Another Poncho...

[PBarkley]

Hey y'all, my name is Peter. I stumbled across the site after seeing it mentioned on yellowbullet, figured I'd join up. I'm currently doing a frame-off restoration of a '66 Le Mans I picked up a little over a year ago.

Short story, my father bought one brand new when he got back from Vietnam, and eventually sold it as the family outgrew it and needed a sedan. He and I had discussed tackling a restoration together and started looking at older Datsun Z cars and late 70s 911's, but I got the idea to try and find a Le Mans to let him and my mom re-live their younger years. After a quick eBay search, I found one less than 2 hours away that was a numbers-matching car, and was only missing a few random pieces. After checking it out in person, I knew I had to have it.

I brought it to my parent's house while they were on vacation, and stuck around until they got home...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v601/AFSil80/IMAG0682_zpsc02d1413.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v601/AFSil80/IMAG0684_zps5348ac9c.jpg

When I pulled the cover off my car, my dad was absolutely floored, and my mom was overwhelmed (in a good way, haha). My dad has taken a HUGE interest in the car and has been right there with me when we go to get parts for it, and that's the best part about the build in my eyes.

But anywho, I'll save the rest for a build thread! Looking forward to getting this car out on the road and going to some meets in the future!

[BMR Sales]

Welcome Peter!

[PBarkley]

^ Haha, y'all were the first ones to respond to my intro thread at PT.com too...I've already purchased the 2" drop springs and Bilsteins from y'all, sway bars are up next once I get a few other things knocked out on the chassis.

[Spiffav8]

Welcome to Lateral-G. Great story and a very cool car. Looking forward to seeing what you and your Dad do to the car. I've always said that old cars take you on a journey long before they take you on a ride and I think this is going to be a great adventure for you guys.

:captain:

[PBarkley]

Thank you for the welcome, Curtis.

It has definitely been an enjoyable journey thus far. My dad was never much of a car guy, but he never tried to squish that hobby of mine and I'm glad. Not even a week after I brought it home, he managed to find a dealer service manual for it for sale online, and snatched it up. I'm thrilled that he's taken interest in it, and I think my mom is just glad to have him get up off the recliner and spend more time outside, haha.

[Flash68]

Great story. Cool car, and Welcome!

[ONEBAD78TA]

That Is A Sweet Project Car

[ONEBAD78TA]

What motor are you gonna run????

[PBarkley]

It came with a 326 and 2 speed auto. I picked up a 400 block out of a '73 Le Mans from a local guy, and I'm planning to build that and back it up with a 700R4.

So yes, keeping it Pontiac powered. I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to crossbreeding, haha.

[WSSix]

Welcome and nice project. Where in Savannah are you? I grew up on Wilmington Is. Sounds like you've got a great plan for the car. I'd rock the 326 if you're just wanting to make a great cruiser for no other reason other than it's something different. When's the last time you saw a built 326? Stroker 400 sounds nice too though :D Good luck to you and your dad on the build.

[Sieg]

Welcome Peter :thumbsup:

Great story! My first hot rod was a '66 GTO in '76. Looking forward to following your progress.

[PBarkley]

^^^ Thank you!

Welcome and nice project. Where in Savannah are you? I grew up on Wilmington Is. Sounds like you've got a great plan for the car. I'd rock the 326 if you're just wanting to make a great cruiser for no other reason other than it's something different. When's the last time you saw a built 326? Stroker 400 sounds nice too though :D Good luck to you and your dad on the build.

I'm actually on Wilmington Island for about another 2 months. Been renting an apartment, and I'm about to buy a house out near Roebling Road. We had thought about sticking with the 326, but my late Uncle (who was originally going to be building the motor and trans prior to his untimely passing in July) advised keeping that motor as is, just in case we ever decide to return the car to stock, and could have the original engine with it.

So after doing my research, I had my eyes set on a pre-1975 400 block and managed to find one locally that turned out to be in prime condition. If I am unable to find a healthy OEM crankshaft at a reasonable price, then I will probably lean towards a stroker crank. Fortunately my Uncle and I had lengthy discussions on the setup we had in mind, and I plan to continue in that direction. Losing him was really tough, as he has ALWAYS been my source of knowledge when it comes to approaching a car build and not having him around anymore still hasn't quite sunk in.

But, that just means the first burnout will be done in his honor. ;)

[WSSix]

Your uncle was wise. Keeping the stock engine for possible restoration didn't even cross my mind.

You can drop a 455 crank into the 400 to stroke it. No need to go aftermarket if you decide on that route.

Good luck finding a house.

[PBarkley]

From my understanding, the 455 has larger journals than the 400 block, which would require machining. I figure by the time I find a good 455 crank and pay for it to be fitted to the block, it would be about the same cost as a cast steel crank from Eagle or Scat that will drop right in.

But it does have the nice benefit of being OEM quality, which is why I can't decide between something like that and the aftermarket alternatives, which are ALL Chinese made.

And thank you for the well-wishes...supposed to go check out two promising leads this afternoon, so hopefully we can move forward. I'm ready to move this car down here to where I can work on it on a regular basis!

[WSSix]

Your understanding is correct. You simply have to get the mains on the 455 crank turned down to make it fit. For the life of me I cannot remember the dimensions though.

Good luck!

[PBarkley]

I've got Rocky Rotella's book on building big power Pontiacs and there's a chart in there of all the Pontiac V8 cranks and their dimensions. I wanna say the mains are 0.25" larger. If I were gonna go that much bigger on the 400 block, I'd probably invest in splayed caps as well...but again, I catch myself and have to remember I'm building a street motor that I want to live a long life...not a race motor I'm sparing no expenses on. ;)

[Gscherer78ta]

I believe the facotry mains for a 455 are 3.25" and the 400 are 3.00". I also think that a storker kits also has shorter connecting rods and does something with the skirt of the piston.

I'm guessing on the piston work... Or, you could put a roller cam set up in the 400 and make 400 street hp pretty easily.

Have fun with the project. I have my 14yo son to help me out and we go to all the events together. Soon he'll be driving!

[tarheels15]

welcome and have fun with the project!!!