This Is my 1971 GTO.I found this car in Auburn Massachusetts in the fall of 2003.I was actually working,and a 1966 caught my eye,so I had to spin around and see what the asking price was.Well the 66 was a bit out of range seeing that is was beautiful cherry red and someone already did a frame off restoration on it,so I took a look at the flat black rat 71 next to it.I climbed under the car,the floors were just redone,kind of jagged,but still new metal,and there was no rust or dents to speak of.I called the number on the window,and the owner(GTO Wayne I call him)came down with the keys and let me start it up.

    The origional 400 was under the hood,with a muncie m 21 and a non-posi 12 bolt(at least I thought,we will come back to that) 4500 was the asking price,I agreed for what was there,this was a decent price for a solid GTO.It took me a month to get him the money,but finally I drove it home. The ride howe was fun, it had a set of 2.68's or something there abouts,and with the 4 speed,it was very hard to get her rolling in first without burning the hell out of the clutch.So of course stalling when I paid the toll on the pike was a must,and flooding the carb just at that moment was also called for.A phone call for some tools and an hour later we were rolling again.

    I drove the car for a few months as it sat,no modifications were made,just changed the oil and plugs.So back and forth to work for about 2 months and everything was going pretty good.I was getting use to the gears and fluttering the clutch to get rolling became second nature.Until I was driving past Rodman Ford on Rt 1 in foxboro.As I started up the hill the engine just stopped.No warning,it just stopped making noise completely.I tried to turn the key and just a loud click.So why not pop the clutch in reverse??Well I tried that also.The tires just locked up and skidded down the hill a bit.After its tow home,I found that the crank case was full of my coolant,so hey,lets pull the motor arart....I never saw such damage to an internal combustion engine.There were pushrods through lifters,the cam was in 4 pieces,and I didn't even want to look at the bottome end of this motor.I rebuilt another one and through this one right in a dumpster.(Looking back,not my best desicion)

    Over that winter I sent the car to a bodyshop in attleboror Mass. called Tri boro auto body.He came well reccomended by a few people,so why not trust him with my musclecar?Well he said he would paint the car a wildberry color,since I wanted a nice Black Cherry Metallic,and the Wildberry was as close as he could find.6 months later I got the car back,Upon first sight the car looked amazing,no dents,the paint looked flawless,and I was extremely happy with the job.Once you get things home,they start to look a bit different,especially when you call your friends over...There were overspray marks on the hood where it meets the fender,and just a mess of heavy painted areas on both fenders,it looked as though he didn't go to the end of the panel and back,but just made several figure 8 marks all over the car.I couldn't complain to the bodyshop owner,so I just dealt with it,and for the $1800 he charged me,it did look like an $1800 paint job.

   So with my new paint and the new motor,I was looking to upgrade the gears so I could drive this car wthout killing the clutch.I ordered a set of 3.73 gears for a 12 bolt,and was just about to pull the ring gear out,when I counted the bolts on the ring gear itself.10..??!! How is thgis a 12 bolt cover with a 10 bolt ring gear??HMM,I made a few calls,turns out this rear end is a 1968-1970 olds 442 rear end that has the 10 bolt ring gear.So the parts I ordered will not even fit.Damn.Put the cover back on,fill it with fluid and order a set of 3.55's for the 10 bolt,since 3.73's weren't available for this rear end.Upon driving this car home to Ct.I heard an odd noise coming from under the hood.Lets take a look.Well I seem to be missing one half of my valve keeper on number 2 intake valve..(here comes another stupid move)Lets just drive it home,and we can take care of it when we get there.

    On rt 95,there was a woman in her new Intimidator edition Monte ss.Nice car,she slowed up,gave me a look,thumbs up and a little bit of an instigation glare,so from 4th to third I go,and take off.Leaving this Monte to wonder what the hell just happened.Yeah,for about 7 seconds,until that awesome rapping sound of a valve getting sucked into the cylinder and slamming the head repeatedly.I took off the valve cover,I found the spring,but no valve.Called my friend for a tow,and while waiting,I pulled the head and found that I have destroyed yet another 400.The head of the valve was stuck inside the piston,and the piston expanded enough to rip the side of the cylinder wide open.Lesson learned.

    Now this car is resting in my garage getting a full frame off restoration.The body had the old rear quarters still under the new ones,so they rotted out from the inside.The car's body is being suspended from the cieling,and the frame is being fitted to a ford 9 inch with hotchkins rear control arms,adjustable upper control arms and a set of coil over springs.I had the muncie rebuilt and currently there is a 455 being bored .060 over,with a 632 lift ultradine rollercam being cut down(thats a bit big),a set of edelbrocks ram air 4 aluminum heads,being fit with the oversized 1.77 exhaust valves for better breathing.I have a dual quad setup that I want to use 2, 500 demon vacuum secondaries on,with the 4.11's out in the 9 inch,I am looking for some good numbers on the 1/4 mile..

    I am painting this car silver metallic in the front,making a nice flame going from sliver to orange to yellow tips,and finishing the car off in the rear with a nice dark candy raspberry color.I am yet unsure if I want to keep the 71 nose,or if I want the 70 instead.I will see if I can find one and make my decision then.The last piece of this is the custom barn door style hood.I am working on hinging the hood at the fenders,so the seam will be in the very center of the hood,opening to the sides instead of from the front.I will post more pictures soon.

More to come...