the 3rd brake light doesnt look bad. the individual bulbs or leds? make it look better. I was wondering about your passenger mirror? i havnt seen one on a 68 before because of the wing window. is your front bumper an endura bumper? what kind of prepping did u have to do to the rear bumper before paint? and what paint did you use on the car?

 

Yeah, it really is growing on me. With the dark tint on the rear window, it all but disappears when it’s not activated. The housing’s a little bulky and takes up a lot of room when looking out the rear-view mirror, but I’m getting used to it.


This one’s a sore subject. The mirror is a reproduction I bought from AMES and it states in the description in their catalog that it can be used for either the driver or passenger side and I’m kicking myself for not pre-fitting it before it was painted and installed. There isn’t an issue with it being in the way of the vent wing but it won’t adjust in far enough so I can actually use it (the mirror part hits the base). I’m thinking of replacing these with a 69-style (at least that's what the previous owner told me they came from) like I have on my 68 convertible (pics #1 & 2) which works without interfering with either of the vent wings.



Not an endura, just the steel bumper with the emblem holes and jack-slots welded up and filled in.


I’ll have to go by what my painter told me. He said that the bumpers were sand blasted down to the base metal then just prepped like any other metal on the car. The more fragile parts like the stainless trim and the mirrors were lightly bead-blasted to give them some tooth for the paint to stick to.


My painter used a SEM version of “HOT ROD BLACK” which is a single-stage paint. I think SEM is an off-brand of PPG. (pic #3). It comes in a kit with the reducer and catalyst and you can alter the sheen by changing up the amount of reducer used (according to the painter).

 

is the mirror from ames mounted on the same spot in the door that the driver side is? i guess i havnt seen that mirror in their catalog. a friend was telling me in order for it to function u cant mount it simetrical. it has to be offset so u can see it which we thought would be a eye sore. i never thought about the wing window hitting the mirror. we were talking about how the wing window/ window track would be in the way of seeing the the mirror.

oh and do u have any pictures or know the year of your sebring seats? i hadnt thought of getting a seat with a belt already in it.

 

Alright...I took some measurements and the mirror on the passenger door is in the same location as the drivers door mirror. I'm still PO'd at myself for not test fitting it before I had my painter install it. I'll figure something out, but it can wait. By the way, the part number for the mirror is F160T in the AMES catalog ($47).

The seats I'm using are from a sebring convertible, around a 2000 to 2005 model year. I'm not sure of the exact year because the car they came from was smashed-up pretty bad, but that should get you in the ballpark if and when you search for a pair. In addition to the built-in shoulder belts, these seats also fold forward for easier access to the rear seat. One thing to keep in mind with these seats is that you will need a key-on power source because the mechanism for the seatbelt inside the seat has to have that power source to allow the seatbelt to be released so you can pull it out and use it. Not too big of a deal. To make it easier, be sure to get the wiring pig-tails from the sebring wiring harness.

I also had to make a transition bracket that bolts to the original mounting locations on the floor and then bolts to the seat frame. From the looks of what you're doing with your project, fabbing something like that should be a walk-in-the-park for you.

The picture below shows what the seats look like and before I fabbed the transition brackets and had them just sitting in there. You can get basic ones with cloth covers all the way up to leather wrapped with power functions.

 

Long overdue update...I've just been too busy driving this thing...and a pesky thing called WORK.

Interior is now complete with the headliner installed, rear seat re-upholstered and the front seats installed.

Posi-rear installed with 3:42 gears. She cruises about 2000 RPM at 70MPH (no highway gas mileage calculated yet, but I don't really care what the mileage is)

This will probably be the last update unless I decide to install heads/cam, but I'll start another thread if I decide to go that route.

Hopefully I can get a couple more good cruising days in before it gets put up for the winter.

 

looking good and im totally jealous. i dont want to think about the time, hours, and money mine is from being where your car is.
i think we need some driving videos.

 

I REALLY REALLY like the direction you took your car. I love the paint...been toying with doing the same on my 86 until I can afford a proper re-spray.

About the only things that dont jive with me are the seats...and the dash. Im wondering how a newer GTO dash would have looked? I think the original dash with updated gauges would have looked killer. Seats....I understand why you went with em. Maybe just having new covers made, with a retro styled seam patter would make em look more at home.

In any case..that car is awesome. There is the exact same car sitting at a garage for sale on my way to work...and Ive contemplated stopping to check it out many times. Its been for sale for so long, I just always assumed it was overpriced. But after seeing this...I might have to stop. I would LOVE to do a carbed LS1, T56 set up in that thing....

Great work! Enjoy it!

J.

 

if someone like covans made a dash for 68 gtos it would be another story but theres nothing that can be easily bought and installed in 68 because its a one year only deal, not as popular as the 69 and aftermarket just doesnt see it as a money maker.

its totally different is what i like about it. and pieces for firebirds are easier to find. ive seen a firebird get the gto treatment and some tv show 68 gto on top of a 06 gto total hack job. i have the magazine article about it and watched the show some rockstar sponsored thing. not easy to find or cheap

im trying to fit new gauges in my old abused hacked dash. new car dashes arent for me. but if you want anything different than oem in a 68 dash you make it yourself.

 

This car still inspires me brother.

 

Thanks Kaine...I just took her for a spin last weekend for the 1st time this year...It sure was a blast to head out on some back roads and carve-up the corners again. Now I have to figure out how to get the paint splatter off the side of the car where I went through some wet paint where they were striping the road...and it HAD to be white reflective paint (no "Wet Paint" signs anywhere...). It's not too bad, but it still pi$$es me off...

 

Lol, I feel your pain brother. Got some questions for you, but I will ask them in my thread. Starter related.