[Bill Morgan]

Well, just like Tim John with his '67 Lemans Sprint, I'm going to do something previously unthinkable.

I bought this 1967 GTO, my teenage dream car, in 1998 in Abilene, TX, where it had sat for several years on cinder blocks in a Baptist preacher’s back yard. It had no title and was in rough condition, the paint sanded away and replaced with spray-can gray primer and the roof painted spray-can black after the vinyl top was peeled off. The engine was a ’73 two-barrel 400, and the interior was aged beyond usability, but the car’s four-speed and 3.55 Saf-T-Track remained in place.

Now, the car I bought at age 48 is 98% through a frame-off total refurbishment, but I, at age 63, have lost interest in driving a high-horsepower four-speed pavement burner, preferring instead a ’56 Ford Fairlane in which I can cruise placidly about with my grandkids along for the ride. I’m doing what I thought would never happen – putting the GTO up for sale.

I held for many years a job in law enforcement that left me little time with family, let alone for an across-the-board vehicle restoration. I hoped to accelerate the pace of the work after I retired 10 years ago, but I seemed to get busier than I ever was while gainfully employed, two body shops went belly-up on me, grandkids came along, and other toy vehicles kept pushing the GTO to the back burner.

First off, the Pontiac now has a clean, clear, regular Texas title in my name; no problem there.

It is stock in appearance except for triple underdash gauges, Hedman headers and single-piston disc brakes up front. The exterior, black vinyl top and red body, matches the cowl tag, as does the red interior with bucket seats and console. However, there is some deception going on under the hood.

The engine is a 428 with significant upgrades. It was built by Norm Goen, a renowned Pontiac engine builder in this region, and ran for 1,500 miles in his ’66 GTO. I bought it after he pulled it from his car in favor of a 421 tripower engine. It has less than two hours use since installed in my car.

Before he could give me a written description of the engine build, Norm died suddenly of an embolism while sitting in that selfsame ’66 GTO at a traffic light, but following are the details burned in my brain at the time of purchase.

The Quadrajet and intake are stock items. The 670 heads are outfitted with stainless steel swirl-polished valves, operated by a valve train of Crane and Iskenderian components. I believe Norm also ported and polished the heads. The compression ratio is calculated at 11.1:1, and I presently run either 102 octane race fuel or a blend of one gallon of 108 octane race fuel to two gallons of 91 octane unleaded gasoline. I believe replacement of the current stock point-fired distributor with electronic ignition and some knowledgeable tinkering with the timing would enable the engine to run on 91-93 octane gasoline.

The block, with four-bolt mains, was bored .015 and fitted with Ross forged pistons cycled by a steel crank. Norm had a Ram Air IV cam in the engine, but I had him fit it with a new ’67 HO cam with factory specs. I also believe the rotating assembly was balanced. I can tell you the engine winds like a Ch**y small block and gear changes come quick. Norm told me the machine work he devoted to the build would have cost $4,000 had he not been able to do it himself.

The transmission, engaged by a Zoom clutch, is a Muncie M-21, professionally-rebuilt and operated with a professionally-restored, year-correct Hurst shifter. The rear-axle is the previously mentioned original 3.55 Saf-T-Track.

A mechanic friend, with many years of experience in drag racing vehicles from Mustangs to alcohol dragsters, has driven my car and estimates its horsepower nearing 500 and predicts quarter-mile times, with proper tires, in the low 12s.

I made few modifications to the GTO - Hedman three-tube headers, an oversize exhaust system with X-pipe, Ram Air engine wiring harness, and ’72 GTO power disc brakes up front to go with the factory power steering. The headers present some minor interference with the clutch countershaft (Z-bar), but I am including a set of never-installed reproduction Ram Air cast iron exhaust manifolds that will eliminate that circumstance and flow as well or better than the headers. I did change out the non-AC core support for an AC version so I could use the larger 17 ½-inch radiator.

Since I never intended this car to be a concours show winner, I didn’t replace any of the bright trim or glass, except the windshield. The bumpers are original and, while not flaking or banged up, could stand to be replated or replaced. As a point of interest, all headlights are original, correct T-3s.

The paint, Omni Apple Red, is new on an all-steel body. The car was rust-free, but I had both fenders, both doors, and one quarter panel replaced with straight factory metal rather than have the dented originals repaired. The quarter panel was not rusted but had been damaged by a pair of heads bouncing around in the trunk when the car was trailered years prior to my purchase.

The repro vinyl top was professionally installed, as was the all-new interior, including new buns on the bucket seats. All weatherstrip is new, as is the sound deadening underneath the carpet, the watershields behind the trim panels, the firewall insulation and the heater gaskets.

