I've always been a big Pontiac fan, especially T/A's and GTO's. I almost bought a '79 T/A as my first car, but it was sold by the time I called the guy. I later found an '85 Monte Carlo SS that I still own today:
Over the years I've made some changes, most notably upgrading to a 5.7L SBC, converting it to a 5-speed, and adding a styling cue from the T/A's I love so much with a functional shaker hood.
My dream car has always been an orbit orange 4-speed ram air '70 GTO Judge. I could never afford the real thing, but knew I could settle for a true GTO/Judge tribute car. With the poor economy, low interest rates and even CDN/US dollar I had the itch to finally buy something and was looking all summer long last year. There are a few cars I seriously looked at including a primered project car here in Ontario (I decided to pass on as I felt it would cost more to finish than it would to buy a complete/restored car), a real but NOM Judge, as well as a 40K mile RAIII GTO/Judge clone. I was very close to buying the last two cars, but both fell through due to liens and owners that were a bit sketchy.
I gave up looking for the summer in late September and shortly after I got an ebay ad notice that I couldn't ignore, so my father and I drove down to Indiana in early October and I was able to strike a deal to end the auction. I left a deposit and went back a couple weeks later to pick the car up and drive it home.
The car is beautifully restored and exactly what I've always wanted. While it isn't a true Judge, it is a true 242 GTO and has all Judge equipment including a YZ Ram Air III motor, #12 heads complete with the ram air breather etc., not just a spoiler and stripes like many of them out there. The grill and rear spoiler are even supposed to be true Judge pieces. The only changes I've made are swapping out the wood sport wheel for a forumla wheel, removing the infamously incorrect "400-4V RAM AIR" air breather decal (although I don't mind it myself and it does add a touch of colour to the engine bay), added some missing decals/detail items, a trunk light, an ISS, correct rad cap, fixed the power trunk, adjusted the carb/dwell, etc. I also replaced the ignition cylinder as it would start without the key - NOT GOOD! LOL Not much else I want to change other than perhaps levelling out the stance a touch with 15x7's in the rear to match the fronts, and I'll also swap out the Optima for a reproduction R59 battery at some point.
I am one happy camper to say the least and have to say I'm very glad the previous deals fell through :) Pic here for those interested:
-- Edited by ORBIT on Monday 4th of July 2011 07:48:37 PM
68 427 said
Jul 4, 2011
WELCOME TO THE SITE FROM ALBERTA.
Underdog said
Jul 4, 2011
Welcome from Nova Scotia! There is a great bunch of people that belong to the site. How about some pictures?
Canadian Poncho said
Jul 4, 2011
Welcome aboard. We look forward to photos of your GTO!
57poncho said
Jul 4, 2011
Welcome from Manitoba can't wait to see pics.
ORBIT said
Jul 4, 2011
Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I see I forgot to include a link to the GTO pics - I edited the post above and put a link in at the bottom :)
Here's one for the thread:
-
- Edited by ORBIT on Monday 4th of July 2011 08:02:13 PM
-- Edited by ORBIT on Monday 4th of July 2011 08:02:53 PM
jim_ss409 said
Jul 4, 2011
Nice car!!! Welcome to the site!
slinky said
Jul 4, 2011
i was park beside kevin at canal fest and it a very nice gto and told him about our site
Sink
-- Edited by slinky on Monday 4th of July 2011 09:27:20 PM
Canadian Poncho said
Jul 4, 2011
VERY nice!
73SC said
Jul 4, 2011
Welcome, that is a striking GTO, real nice.
My favourite car was my 1986 Monte Carlo SS which I factory ordered and got in November 1985, well it was my favourite until two weeks ago when I got my DTS Performance.
Anyway you have great taste in GM's
ORBIT said
Jul 4, 2011
Thanks again guys. Ray - I've always loved the body style of the Monte SS's and G-bodies in general (the more anemic siblings of our beloved A-bodies) and don't think I could ever sell it. It was my first car and it would be tough to give up. It's one heck of a tight squeeze with both cars in a 1.5 car garage though! LOL
slinky wrote:
i was park beside kevin at canal fest and it a very nice gto and told him about our site
Sink
-- Edited by slinky on Monday 4th of July 2011 09:27:20 PM
Thanks again for the reference - great site here! :) Hope you had a safe drive back - what a beautiful day for the show.
