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250 GTO Owners Thread


Duke

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No hurry here. I'm suffering from an extreme case of "while I'm at it'a" and am so far behind in my rebuild that my heirs will be the only ones enjoying this ride.

 

I know exactly how you feel. For me it's money though. I can no longer work on my own cars and even shade tree mechanics aren't cheap. And the parts... fughet-a-bout-it. Things will improve in a few months so I do have some hope of getting this thing done.

Edited by ZZZeee
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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks like nobody has posted here for awhile......

 

Purchased my kit from Tom McBurnie at ThunderRanch. I have the rear tub bonded in place....I replaced the Z's rear hatch with a fixed rear window and small boot. Still a long way to go. Currently fitting the door skins and front clip into place.

 

YouTube video at

 

350 SBC with T5 transmission, edelbrock intake/carb and HEI distributor.

Cherrybomb glasspacks with pacesetter exhaust tips in front of rear wheels

R200 rear end with 300zx CV joints

 

Anybody else here on the east coast working on one of these???

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Does anyone have the old KitCar magazine article (from 1983?) that has a writeup of the conversion process? It also compares the kit to a real car. I'd like to get the magazine itself, or some photocopied pages.

 

Any help? The correct issue would be a good start.

 

thxZ

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Does anyone have the old KitCar magazine article (from 1983?) that has a writeup of the conversion process? It also compares the kit to a real car. I'd like to get the magazine itself, or some photocopied pages.

 

Any help? The correct issue would be a good start.

 

thxZ

 

 

Here are the pages from my Winter 1985 Kit Car Quarterly (Vol 2, No 1) magazine that does a build up on the Alpha1 GTO kit. I particularly like the statement about fitting the front clip. "If you have difficulty getting it to fit, you may have to make some minor modifications." That was a severe understatement in my case, trying to get the front clip to line up with my door skins so far....

 

I put these in .tiff files for quicker upload.....let me know if you can't open them and I'll try again with jpegs -Rod

pgcover.tiff

pg6.tiff

pg5.tiff

pg4.tiff

pg3.tiff

pg2.tiff

pg1.tiff

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...Anybody else here on the east coast working on one of these???

Rod - I'm on the East Coast but unfortunately a different continent! Thank you for posting the pages from the article they will be most helpfull when I start on the bodywork next year.

 

Just a little bit of encouragement for those still building their kits - Mine has just been taken off the rotisserie after nearly two and a half years, with the project now getting close to five years in total. Like most others I have other commitments and I treat this very much as a hobby. I enjoy each little milestone without worrying about when it will be on the road.

post-1266-079503300 1287049866_thumb.jpg

post-1266-080015100 1287049901_thumb.jpg

post-1266-040775200 1287049984_thumb.jpg

Edited by Boy from Oz
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Thanks for the scans.

 

Unfortunately, there is an earlier magazine article, from 1983, IIRC. I was in college, and that's the aerticle that got me interested, and I bought the mag. It has about 30 pictures of the build process, and a chart with some comparisons to a real 250 GTO.

 

It has since been pilfered after several moves.

 

thxZ

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the scans.

 

Unfortunately, there is an earlier magazine article, from 1983, IIRC. I was in college, and that's the aerticle that got me interested, and I bought the mag. It has about 30 pictures of the build process, and a chart with some comparisons to a real 250 GTO.

 

It has since been pilfered after several moves.

 

thxZ

 

 

That's the article that got me exciteda about these cars too!. Funny, because I always loved that Shelby beat these cars with a mostly home made hot rod. At least, that's the shallow story. Actually took the Shelby coupe to compete successfully against the GTOs.

 

Anyway - in 2003 - 20 years later, I bought my Vello Rosa kit. I'm about 3/4 complete and very excited about getting it out for a test drive. Just tightened rear suspension (new springs, shocks, and bushings) last night. If you treat this as a hobby and keep at it, the building process can be quite enjoyable.

 

If you find a copy of that article, please pass it on.

 

 

 

Mikey

Edited by mclark999
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As winter sets in (which for me means more time in the garage and less time on the bicycle) I start in with silly season.

 

So - Has anyone out there weighed their GTOs? If so, can you fill in the following on a reply?

 

 

Donor car (240, 260, 280)

Year

Kit type (Velo Rossa, McBurnie, Scorpion, etc)

Engine and transmission

Engine mounting type if V8(MSA, JTR, Scarab)

Total weight

Front weight

Rear weight

 

If you have all 4 corners weighed, that would be awesome!

 

If you haveen't done this, its a great excuse to get out their and drive your car. While you are out for a drive, stop by your local scales. Here's what one guy says about where to go to get this done cheaply. "I have weighed my car in two places in Washington and think that they

should hold true in Calif.

Any feed mill that has truck of train shipping will have scales. If they

charge at all it will be under $10

Also I have weighed my truck and trailer and my my car at the state weigh

stations.. If not busy, scale not open sign out but occupied they will

generally weigh you.. I have also pulled into a closed unit and put my car

on the scale and was able to read the weight thru the window. The charge to

weigh a truck is only about 5 bucks."

 

I would add your local recycling center for junk metal, copper, etc.

 

Please reply when you can. Hope this adds to our winter reading!

 

Mikey

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Someone might be interested in this craigslist ad

 

There is a 250 gto front end in the back ground of the pic. $300 ?????

 

 

The parts in the foreground look like the Modena Spyder 250. That kit was later made by a company in Phoenix. Bueller? Bueller?

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post-7263-005170200 1288316029_thumb.jpgpost-7263-005170200 1288316029_thumb.jpgI'm finally getting around to posting after enjoying the content of everyone's input for over a year. I bought this car about a year and a half ago. It was originally custom built in 1986 in Winston Salem, N.C. It had been sitting for several years (since '02) so it required a bit of work to get it running, mostly wiring and a stuck clutch. It has a very modified 280Z engine w/1200 miles, that now runs really well. It has been in the body shop since March having all of the loose panels stripped off and redone. I hope we're getting close to being done. Then we're going to have the suspension tuned and try to sound proof the body. I've only driven it 17 miles and "WOW". In my opinion these cars are very under valued. If done correctly they are great drivers and get a lot of attention. The pictures are when I got it, and some years before.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Haven't posted in a while. Even forgot my password to the forum :blink:

Great to see everyone is working away and posting pics of thier progress.

They all look great!!

Had a chance to take mine out back in Sept.

Here's a pic.

 

Cheers to all and welcome to the new guys.

post-446-036792400 1290347189_thumb.jpg

Edited by Con Brio
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Haven't posted in a while. Even forgot my password to the forum :blink:

Great to see everyone is working away and posting pics of thier progress.

They all look great!!

Had a chance to take mine out back in Sept.

Here's a pic.

 

Cheers to all and welcome to the new guys.

 

 

When I see how beautiful your car is, kind of makes me wish I'd done a coupe instead of the spyder. I have to say yours looks even better than the black one in Vanilla Sky.

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