1966 Pontiac GTO

Custom GTO Wagon

8 - Cyl.

Automatic

235356B114621

455/TH400

Gasoline

1966 Pontiac Tempest Custom Wagon GTO Clone. Unreal Car Relisted now at $10k, no reserve. This auction is for my 1966 Pontiac Tempest Custom (Phantom GTO) Wagon. Most GTO clone muscle wagons are Tempests with a GTO hood, grill and emblems installed. Not this car. This wagon is packed with carefully selected GTO and Pontiac High Output parts. It has had many of the best known Pontiac GTO guys in PA working on it. Originally built by GTO restorer Chris Wismer as a parts hauler for his GTO restoration business. I'm pretty sure he bought it from Paul Spotts. I have owned this car for about 11 years. Here's the rundown of what has gone into this very special Pontiac: - 31,972 mile originally 1966 Tempest Custom Wagon with owner's manual and protect-o-plate. Originally delivered and spent its whole life in PA until I bought it. One look underneath and you won't doubt the mileage. No document record to prove it, but Chris thought the mileage was correct, and so do I. The car is tight and very, very clean, especially for an Eastern car. Car is an original A/C, roof rack delete and power rear window Tempest Custom in Burgundy with red interior. - Body mods are GTO hood with tach, grill and emblems. -Interior mods are GTO bucket seats, (1967 pattern which better matches original rear seat) GTO grab bar, console with shifter, (and proper GM #3956765 linkage cable,) new carpet, lighted gauges on chrome panel, aftermarket radio, and siren. Chris was not real clear on why this car needs a siren, but its cool. Door panels and rear seat are original and perfect. Headliner is good with no tears. Its all very presentable, except to my eye the dash pad which is cracked and patched doesn't look really nice, the upholstered driver's rear wheel cover is curling and tired, and the GTO emblem under the grab bar has strangely deteriorated, crazed and cracked. Hard to see in the pictures, but I see everything and you will, too. Chris built and painted a 2 piece custom plywood cover for the rear wagon floor and rear seat when its folded down, so he could haul parts without messing up the interior. The foam padding in crumbling on the front side of it, but it works well and fits the car perfectly. - Motor is a 1973 455 casting #485428, date code C203, stamped XA, bored .030 and rebuilt by Chris and Ken Wismer. I have regceipts for $1900 worth of machining and parts from Easton, PA Auto Machine Shop 15 years ago. -Heads are 1971 GTO #96 Pontiac heads (well known as the best low compression Pontiac D-port head according to Wallace Racing) milled .040 which puts compression at right around 9.8:1. Heads are thoroughly worked (twice) by Jim Taylor Engine Service (Jim Taylor is a friend of the Wismers) to the tune of $1134 (in 1996 dollars) including installing and milling of mang. bronze guides, valve seats, all new valves, Comp Pro springs, competition valve job, (15-30-50 degree intake, 45 degree exh.) cut tips for short valves like a 4X head, cc'd combustion chambers, teflon guide seals and paint. The heads are something special. Chris said that if I ever sold the car, he would buy the heads back for $1000. Chris, I don't know how to get a hold of you anymore. Contact me and I'll put you in touch with the buyer. -Cam is a hydraulic Crane Cams #969681, which is grind #9794041 (Replacement for Factory Ram Air IV "T" camshaft. Rhoads lifters. Intake is 1968 GTO casting 9790140, Carb is 1968 Pontiac Quadrajet from a 400ci/AT (GM #7028262) with slightly larger secondaries for the extra cubes in the motor. This is a well-known great street combination. Runs well on premium fuel. -Exhaust is a set of Performance Years reproduction '67 H.O. manifolds (casting #s 9777641 & 9777646 into 2 1/2" dual exhaust with crossover pipe, Dynomax SuperTurbo 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" offset mufflers. Not quiet as stock, but not a loud exhaust, either, unless you get on it... -The Wismers replaced (upgraded) the radiator and heater core with the motor, and I replaced the fan clutch. Motor runs cool and does not overheat in traffic. This motor is sweet, sweet, sweet. Starts instantly, runs smoothly all the way up to 5500 with no flat spots, and pulls like a turbodiesel tractor. Astounding torque. Best estimates are it is making around 425-450 true horsepower. Must be over 500ft-lbs of torque. Ran 13.76 through the mufflers on street tires the one and only time its been on a dragstrip. What I really love about