GTO Club guys have an outstanding website for you to review with links to information on the host ho-tel and the local area. Think about regis-tering soon because I am confident that this is going to be another large, well-attended event.

In the coming months, look for de-tailed updates in The Legend on the schedule of events and other important Meet-related news. Also, I anticipate that online Meet registration will be available in the near future or maybe even the by the time you read this article. According to the feedback I received, this year’s online registration process worked well and members appreciated the convenience. For those of you that prefer the old fashioned method of regis-tration, don’t worry, that will option will still be available via The Legend or I’m sure the Electric City folks will provide an online link for printing the registra-tion forms.

Thanks to all of you for your sup-port of the GTOAA. Please keep those ideas and feedback coming!

Starting in January of next year, com-pliant chapters will be able to secure two million dollars in liability coverage for their events.


John M. Sawruk, P.E., GM Pontiac Historian

It’s becoming obvious to me that no matter how long I live, how many speeches I give, and how many articles I write, there just will never be enough time to share every-thing I have access to already or that which keeps coming out of the woodwork. (I of-ten write different articles for The Legend, Smoke Signals, and Pontiac Enthusiast, and sometimes for High Per-formance Pontiac, so if you don’t read them all, you may miss something.)

For example, I just spent time over five days inter-viewing a former Pontiac en-gineer and copying some of the data he has. Surprises? How about a clean sheet of paper 477 cu. in. Pontiac V8 designed in ‘59-’60 that never went into production? How about an OHC 4 ver-sion of the OHC 6 that never left the drawing board? And, how about an advanced weapon system for the U.S. Army from Pontiac? I will try to pull together some arti-cles on these in the future.

It’s interesting how an-swering one question often leads to another mystery. John Johnson asked if the Ram Air II distributor was the same as the Ram Air IV, part #1111941. Pontiac re-cords appear to indicate this is the case, although there is some confusion in the corre-sponding Delco-Remy re-cords. However, while re-searching this, I discovered that what we now call the Ram Air IV was once called

the “Super Ram Air” (Jeff Lovich -- how about that?). The Pontiac engineer who wrote and signed this docu-ment is still alive. He does not remember writing this or why the term was used. I suspect the term “Ram Air IV” didn’t exist yet.

Kenny Colacino, owner of a beautiful, black '63 Su-per Duty Catalina, had a mystery number on his broadcast sheet (I saw him at the recent, excellent GTOAA Eastern Regional Meet). The IBM number was 672. I

found this translated to UPC code K66-“Breakerless Igni-tion” (also called Transistor Ignition). However it ap-pears that this 672 number is exclusive to the Super Duty versions of this ignition. Therefore it must have some specific design feature.

Rick DiGiacomo asked about what fuel octane to use in three of his cars: a low compression ‘67 Pontiac, a high compression ‘68 Bon-neville, and a ‘55 Pontiac. To answer his question, I as-sumed he had access to Shell, which is a “top tier” fuel and a brand available in

Rick’s area. I also assumed the pump octane number available to him was 93, which translates to about 98 Research Octane number in this case.

I reviewed the owner’s manual recommendations. I was surprised by the ‘55 re-quirement in particular. I need to mention that I gener-ally do not recommend mid-range premium fuel. It tends to sell the least, so it can “age” even in the under-ground tanks at a gas station. My final octane recommen-

dation was to use Shell pre-mium in the ‘67 low com-pression and ‘55. The ‘68 high compression needs the same fuel, an octane booster (one without methanol or MMT; and only count on getting one RON), and some automotive race fuel to get it up to the 100 RON it was de-signed for.

Scott Tiemann (yes, that Scott) contacted me concern-ing material paint-ing/plating/coating specifica-tions on various parts. This is an area of great interest without much accurate in-formation available. We

cannot assume that parts documented on, say, a Cor-vette, made by the same sup-plier, were done the same way on a Pontiac.

Some parts had optional materials. For example, PCV tubes and accessory drive brackets might be able to be painted or plated as long as they met the indi-cated alternate GM specs on the blueprint. PCV tubes for different models, like “A” and “F” might be plated dif-ferent colors (like black and silver) to identify them from each other as they look alike, but are different. Most of the individual prints are un-doubtedly long lost. There have been very many sup-plier consolidations and bankruptcies. In addition many parts came from what is now Delphi, which is bankrupt, has sold or closed plants, and is apparently still selling or closing plants.

How about a clean sheet of paper 477 cu. in. Pontiac V8 designed in ‘59-’60 that never went into production?

There are also assembly differences plant-to-plant. Painted and sprayed (like rear wheelhouse coating) ar-eas of the cars can often be seen to be different based on plant location. Sometimes assembly plants used differ-ent parts (like fasteners) from each other and/or were al-lowed to put fasteners in from a different direction.

We briefly researched rear brake drum paint with Rally II wheels (option N98). The ‘69 F assembly manual (PDM) shows the plants were to paint the brake drums black with N98. So

The Legend November 2007 4

does the “70 “A” PDM. Could the plants have missed doing this? Certainly.

The ‘71 “A” assembly manual does not show this painting and, for sure, my GT-37 was delivered with rusty rear brake drums with N98 (A lot of dumb things were done in the ‘71 model year to “save cost”. Some of these were reversed in ‘72. This situation should proba-bly be a whole separate busi-ness/product story).

Often, even looking at “original” cars or junkyard cars can’t reveal the answers here. Service parts may have been installed, part paint may have been only durable enough to provide “show-room appearance," etc. Is there anyone from GTOAA or POCI out there who worked for a supplier (in-cluding the various Delco di-visions) who has factual data on what was used when and where? If so, please write an article for us; provide graph-ics of prints, specification sheets, part numbers, etc. Our editors have empty pages waiting for your input.

This month’s bonus, and a challenge to the Smoke Signals editor -- in my last two articles with tables, they were written properly and printed incorrectly -- can we please get this one right?

An owner with a GTO with a power bench seat asked me in NJ how rare it was. I was able to find some data as follows for option code A41, IBM code 561, 4-way power bench seat for the “A” car. I did not find data breaking it down further by GTO, LeMans, etc.

Model Build Percent of Year Quantity “A” Build 1969 N/A .9% 1970 1070 .8% 1971 803 .7% 1972 1371 1.1%

Obviously, it’s fairly rare. Double, Super Bonus --

what is the first year we have a written record of experi-ments with Ram Air? How about 1927? It would have included a two-barrel carb to replace the one-barrel. Jeff Lovich--do you, by chance, have any of these parts to photograph? (See--even the Oakland Engineering data has stuff of interest to those who might otherwise be only interested in GTOs).

