1974 Pontiac GTO

Hatchback Hatchback

455

Manual

2Z17B4L112949

Clear

Gasoline

This auction features a super clean and really fast, 1974 Pontiac GTO with Hatchback. Mechanically this car needs nothing so if you are not much of a mechanic you are all set. It is dialed in and tuned to perfection. Initially I picked up this old girl a few years ago for a little something to play around with and drive back and forth to work in nicer weather What was suppose to be a bit of a beater turned into, or shall I say got away from me and turned into a pretty slick cruiser. I tried to keep it looking factory but used many options from previous model years used by Pontiac. So this was not a numbers matching restoration but more of an improvement on Pontiacs plan if you will, but by no means an over the top custom or resto-mod job. I guess I would qualify it as a “Day 2” car representing what someone would have done after the brought the car home new and prepped it for street strip action. As you read through the write up you will see everything has either been rebuilt or replaced. This is a great driver plus car and ready to go. Now I should qualify that usually "driver" quality on eBay usually means piece of crap. Let's be clear this is a really nice car, but by no means a trailer queen either, hence a great car to drive, and will show well at most local car shows and probably win a trophy. (I have several times!) The car collects lots of attention whether it's cruising down the street or parked. Finish -- Grade B+: Bright red factory color paint is 7 year old dual stage paint job. There are some minor chips through out the car; however shine/luster is very good and looks as good in person as it does in the pictures. Paint looks great up close too. Very good driver quality and shows very well and honestly representative of most cars seen at local cruises or car shows. I blacked out the rear taillight panel which is not factory, but really sets the car off. Decals are reproduction Phoenix Graphic pieces and professionally applied. Body -- Grade B+: This is a very lower production Hatchback car, only 1600 produced. The previous owner saw a diamond in the rough when he bought this car, which probably should have been scrapped honestly. It was in process when I bought the car and I took the car to the next level from junker to street cruiser, but not concourse restoration! Car has had new rear quarters and outer rear wheel wells replaced with aftermarket panels and they look great. I put a ton of time in to get these panels to fit straight and look good. As a factory hatchback car these cars are notorious rust buckets in the rear well. When I bought the car the previous owner had a sheet metal shop and repaired the floor himself. I always thought I would buy a rust free donor and fabricate in the floor to look original but never found a clean parts car. (These cars are hard to find!) I never did so I re-engineered the sub floor to work as seen in the photos to appear factory. Also, when I bought the car the passenger front fender had been poorly patched, I figured I could get a Nova fender and replace it, but Nova fenders don’t fit the Ventura and finding a rust free unit was impossible. So I rebuilt the fender using a Nova donor and it looks good considering what I started out with, but the fit is off just a bit. The rear deck lid has some minor rust under the lip (see photos), it is original condition and I did not repaint inside the hatch, it has not progressed but it’s there. Otherwise body work is straight and looks great. No Bondo queen either. All weather-stripping is has been replaced when repainted. Also features all new Body electrical harness from M & H Electric Fabricators. I also installed a reproduction 1969 Factory style hood tachometer and the installation is clean and looks factory. Hood scoop is functional as well. Also added was a steel front air dam/spoiler, it’s an aftermarket kit but looks factory and installation is clean. Auction also includes the GM Dealer Tent and go Camping Hatchback tent that was available over the counter at the part department. This is the correct Ventura tent; GM actually had a specific tent for Novas, Omegas and Venturas believe it or not. The tent is in very nice condition and a very hard to find option. Looks great at shows, and you have your own shade so you don’t bake out in the parking lot! I have the original build sheet and window sticker (not a reproduction) for the car, so no PHS documents since I have the real deal. Frame -- Grade A: Sub frame and rear rails are clean and free of any rust or scale, no signs of any metal repair from an accident. Bumpers - Grade A/B: Front