this car is that with five big guys comfortably seated in it, it still hauls ass. This car will run and hide from any stock muscle car. -Transmission is a TH400 with a mildly worked valve body and mild street/strip converter. It is very streetable and rock solid. Driveshaft shortened to 59 1/2 inches and balanced. NHRA legal trans loop installed. Rear end is a completely rebuilt (receipt from Slate Belt Pontiac/GMC/Jeep in Wind Gap, PA) Pontiac 3.36 Positraction, with 1968 T-37/GTO 7/8" anti sway bar. (GM #394926) No leaks, noises or clunks from either unit. Car is equipped with a line lock if you want to show off and ruin your rear tires. The Wismers and I have receipts for over $10k of parts and upgrades on this car, and many, many hours of themselves and other really sharp Pontiac GTO Club experts working on it, and its by far the best built muscle wagon I have ever seen. Comes with a big file of receipts and documentation, Its not a car for someone who wants perfect paint or Boyd's wheels, but if you know and love A-body Pontiacs, this is a very special car. New York does not issue titles on cars this old. I have a NYS transferable registration in my name, which is how we do it here, and I'll also give you a bill of sale. Condition: The car is as it sits in my garage under cover, in other words its just a well-loved car, not something I bought from a dead guy's wife and cleaned up to flip. I have made no attempt to detail it for sale. What it really needs is what I used to do with it 10 years ago before I got married, bought a house, had 2 daughters and now need the garage space almost as much as I need time and money. Mostly, it just needs some attention lavished on the paint and some underhood cleaning and detailing. Beyond that, there are some specific things wrong that I haven't addressed in the last few years: 1. There is a patch of rust in the front of the passenger door. You could bondo it, but the car is otherwise so clean and rust-free, its worth cutting in a small piece of metal. There are a very few bubbles in some corners like one of the doglegs and the rear side windows, but overall the body is very, very clean and rust-free. Absolutely minimal dings and no accidents ever. The underside is amazing. Not rusty! Looks like an Arizona car. See the pictures. rockers, floors, braces, frame, it is all nice, nice, nice, and no damage. No rust in the front fenders, cowl, radiator support, etc. I have no doubt at all that this car has been driven only 31,972 miles in Pennsylvania and New York. That's the only way it could still look like this. 2. The rear window goes up and down, but needs help going up. The motor is fine. I wish it were that easy. The bracket that the rear window glass fits into isn't holding it right as it goes up, and its rusty so it isn't a simple weatherstrip adhesive glue job to hold it together. It will need a day's work to straighten it out. 3. A/C works and has been converted to 134A, but needs to be recharged. 4. I put 235/65R15 tires on the Rally II wheels on the car, and they are good on the back, but they are too big in front and rub excessively. I have a set of 4 Olds G-body 14" wheels with usable (crappy) tires that will clear the front, and the best two of those will be mounted on the front so you can drive the car. You get both sets of 4 wheels and tires, but if you want to leave the other 2 olds 14s here, I will understand. I should have stayed with the 225/70R15s that Chris Wismer had on it. Anyway, that's what I would do. 5. The paint is driver quality. Never was intended to be a show car. Chris did one repaint over the original Burgundy color, door jabs still original paint in most spots. The paint is holding up, but it was never perfect. Sure, its a great 20 footer, especially with all the extra chrome of the Tempest Custom trim level, but up close there are some sanding marks and flaws. The interior is nice but also hardly perfect. The whole car has a very even patina of use and tidy driver quality. If you can't live with that while you do or don't plan to restore it properly, then you don't get this car. Its quite the opposite of your usual GTO station wagon clone. Most of the money and almost all of the time was spent on the drivetrain, and when you stand on it, which you will pretty much do all the time, it is a true tiger of a car. And ALL PONTIAC. 