'66 Le Mans...keeping the Pontiac Spirit alive

[PBarkley]

Originally Posted by Panteracer

Peter,
Good to see another Pontiac with a Poncho motor

Bob

Sorry I missed this the other day, haha.

I've caught flak from a number of people saying "just go LSx blah blah blah" but I think that would kinda ruin the point of the car.

Hell, I'll go with an IAII block before I go LS in this car.

[PBarkley]

Digging this thread back up, as it has proven to be a valuable way to track the history on this build haha.

So...2015 was my last update, and here we are in 2022. I left the Savannah area in 2016 and returned to the Atlanta area and this project slowed to a crawl until I was able to buy our current house in 2017. While I'm no longer adjacent to a fantastic race track, I do have a dedicated workspace for the car as the house has a basement with a drive-in garage in addition to our upstairs garage! It has proven to be a nice adjustment over the previous cramped garage, but ultimately I will still want to have a standalone building for the shop.

Anyway! Updates!

- The car runs and drives!
- I've nearly completed an entire re-wire of the car (not a hard task, but was absolutely necessary as the original wiring was desperately needing replaced)
- Rear end is factory posi trac unit with 3.55 gears
- Front and rear windshield pans have been replaced
- VintageAir setup nearly complete, I just need to charge the A/C system. Heater system has already been leak checked and pressurized up to operating temp
- Still need to buy BMR sway bars

Hoping to have the last few mechanical kinks worked out in the next few weeks and then I will be taking the car down to my parents in Central GA in anticipation of getting it painted, and then begins the fun task of putting the interior back together!

[camcojb]

Thanks for the update. Post some pics when you have time.

[ScotI]

Originally Posted by camcojb

Thanks for the update. Post some pics when you have time.

x2. Get some updated pics posted when you get the chance.

[WSSix]

It's fantastic that you're still making progress. Good luck with it.

[PBarkley]

Digging back into this thread...I had previously crossed my fingers about the press-in studs for the rockers.

Yeah. That didn't pan out.

I ended up pulling the heads back off, and Tommy Goza was kind enough to pull the press-fit studs, cut threads into the heads and installed new ARP threaded rocker studs. After that, I ended up modifying a set of factory pushrod guides to work with the setup and the engine no longer throws rockers or lifts rocker studs! Imagine that!

I have to go back and dig up pictures and get them hosted on photbucket, but here's a pic from awhile ago of the important parts, haha.

[WSSix]

Goza built the bottom end of my 383 LT1. He did good work for me as far as I'm concerned. Glad you found him and his guys.

[PBarkley]

Originally Posted by WSSix

Goza built the bottom end of my 383 LT1. He did good work for me as far as I'm concerned. Glad you found him and his guys.

Agreed. He has a wealth of knowledge and there aren't many like him left so it was a no brainer. It's hard to find those guys that have the knowledge AND are fair on pricing!