64 kiwi boni requested that I post more about my build including photos so I'm more than happy to contribute. Here is the story behind the build. I hope some of you find this interesting.

I purchased this 66 GTO Sedan (post coupe) way back in 1984. It was a solid Florida car that the owner had only raced here in Western NY so it had not seen any Winters or salt and had no rust. Any 66 that lived her life here was typically a rusted hunk of junk by 1984 so this was a great project car. I spent the next few years buying and stripping parts cars so I could take what I needed and sell the rest to fund my project. I found the build sheet when I dropped the gas tank but still had Jim Mattison from PHS run my documentation and everything matched up. This was an original tri-power, 4 speed car with power steering, power brakes and a 3.55 posi rear. However, by the time I purchased the car it had a Chevy 12 bolt 4.88 posi rear and the lower half of a Pontiac 350 that the previous owner said he had built to race. Why a 350? He said it was a freebie out of his sister's car.

The idea was to restore my 66 back to original so the rear and disassembled 350 were quickly sold. I ended up driving to Virginia to pick up a complete 70 RAIII engine that I bought from Jeff Lovitch (a name most old Pontiac guys will know). I had a buddy with a 68 who pestered the hell out of me to sell it to him so when I found a bare 421 block locally, I decided to sell him everything but #13 heads and use them on the 421. The cylinders on the 421 were cleaned up .060 so I essentially ended up with a 428 with RA III heads. I dropped in a stock grind RAIV cam along with threaded studs, 1.65 rockers and hardened seats. I had already purchased a completely rebuilt 66 tripower set up so with the stock 3.55 posi rear, I had everything I needed since the Muncie 4 speed came with the car. A year or so later, a local club member asked me if I wanted to buy his stock 4.33 posi rear so I now had 2 good posi rears.

Eventually, the body came off the frame but I had to take it to a local guy to help because he had the space to separate the body from the frame and the ability to transport both to the blaster and back. I had the frame, inside and underside of the floors blasted and epoxy painted. All of the split and cracked rubber body mounts were replaced with poly graphite mounts when we reassembled. The guy who had helped me with this lost the lease on his garage space due to back rent problems so his landlord tried holding my car hostage until I paid him what his tenant owed. Thankfully, my cousin was a NY State Trooper so I played along while getting the Troopers involved. He was expecting me to show up with 500.00 but instead, 5 trooper cars surrounded the place and made him allow us to load the car and parts onto a flatbed to bring it home.

Once back home, I added boxed control arms and poly graphite bushings along with all new stock steering and suspension components. Shortly afterwards, I started a family so time and money became scarce. The car sat while I slowly saved and purchased what I needed when I could afford to but the family always came first so the car sat covered in my garage for years. I was able to work on it now and again and had it painted inside and out. It took a backseat again and sat covered while I spent the next decade being involved with my son's travel sports activities.

Fast forward to 2020. With the years having moved at what seemed like a blistering pace, I finally realized that I would never have the time to finish the car myself and entrusted the job to a well respected local shop. However, I had some decisions to make now. I was 60 at that point so I wanted to add AC and a few other creature comforts. I needed to decide if I still wanted to finish it like a stock 66, drive it for a couple of years then possibly sell it to buy a modern, more drivable muscle car or go restomod. I was admittedly influenced by my two brothers' current cars. One has a strong, low mileage 2006 GTO and whose 66 (back in the day), is the reason I had to have one. The other has a Cadillac CTS-V (with the factory Corvette engine) which I call "the silent rocket". I'm sure you can see where this is going so this is where I'll probably lose some of the diehard Pontiac people in the group. That said,  I opted for an LS Swap and full restomod. This was an agonizing decision but I ultimately felt that it was the right choice for me and knew I'd have some fun deciding how far to go with it.

The car was not even close to original when I bought it. In fact, it was somewhat of a Frankenstein so that helped rationalize that it was a great candidate to build my version of what a 2025 GTO might look like. It was actually quite liberating not having to stress out over making sure every detail was 100% correct. Going restomod gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted to. I couldn't afford a Butler or Lingenfelter Pontiac engine with all the other mods I wanted to make so the plan was to purchase a GM crate engine but there was a waiting list of 18 to 24 months due to COVID. After a lot of research, I opted for a custom built fuel injected, 441 cu in (7.23 Liter) LS3 Stroker that I was able to take possession of in only 6 months. It dynoed at 725 HP with 620 ft lbs of torque which are stronger than a GM crate would have been so it was a win-win. Shout out to Steve and the guys at Proformance Unlimited for building one hell of an engine!