Finally for Connie and Darrell Roach, who lost this info the first time I gave it to them -- AC Spark Plug in Flint, MI (now part of Del-phi, which is bankrupt) made the musclecar era instrument panel trim plates. (Also, I could not find any trim plate painting info in my repro ‘67 “A” PDM.)

References I have received several

requests for GM Historical Information. The first is for information on “Boss Kette-ring,” the inventor of the self-starter, and who was in-volved with leaded gasoline (which saved lots of fuel dur-ing WWII), Freon (which re-placed ammonia as a refrig-erant), Delco, GM Research, etc., etc. I can recommend two books: Professional Amateur by T.A. Boyd, 1957 Boss Kettering, Wizard of General Motors by Stuart Leslie, 1983

In 2009, I intend to make a major presentation on Boss Kettering at the GTOAA and POCI Conven-tions.

The next question is about the Delco-Light sys-tems. These were motor/ generator/glass battery sets used to electrify farms prior to them receiving the current style of utility poles, etc. The 9-16-83 edition of Automotive News covers this fairly well (this was the GM 75th anniversary issue).

The next questions in-volve various obscure GM Divisions (Northway, Delco-Appliance, Brown-Lipe-Chapin, etc.) The Automo-tive News mentioned above is one good source. Another is the GM history, The Turn-ing Wheel, by Arthur Pound, 1933. Sunlight Electrical Division remains a mystery, however.

Supposedly the 1916 Oakland V8 (not the same as the later one) is the same as

the 1916 Olds V8, with both designed by Northway. It was a 247 cu. in. flathead with 40 hp. I have seen pic-tures of one in an Olds, but don’t think I have ever seen one in an Oakland. Also, supposedly the 1920 Olds Model 37B had an Oakland 6 cylinder engine.

People have asked me if there are early Fisher Body Manuals. I have determined there is at least a 1949 ver-sion.

Finally, there is a GM Executive Committee letter dated 11-19-31 that indicates the Oakland car is to be called Pontiac in the future (in addition to the already ex-isting Pontiac; the 1931 Oak-land becomes the ‘32 “big” Pontiac). On 4-1-32 (April

Fool’s day!) a letter indicates the former Oakland Motor Car Co. is to be re-named Pontiac Motor Division, the forerunner to today’s Pontiac-GMC. Thoughts on the September Convention Issue

Did I like the 2007 GTOAA Nationals in Co-lumbus, OH? My best way to answer -- when will it be there again? (I am sure Jim Evans hears the echo of my voice asking this in his sleep!)

I’m surprised our editor didn’t use a photo of me lit-erally eating my confidential notes on the Pontiac G8. Was everyone so surprised by this that there was no photo?

Our editor failed to men-tion that the somewhat “rough” Sunbird wheel cover I was carefully holding up with my GM non-scratching gloves was the prototype "Dan Gregory Thank You Award." I signed it, per Dan’s request, to authenti-cate it. I’m sure he has it hanging in a place of honor in his “museum,” or maybe it’s in the museum’s trash can.

. . . what is the first year we have a written record of experiments with Ram Air? How about 1927?

Editor's Note: believe me, if we had a picture of John eating his confidential notes on the G8, we would have used it. Any time we can get Mr. Sawruk to eat his words, it's newsworthy.

As far as my failing to mention that the damaged Sunbird wheel cover was the "Dan Gregory Thank You Award," my only excuse is that I was still wondering where John got that fortune cookie with all the G8 notes in it. -- Tom


T

In the September issue, we misla-beled these 1964 and 1965 GTO, LeMans, and Tempest Rear Bumper Splash Shields from Ames Perform-ance. Our apologies. They come 60% gloss black powder coated and include an installation diagram. They retail for $69.00 per pair. Part num-ber for the 1964 application is L175C and part number L175F is for the 1965. L175C can also be used on 1965 Tempest wagon. Contact Ames at www.Amesperf.com or call them at (800) 421-2637.

New from Performance Years is a 1966-70 front bench seat cushion set, part number RPI70CC, and hidden headlight cover trim for 1968-69, part numbers RPF69C & D. Visit Performance Years online at performanceyears.com to see all of the ads or call them at 1-800-542-PART (7278)

he Legend

New from Ames Performance is the 1964 to 1967 GTO, LeMans, and Tempest shift linkage splash shield. Origi-nally introduced as GM part number 9775941, this metal shield was used to keep debris from collecting on the shifter and clutch linkage. This part is located on the driver's side at the junction between the engine cross-member and the left frame rail. The shield, part # R166JT, comes with a location diagram as well as the needed installation hardware. It is powder coated 60% gloss black and retails for $39. Contact them at www.Amesperf.com or call (800) 421-2637.

6 November 2007

In the July, 2007 issue of The Legend I wrote an article about the differences in power brake vacuum plumbing and components for 1964, 1965 and 1966 Tri-Power set-ups. Few people realize that 1964 (Figure 1), 1965 (Figure 2) and 1966 Tri-Power GTOs (Figure 3) also had unique mechanical throttle linkage setups each year. Judging from the reproduction setups I see on cars, the aftermarket is generally unaware of this fact as well. Most of the re-productions available are technically correct only for 1965 applications. 1964 mechanical linkage in particular is ex-tremely rare and I have seen less than a half dozen exam-ples in over 30 years of hard looking.

Figure 1. 1964 Tri-Power with what is assumed to be correct mechanical linkage. No factory illustrations of this linkage exist other than what is shown incorrectly in 1965 and 1966 literature.

In this article, I discuss major carburetor linkage components and throttle cables for Tri-Power GTOs. Vacuum linkage, found on most original 1964 GTOs, as well as automatic transmission GTOs in 1965 and 1966, will not be discussed in detail here. However, if there is enough interest in vacuum linkage from the readership, let the editor know and I can prepare a similar article.

There are very few factory illustrations of Tri-Power linkage in Pontiac shop manuals and parts books. John Sawruk promised to look at a copy of the 1964 Assembly Manual for illustrations so I’m eagerly awaiting new in-formation from him. One of the few factory illustrations of 1964 linkage is shown in the Pontiac parts book (Figure 4) and it is not a complete representation of what was available that year. The configuration shown is correct for an automatic transmission application but all parts other than the automatic transmission kickdown switch and bracket would be the same as those used on a vacuum link-age setup for a manual transmission car.

Figure 2. Barn fresh 1965 Tri-Power with correct me-chanical linkage. Note the slotted rod assembly is cor-rectly mounted inside the carburetor lever extension,not outside as seen on so many cars.

