OPINIONS NEEDED!!!!! 66 lemans and 67 tempest custom

[daseraces13]

hello everyone, new to this thread so bare with me. my grandfather recently passed in july. he had 2 cars: a 66 lemans 2dr coupe and a 67 tempest 2dr hardtop. both cars are sprint motor OHC cars. both do not run. both automatic, powerglide if im correct. the 67 has been in a garage for almost 30 years unmoved. it has no interior and the passenger side fender is missing from an accident (the reason he bought the car, he bought used fenders and other pieces in the 90s). the 66 has been sitting in his backyard for 38 years. the wheels were half way into the ground. i jacked it up yesterday to see if the car was worth salvaging. as anything can be salvaged with money pending, this car is beyond my range for money, as im 18 going to college and working part time, AND have another project already. my question is: i am taking the 67 to my parents property upstate to save for a later date, as he signed the paperwork over to me before he passed. should i save the 66 as well? or scrap/sell it? the car is in VERY bad shape keep in mind. every body panel will need replacing. rockers, floors, quarters. you name it it will need new, and the frames condition is questionable. when i was jacking the car up the quarter panel was seperating from the b pillar. but the 66 is a nicer car in my opinion, especially the rear of the car. the taillights and rear deck piece is just so much cleaner looking. i cant believe hed let this car sit outside. the 67 rear end looks plain compared to the 66. im just very torn, as to anyone the 66 resto wouldnt be worth it. but the other 67 car would. any opinions welcome. thank you. attatched is a photo of the car i took late at night. ill take some more when i go over there today.
-Matt

 

[melsg5]

Sorry for the loss of your grandfather. Letting it sit outside for all those years was the worst possible thing to do as you already know. I'm puzzled by your comment about the 66 rear section being nicer looking, are you talking about the condition of this particular car because the design should be identical. Are you sure the other car is a 66?

 

[daseraces13]

Sorry for the loss of your grandfather. Letting it sit outside for all those years was the worst possible thing to do as you already know. I'm puzzled by your comment about the 66 rear section being nicer looking, are you talking about the condition of this particular car because the design should be identical. Are you sure the other car is a 66?

thank you, i appreciate it. the 66 lemans and 67 lemans have different taillights, the 66 has the curved cresent look and the 67 has rectangular taillights. pictured is the differences. i had no clue they were different until a couple days ago haha!

 

[melsg5]

OK, I see what you mean. You could switch the body panels but it is a lot of work/cost especially if they are rotted to any extent.

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[daseraces13]

OK, I see what you mean. You could switch the body panels but it is a lot of work/cost especially if they are rotted to any extent.

yeah, the quarters are shot. no goin back from that

 

[cammerjeff]

I would save the drive train as the OHC6 parts are hard to come by, and 66 versions have quite a few unique parts for example they are the only year the timing belt cover is aluminum, the other 3 years they are fiberglass.

Are you sure they are both Sprints? That name was only applied to the 4bbl versions but is generally used to describe all OHC6 powered cars. The 66 you posted a picture of does not look like a sprint a 66 non sprint will have this emblem

A 66 Sprint will have this fender emblem


a 67 Sprint will have this fender emblem, a non sprint will just have the OHC6 portion of the emblem.

 

[daseraces13]

I would save the drive train as the OHC6 parts are hard to come by, and 66 versions have quite a few unique parts for example they are the only year the timing belt cover is aluminum, the other 3 years they are fiberglass.

Are you sure they are both Sprints? That name was only applied to the 4bbl versions but is generally used to describe all OHC6 powered cars. The 66 you posted a picture of does not look like a sprint a 66 non sprint will have this emblem
View attachment 4492
A 66 Sprint will have this fender emblem
View attachment 4495

a 67 Sprint will have this fender emblem, a non sprint will just have the OHC6 portion of the emblem.

View attachment 4493
View attachment 4494

I stand corrected. They are the OHC cars, not sprints. Thank you for clarifying that. What components would you think would be smart to salvage? I was going to take the interior for the other car, fenders as those are in surprisingly good shape. As well as taillights, trim, and electrical components such as wiper motors, relays ect ect. Any opinions? Ill definitely save that timing cover as you stated.

 

[cammerjeff]

I would keep any body parts that are not rusted out, but almost nothing except the doors & hood will swap directly with out some work. If the interior is in good shape on the 66 it is definatly worth saving as they do not reproduce those parts. If you plan on keeping the 2-speed Super Turbine 300 (not a powerglide, totally different 2-speed trans) as they are not that common anymore, and that way you have spare parts, those transmissions are aircooled by the way, you will notice the odd bellhousing inspection cover with the air exhaust duct, and the torque converter with the baffles that act as a cooling fan when the transmission is turning. Also and accessory brackets, and definatly the STARTER!!!! they are unique to the engine and very hard to come by now. I suggest just keeping the engine and transmission, check the rear axle also, it could be a Posi, and any gear ratio higher than a 3.23 are expensive and hard tofind for the Pontiac 8.2" axle under both cars.
You will be surprised how few body and chassis parts swap between 66 & 67 Tempest or Lemans's. They added alot of safety equipment in the 67 Model year, off the top of my head, a collapsible steering column, duel master cylinder, Hazard Lights, and a seperate lt & rt turn signal indicator in the dash. So the Steering Column's, Dash, are completly different even though they look almost identical. 1967 was also the 1st year a 3-speed TH-400 automatic was available in the GTO, so they modified both the frame and floorpan slightly ti make room for the larger transmission in the GTO.

Good luck with your project, and post some pictures of both cars when you get time.

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