-- Edited by ORBIT on Monday 4th of July 2011 09:37:40 PM
kelico said
Jul 4, 2011
sweet car man.. love to see it.. welcome
slinky said
Jul 4, 2011
And con graduate on the win too at the canal fest
73SC said
Jul 4, 2011
If that is an Oshawa car I see Feature Car written all over it Todd.
SD 396 said
Jul 5, 2011
Very nice GTO. My favorite year and colour too.
Pontiacanada said
Jul 5, 2011
Nice car! Welcome from PEI! Is it a Canadian Goat?
ORBIT said
Jul 5, 2011
Thanks guys. It's a Fremont CA car, originally Granada Gold on black with a black vinyl top and YS400/TH400/3.55. Now Orbit Orange on black with a YZ400/M20/3.36. Not sure why he didn't stick with 3.55's (or even higher numerically due to the RAIV cam), but the 3.36 rear is of course nice for highway driving so I'll probably leave it be.
Here's a walk around video I took when my father and I originally looked at the car:
I remember when we first got there and he opened the garage - the car was under a cover and as soon as he started pulling it off, all I saw was the drivers fender and thought to myself "I'm sold!" :)
-- Edited by ORBIT on Tuesday 5th of July 2011 06:44:41 AM
-- Edited by ORBIT on Tuesday 5th of July 2011 06:45:47 AM
Canadian Poncho said
Jul 5, 2011
She sounds very healthy!
Pierre67 said
Jul 6, 2011
Super Nice car!! Welcome from Victoria..
Pierre
drmb said
Jul 22, 2011
Wow! Nice car. Welcome from Down Under!
RogerB said
Aug 2, 2011
Welcome from Quebec city
ORBIT said
Aug 4, 2011
Thanks again guys - heading up to the St. Catharines GM Show & Shine tomorrow with both the Monte & GTO. If you're local and able to get the time off work, come check it out, it's a great show :)
I've always been a big Pontiac fan, especially T/A's and GTO's. I almost bought a '79 T/A as my first car, but it was sold by the time I called the guy. I later found an '85 Monte Carlo SS that I still own today:
Over the years I've made some changes, most notably upgrading to a 5.7L SBC, converting it to a 5-speed, and adding a styling cue from the T/A's I love so much with a functional shaker hood.
-- Edited by ORBIT on Monday 4th of July 2011 07:48:37 PM
WELCOME TO THE SITE FROM ALBERTA.
Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I see I forgot to include a link to the GTO pics - I edited the post above and put a link in at the bottom :)
Here's one for the thread:
-
- Edited by ORBIT on Monday 4th of July 2011 08:02:13 PM
-- Edited by ORBIT on Monday 4th of July 2011 08:02:53 PM
Welcome to the site!
i was park beside kevin at canal fest and it a very nice gto and told him about our site
Sink
-- Edited by slinky on Monday 4th of July 2011 09:27:20 PM
Welcome, that is a striking GTO, real nice.
My favourite car was my 1986 Monte Carlo SS which I factory ordered and got in November 1985, well it was my favourite until two weeks ago when I got my DTS Performance.
Anyway you have great taste in GM's
Thanks again for the reference - great site here! :) Hope you had a safe drive back - what a beautiful day for the show.
-- Edited by ORBIT on Monday 4th of July 2011 09:37:40 PM
welcome
And con graduate on the win too at the canal fest
If that is an Oshawa car I see Feature Car written all over it Todd.
Very nice GTO. My favorite year and colour too.
Nice car! Welcome from PEI! Is it a Canadian Goat?
Thanks guys. It's a Fremont CA car, originally Granada Gold on black with a black vinyl top and YS400/TH400/3.55. Now Orbit Orange on black with a YZ400/M20/3.36. Not sure why he didn't stick with 3.55's (or even higher numerically due to the RAIV cam), but the 3.36 rear is of course nice for highway driving so I'll probably leave it be.
Here's a walk around video I took when my father and I originally looked at the car:
I remember when we first got there and he opened the garage - the car was under a cover and as soon as he started pulling it off, all I saw was the drivers fender and thought to myself "I'm sold!" :)
-- Edited by ORBIT on Tuesday 5th of July 2011 06:44:41 AM
-- Edited by ORBIT on Tuesday 5th of July 2011 06:45:47 AM
Pierre
Wow! Nice car. Welcome from Down Under!
Welcome from Quebec city