The best illustration of production 1965 linkage is also found in the Pontiac parts book (Figure 5), and contains a wealth of information. Ironically, the illustration of me-chanical linkage in the 1965 Tempest and Pontiac shop manuals (Figure 6) actually shows a non-production hy-brid between 1964 and 1965 linkage, just like the 1965 and 1966 GTO dealer brochures (see my article in the March 2007 issue of The Legend). Differences among major components are summarized below to the best of my abil-ity given the information at hand.


Carburetor Lever Extension (CLE) – This is the part that bolts onto the throttle shaft lever and is essential for correct operation of the linkage. At least four were used over the years and three are shown in Figure 7 (left to right 1964 non-mechanical, 1965 and 1966). The other, for 1964 mechanical linkage, is totally unlike the others and is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3. Barn fresh 1966 Tri-Power with mechanicallinkage. Note the use of the longer slot 1965 rod, notthe 1¼” slotted rod as from the factory.

1964 – There were at least two carburetor lever extensions used in 1964: one for vacuum linkage setups (including most original manual transmission cars) and another for the optional mechanical linkage mentioned in the 1964 dealer brochure. I have several that are correct for the former and only one has a part number stamped on it (9776284). According to the Pontiac parts book this car-buretor lever extension was also used on 1965 Pontiacs and GTOs with automatic transmissions. Note the huge difference between the two 1964 versions shown in Fig-ures 1 and 7. The non-mechanical version will not work with mechanical linkage. Unfortunately, I can find no part numbers either stamped on the mechanical linkage carbu-retor lever extension or in the Pontiac parts book. It re-mains a mystery part in that regard. I have heard of acces-sory packages of mechanical linkage that were available from Pontiac but haven’t been able to find a part number for that either.

Figure 4. Factory illustration of 1964 Tri-Power linkagefor a vacuum-actuated setup.

1965 – In 1965 the carburetor lever extension for auto-matic transmission cars remained the same as the one used in 1964. However, all manual transmission applications now had mechanical linkage and a new carburetor lever extension was designed and given part number 9777290. As mentioned above and in my March 2007 article, the linkage shown in the dealer brochures for 1965 and 1966 (both the same photo) is an incorrect, pre-production as-sembly. The Pontiac parts book says the 1965 GTO man-ual transmission carburetor lever extension is also correct for 1965 Pontiacs and 1966 GTOs with manual transmis-sions. As you will read immediately below, this is not how 1966 GTOs left the factory.

Figure 5. Factory illustration of 1965 Tri-Power me-chanical linkage.

1966 – According to Zazarine and Roberts GTO Restora-tion Guide (page 335 of 1985 edition), the 1966 extension was not serviced as a replacement part. The “service re-placement” was the 1965 j-shaped carburetor lever exten-sion (see section below on rod assembly). I confirmed this by looking at a 1967 Pontiac parts book and sure enough, there is no part number or application for a separate 1966 part. Apparently the only ones out there are those that came from the factory on cars. Don’t expect to find an NOS version of this part.

Rod assembly, throttle control auxiliary – This is the “slide rod” that connects the center carburetor to the rear carburetor and actuates the secondary throttle system.


1964 – The style of the rod assembly used this year was different from all others. Instead of being a slotted rod (see below), it was a rod and tube assembly (Figure 1). The Pontiac parts book is vague on the part number but a “throttle control secondary-front” (529814) and “throttle control secondary-rear” (529815) are listed and I believe these are the corresponding 1964 GTO parts. I have not seen reproductions of these pieces and they are extremely rare.

Figure 6. Factory illustration of 1965 Tri-Power me-chanical linkage. Note the use of a 1964-style rod as-sembly, not the production slotted rod.

1965 and 1966 – According to the Pontiac parts book, part number 9777328 fits 1965-1966 Pontiacs and GTOs with manual transmissions. The book also indicates that the rod had a 1 7/8” slot, but that dimension was only correct for production 1965 GTOs. Page 335 of Zazarine and Rob-erts’s 1985 book shows an excellent comparison of pro-duction 1965 and 1966 components and the 1966 version had a 1 ¼” slot. However, that version was not serviced at the parts counter either. A footnote in the Pontiac parts book states that “when replacing a rod with a 1 ¼” slot, ex-tension 9777290 [the production 1965 carburetor lever ex-tension] must be used.” Apparently, the short slotted 1966 rod would not work correctly without the special 1966 carburetor lever extension. I should note that most people mount the rod assembly on the outside of the carburetor lever extension, not the inside as shown in Figures 2 and 5. Either configuration will work as long as the linkage doesn’t bind and it is parallel to the carburetors.

Figure 7. Carburetor lever extensions for (left to right) 1964 vacuum-actuated, 1965 mechanical and 1966 Tri-Power mechanical linkage.

Throttle cables – This is the cable connecting the gas pedal to the carburetor. Many different throttle cables were used on early Tri-Power GTOs, depending on the ap-plication. A summary of part numbers and information given in the Pontiac parts book is shown below.

1964 GTO 9777043 “red tape” 1965 GTO manual transmission 9781587 1965 GTO automatic transmission 9779930 1966 GTO manual transmission 9783231 “green tape,

11 ¾” long”

Attention Chapter Officers The 2008 GTOAA Chapter

Survey Is On Its Way

Our annual Chapter Survey will be mailed in mid to late November to the address listed for your club in the chapter directory on page 17. If you

have not received your survey paperwork by December 1st, please contact John Johnson at 573-581-8013 or e-mail [email protected]

1966 GTO automatic transmission 9783230 “red tape, 11 ½” long.” The good news is that this last number is the same for 1966-1967 Tempest and LeMans two and four barrel carburetor applications. So there you have it. Each of the trio of Tri-Power

GTO years used a slightly different mechanical linkage as-sembly. If yours is complete and in working order you are in good shape. If you are concerned about nut and bolt originality, some parts do not appear to be available from the aftermarket and can be extremely rare. As pointed out by Pete McCarthy in his excellent book Pontiac Musclecar Performance1955-1979 there can be a big difference be-tween “original” and “correct.” What’s under your hood?


Cover Car Feature Randy Pribyl's ’67 GTO Convertible

As my name was an-nounced as recipient of the 2007 Popular Vote Best of Show award, I floated across the floor to meet Bill Markowski who handed me the plaque. Filled with joy, I humbly bowed with thanks to the crowd and those who had voted for my ‘67 Tyrol Blue convertible. As I got back to my table, Rocky Crow, who had just moments before been awarded first place in ‘67 hardtops mild modified, and a friend since entering high school in 1966, congratulated me.

