[Restoration] Project: 1967 GTO 400 Rebuild

[Lucky SOB]

My Dad and I started disassembling his GTO today. He's had it for about 25 years and we haven't done much more than brakes and oil changes in that time. So it's time to freshen it up!

The plan is very similar to what we did with my Mom's 1967 Firebird a few years ago.

The engine will come out and get sent to a shop to be disassembled, dipped, rebuilt and painted to factory spec. All of the electrical, hoses, lines etc will be replaced with stock-style parts (most of it will come from NPD). While the engine is out we'll paint the engine bay the correct satin black (currently gloss) and replace suspension parts as needed.

We put a Holley carb on it this past summer due to issues with the stock Rochester. If anyone happens to have a Rochester 4bbl carb for a Pontiac 400, let me know (we would prefer to keep the whole thing stock).

Overall the plan is restoration oriented, not added performance. It runs ok now, but will be nice to have the engine bay freshened up.

As you'll see in the pictures below, it's nearly ready to be pulled!

Before we started...

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453593525.032722.jpg

And after a few hours of wrenching!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453594001.206686.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453593577.054523.jpg

[Lucky SOB]

This afternoon we got to work on pulling the engine. After looking it over for a while, we decided to pull the trans separately from below first. Overall it went very smooth and after a couple hours we got everything out!

My Dad disconnecting the clutch linkage.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453686044.034299.jpg

New (to me) engine lift in action!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453686088.122617.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453686131.921558.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453686148.959620.jpg

Ready to be cleaned and painted. It's really in good shape. Not nearly as greasy as the Firebird was.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1453686171.228472.jpg

So now to think over the options. My Dad has been kicking around a couple ideas other than having this engine rebuilt. It's not the correct 400, we think it's from a Buick or Olds but need to check the codes still. The car was optioned with a Pontiac 400 HO with a 4bbl carb. That's pretty tough to find, so the other thought is get a Pontiac 400 and convert it to tri-power. It wouldn't be correct, but people love seeing a tri-power setup (typically on Pontiac 389's) under the hood.

[MP81]

From what I've heard, tri-powers can sometimes be a bit of a ***** to get (and keep) working correctly. But when they work they are definitely nice.

Can't wait to see the progress on this one.

[JoeliusZ28]

Is a 389 and 400 the same block?

[MP81]

Is a 389 and 400 the same block?

400 is essentially a bored-out 389.

[farmington]

how refreshing to actually see room to work under the hood.

[Lucky SOB]

Yesterday was pretty productive!

Picked up a 1-ton engine stand from Harbor Freight *cringe*. Actually Kolin picked it up because the employees there are idiots... Long story. Anyways we wanted something stronger because we had to build a wood brace to support the front of the Firebird's 326 when we had it on my half ton stand a few years back. Turns out iron is pretty heavy.

Anyways we got the clutch and flywheel off the engine and got it mounted to the stand. We also removed a lot of wiring and miscellaneous things from the engine bay to get it ready for prep and paint.

Once we had the engine on the stand, we popped the valve covers off to check it out. Overall no sludge like the Firebird had. However, we found that the springs, rockers, pushrods and the valve cover gaskets were painted!

Before my Dad bought this car 26 years ago (right before I was born), it was a project car for a Vocational School up in Flint or Grand Blanc. He bought it from the Car Corral at Carnival of Cars at the Packard Proving Grounds. So apparently the teacher was gone the day the kids painted the engine haha.

Right now we're looking at options for who to take the engine to and hopefully will have it dropped off in the next couple weeks.

Enjoy the pics!

Pretty nice catch, huh? Almost like we planned it.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454978901.533800.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454978943.472810.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454978969.300260.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454978988.387669.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454979011.387621.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454979024.885617.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454979057.762386.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454979076.045281.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454979099.705035.jpg

Annnnd my eyes are closed... Nice picture Kolin!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1454979148.603320.jpg

[s.reef]

A little paint doesn't hurt anything

[MP81]

Who needs tape when painting an engine?!?

Great progress!

[JoeliusZ28]

A little paint doesn't hurt anything

Just a little oil additive, secret of the pros

[meissen]

Great work guys!

[Lucky SOB]

Spent a couple hours today getting the car ready to degrease and power wash.

Pulled all of the fuel and brake lines, the front grille and bumper.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1457221904.637736.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1457221930.780539.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1457221942.090107.jpg

Just need to tape some things up tomorrow and it should be ready.

[bigjon88]

Looking good Fred!!

[Lucky SOB]

Rather than power washing today, I decided to try scraping the undercoating off the underside with a putty knife and wire wheel.

What a mess...

These pictures are in progress. Hopefully you can see the difference from my post above.

I'm going to keep going with this method of scraping and wire wheeling and am going to start adding some mineral spirits to get the residue off.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1457305377.753956.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1457305390.003374.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1457305402.425382.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1457305416.676522.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1457305131.810589.jpg

[farmington]

If you are going to scrape, try heating with propane torch first.