Goldcar1967
Well-known member
The first pic was what our original vision looked like…subject to “change”!
I was visiting my dad and he needed space in his shop so he moved the Goldcar outside. Fortunately, my sister had bought a place nearby that had room to store it while I was trying to raise a family and make a living. And there it would sit for about 10 years. I sanded all of the rust spots and sprayed it with primer to help preserve the metal.
Spring/Summer 2000
In 2000 I did a refresh of the Goldcar. With a little bigger budget I was able to make several changes and improvements to our original project. First I decided to replace the drive train. I had traded for a sure grip 742 rear end out of a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner Chris Hefner had wrecked and replaced the original stock rear ended. Next I purchased a 1979 Dodge that had a relatively new rebuilt 904 automatic transmission (which I later sold the remaining car for what I paid for it) and purchased a 318 cu. inch engine at a salvage yard in Tulsa from a wrecked 1989 Gran Fury Tulsa police car. With the increased budget, the bumpers, grill, windshield frame, headlights, hood and radiator supports all went to the chrome shop in Tulsa. My sister was working for a used car lot at the time and recommended a body shop her employer was using. I had seen some of his work and spoke with him about my project and we made a deal to have him make it “look pretty” for $2500. He in turn had a friend who did upholstery and interiors so I had him re-do the seats, carpet, add some trim and install running boards for an additional $500. Our original plan was to paint it back 1966 GTO Tiger Gold but couldn’t find the paint color. (at least that’s what they said) Why I have no idea, this was a special color for the 1966/67 GTO’s. They had a different shade of gold mixed and he called me to come look before painting. (Thank God! It looked terrible) My Dad and I went down to take a look. While standing at the back of the car, Dad said, “never in a million years did I think they could make the body look this slick. I’ll be damned if I wouldn’t paint it red.” At which the body shop boys said they already had a perfect red picked out. So we did! I believe they said it was a 1999 “Hot Red” Mustang color.
July 2008
In 2008 we moved to Eureka Springs. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a garage at the time and even though it was covered the weather would take its toll on the finish. Shortly there after the right front wheel locked up when I would apply the brakes. Never did figure out why but it was a problem I delt with on several occasions over the years. So I decided to try and convert to disc brakes. Well needless to say we were just a few years shy of finding a conversion out of the box that would fit. Finally saved enough money to build a garage. So back to working on how to fix the front brakes. If I was going to convert to disc brakes I was going to have to fabricating the adapter plates. In 2010 I was working on my boat with Dale King, who ran a marine service business. I shared what I was needing and he took me over to a friend of his who had the steel plate to make our adapter plates to mount the calipers and had his machinist fabricate the new mounting plates. Jackpot! As usual with nothing off the shelf available, my template for the spindle bolts were off about a half a hole. Fortunately, we were able to re-drill the holes so it would fit perfectly. Finally, everything was completed and I was able to mount the new disc brake rotor and caliper. Between work and other obligations...finally after about 9 years and several failed attempts at getting it to fit properly
January of 2019
The last time I refreshed the car I had to have it appraised for insurance purposes. The person who did the appraisal told me there is a new process of plating that could hide all of the weld marks around the windshield frame and grill. He seemed to think if I would invest in some plating work the value of the car could increase dramatically. So this time around I splurged and did it. I took the two pieces to Custom Polish Chrome in Houston. Their reviews were all 5*. Their estimates based on my pictures I sent were, let’s say were way off from the reality. Wow, those boys can lighten your pocket book. However, I will say they did a good job. Whether or not their work was worth the price is debatable. I never thought I would have more money tied up in chrome plating those two pieces than I do in the engine by more than double. I’ll leave it at that.
I was visiting my dad and he needed space in his shop so he moved the Goldcar outside. Fortunately, my sister had bought a place nearby that had room to store it while I was trying to raise a family and make a living. And there it would sit for about 10 years. I sanded all of the rust spots and sprayed it with primer to help preserve the metal.
Spring/Summer 2000
In 2000 I did a refresh of the Goldcar. With a little bigger budget I was able to make several changes and improvements to our original project. First I decided to replace the drive train. I had traded for a sure grip 742 rear end out of a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner Chris Hefner had wrecked and replaced the original stock rear ended. Next I purchased a 1979 Dodge that had a relatively new rebuilt 904 automatic transmission (which I later sold the remaining car for what I paid for it) and purchased a 318 cu. inch engine at a salvage yard in Tulsa from a wrecked 1989 Gran Fury Tulsa police car. With the increased budget, the bumpers, grill, windshield frame, headlights, hood and radiator supports all went to the chrome shop in Tulsa. My sister was working for a used car lot at the time and recommended a body shop her employer was using. I had seen some of his work and spoke with him about my project and we made a deal to have him make it “look pretty” for $2500. He in turn had a friend who did upholstery and interiors so I had him re-do the seats, carpet, add some trim and install running boards for an additional $500. Our original plan was to paint it back 1966 GTO Tiger Gold but couldn’t find the paint color. (at least that’s what they said) Why I have no idea, this was a special color for the 1966/67 GTO’s. They had a different shade of gold mixed and he called me to come look before painting. (Thank God! It looked terrible) My Dad and I went down to take a look. While standing at the back of the car, Dad said, “never in a million years did I think they could make the body look this slick. I’ll be damned if I wouldn’t paint it red.” At which the body shop boys said they already had a perfect red picked out. So we did! I believe they said it was a 1999 “Hot Red” Mustang color.
July 2008
In 2008 we moved to Eureka Springs. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a garage at the time and even though it was covered the weather would take its toll on the finish. Shortly there after the right front wheel locked up when I would apply the brakes. Never did figure out why but it was a problem I delt with on several occasions over the years. So I decided to try and convert to disc brakes. Well needless to say we were just a few years shy of finding a conversion out of the box that would fit. Finally saved enough money to build a garage. So back to working on how to fix the front brakes. If I was going to convert to disc brakes I was going to have to fabricating the adapter plates. In 2010 I was working on my boat with Dale King, who ran a marine service business. I shared what I was needing and he took me over to a friend of his who had the steel plate to make our adapter plates to mount the calipers and had his machinist fabricate the new mounting plates. Jackpot! As usual with nothing off the shelf available, my template for the spindle bolts were off about a half a hole. Fortunately, we were able to re-drill the holes so it would fit perfectly. Finally, everything was completed and I was able to mount the new disc brake rotor and caliper. Between work and other obligations...finally after about 9 years and several failed attempts at getting it to fit properly
January of 2019
The last time I refreshed the car I had to have it appraised for insurance purposes. The person who did the appraisal told me there is a new process of plating that could hide all of the weld marks around the windshield frame and grill. He seemed to think if I would invest in some plating work the value of the car could increase dramatically. So this time around I splurged and did it. I took the two pieces to Custom Polish Chrome in Houston. Their reviews were all 5*. Their estimates based on my pictures I sent were, let’s say were way off from the reality. Wow, those boys can lighten your pocket book. However, I will say they did a good job. Whether or not their work was worth the price is debatable. I never thought I would have more money tied up in chrome plating those two pieces than I do in the engine by more than double. I’ll leave it at that.
