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1966 GTO


Speedpro

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Hi all, Pulled out this revell gto this last weekend to start a build with. The plan is to build this thing out of the box but with a few changes to the drivetrain and a wheel and tire change. Most likely will have to play with the stance a bit too. So over the weekend I cut all the parts off the trees and cleaned them up. Everything has been washed and is ready for paint. The body has had the doors and trunk lid scribed out and molding seems removed but still needs a good sanding before any paint work. No color picked out yet. I'm just going to start building and see where it takes this goat. Thanks for looking.................. Paul

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So after thinking about what I could do to modify the kit engine, I came up with a better idea. Just change the engine. But it had to be a Pontiac. Found that in my parts stash I didn't have a whole lot of choices. That is until I pulled out a Charles carpenter '55 top sportsman kit. After some research about the engine in the car, I found it was a Pontiac and not a big block chevy (like it looked to be) and had a displacement of 638 cid. And it has rocker covers that say's Pontiac. The block is a bit longer an dtaller than the 389 but I think I can make work in the gto. But I don't want to put a lenco 4 speed trans in the car. So the transmissions were cut off both engines and I mounted the trans off the 389 on to the 638. The oil pan will have to be worked over to fit the new engine...................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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From what info I know, told me by a fellow running one of these in a pulling truck, the Pontiac labelled heads were developed by Pontiac Racing for use on a big block Chevy in Pontiac bodied cars. Whatever the case, it is a MAJOR power producing engine, with the all time favorite big block Chevy at it's heart.

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First off, Thanks Joseph, Jeff and Tom for the info on the engine. I remember the big chief from back in the day but just didn't remember it. Just looked up cid for the car. 

Worked on the wheel backing plates. The tires are from some old monogram kits, so the backing plates used on the tires had to be adapted to the rear axle housing and the front spindles. The rear just took some drilling to make fit. For the front I had to replace the stubs the backing plate mounts to. The parts I used are from a monogram '37 ford kit. The stubs were cut off  both the straight axle and the gto front suspension. Then the new stubs were installed to adjust the ride height. The rear was pretty easy as all I did was remove the top of the wheel housing enough for the tire to pass through. The springs and shocks will have to be shortened. All said and done, it turned out about the way I wanted it to sit for a street car........................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Here's how it sits......................

 

 

 

Also worked on the oil pan for the engine. Had a hard time finding a pan to fit this engine. What I ended up using is the pan from a amt '62 chevy 409 kit. Fits the block perfect but required some modification to work in the gto frame. So far I got it to fit the car. The oil filter is going away for a separate filter mounted to the block.....................

 

 

 

 

That's it for now. More to come and thanks for looking!

 

Paul

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Hi Mike, The starter and filter was one of the first things I noticed about this engine. I was looking for a Pontiac engine. While the valve covers say Pontiac, the block looked like a chevy? If you look at the block you will see that the oil filter boss has already been removed as I was going to relocate it to the passenger side because I thought it should be over there being a Pontiac. Even looks like the bell housing is able to take the starter on ether side. But now the filter is going to stay on the drivers side like a chevy that it is.

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This kit seems a whole lot cleaner than the MPC '67 GTO that's on my bench right now. I should've looked into this one! Oh well, clearanced at Walmart so I should stop complaining. 

This kit, with a little massaging, makes a very nice upgrade to the '67 GTO from what I've read. The only thing you need to do is put a 4-barrel on in place of the Tri-Power. 

I'm toying with converting one of these into a LeMans Sprint with the OHC six.

Charlie Larkin

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  • 6 months later...

Been a while since I have worked on this project or any thing else for that matter. This has been sitting on my bench just waiting for me to come back to it. So here is what I got done today. The body got finished with the sanding and fine tuning. Then I taped it up on the outside and painted the inside Tamiya semi-gloss  black. While that was drying I primed the chassis, interior tub and all the other parts. The tape was removed from body and then cleaned up and sanded again. After wards it was washed and is ready for some primer and paint. As usual I have no idea what color yet. I can now also start painting all the suspension and interior parts. Here are some pics  of my progress..........................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking and more to come.

Paul

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