As I looked at him, my mind flashed back to when we were teenagers when I was walking up a hill on the way home from high school. On the other side of the hill, a thunderous engine roared, tires were squealing, second gear was hit and more tires squealing. Third gear was hit, more tires squealing and, over the hill in an all out dis-play of power and might, a silver ‘66 GTO flashed past

me and out of sight. In that single moment, I knew I wanted whatever that was. It stood for something totally different than my Father’s ‘66 Impala 4-door with a 283.

A few years later, in l969, as I was graduating from high school, I’d saved my McDonald’s restaurant $1 per hour wages and was ready to purchase my first car. I still remember Dad sit-ting me down to have a man-to-man discussion about my upcoming purchase. We went to the basement; I don’t think he wanted Mom to hear. He explained the dan-gers of these new powerful muscle cars. I let him ex-plain all his thoughts and then said, “I know what you’re telling me, Dad, but I need to have a 400, 4-barrel, 4-speed.”

A week later, we were at the local Warren L. Langwith Pontiac dealer in Davenport, Iowa signing papers for a two-year old ‘67 Tyrol Blue

4-speed GTO with 22,000 miles for $1,950. I gave them $1,100 down and they let me pay them off over the next two months with my summer job money. Dad and I were both pleased that I never crunched the car or got any tickets. I actually de-served a lot of tickets, but just never got any tickets.

Davenport had a one-way system downtown. Kids with dozens of muscle cars from all the nearby commu-nities would “cruise the

ones,” as we called it, on Friday and Saturday nights. At times, I’d be flanked by 442s, Chevelles, and RTs four wide at a stop light When the light turned, all four of us were spinning our wide ovals and hoping the local fuzz (police) wouldn’t be around. I lost some races, but won many also. I re-member one day, my friend Keith McCrory was with me, and a 396 Chevelle pulled along side. The race was on. I was getting him by half a



car length when his engine let loose and a blue tinted billow of smoke came out his exhaust. Sorry, Chevy. Of course, getting to talk with all the girls who wanted to ride was another bonus of having a blue GTO.

Even though the Best of Show plaque was laid in my hands, I was fully aware that several other people deserved to be there with me since their hands helped create the artistically beautiful ‘67 that stirred GTO enthusiasts to vote her Best of Show.

In June 2006, Kevin Hussey, a Florida GTO col-lector, sold me the ‘67 Tyrol Blue convertible. A team of five of us descended on the car. Ken Mizaur, from Ken’s Auto Body in McCausland, Iowa, had the car down to the frame by August. A-body GM’s are his specialty. Ken delivered all the stainless to Chris Gaul, also from McCausland. Both of them promptly did their work and the car was completely painted and reassembled be-fore Christmas. After New Years, Greg Poley, from Grant Street Auto in Bet-tendorf, current President of the local POCI Club, and my main mechanic, went

through the mechanicals and did significant engine detail-ing with correct parts. Greg also had the heads reworked, then selected and installed a hydraulic roller cam sourced through Butler Performance based on my 3.90 rear and 4-speed. Later on, Jeff Hamma from Ike's Upholstery rebuilt the front seats and replaced the convertible top.

By March, the first rain washed the salt from our roads and I started driving the GTO to work. During the next few months leading up to the convention, one or two items a week would sur-face that needed attention. Items such as electrical, gauges, leaks, voltage regula-tor, clunks, rattles, linkage issues, headlights aimed, etc., etc. were items that took me well over 150 hours to straighten out in my garage at night. Also, because I drove it so often, many en-gine bay and undercarriage items needed to be redone or touched up in preparation for the event in Columbus.



Until the very last week, I struggled with trailering the blue convertible to Ohio. Fi-nally I said, “Heck with it, I’m putting the key in the ig-nition and driving it to Co-lumbus.” There were a cou-ple of interesting events on the way. While driving through Merrillville, Indiana, a new Mustang GT dual ex-haust 5-speed pulled along side at a stop light. The light turned green and both of us lunged forward. When I hit 80 mph, the Mustang was still squealing tires between gears two lengths back. That was very satisfying. The original engine from the fac-tory is still sitting in the en-gine mounts and looks stock, but underneath the paint, the engine has all of the latest technology including a hy-draulic roller cam, roller rockers, blueprinted and bal-anced, head work, and MSD ignition totally hidden from observers that sets fire in the cylinders that the Mustang will always remember.

Also, while driving to Columbus, torrential rains revealed the roof leaked right onto my lap. You would have wrung water out of my underwear. I just laughed it off as part of the experience of taking an old car on a road trip. Every time I stopped, I removed each splattered bug while they were still fresh, knowing that I’d be at the National Convention soon.

It was a great time in Columbus and I was thrilled to receive Best of Show Popular Vote for our efforts. The nine-hour drive back home to Iowa was a delight. Each time I stopped for gas, each sacrificial bug was re-moved from the front of the car. On the way home, I phoned the key people who helped complete the car and

shared our results. On Mon-day, the next day after get-ting back from Columbus, I entered the garage and walked over to the GTO and thought to myself, “Well, girl, you had a great week in Columbus, but today you’re just my work car.” I put the key in the ignition and we headed off to work.

If you have never been to a GTO convention before, it’s a must. The fellowship with GTO lovers you’ve never met, things you learn from others about your car, the availability of parts for your GTO, the seminar speakers and racing are all flat out, top speed, fun. My thanks goes out to the Cen-tral Ohio host Club and GTOAA for a years worth of work to assemble a conven-tion where we could come and just enjoy ourselves.

On a parting note: When I was a kid, GTO meant Gas, Tires, and Oil. Later on, it has taken on a

more significant meaning -- God’s The One. As much as I enjoy my GTO’s, I’ve no-ticed that GTO’s rust, but God’s forever.

Notes from Jim Stern:

Allow me to add another ‘happening’ I know Randy cherishes and has no doubt shared with those closest to him. On Sunday, August 5th, Randy took his beloved GTO on yet another road trip; again in the rain. He at-tended The 17th Annual All Pontiac Indian Uprising Car Show in Geneva, IL hosted by The Cruisin’ Tigers GTO Club.

The rain stopped, the roads dried, the sun broke through around 9:00 AM and Randy began cleaning his GTO. Everyone enjoyed a day filled with fellowship and beautiful Pontiacs.

At the close of the show, during the award ceremo-nies, Randy was called for-ward and was presented the

Jim Wanger’s Pick Of The Show Trophy. Several later commented “this proves Mr. Wangers still has what it takes to spot a people’s fa-vorite in a crowd of over 200 fine looking vehicles.”