bumper is a high quality re-chromed unit and bumperettes have been re-chromed. Rear bumper is a nice original in very good condition Bright work -- Grade B: Trim is all original and in very good original condition. Car came equipped originally with lower rocker chrome trim but were missing when I bought it, good luck finding a set…..I have not yet. Glass Grade A/C- : Front windshield is a new replacement with the antenna in glass no chips, pits or scratches. Side and rear hatch glass is original. Side glass pretty good with some minor scratches, you have to look hard to find and by no means distracting. Rear glass is fair has some deeper scratches. All weather-stripping and window "fuzzies" have been replaced. Interior A: Interior has been fully replaced restored and looks very good. Car was originally equipped with a red interior, black was not available on GTO/Ventura. When I bought the car the previous owner had collected the majority of the trim to replace it with black and any of the red interior still present was in poor condition anyways. New items include: 1969 Factory Deluxe Wood Steering wheel and walnut shift knob (Factory reproduction units), carpet, floor mats (original GM, correct for this car), new door and window handles, headliner and seats have all been recovered. Dash is an original Nova piece with a very small crack just above the heater control, tough to see, but its there. Door panels are original Nova Deluxe molded door panels with correct GTO emblems installed, on the driver’s panel the there is a small crack about 1-2 inches square. Rear panels are used units that have been dyed to freshen them up (originally black!) there is some light scratches in the rear panels so they are not perfect but look good. Factory rear defogger was replaced with a NOS unit and works great. New pedals, stainless pedal trim, rubber seals, boots and insulation were all replaced as well. Under dash harness is new factory style unit from M & H Electrical Fabricators. Everything works! Instrument panel is clear and clean with optional wood trim and engine turned aluminum lower trim. Dash features "idiot lights" with an aftermarket/reproduction factory style tachometer installed on the hood. (The factory dash tachometer is too small to read, this is what Pontiac should have installed). Engine vitals are monitored by Auto-Meter temperature and oil pressure gauges. Radio is a Ken Harrison AM/FM/Cassette tape with optional CD/MP3 auxiliary plug in. Plug exits through the ash tray so you can use it to hold your MP3, and the ashtray it self is a new unit. Front Custom Autosound Dual voice cone front speaker installed in the dash, Kenwood speakers in the lower kick panels and Kenwood 6 X 9 speakers in the rear. Radio has excellent sound quality, professional installation. All weather-striping is new with new window "fuzzies" installed. The interior is very clean, comfortable and fully functional. Wheels Grade A: Restored 15” Rally II steel rims with 1969 factory black PMD center caps, black dot lug nuts and no trim rings. (Note 14” rims were stock on this unit with tin center cap and chrome lug nuts) Tires Grade A: Brand New BF Goodrich raised white letter Radial T/A Tires, fronts are P215/65R15 and rears are P255/60R15. Tires give the car a beefy look with the bigs out back and slightly smaller tires up front. Suspension Grade A: Front end was totally rebuilt with new front A-arm bushings, upper and lower ball joints, springs, and steering components are all fresh and recently restored or replaced. Front has a new HD 1” stabilizer bar with KBY gas shocks. Front brakes feature drilled and slotted rotors and metallic pads. New Power Brake booster and master cylinder and front rubber brake lines. Also new Dust shields and caliper mounts. Steering box is a quick ratio unit removed from a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am with WS6 suspension, with new power steering pump and all new hoses. Rear features new HD 5 leaf springs with period correct spring clamps (old super stock trick to prevent wheel hop!) Rear features new Gabriel Air Shocks, mostly to prevent that ass down look X-body and F-body cars get no matter what you do with your springs. New rear brake shoes, drums, steel brake lines, brake cylinders and brake hardware. Emergency brake cables and related hardware is all new and works great! Factory rear stabilizer bar is present and functional. Car has a slight rake to it with the rear of the car sitting about an inch higher then the front. Vehicle tracks straight, with a firm but not too stiff ride. Steering is tight and responsive and braking is firm with no fade under heavy braking. Car pulls hard and