1975 Pontiac Lemans

[68venable]

Well, I guess I might as well post on this forum. I picked up a rusty 1975 Lemans a while back. It came stick with a Chevy 250 inline 6 motor. I had cleaned that motor up, needed a carb, and found a Chevy 305 cheaper than the replacement carb. So we put the 305 in and made it driveable. So now that its driveable... it only needs everything else replaced. I found some fenders on craigslist in Oregon, I live in Houston TX, and he happened to be coming to Austin so that worked out for me... except they have some minor rust issues so not that simple but still better than what I had. Its been fun to drive though. My first car was a 1976 Pontiac Lemans so it feels good to be back in one. Photos to come.

 

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

 

[68venable]

[Frosty]

Awesome to have it back on the road and running under its own (albeit Chevy) power. Now you have  better fenders.

What else are you planning to do to it once you have the time and the money?

[68venable]

The original engine was chevy so the swap went easy enough. Im still working on the fenders. Itll be a slow project starting from front to back then interior then some paint. Needs front bumper replaced, hood repaired, fenders repaired then replaced, new door metal along the bottom, rear quarter panels, trunk floor, back dash metal... all kinds of stuff. My real goal is just to have fun with it and not let all the work ruin my attitude towards the car. Ill definitely learn some sheetmetal work along the way.

 

 

[Ringo64]

Just a little bit of rust  . Keep up the good work!

[Frosty]

In case I have not given them to you, keep these places in mind for possible used parts.

 

East West Auto Parts Inc.      https://www.eastwestautoparts.com/

Franks Pontiac Parts              http://www.frankspontiacparts.com/

According to the latest Smoke Signals - Thomas Manning (785) 238-3471 has rust free fenders for 73-77 Lemans, GTO and Can-Am for sale. He appears to be in Kansas. He may have other things you need too.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Frosty

[68venable]

Thanks Frosty. Never heard of East West before. Looks like they have a lot of stuff. Is Smoke Signals a site or forum or something?

[68venable]

Not much progress lately. Got some quotes for seat upholstery and while I was out threw the alternator belt. Then I took the seat and carpet out, I found a hole through the floor. I crawled underneath to see the hole from underneath and also found a core plug or freeze plug leaking. I also noticed someone had wired a piece of 2x4 to a crossmember but couldnt figure out why exactly. So Ill be patching the hole in the floor pan, spraying rust converter everywhere and installing some carpet when my order arrives.

[Frosty]

On 2/2/2018 at 3:04 PM, 68venable said:

Thanks Frosty. Never heard of East West before. Looks like they have a lot of stuff. Is Smoke Signals a site or forum or something?

Smoke Signals is the monthly magazine for members of the Pontiac Oakland Club International (POCI). The Legend is the same thing for the GTO Association of America (GTOAA).  However, you can go to poci.org and look around and download a past issue of Smoke Signals. Ditto for gtoaa.org and the Legend.

The back of the magazine has want ads, classifieds, and advertising by various Pontiac vendors.

The only remaining Pontiac-themed commercial magazine is Poncho Perfection, published and edited by Don Keefe.

Keep up the good work.

Edited March 9, 2018 by Frosty

[68venable]

Thanks for the info. I will chack that out.

[stratman]

I really like the Pontiac colonnade body style of the '70s, very rarely (like once, lol) do I see them at car shows.  Keep up the good work, 68veable!

I tried to make the sky in your first picture a little more dramatic...

 

[Frosty]

11 hours ago, stratman said:

I really like the Pontiac colonnade body style of the '70s, very rarely (like once, lol) do I see them at car shows.  Keep up the good work, 68veable!

I have to agree with stratman. About the only Colonade style Pontiac I see at car shows are: '77 Can-Ams, '73 GTOs, '73-75 Grand Ams, and on a really rare occasion a Lemans or Lemans Sport Coupe.

[68venable]

Not a whole lot to update. The 305 didnt work out. It was a $400 gamble that got us moving for a while. I replaced the bent up front bumper with a better one from a 1976 Lemans. The interior is basically done except I want to color the lower door panels to their original color. I have an 350 engine with 365hp and 405lbs of torque on the way as well as a built TH350 trans. The engine arrives tomorrow and the trans in a couple of weeks due to a delay. I bought a different front clip that looked real good at the junkyard and then not so good once I got it home and started cleaning it up. I will try to upload the interior photos. I still have 10 years of metal work to do if I decide I want to LOL. More updates to come soon, I hope.

[68venable]

It has arrived. Dyno sheet shows max hp is 378 at 5600 and max torque is 413 at 3900rpm.

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by 68venable

[Frosty]

A true 350 crate motor? You don’t say! Where did you get it from?

The interior looks good. 

I just found an old slide my father took of my original ‘73 LeMans Sport Coupe I didn’t think I’d ever see that car again.

[68venable]

I ordered a Blueprint 350 (keeping it Chevy). I'm just waiting for the trans to ship now. I'm real happy with how the interior turned out. I just have a couple of things on the interior to finish. It will look and feel good from the driver's seat soon. It wont look too impressive from the outside though LOL

https://www.jegs.com/i/Blueprint-Engines/138/BP3501CTC1K/10002/-1

 

 

Edited August 10, 2020 by 68venable

[Wrongway]

Man that's a cool car, always liked that body style!

[Frosty]

19 hours ago, 68venable said:

I ordered a Blueprint 350 (keeping it Chevy). I'm just waiting for the trans to ship now. I'm real happy with how the interior turned out. I just have a couple of things on the interior to finish. It will look and feel good from the driver's seat soon. It wont look too impressive from the outside though LOL

https://www.jegs.com/i/Blueprint-Engines/138/BP3501CTC1K/10002/-1

 

 

So what trans did you go with? 700R4, 400TH, 350TH?

[68venable]

Frosty, I went with a TH350 from TCI. It arrived today. Now I just need some good weather to fall on a weekend soon. 

 

Thanks Wrongway. 

Edited August 25, 2020 by 68venable

[64 kiwi boni]

oooh, justa like christmas time! 👍very cool

 

 

[68venable]

Well we finally got it all in and the exhaust done. I drove it back to my house yesterday. I still have plenty of wiring cleanup to do but otherwise its already a joy to drive.

[Frosty]

So does this mean we will soon see killer tire shredding burn outs ala Roadkill style?

[68venable]

I'm not sure yet. I put about 50 easy miles on it yesterday. Roadkill wouldve went straight to the burnouts and donuts. Its got a limited slip 2.73 rear end so I guess time will tell if it will do a burnout. I may try to make a video today of the exhaust at start up and some drive by videos later this week. 

[Frosty]

I wonder how long you will be happy with that tall a gear. Sure 2.73 is great for the highway mileage - which is fine, don't get me wrong. It just means it will be a dog out of the hole.

[68venable]

I was wondering the same thing 😂🤣 Dont tell my wife.