1967 Pontiac Lemans Project

I helped a good friend of mine with this 1967 Lemans as his first project car.  This 1967 Pontiac Lemans was purchased in late summer/early fall of 1986 and was completed in June of 1987.  It was a very good, solid Lemans with a 326 cu in engine and 2-speed automatic transmission.  The car had faded green paint, a decent black vinyl top, and the original black interior was in excellent condition.  I helped disassemble the car, clean up the engine compartment, get it ready for paint, paint the car, and help reassemble it.

Check out that putrid green paint!!  We had already been at work sanding the body to see what was under the green paint and were pleasantly surprised to find the original Gulf Turquoise paint!!	Here you see that we've sanded the entire car and removed the green paint and are getting it ready for paint.  You can also see the nose of our 1977 Cutlass.  Check the other projects in the Team Hoghead Garage for it!!
A word of advice... when your project car looks like this and you're going to take it to a friend's house to paint your car in their garage... don't drive it.  We did and got pulled over by the local authorities.  We had one license plate in the rear window, but we had no bumpers, grilles, taillights... you get the idea.  We didn't get a ticket, but we did go to the police station until our wives could confirm our story.	Here's the nasty 326 engine ready for cleaning, detailing, and minor refurbishment.  Another word of advice... when you remove the engine from your project car, make sure you have a good plan to get the required engine work completed and get it back in the car and get it running!!  The engine detailing started dragging and the car sat idle for several months... which leads you to lose interest.  So we got the engine back in the car and got back on track.
Doesn't that look better?  Note the word "vinyl" on the firewall above the air cleaner... an assembly line marking noting that this Lemans would have a vinyl top.  We didn't put the vinyl top back on after we painted it.	WOW!  Doesn't this Lemans just look GREAT!  We used a primer/sealer and catalyzed acrylic enamel mixed to the original Gulf Turquoise and it is a beautiful color.
I had to spray this Lemans twice... because the owner took if for a ride after we reinstalled the engine and got it running... and I didn't know it.  We had not put the hood back on yet either.  The PCV not installed and the PCV grommet in the valley cover under the intake was plugged while the engine was painted.  This caused some oil vapor to be sprayed out of the dipstick tube onto the roof and trunk lid... which led to fisheyes in the paint!!  We cleaned it up, used the primer/sealer, and repainted and it turned out great!!	As you can see, the original interior was in great shape.  The buckets seats and floor console were nice.  This Lemans also had factory air which was a very nice option!  It also had power steering and power brakes. The owner kept the car for a few years and sold it to a family member in New York.