straight under acceleration. Old school suspension works well. Undercarriage is cleaned and detailed, with a new gas tank as well. Looks very nice for local shows. Exhaust Grade A : Ram Air Restoration 2.5 outlet Factory Reproduction Cast Iron Long Branch manifolds flow through a Pypes 2.5” dual exhaust kit with “X” cross over, Dynomax Super Turbo Mufflers (best flowing high performance muffler on the market!) and Pypes Stainless splitter Trans Am style exhaust tips which duplicate the factory exhaust tips. Has a very aggressive exhaust note. Rear-end Grade A: Factory original (numbers matching) 10 bolt Safe-T-Track (posi-traction) with 3.08:1 ratio. Rear lube is Royal Purple synthetic lube. Unit has had new rear seals, outer bearings and gaskets installed. Posi-traction works well with no noises, whines or clunks. Ignition Grade A : Stock appearing factory style distributor updated with Pertronix Igniter II electronic module with Crane Cams adjustable vacuum canister, Flamethrower Coil, Pertronix Spark Plug wires routed through 1969 factory wire looms to AC spark plugs. Distributor was re-curved to match engine combination by DJ Race on a Sun Distributor machine. Unit is topped with AC Delco cap and rotor. Looks stock put shoots fire! Air Conditioning/Heater Grade B: Non/A/C car, new fan motor and fan switch, cables operate and works like new. Passenger kick panel vent cables work with ease. Transmission Grade A: Factory original/numbers matching Saginaw close ratio 4 speed (M20), previous owner claimed to have installed fresh syncros and bearings, I installed new shifter bushings and rebuilt and cleaned Hurst Competition shifter. I also added a 1969 Pontiac walnut shifter knob, replaced front and rear seals, side gasket and added Royal Purple Synthetic gear lube. Transmission shifts smooth and accurate with no noise or engagement issues such as popping out of gear. Shifter handle chrome is in very good condition, and is not a factory unit. Clutch and Pressure Plate is a fresh Hayes street/strip unit, clutch pressure is a little stiffer then factory. Grips well in normal and heavy acceleration. Brakes Grade A: Power Front Disc brakes, with new power booster unit and master cylinder, new calipers, metallic brake pads with drilled and slotted rotors. Rear brakes are drum style with new drums, pads, wheels cylinders, brake spring hardware, brake lines at differential and all new emergency brake cables and related hardware. Brakes perform well beyond factory specifications. Fresh installation. Engine Grade A: Engine is clean and show ready detailed. 1972 455 CID, Block YC code, (not original equipment) rebuilt with Pacific Performance Balanced rotating assembly with Tomahawk Rods, .030 over bored SRS hypereutectic Pistons, Mahle rings and ACL bearings. Camshaft is a Comp Cams Pt# 51-223-4, Duration @ .050 is 224 Intake and 230 exhaust with .477 gross lift on intake and .480 on exhaust, lobe separation is 110. Melling Ram Air IV high pressure/high volume oil pump with ¾” oil pick up keeps the internals lubed. Topped with 1969 Pontiac #62 Cylinder heads with 72 cc combustion chambers (1969 Ram Air/HO large valve) upgraded with Comp Cams 995-16 springs, REV Racings valves with undercut stems and swirl polished (2.11 intake and 1.77 exhaust) mild port and polishing and performance valve grind all to HO Racing Specialties specifications. (Work professionally done by DJ Race with springs shimmed and installed to spec.) Comp Cams 1.5 Roller tip rockers top the combination. Intake is an Edelbrock Aluminum Performer intake painted to match the original factory color. Carburetor is the Original numbers matching factory Quadrajet for the car modified to Cliff Ruggles HP Carbs specifications to match the engine combination and is fed by a Carter High Volume Musclecar Series mechanical fuel pump (factory appearing). As mentioned before the distributor is a factory looking unit upgraded with Pertronix electronic Igniter II module, Flamethrower coil and wires. Distributor was re-curved to match combination by DJ Race. Other features include chrome Pontiac valve covers, 1969 factory spark plug wire looms, and new M&H Electric Fabricators engine wiring harness. Engine runs cool with Kool Kraft aluminum high flow water pump, four core factory looking copper/brass Cool Craft radiator, factory fan shroud, 7 blade factory fan with HD Hayden Thermal Clutch fan. The belt drive pulleys (crank, water pump, alternator and power steering) are all new Ram Restoration billet underdrive units (powder coated black). The Shaker hood scoop is fully functional however; the factory function has been modified to work more consistently. Originally, the signal