A very happy Randy soon turned the key and drove back to Iowa; you guessed it, in the rain. No word yet on whether his un-derwear was dry when he ar-rived home! Congratulations Randy! Do you have a GTO story to tell? Would you like your GTO featured in The Leg-end? For details of how to proceed please contact: Jim Stern / Feature Editor 3820 Ohio Ave. / Unit #5 St. Charles, IL 60174 Phone: (630) 258-2615 E-Mail: [email protected]


by John Johnson, GTOAA Chapter Coordinator

The 2008 GTOAA Chapter Survey forms will be mailed out in mid-November to the club addresses listed in the chapter listings (see page 17). Also in the envelope will be the four chapter officers' half-price membership forms, and several other documents that I will discuss in the following para-graphs.

First Main Point:

Dues Are Going Up! Effective January 1, 2008 the annual dues will be $35 per year (US). Dues for Canadian members will be $40 (US) and all other countries $50 (US). See GTOAA President Robert Alexander’s column in the September 2007 issue for more information about this topic.

Second Main Point:

As was discussed at the Council of Presidents' Meeting at this year’s GTOAA Nationals, chapters that were in existence prior to 1999 will need to continue to meet or exceed the same 40% target minimum of national cur-rent members in order to remain affili-ated. This information was first pub-lished in the October 2007 issue of The Legend, which gives you about five months of advanced notice to get work-ing towards the February 15, 2008 deadline. As always, chapters formed after 1999 must continue to maintain 100% national membership.

Third Main Point:

The same chapter survey/renewal process as last year will be followed, and here are the basic steps. After your chapter has its elections (assuming you have your elections at the end of the year), you need to do the following:

Fill out the chapter survey forms with the correct info. Fill out the chapter officers' half-

price membership forms. Fill out the other forms as provided

(more on them below) Enclose a check made payable to

GTOAA for the balance due for the half-price membership forms (for most chapters this will be $70).

Now the hardest parts: Enclose a current copy of your chap-ter’s membership roster, and MAKE SURE IT INCLUDES YOUR MEM-BER’S GTOAA # and GTOAA EXPI-RATION DATE. Please do not include on your roster printout a list of your chapter members’ families names, the types cars they own, the date they joined your chapter, the date of their birthday, etc. Just edit the roster info you send me to the bare basics: name, address, GTOAA# and GTOAA membership expiration date. Also it would be nice if it were printed in a decent sized font so I can read it easily. You might have better luck printing it out in a “landscape” format.

Regarding The Other Additional Items We Are Requesting:

We are going to ask chapters to consider nominating exemplary GTOAA members that they have first-hand personal knowledge of that would candidates for the Tom Foster Memo-rial Award. More information about this award will be forthcoming in the chapter survey packet, but the basic idea is someone that is very active in the chapter, the GTO hobby, presents a volunteer spirit, and who is a strong supporter of the GTOAA. Note that nominations for this award are not a re-quirement for GTOAA affiliation; it’s

just something that you can do if you have someone who would reflect these qualities.

There will be a form enclosed that will be asking for your chapter to briefly list what charities/benefit func-tions that your club might have hosted or participated in over the last year, and the approximate dollar amount raised, and/or time spent in service projects. This information will help us better un-derstand what chapters might be in line for the annual GTOAA Chapter of the Year Award.

I will be including separate pages that need to go to your chapter newslet-ter editor and also chapter webmaster. As an official GTOAA chapter, we would ask that your newsletter and website contain current contact info for the GTOAA, just as we print our affili-ated chapter’s contact info in The Leg-end, and on the GTOAA’s website (www.gtoaa.org). I can e-mail you camera-ready images that you may copy and use, as well as text that might be inserted as needed. Just send an e-mail to [email protected] and ask for this info.

BE SURE ALL THIS INFORMA-TION GETS RETURNED TO ME BY FEBRUARY 15, 2008.

As always, for any questions please

contact me at your earliest convenience. If you’re going to call, the best time to try to call me is between 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM Central Daylight Time.

John Johnson GTOAA Chapter Coordinator 620 North Jefferson Street Mexico, MO 65265 - USA - [email protected] 573-581-8013


GTOAA Chapter Directory by State Reflects Chapters In Compliance As Of October 1, 2007

AZ Cactus GTOs, Inc. 5546 East Shangri La Road Scottsdale, AZ 85254 Thom Mohr 480-991-6106 [email protected] www.cactusgto.com

CA Inland Empire GTO Club 7269 Cosenza Place Alta Loma, CA 91701 Thom Trafford 909-489-6968 [email protected] www.iegtoclub.com

CA Southern Cal Gathering of Goats 1566 North Perry Drive Placentia, CA 92870 Debbie Tharp 714-524-3789 [email protected] www.scgg.com

CA Tri-Valley GTO Club 22136 Roscoe Park Canoga Park, CA 91304 Doug Schnetlage [email protected] www.trivalleygto.org

CO Classic GTO Association of Denver PO Box 745092 Arvada, CO 80006-5092 William Lewis 303-644-3240 [email protected] http://clubs.hemmings.com/denvergoats

CO Northern Colorado GTO Association 655 Zuni Circle, Fort Collins, CO 80526 Jay Robinson 970-226-1974 [email protected] http://www/ncgtoa.com

CT Connecticut GTO Club 82 Hockanum Drive East Hartford, CT 06118 Rob Heim 860-568-2887 [email protected] www.ctgtoclub.org

FL Sunshine State GTO Association 6763 Turtle Point Drive Lake Worth, FL 33467 Douglass VanKnowe 561-630-4802 [email protected] no chapter website

GA Southeastern GTO Association 2236 Chimney Springs Drive Marietta, GA 30062 Den Sanford 770-594-8754 [email protected] www.segtoa.org

IA Pontiac Club of Iowa PO Box 31065 Des Moines, IA 50310 Randy Kroneman 515-255-0990 [email protected] www.pontiacclubofiowa.com

IL Cruisin' Tigers GTO Club PO Box 695 Westmont, IL 60559 Sylvia Heidlauf 847-548-2634 [email protected] www.cruisintigersgto.com

IL Heart of Illinois GTOs 2709 Hayes Plain Bloomington, IL 61704 Brian Sorensen 630-991-1465 [email protected] www.hoigto.com

IN Indy GTO Association PO Box 487, Noblesville, IN 46061-0487 Bill Sanders 317-770-6409 [email protected] http://clubs.hemmings.com/indygto/

IN Northeast Indiana GTOs 3910 Thornton Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46733 Jay Konkle 260-492-2297 [email protected] http://home.comcast.net/~neigto/neigto.html