No mechanical issues remain to be addressed. The suspension is totally rebuilt – new springs, balljoints, tierod ends, control arm bushings (front and rear), shocks (front and rear), and brakes (all around). The radiator, heater core, and heater blower motor all are new.

Presently, only a few minor tasks, all trim-related, remain to complete the car, and I will continue to work on it until it is sold. The presently-seen wheels, vintage Mickey Thompson mags, will not go with the car. When I got the car it had vintage Appliance Wheel alloy turbine wheels on it, and I’m going to refit them to it.

All that said, here is your chance to get the other guy’s sweat, blood, and dreams for free and save the years of time it takes to bring a ’67 GTO back from little more than a shell to what is essentially a new car from front to back, top to bottom.

I am pricing the GTO at $30,000. PM me through the forum, email me at bmorgue(at) Hotmail.com, or call me at eight-zero-six 799.4548 with any questions.

By the way, this doesn't put me out of the Pontiac world; I still have a '67 Bonneville 428 sport coupe and a '63 Bonneville Consort ambulance.

[Bill Morgan]

Additional photos...

[Bill Morgan]

Last, the interior. I didn't photograph the engine, because it looks just like every other one, except for having the correct '67 GTO louvered pancake air cleaner.

[Bill Morgan]

I said I was pricing my GTO at $30,000, but I didn't say it would take that much to get it. I have my new car, a '56 Ford Fairlane Club Coupe, waiting on the parking space...

[Bill Morgan]

All smoke, mirrors, lipstick, and rouge aside, I'll take $25,000 for my car.

[Bill Morgan]

I compiled a list of the remaining parts needed for the car, and they total just under $500.

Included in this group are the following.

Door panel and front fender emblems
Console backing plates (Converts the '66 console to a '67; I already have the vinyl)
Console mounting bracket
Dash knobs and bezels
Parking brake handle
Pedal pads and trim plates
Back-up light switch
Headlight switch
Lock sets for ignition and doors, and glovebox, console, decklid

[Keith Seymore]

Well, Bill....I'm not in the market for a GTO but I must say I certainly enjoyed reading your post. You sure know how to turn a phrase

Good luck with the sale -

K

[xgoater]

Bill,

Just an FYI. You can't correctly convert a 66 console to a 67 console by just putting on the backing plates and adding the wood grain vinyl. The ribs on a 64-66 glove box lid are raised and the ribs on a 67 lid are inverted. Like the lid, the ribs are raised on the large front section of a 64-66 console and there are no ribs at all on a 67 front section.

If you try to put the backing plates on a 64-66 console, that backing plate will sit on top of the ribs only and not have anything on the two side bands to support it.

Just trying to be helpful and to avoid a potential problem for the new owner.

BTW, very nice car! I wish I had the money for it.

Terry

[Bill Morgan]

Thanks for the heads-up on the console. I'm the victim of the old evil of assumption.

I have a good console base with wiring harness and decent '66 chrome top plate and console door, the woodgrain appliques for a '67 console, the correct '67 console shifter well, shift boot and hold-down plate, and plenty of thin sheet aluminum from which to make backing plates, so I thought a little elbow grease and epoxy glue would have me looking good.

Although this is originally a console car, I think I'll suggest the next owner get the non-console shift boot and hold-down plate and run it that way. I just can't see paying $600 for a reproduction '67 console top plate and console door, even when it comes with the woodgrain already in place.

[Bill Morgan]

Now included with my car is a set of freshly-built 6X-8 heads, which should drop the compression from the present 11:1 down to around 9:1, certainly pump-gas-friendly, while losing less than 10% in horsepower.

[Bill Morgan]

My car remains available.

The 6X-8 heads have been installed, along with the Ram Air exhaust manifolds, so two problems are remedied.

The car will run on pump gas, and there no longer is interference between the clutch countershaft and a tube of the formerly installed Hedman headers.

[Bill Morgan]

Well, the rare vintage Mickey Thompson mags are back on the car to stay to the benefit of a new owner. The Western wheels wouldn't clear the disc brake brackets.

The list of items still needed for the car also has diminished, now down to the following.

Door panel and front fender emblems
Dash knobs and bezels
Parking brake handle
Pedal pads and trim plates
Back-up light switch
Correct '67 top plate for the console

[Bill Morgan]

SOLD....

The GTO was on the web for six months, I responded to about 80 inquiries from coast to coast and border to border, emailed scores of photos, and it was bought by a man who lives 45 miles from me after he saw it on the national website cars-on-line.com.

Next to leave my stable will be my '63 Bonneville ambulance, one of 123 Consorts built in '63 by Superior Coach. I put it on the HAMB, and it's now destined for a new home in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada.

So now I'm left with but one Pontiac, my '67 428 Bonneville sport coupe. Back around 2006 I had more than two dozen Pontiacs of all flavors.