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(1) STEPHANIE VS. THE STANDOUT GTO — RTTH7

tom — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:35:03 +0000

As great a car that the GTO is the first thing I notice when look at these pictures is Stephanie. Sorry Bill it’s not even close. I didn’t get to talk to Stephanie much, her husband was wanting to go. But if I had to guess I’m saying Stephanie is a dental hygienist, played high school basketball and at the age of twenty eight Stephanie is serious, semi-competitive runner. Steph, please let me know how close I came.

(2) Thinking Outside The Box – BILL HERDER’S 1966 GTO VERT — RTTH7

tom — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:48:52 +0000

If there was an award for the most different approch to a Pro-Touring car Bill’s GTO would have won hands down. It’s just an awesome, stand out car.

The GTO was a featured article in the October 2011 issue of High Performance Pontiac. I have just pulled a few statements from the High Perfromace Pontiact article to give some basics on the car.

DrivetrainTransmission: Richmond Street Five-speed manual trans (4+1), 3.27 1st, 2.13 2nd, 1.57 3rd, 1.23 4th, 1.00 5th, aluminum flywheel, Hurst shifter.

Rear axle: GM 12-bolt rearend (original housing), Eaton posi differential w/3.07:1 gears, Strange C-Clip eliminators,

Front suspension: Stock upper and lower control arms w/ Herb Adams solid greasable bushings, MOOG tie rods w/ custom adjusters, Herb Adams sway bar w/ heim joint end links, Adjustable KONI red shocks, Global West subframe connectors, Global West ½” solid subframe bushings.

Rear suspension: Detroit Speed 3” drop leafs, DSE shackles & bushings, Herb Adams sway bar, Adjustable KONI red shocks.

SPC billet adjustable tubular upper and lower control arms and Pro-Touring 550 lb-in springs in front. They attach to the stock spindles via Howe NASCAR-style tall ball joints. Alston Varishock double-adjustable shocks help soften the bumps and control the springs, Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings thwart suspension deflection, and a Hellwig tubular 1.125-inch stabilizer bar keeps cornering flat.

To upgrade the rear, the same brand springs (135 lb-in rate), shocks, bushings, and stabilizer bar (1.125-inch with end links) are employed. Additional handling mods include Currie Currectrac billet upper and lower control arms and Edelbrock crossbraces to triangulate the mounting points for added strength. A set of 18×8 front, 18×10 rear NewGen wheels roll on the aforementioned Nittos, measuring 245/40-18 in front and 275/40-18 in the rear.

Tires: Nitto NT555 – F: 255/45/ZR18 R: 285/40/ZR18

Wilwood 14-inch front disc brakes with six-piston calipers, as well as 12.2-inch, four-piston calipers in the rear, sans power assist,

A ’70 400 was bored and stroked to 462 and built by Dave Hillard of Donnellsville, Ohio, who Bill describes as “an outstanding guy and a credit to the Pontiac community.” A set of four-bolt billet caps were added to the 0.030-over block to hold in the 4.25-inch-stroke, Ohio forged crank; PRW 4340 Ultralight I-beam, forged rods; and Ross 4.155-inch, forged pistons wrapped in Federal Mogul rings. A Melling 54D pump works from a Canton road race oil pan to ensure the crude is at the pickup in high-g cornering.

KRE D-Port aluminum heads were ported to flow 320/240 cfm at 0.700 lift by SD Performance. Comp valvesprings; Smith Brothers 5⁄16-inch pushrods; and PRW stainless, 1.65:1 roller rockers deliver the cam specs to the 2.15/1.74 valves. The Comp hydraulic-roller cam employs solid-roller lifters (higher rpm without valve float) and features 246/252- degrees duration at 0.050 and 0.660/0.660 lift; LSA is 112 degrees.

RTTH 7, 2011 RTTH, 2011 Run Thru The Hills, 2011 Run Thru The Hills 7, Bill Howell

IRENE and the Family Jewel

tom — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 01:02:49 +0000

Kyle Mistretta, Irene’s husband, sent me a couple of great paragraphs that tell the history of their GTO. It’s a story that’s been told a million times by diehard car guys.

‘’My father and I bought the car while I was in the military. I found it in an impound lot. I actually drove the car back to Carolina where we finished it up. It has a 389 Tripower with Edelbrock aluminum heads , Crower cam and Doug’s headers with a 4 spd transmission.

My father had never been to an event like the one at RTTH and he decided he wanted a LS engine after seeing those cars perform. When we got home we bought an LS3 motor and a T56 6spd. Work on the swap began when the new motor and transmission arrived. It took 7yrs for us to complete it as it was and now we are swapping the drive train.

Thanks for taking the pics of Irene. I got a huge kick out of it and have shown the site to many.’’

