[71GT-37]

My father bought the 1971 GT-37 that I have with a little over 1000 mi. on it in 1978. I took it over in 1985, my senior year. My question is that now that I have a little $ to invest to give a little back to it that it gave me, I do not know if what I have is a 71&1/2 or if it is just another Lemans wanna be. It is all original, rusty and after 98,985 mi. it takes two pumps of the throttle, about two complete rev's. and that distinctive pontiac rolls out the rusty duals.Never, even in my foolish days has this car ever missed a beat. Should my son and I restore,or tub for a rod? Serial#233371P16222. 400 2BBL. 3-speed manual. It has not seen the road since 1986., and has been in my garage the last 8 years. Please, someone let me know if you have any information. Thank you.

[71GT-37]

My father bought the 1971 GT-37 that I have with a little over 1000 mi. on it in 1978. I took it over in 1985, my senior year. My question is that now that I have a little $ to invest to give a little back to it that it gave me, I do not know if what I have is a 71&1/2 or if it is just another Lemans wanna be. It is all original, rusty and after 98,985 mi. it takes two pumps of the throttle, about two complete rev's. and that distinctive pontiac rolls out the rusty duals.Never, even in my foolish days has this car ever missed a beat. Should my son and I restore,or tub for a rod? Serial#233371P16222. 400 2BBL. 3-speed manual. It has not seen the road since 1986., and has been in my garage the last 8 years. Please, someone let me know if you have any information. Thank you.

[Jack Peters]

The serial number indicates that it is a 71 t-37 2dr HT. 233 indicates T-37-----37 indicates 2 dr. Hardtop. You'll have to wait for OPH to tell you the rest. Do you have the window sticker or build sheet?? The GT option is just that, it is an option to the T-37 2 dr ht.

OPH,Where are you??????

[mike nixon]

your serial # matches mine except for the build sequence. i'd say you have a 71 gt-37. most gt37's came with the 350 2bbl, 3spd man trans 3:23 rear end as std equipt.400,455, 4spd trans & th400 auto were optional.man trans cars had hurst shifters as std eqpt.all had factory hood pins.dual exhaust was std with the cutout rear valance.rally 2's with no trim rings were std eqpt. there also was a stripe pkg similar to the gto / lemans sport with gt-37 cut out of it on the rear of the front fender. stipe color depended on the paint code.i've seen white,black and gold[mine] so far. most were bench seat, non a/c cars that i've seen. there was a gt-37 emblem on the right side of the deck lid.i've also never seen a gt-37 with the endura option. i don't have production #'s handy but was told that in the 2yrs 70 / 71 that less than 10,000 were produced total.
get the car documented by phs to be sure it's genuine.
personally i'd restore it with a strong running engine.
mike

[ February 10, 2002: Message edited by: mike nixon ]</p>

[71GT-37]

It sounds like both of you have the knowledge and info. that I have been looking for. I know the car was never tampered with because the original owner was a 50 yr. old woman who worked as a secretary where my father worked. I really would like to know how to tell if this is 1 of the 500 that I have read were built in 1971 1/2. Everything that both of you have told me is correct and right on the money, describing the car exactly. Thank you. B.T.W. The paint scheme is original, Burnt Orange w/a black sword stripe and a vinyl roof. The GM production sticker on the (inside rear) of the drivers door says Mfg. 05/71.

['ol Pinion head]

71GT-37, Actually your car is a '71 1/2 GT-37. All GT-37's built later than changeover week of 03B-03C are '71 1/2's. Unfortunately the '71 1/2 production numbers of 50, 200, & 500 for '71 1/2's are all bad info.

As a GT-37 restorer, I compiled the GT-37 Survey for many years & have hundreds of completed surveys, copies of invoices, buildsheets, & VIN numbers from these cars. As a researcher, have analysed the build sheets, invoices, VIN & Body #'s. This info is from cars from all 5 plants producing Pontiac A-bodies that year. From these results, the results indicate way more than 500 '71 1/2 GT-37's were built. At this time, I'm betting that 30-50% of all GT-37's built during '71 production year were 71 1/2's. There will never be a concrete # as I seriously doubt the plants kept records of which T-37 hardtop was the 1st to recieve the new stripes (& differently pierced fenders) & the GT package.

