Planning a new build, 65 GTO or 67 Chevelle, what do you guys think?
 

coming from a mostly original background with classic cars my current mustang really made me love this pro touring segment a hell of a lot more than concour original cars which is what I have been accustomed to for the last 25 years.

over the last few months I really came up with a game plan for the next car i do from the ground up.

Engine will be an LS Based motor, probaly an LS7 or LS9 with mild work
Gearbox a TR6060 or I may go automatic not sure

Chassis and Suspension I am dying to use a Roadster SHop full chassis and this is most likely what i will use

Wheels Forgelines or HRE

Brakes Brembo 16 inch up front and 14 in the rear


Now based on coolness factor i don't think i can go wrong with a 65 GTO or a 67 Chevelle. To be honest even though the first Gen Camaros are so overdone i still would love to build a mean black 68 Camaro one day.

I havent seen many GTO Pro Touring builds as Chevy seem to top the category for all resto and pro touring.
I picked the 65 GTO and 67 Chevelle as those are my favorite styles for those models.

What suggestions can some of you guys make? Should I do a coupe or drop top? Are both of these cars similar in size and weight if not which would make a better handling car based in dimensions? I plan on keeping my current car and just want something a bit different now that i can pick and choose how i want it built.

I have been searching hi and low for donor cars of each marque as i want to get building by the end of this summer.

I have a soft spot for an Olds 442

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/3078840052.html

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...rjinca/442.jpg

Oh there's a few GTO's out there.

:thumbsup:

My vote is for the 67 Chevelle. Just look at this one I posted in a thread a few weeks ago from Jason Rushforth's website displaying a set of his wheels. I love this car. GO WITH THE CHEVELLE!!!!!!! :yes: :yes:

[IMG]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/...onvertible.jpg[/IMG]

that is a 66 but still bad ass. I have two here waiting for their turn under the knife.

I love my dads 65 GTO. The original was stolen in the 80's and recovered stripped. In 2000 while in military I got him a 65 that needed alot of work. Long story but we sold the tripower to pay for a LS1. He now drives it everywhere and it's his mistress.
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...3/266c9dd0.jpg

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...3/IMG_0628.jpg
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...3/IMG_0629.jpg
http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/...3/IMG_0636.jpg

Just thought I would share. We are huge Pontiac guys as I'm building a Police Tribute 69 GTO. It is very hard to find custom parts and unfortunatly I'm not a very good fabricator yet.

sweet post of those photos guys, i honestly like both the Chevelle and GTO but for some reason I keep going back to the 64-65 GTO since where I am in the North East you rarely see them or nice ones and i think the lines are so damn cool. I looked at a few 67 chevelle donor cars this weekend which were JUNK and so overpriced and i notice with the Chevelle this is how it is with the demand for the car, not easy finding a solid builder.
I am still searching and whether its the GTO or Chevelle i can not go wrong with any of them.

I just am anxious to get started on a new project since i have off til September from work.

Go with the Goat. Pontiac lives.

Now that 66 vert up top, that thing is wicked.

We did this car (at least the suspension wheels rear end and a bunch of fixes). I can't even remember what wheels it showed up with. I think Americans. 502 BBC ebay buy that needed some Pro-touring mods.

Hi do you happen to know what color blue this car has on it?


Thanks Chris

All subjective of course, but the front end styling of the '65 GTO is amazing IMO. :cool:

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...e-1965-gto.jpg

I think it was Marina Blue

I would do a '65 GTO also IMHO

Get ready to search high and low, every crack and crevice for a decent 65, 66, 67 GTO. They are out there, but hard to find. And when and if you do, it gonna cost you. Just do a 69 Camaro like everyone else. :rofl: :rofl:

Niiiiiiice!!!!!!!!!!!:hail: :hail:

Thanks for considering our chassis for your build!:thumbsup: We can do the chassis for the Chevelle of the GTO. (A few differences in the chassis for the GTO, but we do offer them as well)

My only comments would be that the earlier cars (64-65) are narrower and you can not get as wide of a front tire under them. Not a big deal for a street car, but if you are planning to aggressively track the car, more rubber is always better. The GTO would definitely be more unique, but parts could be harder to find and more expensive as far as trim pieces go.

thanks for more photos I am almost 90% set on the GTO, now just to find a good donor car

I also need to decide hard top or drop top. hmmm

Hey Roadster Shop with your Chassis under a 64-65 GTO how big of a wheel and tire can i get in the rear without really destroying the body and interior floors? Id like at least a 285-295 rear on an 11 wide rim if possible.

do you have any more photos of this car? I just love this ride!!!

Sure do...
 

Details here too...
 

sweet ride thanks for the links guys, did this car ever sell? I think the price is fairly steep but its one hell of a ride

the more i look at this 65 GTO the more i want to build one. OMG!

chevelle all the way

Use a LeMans shell that's what Pontiac did.

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/3080885022.html

I'd still start with a real GTO. IMO it will certainly matter resale wise if OP sells it, even though it will be heavily modded. Now with the 1st gen Camaros there are 3X or so as many of them as the 75,000+ '65 Goats, and with the pro-touring treatment so many are being given, what it started as doesn't seem to matter at resale time if it's a PT car.

Again my preference, and even though the car will be heavily modded, I'd still like driving some real GTO history. :cool:

I say Chevelle - but opinion is biased. I think you could prolly find a good Chevelle project for cheaper than a goat anywho?

The chassis is designed to take a 345 tire on a 12" rim in the rear. You only need to do a 3" mini tub to accommodate this tire/wheel combo. You can retain your entire interior and trunk floor. We simply split the inner and outer wheel house and then add a 3" strip in between them.

Sweet the shop that is going to build the car will work with you guys direct on this once i get the donor. I spoke to them today they said they will send you the body blasted and primed so you can build the chassis to it and then ship back. Im pretty psyched to get this project going. How long would it take you guys to make the chassis, install it to the body and paint the suspension and underside of the floors with your chassis?

Current lead time is 4-6 weeks from deposit to delivery for a production chassis. We really would not need the body here for anything since this is a standard chassis for us... unless you were looking for us to do additional metal work like mini-tubs, trans tunnel, smoothing the firewall, etc...

There are a few other things to discuss before painting the frame and final assembling it. We should really discuss the exhaust, fuel lines, tank, mini-tubbing or not, and several other areas that might require welding or drilling on the frame before painting. When we are building a car, we will build it roughly 90% in bare metal and then take it apart and paint the frame and underside while the body is being painted. That way everything has a place and has been accounted for. Nothing worse than realizing you need an extra exhaust hanger (as an example) and having to weld a tab on a freshly painted chassis!