Kyle

NICOLE — Pontiacs and Politics

tom — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:05:00 +0000

I approached Nicole and her husband Doug with the possibility of Nicole poising for ACAG. Doug was ok with it but Nicole said ‘’Maybe let me think about it.’’. It was an hour later when I checked back. She had used the wonders of her Blackberry cell phone and Verizon service to check the legitimacy of AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com. We passed the litmus test and her she is posing with her and her husband’s 1969 numbers matching,400ci RAIII, 4sp GTO Judge. It can be bought for $25,000. Nicole and Doug are from Spartanburg, South Carolina where Nicole is a mover and shaker in the Republican Party. Will Nicole follow in the footsteps other political hotties like Sarah Palin and Nikki Haley.? We can only hope especially since she is a Pontiac Girl?.jpg” alt=”" width=”600″ height=”509″ />I approached Nicole and her husband Doug with the possibility of Nicole poising for ACAG. Doug was ok with it but Nicole said ‘’Maybe let me think about it.’’. It was an hour later when I checked back. She had used the wonders of her Blackberry cell phone and Verizon service to check the legitimacy of AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com. We passed the litmus test and her she is posing with her and her husband’s 1969 numbers matching,400ci RAIII, 4sp GTO Judge. It can be bought for $25,000. Nicole and Doug are from Spartanburg, South Carolina where Nicole is a mover and shaker in the Republican Party. Will Nicole follow in the footsteps other political hotties like Sarah Palin and Nikki Haley.? We can only hope especially since she is a Pontiac Girl?

MELODY — Music to my Ears

tom — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:10:34 +0000

I asked Melody if she would like to pose for AmericanCarsAmericanGirls.com. With some hesitation she gave me a positive answer but said first she needed to go to the bathroom. Sounded like a reasonable idea to me. My abilities as a photographer are minimal and I need the models to be at 100%. As Melody and family headed to the bathroom I headed to get my pictures with Nicole — Pontiacs and Politics. When I returned to our designated meeting spot some 30 minutes later no Melody. After fifteen more minutes of waiting I thought that Melody and given me the old slip out the back door. About that time I saw Melody and family heading my way. I asked Melody if she was ready for the shoot and she said ‘’absolutely’’ which was Music to my Ears.

The car Melody is posing with is a beautiful 1965 GTO owned by Steve Passmore out of Knoxville Tn. The GTO is a numbers matching 389ci, 3 deuces, 4sp car.

Dwight Banks and his ’66 GTO

tom — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:57:35 +0000

Dwight’s 1966 GTO is a absolutely beautiful full body-off restoration. Dwight did the all the work himself but that’s what he does for a living, Dwight owns ‘’Banks Restorations GTOs Only’’. Dwight’s a super nice guy and his work is impeccable. The shop is in Waynesville N.C. and the phone number is 828-506-0703. If you want your G.T.O. restored you know where to go.

The G.T.O. was restored back to numbers matching save a few minor engine and exhaust upgrades. The 389 c.i., 3 duce, Pontiac engine was given a Lunati cam with 245/245 degrees of duration with 490/490 inches of lift. The exhaust has Dyno Max headers, 2 ½’’ stainless steel exhaust with an X-pipe.

CAROLYN, DALLAS AND GTO

tom — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:12:21 +0000

I’m not sure who loves who or what the most but this is one happy threesome. The story behind the GT0 is that Dallas owned one just like the one in the picture when he was a young man and of course sold it. He later married Carolyn. At some point with VIN number in hand Dallas and Carolyn started a massive search for the original GTO. They never found it. So they decided to clone the GTO that they coveted down to the smallest detail. It’s a happy threesome so don’t tell the GTO that it’s not the original.

Three Duces ANNA Four Speed

tom — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:04:40 +0000

Unless you’ve heard Ronnie and the Daytona’s song ‘’Lil GTO’’ you will never understand my attempt at the humor here. Even those that have heard the song still may not get the attempt but if there is just one person who smiles I will feel that it was all worth my efforts. Anna came in for the show from Ashville, N.C. to support her grandfather who had a car at the show. Anna almost looks a little out of place at the Pontiac event in Pigeon Forge Tn. To me she has a Formula 1 race at Monte Carlo look going on. Actually Anna was a little shy but the girls with her cheered her on and she ended up hitting some very sexy poses

The 1964 GTO was the was the work of Dwight Banks and his son-in-law Vince Medford from Banks Restoration GTOs Only.

The sun was too bright and I was hot and tired and honestly missed most of the shots of Anna and the GTO, my apologies to all.

CAROLYN, DALLAS AND GTO

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:29:26 +0000

I”m not sure who loves who or what the most but this is one happy threesome. The story behind the GTO is that Dallas owned one just like the one in the picture when he was a young man and of course sold it. He later married Carolyn. At some point with VIN number in hand Dallas and Carolyn started a massive search for the original GTO. They never found it. So they decided to clone the GTO that they coveted down to the smallest detail. It”s a happy threesome so don”t tell the GTO that it”s not the original

CUTE TIFFIANY and a GORGEOUS 1969 GTO JUDGE

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:21:26 +0000

This 1969 Judge is owned by Don McDavid out of East Stone Gap Va. I did not get to talk to David about his car so I did some web research on the 1969 Judge, My web resourse said that there were no 455 Judges made in 1969, the first 455 judge appeared in 1970. So 1(my web research is wrong, 2)David just put a 455 in a 1969 Judge, or 3)David made a 1969 judge the way he wanted it. What ever it is a great lo0king car and Tiffinay evn makes it look better. David will probably kick my ass when he runs into me at the 2010 show runs.