The Goat received a 4L80e transmission coupled with a Denny's aluminum drive shaft and a Holley Terminator X Max ECU. Yes, I created sin number 2 by replacing the 4 speed manual with a 4 speed automatic but I have arthritis in my knees which will make driving a manual tenuous at best as I get older. The 4L80 assures that I can drive the car for as long as I remain upright. The much bigger transmission required some tunnel sheet metal work and a custom console but everything fits like a glove now. There were a few LS Swap headaches along the way. The worst of which was interference between the oil pan and steering linkage. We had to replace the motor mounts with a rear biased set that moved the engine back by an inch or so followed by replacing the cast aluminum oil pan with a steel pan so we could fabricate a notch in the pan for linkage clearance.

Modern suspension upgrades came in the form of Global West tubular control arms, dual adjustable coil over shocks and a 3.50 Moser posi rear. I chose "Ultimate Headers" to supply a set of full length ceramic coated stainless steel headers and a custom built 3" stainless exhaust system was fabricated by Solo Performance. Wilwood 4 wheel discs and 17" wheels were added in addition to Vintage Air AC, a tilt steering column and a modern style Pontiac branded steering wheel. I incorporated a VAIS keyless start that mounted perfectly in place of the ignition switch without modification. The VAIS system ensures that the doors unlock automatically as I approach and lock as I walk away. The doors remain locked and the starter is disabled unless the key is in my possession.

I tried to stay true to the stock look inside to honor the Pontiac heritage with nods back to the original where possible when making changes. I accentuated mods like the rally 2-like wheels with PMD center caps and added chrome valve covers under the hood as well as painting the block that beautiful Pontiac Silver Blue. To that end, I kept the original AM radio in the dash even though it isn't connected. I had to have a killer sound system so I added an 11" Alpine touch screen head unit with Bluetooth, 5 amps, 6 speakers, 2 subs in the trunk and a back up camera which, like the keyless start button, it slipped right into the trunk lock hole without modifying the deck lid. Additionally, she got front power windows and a power trunk release (since there is no longer a lock) as well as a side view mirror on the passenger side. No power antenna though. I kept the original antenna mast as it came from GM. I didn't want to cut up the doors to mount speakers so I had to remove the stock emergency brake assembly to fit the kick panel speakers on the driver's side. I replaced it with an electric emergency brake.

The only thing that got cut other than the transmission tunnel, were two holes in the dash for the AC vents. I couldn't find decent originals and there was nothing aftermarket so I kept them as close to original looking as possible. The seats, headrests, door panels, headliner and carpet are repro except for the aforementioned custom console which I collaborated on with the car shop. They fabricated the metal shell while I created the console top and door out of a 1.5" thick black walnut slab to match the dash insert exactly. I had to make a rear package tray to hide the 6x9 speakers under a sonically transparent covering that closely mimics the factory mesh tray. Much to my surprise, I was able to add retractable front shoulder harness seat belts for enhanced safety. Because my car was built in June 66, it appears that I benefited from a tooling changeover for the 67 model year that added the required threaded upper mounting inserts. I also added hush mat to all interior, inner firewall and trunk surfaces to reduce road noise. The seat frames, metal backs and side trim were all powder coated for durability and turned out great.

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would even consider these mods one day, I would have said you were out of your mind. However, I'm in my mid sixties now so I built the car I wanted and maybe more importantly, "needed" at my age so I'm not looking for approval and make no apologies. She turns heads wherever I go and I'm having a blast driving it.

The days of me wanting to be out in the garage tinkering or working on my car are long gone so that's a welcome benefit and I don't have to worry about overheating. During the mid 90 Summer temps we saw this year, with the AC blasting, she ran cool even when idling for a while. I have only logged 500 miles to date so I'm still breaking her in and working out a few bugs which come with the territory when you essentially build a brand new car. I try to get out as often as possible since our driving season is only 5 or 6 months long here and the time to store your ride is approaching fast. It's been quite a long journey but there is one more major upgrade needed. The paint is about 25 years old and has some cloudy spots so I'll probably have it repainted after next Summer and that should be it. After that expense, I just might finally be able to retire!

Holy Jesus, Joseph and Mary she is beautiful!

Thank you kindly.

Mick, I think you have done an amazing job

Those wheels sooo suit the black and chrome

That motor looks so happy in that engine bay

And I really like how you have done your center consul 👍

So impressive !!!

That trans mount is a work of art !!!!

Wow! Justa wow man! I've got no other words.

Very well done sir! Love it.

Thank you. One thing I forgot to mention is that I'm installing a hydra boost braking system next. The engine makes no vacuum and even with a good electric vacuum pump in line, the brakes are insufficient. If you want to go fast, you better be able to stop fast