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1967 Pontiac Grand Prix - From Cold Storage To Hot SupercarThis Rare And Desirable 428 H.O. '67 Hurst Grand Prix Convertible Was Rediscovered In An Unlikely Location From the May, 2011 issue of High Performance Pontiac By Thomas A. DeMauro Photography by Mike Pemberton, Thomas A. DeMauro
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This Hurst GP has 126,700... This Hurst GP has 126,700 miles, but you would never know it to look at it. The finished result is stunning. Owner Mike Pemberton jokingly says, "It handles like a tuna boat, but it's my tuna boat! Seriously, it accelerates great and is a blast to drive." Sometimes opportunities present themselves in the most improbable places. Back in 2007, when retired police officer Mike Pemberton and his wife, Debbie, of Gardnerville, Nevada, began to frequent a restaurant for breakfast at Sharkey's Casino, little did he know that it would lead to this '67 Hurst Grand Prix convertible. Rediscovery
Mike and his wife got to know the casino's general manager, Jerry Lane, who also managed the restaurant and consulted in the casino industry. Jerry had met Cliff Swartz, the son of Rosalie Brewstein, years before via his casino ties. Rosalie was George Hurst's secretary and she had purchased the '67 Grand Prix after the '67 event season. Despite the 428 H.O. breaking and being replaced with a 400, she drove the Pontiac for the next several years and then relegated it to the easy life of a second car, storing it at her New Jersey home. In the late '80s, her son, Cliff, was in need of a vehicle out in Reno, so Mom offered up the Grand Prix. Cliff and Jerry flew to New Jersey and drove the GP back to Nevada. After enjoying top-down cruising for a few years, Cliff had the dream but not the means to restore the rare Pontiac, so Jerry decided to pick up the gauntlet and buy it. He located a 428 engine and sent it out for rebuilding and had a restoration shop begin on the body. His best intentions were met with lots of bad luck, however. The engine shop was raided and shut down by the DEA-despite an extended court battle, the engine was gone. The body shop stopped working on the Pontiac and stored it outside for over a year with only primer to protect the sheetmetal. Liberation of bolt-on components from midnight auto-parts shoppers only made things worse. Finally, Jerry got it to his daughter's house, where it sat outside for a couple more years, and then into a storage container, where it hibernated for 18 years. Mike recalls, "When Jerry started describing the car to me I told myself, sure, sure, sure. I'd never heard of a '67 Hurst Grand Prix convertible. I listened intently, however, and the next day he brought in pictures and documentation. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted." Jerry wanted to restore it but didn't have the cash, so the two briefly discussed forming a partnership. The numbers didn't crunch favorably, so Mike decided to pass on the offer. By May of 2008, however, Jerry was ready to sell the GP outright, so Mike bought it and got to work. Restoration
Norris Autobody in Gardnerville was chosen to do the bodywork. Once at the shop, the front clip was unbolted, the drivetrain removed, and the body was separated from the frame. Chemical stripping and sanding of the shell revealed the rear quarters would have to be replaced, and the floorpans on the driver rear and passenger front would require repair, but the trunk floor was saveable. Since it's a '67 Grand Prix convertible, body parts were not easy to come by, so Mike purchased a parts car for donor metal. Here is how Mike found the... Here is how Mike found the rare '67 Hurst Grand Prix convertible, in a storage unit in Fallon, Nevada. DuPont 615 etching primer was used to protect the bare metal, and intense cutting, welding, and bodywork ensued. Applications of DuPont 2K urethane primer and block-sanding followed until the body was straight. Next came a coat of urethane sealer; then three coats of DuPont G9900 ChromaBase Super Jet Black basecoat were applied and wet-sanded after drying. Three coats of Hurst Gold in ChromaPremier base were sprayed on the sides of the GP; then House of Kolor UMF01Ultra Goldflake was applied over that. Finally, DuPont 72500 Premium Appearance urethane clear was sprayed four times over the whole body. Wet-sanding was performed with a progression of grits from 800 to 2,000, and 3M products were used for polishing. Since the original 376-horse 428 H.O. engine was lost decades before, Mike searched for a suitable replacement. "I still wanted to use as many correctly coded parts for the engine as possible," he says. He bought a virgin assembled '67 S/R 428 four-bolt-main short-block, date-coded November 1967, from a collector.