KS GR-888'R Wichita GTO Club 1224 E. Kemper Street, Wichita, KS 67216 John Miller 316-522-5676 [email protected] www.wichitagto.com

KY Louisville Pontiac GTO Club PO Box 99185, Louisville, KY 40269 Bill Receveur 502-327-8613 [email protected] www.goattraks.com

MA Pioneer Valley GTO Association 258 Lower Hampden Road Monson, MA 01057 Paul Bourbeau 413-267-5834 [email protected] www.pioneervalleygtoassociation.org

MD Royal GTOs 1801 Queens Guard Road Silver Spring, MD 20906-2027 Clifton Jeter (202) 437-7602 [email protected] www.royalgtos.com

ME GTO Association of Maine PO Box 521 North Waterboro, ME 04061 Robert Farwell 207-247-3233 [email protected] www.badgoat.net

MI West Michigan Classic Pontiacs 4285 East B Avenue, Plainwell, MI 49080 Gary Trama 269-345-2202 [email protected] no chapter website

MI Woodward GTO Tigers 38532 Beecher Sterling Heights, MI 48312 Joseph Kozlowski 586-242-4336 [email protected] www.gtotigers.org

MN Land of Lakes GTO Club PO Box 574, Osseo, MN 55369 John Robinson 763-537-1952 [email protected] www.LOLGTO.com

MO Gateway GTO Association 450 Muirfield Drive, St. Charles, MO 63304 Tom Oxler 636-928-5548 [email protected] www.gatewaygto.com

NC Carolina Classic Pontiac Club 2425 Lane Crest Dr, Charlotte, NC 28215 Doug Lawrence 704-536-0120 [email protected] http://clubs.hemmings.com/ccpontiac

NC Tarheel Tigers Pontiac Club 6513 Hammersmith Drive Raleigh, NC 27613 Jim Ranieri 919-510-9881 [email protected] www.tarheeltigers.org

NC Performance Pontiacs of the Carolinas 6 Wetherborn Way Greensboro, NC 27410 Tim Joseph 336-545-9465 [email protected] www.performancepontiacs.com

NJ Delaware Valley Old Goat Club PO Box 295, Hainesport, NJ 08036 Mike Laskowski 610-357-4913 [email protected] www.oldgoatclub.com

NJ Garden State GTOs 12 Fox Court, Oakland, NJ 07436 Harold Murray 201-405-1158 [email protected] www.garden-state-gtos.org

NM Land of Enchantment GTOs 6704 Orphelia N.E. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109 Donald Fitch 505-821-5490 [email protected] www.loegtos.com

NY Electric City GTOs PO Box 4825 Schenectady, NY 12304-0825 James Martin 518-788-1456 [email protected] www.electriccitygto.com

NY Long Island GTO Club PO Box 276, Levittown, NY 11756 Amy Perciballi 516-695-4775 [email protected] www.LIGTOClub.com

NY Western New York GTO Club 50 Cramer Street Tonawanda, NY 14120 Brian Mertens 716-692-1564 [email protected] www.wnygto.com

OH GTO Association of Central Ohio 13791 Cable Road, Pataskala, OH 43062 Jim Evans 740-927-5302 [email protected] www.gtoaco.com

OH Ohio Valley GTO Association 6442 Jayfield Dr., Hamilton, OH 45011 Jeff Teague 513-737-9139 [email protected] www.ovgto.com

OR Goat Herd GTO Club of Oregon PO Box 1071, Clackamas, OR 97015 George Boeckel 503-659-7790 [email protected] www.goatherd.com

PA Greater Pittsburgh GTO Club 4 Carlisle Drive, Irwin, PA 15642 Jim Mastroianni 412-373-0334 [email protected] www.greaterpghgto.com

PA GTO Association of Pennsylvania 2509 Kesslersville Road Easton, PA 18040 Chris Wismer 610-250-8628 [email protected] www.gtopa.com

PA Susquehanna Valley GTO Tigers 513 Chickadee Drive Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 Doug Warble 717-975-9126 [email protected] www.gtotigers.wordpress.com

TX GTO Association of North Texas 4408 Willow Bend Road Arlington, TX 76017 David Radwan 817-478-4072 [email protected] www.gtoant.com

TX Gulf Coast GTOs 23410 Crescent Point Circle Katy, TX 77494 Bill Knoth 281-395-0947 [email protected] www.gulfcoastgtos.com

WI God’s Country GTO Association 603 7th Street, Waunakee, WI 53597 Sheldon Hamilton 608-850-5185 [email protected] www.godscountrypontiac.org

WI Original GTO Club PO Box 320141, Franklin, WI 53132 Bob Burke 262-549-6531 [email protected] www.originalgto.com

The Legend 17

Is Your Chapter Missing?

If your chapter is not on this list, it is because either (a) we did not receive a 2007 Chapter Survey from your club by September 15 or (b) your chapter did not submit a club roster verifying that 40% of your members (with a mini-mum of 10) belong to GTOAA. (If the GTOAA numbers sub-mitted were invalid – expired or whatever – the percentage may have fallen below 40%)

We would all like to have the Chapter Listings correct and up-to-date. Contact John Johnson at [email protected] any questions, updates, or corrections. Thank you.

November 2007

On Sunday, August 5, 2007, the 17th Annual Indian Uprising All Pontiac Show, hosted by the Cruisin’ Tigers GTO Club, was held in Geneva, IL. It was another spectacular success but, as is most often the case, success was not a sure thing or easy.

The story of this show actually be-gins in September 2006 when Show Chairman Rick Last called a meeting of the Show Planning Committee for the express purpose of reviewing our re-cently completed 2006 show. These meetings always form the foundation for the following year's show. What went well, what did not go so well, and where could improvements be made are always the central topics of discussion.

Planning of our 2007 show began in earnest in February 2007. The Show Committee welcomed some additions to its ranks, which brought the Committee total to 18. Each member would ulti-mately be assigned a task or, in several cases, multiple tasks -- but that would come later. As he has done for the last several years, Rick Last opened the meeting by asking if anyone present would like to take over the Show Chair-manship. There were no takers and the Committee unanimously asked Rick to continue -- he agreed.

Our attention then turned to The Kane County Events Center and how close we had come close to hitting the maximum capacity at this location in 2006. Should we begin the search for a larger location? Could we make changes

sufficient to accommodate the expected 400+ entries in 2007 and remain in the same location? An equally important consideration, for this Club, was which local children’s charity should we bene-fit in 2007 and how could we maximize our ability to help the needy through our show?

After much discussion, it was de-cided our show would remain in the same location for at least one more year. It was also decided that United Cerebral Palsy of Will County would again be the main benefactor of our charity efforts and that we would try to expand our Christmas Needy Family Adoption Pro-gram.


