Thanx for the welcome, sounds like some great guys here. To answer a few of the questions...... I first saw the GT/CS at the house of a friends brother. I never would have found it on my own as they lived way out in the country and weren't driving the car. It belonged to the brothers wife. She said it needed some engine work and eventually agreed to sell it to me for $800. This was in 1976. I pulled one head and put a couple of used exhaust valves in, lapped them and called it good. A couple weeks later I was racing up river and spun the bearings over-revving the engine. I think that was right after I put a Holley carb on it and started driving it pretty aggressively. I limped it into the wrecking yard and sold the engine for $75. I swapped the rest to a friend for a 65 GT fastback with a rebuilt 289 4V. I had a lot of fun with that one. I used to go fill up on aviation gas at the airport on fridays and race everyone with a muscle car all weekend. The only two races I lost were to a 69 Mach I 428cj that passed me running on only 6 or 7 cylinders and to a Dodge Demon with really low gears..... Actually I didn't really lose...I flew past him at around 90 mph right after putting it in third. I had 2.80's in the fastback so I always told people I raced that I needed a running start. Heh Heh. Anyway, the wife of the guy I did the swap with wrecked the GT/CS a year later and I bought it back for $400. It's been off the road ever since. A few years ago I heard about a computerized frame machine a local repair shop had and after a little research decided to let them straighten out the rear end. I'd been collecting parts over the years and had decided to go all 428cj drivetrain this time around. The engine is a 69 428cj from a Merc Cyclone. It's been balanced/blueprinted, forged pistons, Ebok heads, Porto-Sonic intake and custom cammed by AJ Kautzman of Spokane. The 4-sp is a big in/out from a Stang and for now it has a 31 spline N-case 3.91 detroit locker for a rear. The rest of the car is pretty much stock. I did change the spring rates and put a factory competition susp 15/16 sway bar on. I'm thinking it will handle pretty well now considering the weight loss with the aluminum top end. Future plans include subframe connectors and improved handling and suspension components.......And a kick ass sound system....fuel injection..? Hmmmnn
Raced, played and let it go w/ regret like you too. But now; it's on its way to concourse in the hands of member, "Something Special" !
