1966 Pontiac GTO

I purchased this 66 GTO Sedan (post coupe) in 1986. It was a solid Florida car that the owner had only raced here in Western NY so it had not seen any salt and had no rust. Any 66 that lived her life here was typically a rusted hunk of junk by 1986 so this was a great project car. I spent he next few years buying and stripping parts cars so I could take what I needed and sell the rest to fund the restoration. I found the build sheet when I dropped the gas tank but still had Jim Mattison from PHS send 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 a Pontiac 350 that he had built to race. The idea was to restore to original so the rear and disassembled 350 were sold. I ended up finding a 66 421 block and # 13 heads. The cylinders were cleaned up .060 so I essentially ended up with a 428 with RA III heads, a RAIV cam and threaded studs with 1.65 rockers and hardened seats. Eventually, the body came off the frame and all of the body mounts were removed and replaced with poly graphite mounts, I beefed up control arms and added poly bushings along with all new stock steering and suspension components. It was at about this time that I started a family so time and money was scare so the car sat while I purchased what I needed when I could afford it but the family came first so the car sat covered like so many others. I was able to work on it now and again and gad it painted inside and out after blasting and epoxy painting the frame and underside of the floors. It sat again for a number years. Fast forward to 2020. I realized that I would never have the time to finish the car myself and entrusted the job to a well respected local shop. This is the part where I'll probably lose the Pontiac die hards in the group but given that the car was never original when I purchased it, I decided to go full restomod which included an all modern suspension in the form of tubular control arms, coil overs and a 3.50 Moser rear. It also entailed converting to a custom built fuel injected LS with a 4L80e transmission and Holley Terminator X-Max ECO. I can hear some of you cringing and I get it. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would even consider these mods, I would have said you are out of your mind. I'm in my sixties now so truth be told, it took so long to get this old girl on the road that my arthritis made it hard to work the clutch without pain and I want to drive this car. I also don't want to be in the garage working on her or be afraid she'll overheat when it gets hot outside or she idles too long. I couldn't afford a Butler or Lingenfelter Pontiac on top of all the other mods I made. I added AC, back up cam where the trunk lock was, push button start which also fit right where the ignition switch without any cutting. I also added power windows and locks with a prox sensor so the doors won't unlock and car won't start unless the key is with me. Of course a killer sound system is mandatory but I didn't cut up the dash so the original AM radio is mounted in the dash. I had to build a custom console and incorporated the 11" Alpine screen under the dash. She was dynoed at over 720 HP at the crank and can be tuned on my laptop. I'm still breaking her in so I try to get out as often as possible since our down season is about 5 -6 months long here. No over heating even idling with AC on in 90° plus temps.