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by Sean Mattingly. 1968 GTO Hardtop Parking Lot Biggest GTO image collection anywhere! |
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by Sean Mattingly. 1968 GTO Hardtop Parking Lot Biggest GTO image collection anywhere! |
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Cameo Ivory 1968 GTO hardtop owned by me, Sean Mattingly. This was the Picture Of The Week for 7/14/02. After owning the car for a couple years, I finally put the Rally stripes back on it in 2002. They were on the car originally. I found that out before I bought the car. I had run the VIN through http://www.phs-online.com and obtained an original build sheet for the car. It showed the stripes were originally resent, although the paperwork did not specify the color of the stripes. I guessed they were black, although I think red ones might look swell. Then I'd have to change to red "GTO" lettering too. This car has a parchment interior. The photo was made at dusk in Mansfield Park, near my house. I find it interesting to use a digital camera at dusk. Mine takes acceptable pictures in near darkness.CLICK-> 
These pics of my car were taken in the summer of 2002 at Mansfield Park in Muncie, Indiana. I like the car because it has those neat concealed headlights. I did paint the grilles black because I like the contrast between the black grilles and the white paint. The factory originally painted the grilles Argent (a silver color) with black accents in the grille fins. It was dusk, so I turned the parking lights on for effect.CLICK-> 
Digital cameras are fun. For this shot, I flipped the camera's flat-panel viewfinder down and raised the camera straight above my head, looking up into the viewfinder. With Paint Shop Pro, I altered the photo a little bit. I blurred the background so the car stands out more. Oh, yeah. I also removed some rust on the front edge of the hood with the program. But in real life, this car doesn't look quite as good as the image you see here!CLICK-> 
The fountain in the park. I had just added the Rally pinstripes to the sides of the car. It originally had them when new, but many body shops forget to put the stripes back on after a repaint. While I was shooting these photos, two people walked by and asked if I was getting ready to sell it. I said "no". Check out the exhaust. This car has the factory-bent rear pipes so they angle out the back correctly. And it has reproduction stainless tips. I bought those from a buddy via the internet. Got a good deal on them.CLICK-> 
This is an original photo of "Great White" without the 2002 P.O.W. words on it. Let me recount some of the changes this car has gone through since I bought it from a lady in Alabama...
In 2005, I added Flowmaster 40's to this car and a crossover pipe. Wow, what a sound improvement. It enhances the thing I like about cruising the streets in a GTO. Not only do people stop what they're doing and watch the car pass by, now they hear the car running. And pedestrians will now look up and see if they need to get out of the way. It's not like I'm chasing them to the curbs, but they do look out for the Great White rumbly car. Since this photo was taken, I have replaced some bad body parts. I replaced the hood due to rustout of the edges. I replaced the door and fender due to a little black truck that "ate it" bigtime. In 2006, I replaced the trunklid with one that was not eaten away with rust on the underside edges. It's good to finally have a solid car. I have added Ram Air exhaust manifolds from a company called R.A.R.E. That meant I had to remove my new Powermaster 9410 mini high-torque starter and replace it with one that is more adjustable. I got a Pro-Tork mini starter from Alterstart in Texas. It has six different mounting positions to clear the manifold. This car uses a remote-mounted solenoid so the aging wiring will support hot-starts in hot weather with a hot engine. Without the remote solenoid, the starter would just click until everything cooled down. That's a common problem to old Pontiacs called "heat soak".During the rolling restoration of this car, I have added this: correct Rally stripes, repainted the grilles, added a passenger side mirror, replaced bad inside rearview mirror, replaced package shelf, new dash speaker, new gear selector legend, new neutral safety switch, converted the stock rearend from 2.92 to 3.55 - whee! , painted many engine components their correct color, added a "Harrison" sticker to the AC unit, new brakes, new master cylinder, spoiler, reproduction air cleaner lid, new front armrests, re-dyed black carpets, touched up paint on the dash, re-chromed the rear bumper, refinished the front bumper, new hideaway actuators, corrected wiring of parking lights, new grille emblem, repainted the jack, bought one new Cragar wheel, added rear exhaust extensions and stainless tips, repaired the driver's seat, replaced the blower motor switch a couple times, new black heater hoses, and a few hundred other things. CLICK-> 