Given these decisions, the Show Committee began the routine of meeting monthly from February through July. One of the early major obstacles to be overcome was the loss of Doug and Sharon Rudisuhle as joint Show Charity Chairpersons. Their tireless effort, and the efforts of those who worked with them over the last several years, has played a major role in focusing this Club on charitable giving - to the point it is now a priority! Everyone knew they would be sorely missed and quickly real-ized no single person would be able to pickup the slack.

The decision was made not to re-place Doug and Sharon but rather spread the responsibility by challenging the Show Committee, and our general mem-bership, to come up with fund raising ideas and to individually solicit financial supporters. Committee Member Rick Bogoff volunteered to serve as Charity Coordinator and would be the person through which our charity collections would flow. Several months later, just prior to our show, Rick reported that he had received excellent financial support from nearly 100 businesses and indi-viduals. It is noteworthy that it took dozens and dozens of individuals to accomplish what two members had almost single handedly done in the past!

I cannot even begin to list all who positively impacted the financial success of our show, but I would like to cite a couple of examples. Member Ron Bara-tono, an ex-employee of General Motors, suggested, contacted, and was ultimately successful in convincing The Chicago-land Pontiac Dealers Association to be The Premier Sponsor of our show (visit www.pontiacdrive.com, click on “local events”, then “GTO Tigers” for their

coverage of our show). The display semi they provided, the numerous Pontiacs they displayed, and their substantial fi-nancial contribution are very much ap-preciated! Another example is a sugges-tion made by member Jim Martino. He suggested we create and sell show com-memorative State of Illinois vehicle li-cense plates. Once approved, Jim made it happen resulting in another significant financial boost.

I posed the question in the title of this story - “lucky or blessed?” I will leave it for you to answer this for your-self after you finish reading this story, but I can tell you this; we feel blessed to be surrounded by Club members, friends and affiliates who obviously care and give of themselves when needed.

A continuing success is our Major Exhibiting Show Sponsor program. This year Best of Show Restorations, Collec-tor Auto Insurance Specialists, Matco Tools and WMC, Inc. all provided sig-nificant financial support to our show. Check www.cruisintigersgto.com for ad-ditional sponsor information.

The reality is, our show success de-pends upon those who attend. Over the past 16 years, we have developed a sig-nificant following of Pontiac owners who consider our show a “must attend” event. To keep this enthusiasm high, we schedule celebrity appearances by some of Pontiac’s best. This year Arnie ‘The Farmer’ Beswick (friend and fellow Cruisin’ Tiger) was joined by ‘The God-father of the GTO” Jim Wangers, Dave Anderson and renowned Pontiac engine builder from California, Ken Crocie.

As the end of July approached, eve-ryone involved was confident we were ready and that our show would be an-other very well attended record breaker. Our confidence first became shaken when the long-range weather forecast came out on Wednesday, 5 days before our show. A 40% chance of rain was forecast for our Sunday, August 5th


show (keep in mind this would be a rain-or-shine show because this was the only weekend date available at the facil-ity we rent). Now mind you, there was not a hint of panic because in its 16-year history, our show has never been rained upon (blessed?).

On Thursday, a chance of thunder-storms was added and the storm odds were raised to 50%. Friday evening marked the arrival of Pontiac’s massive display trailer and storm odds of 60%. As we gathered at the show field Satur-day afternoon / evening to welcome our arriving celebrities, and some out of state attendees, storm odds stood at 70%! Not to worry, we told ourselves “Chicago weather forecasters seldom get it right."

Early Sunday morning would prove the weather man to be correct! I awoke around 4:30 AM, looked out the win-dow, saw dry roads and told my wife, Mary Jo, “I’m going to take a quick shower, jump in the GTO and make a run for the show field” – I didn’t make it. Only minutes later she announced - “It’s pouring”! Our GTO would, unfortu-nately, stay in the garage today.

By 6:00 AM several Show Commit-tee Members were at the show field seeking shelter from the wind, thunder,

lightning and a torrential downpour. Someone voiced the unthinkable – “If this keeps up, we will be lucky to have 50 entries." We were surrounded by dash plaques, trophies, award plaques, door prizes and a food vendor in antici-pation of 400+ entries and thousands of spectators – then a glimmer of hope!

Through it all we spotted a Pontiac Station Wagon pulling in at about 6:10 AM. Jim Martino took a covered golf cart and spirited the owner, Steve Brody, back to join those of us still huddled un-der a now soaked and somewhat shaky tent. Learning that Steve left Indi-anapolis, Indiana at 2:00 AM and drove his 1962 wagon all the way in the rain to join us boosted our spirits immeasurably. “If he drove all that way in this weather maybe others will come out as well” (hope springs eternal).

Contrary to the weather forecast, by 9:00 AM the rain stopped, skies began to clear, roads began to dry - and I was wishing I could dash home and get our GTO; but it was not to be.

Soon Pontiacs of all shapes and sizes began to roll in – some in trailers, but most were driven, some wet and

dirty, but there all the same. All the while our announcer, Dave Palmer of 3D Sound, had his hands full doing his usual excellent commentary as they pulled in. Rick Last decided to keep registration open until noon, one hour later than an-nounced, because Pontiacs were still ar-riving. When registration closed, we had over 200 Pontiacs on the show field. Half the entries we had prepared for, but an excellent turnout considering the ear-lier weather and the forecast.

We had some of the finest Pontiacs in the nation in attendance, excellent sponsor participation, fantastic support from the Chicagoland Pontiac Dealers Association, great celebrities and report-edly an excellent time was had by all. Most importantly, in spite of it all, we were still able to present United Cerebral Palsy with a check for $5,000! In addi-tion, we intend to benefit several needy families with children during the Christmas season.

Our show field emptied shortly af-ter 4:00 PM – by 4:30 it started to rain again! We later learned it had rained all day only a few miles north, west and south of our show. Are we lucky or are we blessed?

Giving to those less fortunate feels good. Is your chapter doing all it can to benefit the needy?


Engine Compartment Restoration Jim Pontiff

1

er.