6. The car isn't currently registered. That means I haven't driven it very much in the last few years. Last tagged in 2003. I have a friend with dealer plates and we take it out now and then, it isn't mothballed and I keep it ready to go all the time. I would personally hop in it and drive it to Chicago without thinking about it, but it is a 45 year old car and it isn't being used every day. Having said that, the drivetrain is bulletproof and the car has never broken down on me, but I just want you to know the facts in order to make whatever trasport plan you are comfortable with. There are no warrantees and no returns. 7. Dash Clock works from time to time only. Parts I have for it: The winner of the auction gets to go over a big pile of parts I've been collecting for this car for more than a decade. They are for sale separate to the car. What the winner doesn't buy will go up on ebay. I haven't unpacked everything yet, but so far I know for sure I have: -At least one, if not more than, full set of extra belt line stainless for Tempest Custom wagon. I stopped buying this once I had a replacement for every piece on the car that isn't perfect. Also other trim and stainless, including NOS stainless door edge guards in the package with hardware. -Many Pontiac and Safari emblems and scripts, especially 3 1961 "Safari" scripts which are white inside and I think the prettiest of all Safari scripts. I bought these for the tailgate, rear fenders and grille. I never actually liked the "GTO Wagon clone" thing, and if I repainted the car, it would have only Safari model scripts on it. 1 NOS, 1 perfect used, 1 nice used, also 1959 S-A-F-A-R-I letters, Pontiac and Tempest emblems, etc. -Many, many wagon-specific body parts, like NOS tail light lenses, a used tail light bezel, rare reproduction tailgate rubber seals, an NOS rear PONTIAC script, good used rear air deflector, good used rear window stainless trim, etc. I buy any of this whenever I see it available. -Good used HEI distributor, new hi-torque mini starter, oil filters, engine bolt kits, fan belts, etc. -Rare nice used red GTO dash grab bar and bezel. -GTO wood tone rim steering wheel, may be later like 67 or 68. Refinished original wheel. -Working used correct 1966 AM pushbuton Radio. (was working, anyway, when boxed up about 5 years ago.) -1979 Firebird spindles, with rebuilt calipers with matching used Hotchkiss tubular control arms for the GM A- body. -New 1LE 12" rotor upgrade kit for the above spindles, complete with bearings and seals, all in the boxes. -Very rare used A-body power driver's seat, complete. -1967 nice used Dual Gate automatic shifter. -Nice used factory vacuum gauge. -Both the Pontiac Tempest Chassis Service Manual and Fisher Body Service Manual. I don't remember what all else I have, but I'll have it unpacked by auction close, and my '66 complete Tripower and Mint NOS rear wing are spoken for by friends and not available. The NITTY GRITTY: OK, here's the deal. The car is listed with a reserve and I'm not disclosing it. It is also for sale locally and on Craig's List, but there is no Buy It Now because that's how scammers waste seller's time and money. See my feedback. If you have low feedback or are outside the USA, email me before you bid because you won't be able to bid otherwise. We're going to talk before you can bid. Please come see the car if you can, or have someone you know and trust come see it. If the auction ends, the car is sold. This is an auction and I'm not taking offers from ebay users, so please don't waste both of our time with that. There are many more pictures of the car plus this description at www-dot-usk-dot-org/GTO. My camera seems to have a bluish tint in these pictures. It makes the car and interior look a little darker than they are. Look up these cars on Google to see a better view of the factory Burgundy/Red color combo. Winner must pay $500 deposit via Paypal within 24 hours. That is to prove to me you are not a scammer. You then have 1 week to pay for the car. Contact me, I'm flexible and we will figure out how to do that together. You have 3 weeks to get the car. I'm leaving in August for vacation, and it must be gone by the third week in August. I can help a shipper load the car. I looked for a car like this for five years, and in the ten years I've had it, I've never seen another one cleaner, better built with all OEM parts, or faster. I will really hate to see this car go, but something like this is a labor of love, and it deserves to be driven as much as my wife and kids deserve their garage and the money I have tied up it in. Good luck, contact me with questions, (I can tell you about this car for hours,) and happy bidding. tommotrl Store