1419 '70 1/2 GT-37's were produced...no breakdown of post vs hardtop or 350 2bbl vs 400 cars. Needless to say, the 400 4spd GT-37's for '70 are extremely rare.

1971 & 1971 1/2 GT-37 production... All were built on T-37 hardtop series. No endura nosed T-37's either. D98 stripes were available on non GT-37 cars. After the '71 1/2 GT-37 was introduced, regular T-37's, LeMans, & GTO's ordered with the D98 stripe pks still retained the early GT-37 style thin eyebrow stripes & not the reflective "sword style" stripes.

1971 & 1971 1/2 GT-37 production. Factory production #'s of GT-37 pkg for entire 1971 model year by engine breakdown:

-350 2bbl.................5015
-400 2bbl M38.............146
-400 4bbl...................572
-455 4bbl D-port M40.....15
-455 HO.......................54
Total (all model year)..5802

BTW, Welcome to the board!

[ February 10, 2002: Message edited by: ol' Pinion head ]</p>

[71GT-37]

Finally, some people with answers! Can you (ol Pinion Head) tell me whether or not you think the car is restoreable, or would you need some photos?

['ol Pinion head]

Anything can be restored, just depends on how much money you want to spend. If the car holds some serious sentimental value, it's worthy of some form of restoration. Many are building their 350 2bbl & 400 T-37's & GT-37's into serious street cars & race cars. This bulletin board probably has a couple dozen T-37 & GT-37 owners. Several of us have factory 455 HO cars & are doing our best to faithfully restore them. Many other cars are tasteful performance combination's. The factory close ratio 400-4bbl cars & the 455 HO cars all deserve to be restored, in my opinion. BTW, have only ran across one '71 model 400 4bbl close ratio GT-37.

Some considerations...

-Rust can be a nightmare. Lot of different ways to solve the problem if the car is not just totally rotted out. I personally would not hang expensive nos 1/4's on anything short of a documented 400 4spd or 455HO GT-37 that was a longterm keeper. Just too much money for the return, if you ever decide to sell, & priority's do change. Using repro 1/4's or clipping the car are other options. I'm not a fan of rebodied high dollar cars but this does not bother me in building race cars or really fast street cars.

-Interiors...note all GT-37's (& T-37's) came with bench seat interiors- no factory buckets. If your car has a fabric/vinyl interior & it's trashed & you're on a budget, might as well forget about doing it up with correct nos fabric & vinyl That consideration, unless you want to spend 2K-$3500 on materials & quality upholstery work or become a master at auto upholstery. If your interior is all vinyl, you can get off cheaper. If total originality is not a big issue, one could buy some 71-72 GM strato buckets & install LeMans Sport-GTO repro covers for under 1K. Installing heavy buckets does take away some of the factory lightweight appeal of the GT-37.

Feel free & e-mail me some pic's, a good description of car's condition, & express what you would like out of the car in terms of restoring it/ street machining it, & I & many others can give you some feedback.

[ February 10, 2002: Message edited by: ol' Pinion head ]</p>

[Jack Peters]

OPH,

There you are. Thought maybe you had gone on vacation, fallen off the end of the earth or something. Thx for getting me off the hook.

There is a GT-37 (?) on e-bay. Wants a lot. I'm going to check with SMS in Portland regarding interior vinyl. Do you have a phone or e-mail for them?? You can answer here or private e-mail. Thx.

[CraigGT37]

SMS has a web site their adress is SMSAUTOFABRICS.COM
hope that helps
OPH do any of your GT's have anything left of the quaterpanel stripe?I have found an N.O.S fender and door but i need a good rub or pic of rear so i can have some made.
My GT37 has a build date of 09/02/70 and was made in Fremont,Cali

[71GT-37]

Thank you all for all the good info. ol'Pinion Head, I am going to take your advice and get some pictures of the car to e-mail you. B.T.W. It's obvious that you have done this a time or two, your answering questions that i am just starting to think about or have better yet have not thought about yet! Talk to you later.

['ol Pinion head]

Craig, I do not have an early 1/4 panel with a stripe on it. I do have a line on a fellow in PA, who supposedly has some nos early stripes. Have a business deal going with him right now, & will get the part #'s of his stripes & look them up.

[ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: ol' Pinion head ]</p>

['ol Pinion head]

'71, Feel free & email me anytime.