1996655 GGTTOO EEnnggiinnee CCoommppaarrttmmeenntt RReessttoorraattiioonn,, PPaarrtt 22 [email protected] Editor's Note: In the October issue, Jim introduced us to his engine compartment project, with an excellent breakdown of the proper paint colors and finishes to use. This month, we have the step-by-step process he used to accomplish his task. -- Tom

I followed a step-by-step plan, with the idea of trying to paint all like-colored items at the same time. This wasn’t al-ways possible or practical but as most of the exceptions were spray can jobs it wasn’t problem. All bolts, nuts, and other small items were placed in marked zip-lock bags. 1. Remove hood and hood hinges. 2. Drain radiator. 3. Remove fan shield, radiator, fan, water pump pulley and

windshield washer bottle. 4. Disconnect exhaust pipes, driveshaft and speedometer ca-

ble, remove starter and disconnect electrical and fluid connections. Remove cross memb

5. Cap off power steering lines and fuel lines. 6. Remove engine and transmission. 7. Separate engine from transmission and place engine on en-

gine stand. 8. Remove front bumper. Note: This wasn’t actually neces-

sary for the engine compartment restoration, but I wanted to paint the bumper brackets and restore the parking lights.

9. Degrease engine compartment using POR15 Marine Clean product. Power-wash and repeat. Let dry.

10. Remove regulator, hood lamp and switch, and wire brackets from firewall.

11. Apply POR Strip to firewall and inner fenders. Scrape off loose paint. Some use of a steel brush was required. Re-peat.

12. Scrape off any remaining grease buildup and hand sand firewall, inner fenders, and core support to fender brace.

13. Apply POR Metal Ready to engine compartment and rinse thoroughly.

14. Weld up extra holes in firewall, grind smooth. 15. Sand everything again for good measure. 16. Mask off car using plastic and cloth sheeting.

17. Mask appropriate items on firewall, i.e. heater box, master cylinder, etc.

18. Paint firewall. The POR semi-gloss black #347601 goes on very glossy but dries to the proper shade.

19. Clean and sand other items to be painted with 60% gloss black.

20. Mask off firewall. 21. Paint 60% gloss black items. 22. Clean and prepare items to be painted with POR metal

mask (cast finish look). POR salesman recommended ap-plying this paint with a sponge brush, which I did. After completing the tie rod ends, steering rod and other items in-side the engine compartment, I noticed the color was not what I was expecting. It had a white tint to it. I might not have stirred the paint enough. I painted the remaining loose items such as the hinges with Cast Blast spray paint from Seymour Paint.

23. Clean, paint and reinstall firewall items: regulator, hood light and switch and brackets. Install new ground straps.

24. Degrease motor using Marine Clean, power wash, repeat. 25. Spray down motor with Metal Ready, rinse. 26. Remove alternator, power steering pump w/ brackets, ex-

haust manifolds and all non-Pontiac Blue brackets from the motor.

27. Disassemble alternator, bead blast, and paint housing with Alumiblast paint.

28. Bead blast and paint alternator fan and pulley. Reassemble alternator.

29. Bead blast and paint aluminum power steering pump mounting block.

30. Disassemble starter, bead blast, and paint. Reassemble. 31. Remove power steering pump from brackets, clean and

paint brackets and pump. 32. Pull carburetors, and then seal opening in intake manifold

with duct tape. 33. Scrape, brush and clean motor of any remaining built up

grease It was time to change the water pump, so I did. Thermostat was also changed.


Engine Compartment Restoration Jim Pontiff

34. Remove valve covers, mask engine as appropriate. 35. Spray POR15 Silver as a base coat, followed by Plasti-

Kote #208 Pontiac Blue. Instructions were to let the Silver “almost dry” before spraying the final color. This is sup-posed to be about 4 hours, depending on humidity. Silver should feel tacky. After two and half hours, I got nervous as the silver felt tacky so I sprayed the Blue. Once POR paint dries, it will not take the color. Excellent results!

36. Bead blast exhaust manifolds. After using a heat gun to warm up the manifolds, two coats of manifold paint were applied using a sponge brush. Heat was applied throughout painting process.

37. Install power steering pump, alternator and exhaust mani-folds on engine block.

38. Degrease, scrape, and clean transmission and bell housing. Repeat.

39. Apply Metal Ready to Transmission and Bell housing. At this point I took the opportunity to change the throwout bear-ing. The clutch and pressure plate were also changed during re-assembly. 40. Remove transmission levers and brackets, taking note of the

positions and locations. Note: I still ended up installing the shifter mounting bracket backwards and had to correct upon reinstallation of the shifter.

41. Paint transmission brackets and levers. 42. Paint clutch fork. 43. Paint transmission and bell housing. 44. Reinstall transmission brackets and levers. 45. Reconnect engine to transmission, install flywheel shield. While the engine was out of the car, I took the opportunity to replace the fuel line, shocks, rubber A-frame seals, clutch rod seal, hood to cowl gasket, speedometer cable and engine wiring harness. While I was at it, I removed and restored the heater core housing (inside of car), changed the heater core, replaced the firewall insulation, changed the speedometer, replaced the dash pad, restored the floor console, and installed a new interior. – but that is another story!!! 46. Install new hood insulation on underside of hood. I used

the original type metal clips. This took all of 10 minutes and it really adds to the car.

47. Reinstall engine and transmission. Used a strap to lift en-gine instead of a chain to avoid scratches to the block. Touched up a few small scratches on the firewall with sponge brush that resulted from the installation.

48. Reinstall and connect shifter. Reinstall starter. I purchased a new original type Hurst shifter and upon installa-tion of the console, it was impossible to shift into reverse. The chrome shifter handle would hit the side of the console. After a little research it became apparent that this is a common problem. It appears that the replacement shifters are angled too much to the left. Several people have solved this by installing a 1967

shifter, but I wanted to retain the original look. I removed the shifter and using a torch, I bent the shifter rod at the base. 49. Reinstall radiator and connect hoses and wiring. 50. Install hood, bumper and remaining items. It was a fun project and I am happy with the results. Lessons Learned

Things I would do differently… first, after degreasing the engine compartment, I would lightly sandblast the tie rods and upper and lower control arms. It took hours to clean the grit and grime out and I never did get a completely clean surface. Given the time, I might consider removing the tie rods and center link to allow for bead blasting and easier painting. The second thing I would have done would be to paint the 60% gloss black por-tions of the engine compartment with normal POR15 prior to painting with Chassis Coat Black. Chassis Coat Black is a top coat and has some of the properties of POR15, but is not as tough. I expect no problems, but it would have only taken a couple of hours more to add this step.

I still have a ways to go in getting the engine compartment looking 100% factory, but fall is almost over, and when cruising season is done I will have more time to finish everything up.

Special thanks to Jerry Hamilton, Jon Havens, Peter Serio, and Scott Tiemann for the benefit of their experience and knowledge of the '65 GTO and to Jon Blair and his website for providing the excellent information on plating. The URL is: www.429mustangcougarinfo.50megs.com/new_page_26.htm


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