to open the rear facing scoop went through a series of sensors and what not open at full throttle under only certain extreme conditions. I bypassed this complicated system using a B & M shifter downshift switch for THM400 cars so that the hoops scoop opens consistently at ½ throttle. Installation of this kit is clean and looks factory. Inside the air cleaner is a K&N filter and air cleaner filter lid. Installation is clean and professional and I was going for a real factory/sleeper look. The reproduction Delco R89W Heavy Duty along with the GM pt#’s stenciled on the radiator hoses gives this pretty heavily modified motor a factory look. In fact the car is so subtle and clean under the hood few people appreciate what is really going on inside this monster 455. Honestly, I got a little carried away designing and building this motor and this motor is more race motor then street so keep that in mind. The compressions is 10.75:1 and with the aggressive camshaft I have to run a mix of 110 octane racing fuel and 93 octane pump gas to keep it from pinging (spark knock). I will include in the purchase a set of 4X cylinder heads with larger cylinder chambers which would allow it to run on pump gas. All bearing and ring tolerances were built a “little loose” to allow for a more free rev under power. This means at idle warmed up you have 10 pounds of oil pressure. Engine and is free of any noises or knocks, and there is no smoke upon start-up cold or warm. It does have a rear main seal leak typical of rope seals but is free of any oil or coolant leaks. Engine has roughly 10,000 miles on it. The engine has a very lopey - ¾ race style idle but pulls 20 inches of vacuum, the carburetor has been modified to the engine modification combination and pulls smooth right off idle without hesitation through acceleration. Engine is equipped with functioning factory style electric choke that works as designed by the factory. Engine pulls hard under acceleration, no black smoke, and carburetor responds better then fuel injection and well mannered in street driving. I have driven this car on several times on trips over 4 hours without issue and it gets about 19 mpg combined if you can keep your foot out of it, which is really tough to do! Moderate estimates put this motor at 450 horsepower and 550 foot lbs. of torque and easily capable of low 13’s or high 12’s in the ¼ mile in current condition. Summary: This car is a driver quality plus car that looks great driving down the road, and frankly, even up close, it is very presentable for most local car shows or cruises. It is a very nice car to drive with smooth acceleration, and clean comfortable cabin. The lopey idle through the high performance mufflers makes it a hit at the cruise in or at the stop light. The upgraded suspension and brakes greatly improves the overall driving experience of the car with a smooth flat handling in the curves, ride is firm, but not so stiff to be unbearable for a long drive. Operation is very reliable and without issue and the engine pulls hard off idle up to 5000 rpm. It is a lot of fun to run through the gears. The upgraded suspension launches straight with no wheel hop when you drop the clutch and mat it. The car as is would make a great reliable, daily driver that would be a blast to drive everyday to work, I know because I have driven it from late April until early November since 2005. It is really a fun car to drive with its throaty exhaust, four speed shifter, and excellent power. This also would be a fun car to run in nostalgia drags/stock appearing drags or even autocross competitions because of its excellent handling characteristics. The paint is very presentable as is but it should be noted it has a few chips, the car draws quite a crowd as is and easily could be driven without shame and has won many trophies in this daily driven condition. (It’s that nice!!) This car really needs nothing else replaced and is road ready for cruising. Mechanically it has been totally gone through and all maintenance items (battery, alternator, brakes, clutch, radiator, etc) are new and replaced! You can drive this car literally anywhere without issue. So if doing a full restoration or building a bad news street terror is outside your skills level but your looking a for a great musclecar this the car for you. Questions.....call me at 231-935-3840 (H) or Cell 231-342-1572 ask for Reggie. Buyer is responsible for delivery, but I can work with you to deliver the car, deposit of $500 required at the end of auction. On Jul-21-12 at 05:20:57 PDT, seller added the following information: Away from Home Phone until 6/22, if you have a question please call my Cell @ 231-342-1572