Another view of my car at dusk. The lights are on. This is another good view of the exhaust tips and how they are supposed to be installed on a '68 car. By the way, the '69 Judge spoiler is not correct, but I like the way they look on the '68 / '69 cars. The bumper was re-chromed at J&P Custom Plating in Portland Indiana. I highly recommend their services. Several friends have used them too with good results. Their phone number is (219) 726-9696. They are at
807 N Meridian Street in Portland. Easy to find, right on the main drag. You can see a "Hurst Equipped" chrome emblem on the trunk lid. Yes, the car is equipped with a factory Hurst His-n-Hers shifter. The emblem was obtained from one of the online GTO parts vendors.CLICK-> 
Another dusk photo. This car wears "Ram Air" stickers. I am currently shopping for some reproduction Ram Air exhaust manifolds. Got any leads?Here's a mechanical tip: The neutral safety switch can be the cause of a non-starting car. When I first got my car, it would often not start in Park unless the shifter was nudged up. It would always start in neutral. Once I was parked at work and accidentally started it in Drive. I had the car door open with my legs outside the car. When I turned the key, the car lurched forward 5 feet and almost hit a power pole. Ack! After that, I bought a repro neutral safety switch and installed it. My original had a cracked plastic housing. The neutral safety switch is quite easy to adjust. It's just two screws that hold it in place. Adjusting the position of the switch will adjust "where" it lets the car start. CLICK-> 
The 2004 GTOAA Nationals are coming up in July and I am rushing to get some collision damage repaired on the car. The right front of the car and passenger door were hit. The bumper paint was knocked off the side of the bumper, so I've removed the Endura bumper. It is being sanded down to the rubber so a local bodyshop can repaint it. My garage is crowded. I just moved into this place and the garage is still stacked high with moving boxes.
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It's 10pm and the "UltimateGTO.com" car lies in pieces in the driveway.CLICK-> 
There are only four bolts that hold the whole bumper assembly to the car. It is relatively easy to remove once you unplug the headlights and vacuum lines. If you want to remove your bumper, I'll tell you how in the next photo caption...
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I am sanding the cracked white paint off the Endura bumper. Here's how I removed the whole thing:(1) Took off the filler panel above the bumper. (2) Took off the valance panel below the bumper. (3) Removed the grilles. (4) Disconnected vacuum lines from hideaway actuators. (5) Unplugged the headlight wires. (6) Removed four big bolts holding the bumper assembly to the frame. (7) Took bumper assembly off and laid it across a couple little stepladders. While it's supported by ladders, that's the time to take off the other stuff. Remove the headlight assemblies, actuator bracket assemblies and actuator rod brackets. Now I'm sanding off all the old paint down to the primer. Cough, cough! Start with 80 grit, don't go down to the rubber with that. Then get 120 grit and sand to the rubber. If it's real black and sticky, you're rubbing too hard! Rewind. Don't sand the square edges till they're round. Now I gotta figure out what kind of primer and paint to use on this bumper. How do you make it last a long time without cracking? Feel free to give SPECIFIC paint formulas or brands if you can. CLICK-> 
Vintage picture of Milner Pontiac dealership in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This was our Picture Of The Week for 9/29/03. This one was sent in from David Collie.CLICK-> 
Verdoro Green 1968 GTO hardtop owned by Ron Bastura from Connecticut taking flight. This was our Picture Of The Week for 10/12/03. Ron's car is runing the original 400ci engine which was mildly reworked by Nitemare Performance. It has a TH400 automatic transmission. The picture was taken at Lebanon Valley Drag track just prior to a 13.48 second run at 102 mph.Do you remember some of the events of the year 2003? That was the year the Concorde made the world's last commercial passenger carrying supersonic flight. CLICK-> 
Here's another shot of Ron's Verdoro Green 1968 GTO hardtop at the Lebonon Valley Drag track.CLICK-> 
Frostbitten Flambeau Burgundy 1968 LeMans owned by Stan Kaminski from Newark, Delaware. This was our Picture Of The Week for 2/8/04. We have more pictures of his 1968 LeMans. Click here to see them. |
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