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Old guy being silly

3.2K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  DL-North  
#1 ·
That being me.
I will have to think about parting with a tractor toy, and I just parted with a Merc Tower toy, all to make time for a new project.
Why you ask.
I just pulled the trigger on a project car.
A 1964 Lemans convertable, 326, powerglide, PS, PB and Air.
Plenty of rust but it's almost exactly like my 1st car, even same color.

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#3 ·
The tires don't look too bad, they are only flat on the bottom. Actually looks like the sheet metal is in decent shape. Looks like a fun project!
 
#6 ·
not to knock the fun , enjoy the fun of finding parts for a 1 year only body style
something i learned as i finished a 64 GTO convert a year ago, man did i have fun , lots of what was needed were hard to find but worth every hour as it sure turns heads at the cruise in's

no powerglide in poncho's that trans is a super turbine 300. 2 spd BPO unit that looks like a glide but inside it's not
 

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#7 · (Edited)
You're a man of taste, Dan. I love the 64's, and a rag top to boot. Congrats, here's hoping you share your project with us (y)

Charlie........dude, that ride is gorgeous!
 
#8 ·
#12 · (Edited)
Thanks guys, ya, getting more excited with each day.

But 1st, Charlie, that GTO is gorgeous, if you have it documented someplace please post/link it, I'd love to see it and learn what you went through. (Thanks for the correction on the trans, didn't really know, only that it is a 2 sp)

While a getting a GTO version would be nice, they are too pricey for me, and I never expected to even have even any '64 Lemans, but this one come up locally and I had to get it.

It was listed on an on-line auction and the reserve wasn't met, so I called the auction place and learned who the seller was, turns out they were/are a local car dealer/classic car dealer. I called them and we made a deal.

This car was part of a collection they learned of and bought from New York, 4 or 5 were/are in beautiful condition and they had to take this one to get the collection. Reportedly, the PO took very good care of his cars and used the Lemans as his personal car, driving it all over. It likely came from down south as it has air, a rare option in these days. Anyway, the car was stored inside but 4-5 years ago something happened and it was left outside. And the rust came and the floor disappeared. But it's complete and original, to the extent it still has all 4 hubcaps, and only has one spot of wrinkled sheet metal (LR corner).

My plans - not sure yet. It is not even delivered yet, should come late this week.
Short term is to clean it up to see what is there, and see if it runs.
Ideally some light cleanup, fluids, brakes, tires, etc and maybe it would be driveable.

I have no interest in making it a GTO clone, but being my original one was a stick with a console, that is attractive to me. My 1st one also had a 389 in it, so a bigger motor might happen, but nothing too carried away, as I want it to look stock. And with Pontiac, that's possible, as the 326 to 455 all look basically the same on the outside.

I don't want to put a lot of money into it, I just would like for it to be a "spritely" driver.
So the most likely would be maybe a 400 or 455 with a Th 400, which would look very much like what's there now.

BTW, the guy who bought the collection is a Pontiac guy and who has had a bunch of 60's Lemans & GTO's, he has offered help, advice, contacts, etc to help get this car back on the road.
 
#14 ·
Dan, that looks like a fantastic project. Good for you, very happy for you.

Rust? Nah, you ain't seen rust til you've seen Michigan rust!! Most of Michigan 64s are gone all the way up to the door handles by now.

Congrats on a nice find!!
 
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#15 ·
My older brother had a '64 LeMans back in the 90's,with a 400 V8 ,TH400...two door hardtop...
It was very fast and everyone thought it was a GTO...

One of my friends has a '65 LeMans convertible much like this one...he put a 400 V8 in it and a 4 speed,had to search all over new england to find a clutch pedal setup used..found a farm that was more of a private boneyard that had dozens of muscle cars and old trucks stashed away that had several nearly complete 64-72 Pontiac Lemans and GTO's..

I had a '69 GTO when I was in my late 20's...probably the best car I ever owned,and was stupid to ever sell it..
I bought it off a best friend who paid $150 for it,after he decided the 10 mpg was not exactly the right choice to commute 30+ miles daily to work and back each day..

That car was a fast one--400 V8,TH400,and a non-posi 4:10 rear end...thing could smoulder the tires endlessly,and chirp them going into third at 60+ mph..it was army drab green metallic with a green interior,bucket seats,but a colum shift,no console!..it also had no P/S or P/B,I eventually swapped in a P/S setup but never did upgrade the 4 wheel drum brakes..it was a terror to stop at highway speeds..!

I saw a '69 GTO fly by my house last night,gray primer and looked a bit ratty,but I wished it was mine!..

Trying to find anything like these cars around here is a pipe dream now--anything thats been here all its life is rotted to death and they still want at least 3 grand for the "shell",and you may not be able to even get it registered..anything driveable is priced more like 6 to 10+ grand..:(
 
#17 ·
I've never been a GM guy, but in the late 1960's my best friend got ahold of a 1965 dark blue GTO with white convertible top with the tri power set up and 4 speed manual trans.
That is one great looking vehicle that could pull hard in all 4 gears!! Came as close as any, to making me consider a GM product. Of all the GTO years, that was the finest design IMHO. Sweet machine it was.
 
#18 ·
drop a 389 or 400 in it easy to convert to a stick, keep it a lemans just a sleeper as who could figure out whats under the hood with out opening it, 64's both models share a lot of parts

that gto is a true numbers matching 64, 389 tripower, 4 spd, 410 rear , electric top and windows ,what a pain those are,it's a full body off took 3 men working 6 days a week for a year to bring back , a lot of parts took a lot of time to find replacements for, it's a tad slammed 4 inch drop in front 2 rear, converted to front disc where it had drums, the exhaust is totally NLA, we had to have a local midas shop ,make the system as whats out there is 3 inches for long tube headers this has stock cast irons that uses a 2 1/4 inch system
learned a lot doing it for the owner don't mind sharing lessons learned
 
#21 ·
back to the lemans, it's going to be good to see another drop top 64 getting back on the road . finding parts will be fun and time consuming, re chroming the bumpers we had to ship them out to a big place in TENN that knocked out all the dings, that special fender mounted remote mirror went to a chrome shop in Asbury park NJ as they were the only one we found at the time that were doing diecast work .wire harness wise we used a american auto wire kit, which updated to a new fuse block with everyday fuses, gave options to upgrade or add some wires, power windows we tried to reuse the old motors and regulators to no avail wound up buying full kits to install from crank ups off ebay, the top motor and pump got upgraded to the more common found items
 
#22 ·
The car got delivered yesterday, Fri 4-2-21, and I can finally start to see what I bought.
The 1st couple things to do - get some keys made so I can get into the truck, and tires on that hold air so it can be rolled around.
And get a tarp on it to keep the water out. :)
 
#24 ·
4-28-21 -- Update
2ed set of 2 tires being mounted today and keys being made to get into truck.
And the new ignitions keys are made.
Once the tires are on then I'll see about the engine and put a battery in it.