A service replacement (S/R)... A service replacement (S/R) 428 was installed for the long-expired original 428 H.O. engine. It was built to stock specs and outfitted with a correctly coded carb, intake, distributor, and exhaust manifolds, among other parts. Kurt Brooker at Main Machine in Concord, California, disassembled it to check the condition of the 43-plus-year-old parts. He did a very mild cylinder hone and machined the pistons to lower the compression to 9.375:1. He then reassembled the engine with the nodular-iron, 4.00-inch-stroke crank; cast 6.625-inch rods; and the cast pistons. A Milodon oil pump and pickup were installed, and a set of 670 heads were purchased and rebuilt to stock with hardened valve seats added. A 288/302-degree-duration, No. 068 cam directs the 2.11/1.77 valves via stock pushrods and 1.50-ratio rockers to provide 0.414/0.413 lift. Fuel and air are provided by a Q-jet carb (No. 7027263) and factory cast-iron, dual-plane intake (No. 9786286). Spark is delivered via a Delco points distributor (No. 1111250), stock coil, date-coded Packard wires, and AC 44S plugs. The exhaust flows through factory long-branch H.O. manifolds (No. 9791607 passenger; No. 9779495 driver) to a complete Waldron stock reproduction system. The long-tail Turbo 400 trans was rebuilt by Elsons in Reno, a stock replacement torque converter was installed, and the 3.08 Safe-T-Track rear was serviced. Once the bodywork was completed; the chassis mated with the body (with the engine, trans, and rear installed); and the fenders, nose, hood and doors installed and aligned, Mike performed the final assembly. He installed the body trim that was restored by Darryll Sharar and the bumpers that were rechromed by ABC Plating in Sparks, Nevada. He and his friend Mike "Smitty" Smith installed the new top, which was provided by Robbins Auto Top Company in Oxnard, California. Smitty helped rebuild and recover the seats and Mike did the rest of the interior. Mike restored the shifter... Mike restored the shifter and console, and relates that the shifter is a '67 GTO unit that was modified to fit in the GP. To restore the wheels, Mike related that anodizing won't work, and neither will powdercoating because of the porosity of the aluminum. So he had Gary Watson of Creations In Chrome in Valencia, California, apply Spectra-chrome gold paint to the centers, and they came out great. The trim rings were restored by ABC Plating. Mike couldn't get reproduction Goodyear Blue Streak bias-ply tires in the size that he wanted, so he had Diamond Back Classics apply the Blue Streak to a set of 225/70R14 radials. Though the Goodyear lettering is absent, he now has the look of the Blue Streaks with the performance characteristics of more modern radial tires. Concluson
After a 28-month restoration, the GP debuted at the POCI Convention in July of 2010 and has garnered considerable attention since. In fact, one of Mike's favorite moments with it came at the 2010 SEMA show. "Getting to see the look on Linda Vaughn's face when she first saw the restoration is something I'll never forget," he recalls. Linda told HPP, "Oh my goodness, I was impressed. Mike did me proud with that car! Many people at the show came over to ask if I had seen it and told me how beautiful it was. I wish I still had one of them!" Mike has been able to take all the attention his '67 Hurst Grand Prix receives in stride. "I'm just a guy who is lucky enough to have purchased, restored, and can now share this unique Hurst Pontiac," he says. "I hope all who see it remember George Hurst and his contributions to GM iron and the speed and performance industry." When opportunity knocked, Mike answered, and both Hurst and Pontiac fans can now enjoy the results.  The extremely rare 14-inch,...  The extremely rare 14-inch, 5-on-5 large-bolt-pattern Hurst wheels with gold centers were completely restored.  The GP features nearly 30...  The GP features nearly 30 factory options including: 428 H.O. engine; Turbo 400 trans; A/C; Soft Ray glass; cruise control; Custom Sports steering wheel, tilt wheel; AM/FM radio; Reverb; 8-track; power antenna; power driver seat; reclining passenger seat; headrests; power windows; power vent windows; remote trunk release; cornering lamps; shoulder harnesses; custom seatbelts; deluxe mats; trunk mat; vanity mirror; underhood reel-out light; HD battery; remote rearview mirror; and Safe-Guard speedometer; and the side skirts were deleted.  Mike restored the shifter...  Mike restored the shifter and console, and relates that the shifter is a '67 GTO unit that was modified to fit in the GP.  Here is what the GP looked...  Here is what the GP looked like when it was first removed from the storage container. The upper body rust came from previous outside storage, and the lower quarter-panel rust was more likely from years of use on the East Coast in the '60s, '70s, and '80s.  The gold held up surprisingly...  The gold held up surprisingly well over the years-the trim rings not as much. According to Mike, the Hurst wheels wouldn't fit with disc brakes, so 11-inch drums are fitted all around.  With the rest of the nose...  With the rest of the nose stripped off the body, you can see the project that lies ahead.  Here is the shifter and console...  Here is the shifter and console as they appeared prior to the restoration.  Both quarterpanels were in...  Both quarterpanels were in poor condition due to rust and dents, so they were cut off.  A rust-free outer wheelhouse,...  A rust-free outer wheelhouse, support, and trunk extension were welded in on the driver side before the quarter was welded on.  The passenger side received...  The passenger side received similar metalwork, followed by grinding and dressing of the welds, as well as bodywork to ensure straight panels, gaps, and body lines.  After final block-sanding,...  After final block-sanding, a coat of sealer was applied, followed by three coats of DuPont G9900 ChromaBase Super Jet Black basecoat.  While separated from the body,...  While separated from the body, the frame and suspension were sandblasted and refinished in black using SEM 38101 Rust-Shield. The wear items were replaced, and the rebuilt 428 H.O. and Turbo 400 trans were bolted in.  At the far end of the frame,...  At the far end of the frame, the 3.08-geared Safe-T-Track rear was reinstalled, and the reproduction Waldron 2.25-inch-diameter exhaust with resonators was hung. The shocks have since been replaced with correct spiral units. The stamped date code on the frame reads 9-21-66.  Once the body was back on...  Once the body was back on the frame, the gold side paint was applied. DuPont cross-referenced 5196L0, which was the code for the original lacquer, and then mixed it in urethane for this application. Mike had the shop use Pontiac Tryol Blue without the metallic added to replicate the Goodyear Blue trim line that separates the gold and black.
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