Repainting an Old Musclecar

Pontiac's GTO is enjoying a resurgence in interest of late, in part due to a cameo appearance as actor Vin Diesel's hot ride in the action movie "Triple X." Of course, musclecar enthusiasts have long admired the "Goat," as it's affectionately nicknamed. Larry Weiner of Performance West Group, a noted builder of late-model show vehicles, is no exception.

As Is
"I first rode in one when I was 15 years old, back in the '60s," Weiner recalls. "I was an impressionable young man, and I never forgot how it burned rubber. I loved the sound of the Tri-Power V-8 at full throttle." Weiner has come a long way since then, having owned dozens of performance cars and built more than 50 image vehicles for both domestic and foreign automakers. But he always remembered that experience with the GTO, and during a short stay in Southern California, he came across an untouched, numbers-matching 1965 model with a 389ci Tri-Power V-8. After thoroughly checking out the car and agreeing on a fair price ($4,500), Weiner took it back to his hometown of Chicago, where he began a restoration project. He shared some of his tips and personal experiences with us. We also contacted his show-car painter, Mike Face, who had some practical suggestions on prepping older sheetmetal.


"When I first purchased the car, I just took care of the basics to get it home," Weiner relates. "That meant doing an oil and filter change, and replacing the points, condenser, plug wires, rotor, cap, and so on. I also put in new radiator hoses and checked out the cooling system. Even though it had 132,000 miles on it, the car ran like a wristwatch. But my one mistake was not changing the tires. They were just too old, and I had a blowout in Amarillo, Texas on my way back home."


Even though the engine was sound or at least seemed so (more about that in a following article), the handling left something to be desired, typical of cars built during that era. "It was a joke. Here's a car with a 360-hp engine with 10-inch manual drum brakes in the front. You couldn't stop it, and it wouldn't corner worth a darn," Weiner laughs. "I went through the chassis and installed a GM A-body performance package that replaced the rear lower control arms with boxed ones that allowed me to install a really thick sway bar." Weiner also added adjustable KYB shocks, stiffer springs, urethane bushings and a disc-brake conversion that required installing spindles from a '70s Trans Am. Equipped with fatter tires, as big as those normally found on a Corvette, the car handles much better. "It drove spectacularly when I was done with it," he smiles.

Begin Again
That was just the beginning of the project, because he next pulled the engine, transmission and differential, and decided to change the body color. Originally the car was Reef Turquoise with a black vinyl top, but he had it painted red. Due to a lack of careful prep work by a contract painter, however, the finish displayed some waves. The car is now getting a second paint job.