1964 Pontiac GTO - It Came From The Frat House

With the body solid once again and hauled off to Bankston Auto Body of Dallas for a thorough media-stripping, the unobstructed frame and sub-assemblies were sandblasted at Able Sandblasting and then treated to a 40-percent gloss black powder coating at Ace Powercoat in Garland, Texas. According to Todd, "this is where the fun began. Everything that could be installed, was. This included, stainless steel brake lines, 3/8 inch [aluminum] fuel lines, PST polyurethane bushings, Hotchkis boxed rear control arms and front upper A-arms, Second-Generation F-body spindles, H-O Racing springs and 1-3/8 inch front and rear stabilizer bars, KYB gas shocks, front and rear disc brakes, ['80s Monte Carlo SS] fast-ratio steering box and linkage, engine, transmission, driveshaft, and differential-everything!"

Let's review that list in a bit more detail. In addition to adding Second-Generation Firebird front spindles and 4-wheel disc brake system, Todd included rebuilt calipers and a Master Power master cylinder and booster kit. He shares, "The mini-booster kit had to be installed to clear the tall valve covers." Doing things the hard way, Schoel also admits that he acquired all kinds of equipment and tools to bend his own stainless brake lines. Lastly, the rotors were upgraded with 11-inch Power Stop cross-drilled units. A set of aluminum alloy 15x8-inch Halibrand "Speedway" 3-spoke spinner knock-off wheels and BFG 225/60R15 T/As comprise the rolling stock. Todd noted, "I had to have the back custom machined for a 4.25-inch backspacing to clear the wheel wells."

Somewhere along this 2-year timeline, the body was media-blasted and as Todd muses, "It came out looking like a shiny nickel." At that point Garland, Texas's own Krause Brothers again put the shiny body on the rotisserie for a painting and underbody finishing. Herberts Standox was the paint of choice. Three blocked coats of primer gave way to 6 coats of Dark Carmine (pronounced Kar-men) before 3 layers of clear coat were applied. While the color isn't a factory GTO hue it is indeed a GM color for a '79 GMC truck (the paint code coincidentally is 79). Todd adds, "The rust protected underbody was a non-clear coated version of the top side."

With the body and frame reunited, a complete Painless Wiring system kit was installed so that-among other things-a Nordskog custom LCD 7-segment gauge unit could replace the idiot lights. Don't go rushing out to order your own set because they were fabricated. Todd confesses, "From the outside they look like factory idiot lights until they light up, but from behind there is all kinds of epoxy." An original AM, "no push-button, knob select," radio and power antenna were also put in.

Moving into year 3, Todd apparently got an awesome deal on powder coating because he decided to have the convertible top frame done. Grab your notepads Pontiac fans as he shares yet another installment of "do as I say, not as I do" words of wisdom.

You know those plastic bushings that fit within the convertible top frame's scissor hinges, right? You might want to make sure to remove the plastic bushings BEFORE sending it out to the powder coater. "They forgot to take them out and they melted in the baking oven, ruining the frame. I had to get a whole new convertible frame."

It was then time for Bell's Auto Trim in Plano, Texas, to complete the convertible top and clean up that horror crime scene interior, so a call went in to Year One for all the "soft" interior, roof, and trim stuff. Lokar billet foot pedals may brighten up the lower interior, yet Todd despairingly reported, "I had to fabricate the pedals by cutting off the original pad mounts and weld fine thread nuts in their place. They were more trouble than they were worth." Still keeping notes, guys and gals?