Well, I just became the owner of a 1970 Lemans 2door

[russosborne]

Wasn't sure if it was going to be this or a 63 Bonneville, but I guess this one is the one that was meant to be.

Not totally sure yet of my plans with it. Originally I was going to clone the GTO I owned back in the 1980's. Now I am not so sure. I will put a lot of GTO stuff on it, especially the instrument panel stuff, but I can't decide about the nose of the car. The Lemans grille is starting to look ok to me, but the car needs a new header panel and left front fender, and it has no valance, so not sure which way I will go since I have to replace stuff anyway. For now the budget says leave it as is, but I may have to replace the header panel so I can install a driver's side outer headlight. I havne't looked close yet to see how much damage there is there and whether or not I can just put a new headlight on the way it is.

Car has the 350/350 combo. I would really like to go with a manual transmission, but for now at least the budget rules as is. If I go with another trans eventually, I want an overdrive, even if I have to use a Gear Vendors one. I want the car to be a summer daily driver to work, and I drive about 40 miles each way to work. So gas mileage will be a bit of an issue. I don't expect modern car levels, but want as good as I can get with this one.

Bench front seat and column shift. Bleah. Those two things are at the very top of my driveabililty list. Want to put more modern seats in it, although Summit Racing has some (I think Procar or Scat) that look like older seats. I really like highback ones though. Going to have to start hanging out at the pick and pulls to see what I can find. Interior is blue, car is a dark blue.

Has rally(rallye?)II rims on it. I didn't think I would want to keep them, but might. I like the wider rear ones much more than how the front ones look. I generally prefer something like the original Centerlines, although if I do make this a true clone of my old car, I would have to use slotted aluminum rims.

Car does have a GTO hood on it, but I think it isn't worth trying to save. Has some real rust issues back towards the hood hinge areas. Lemans or clone, I do want the GTO hood on it. I think they are the better looking ones for either car.

Trunk floor likely needs replaced. Haven't been able to really look at it yet, but when the seller says something needs replaced, they usually aren't joking. And get this. Someone put an industrial machinery type gas tank IN the trunk. No regular tank, although I have already found a decent used one pretty cheap. I don't like having a gas tank in the trunk. That is a big problem with vintage Mustangs, those have the top of the tank as the trunk floor. The good thing about this is that I feel comfortable replacing the trunk floor on this car, since it isn't a major structural piece like in a Mustang. Having a full frame is a nice change for me.

Will post some pictures once I can unpack my camara. We just moved and still are unpacking.

Russ

[Larry]

Well, ya did it!! Congratulations. All the ups and downs, and now it sounds like you've landed a pretty nice car, in your budget too.

The '70 Lemans' are good looking as is in my opinion. But, a mix-and-match of other goodies (ie: GTO) can be done however you enjoy it, and as buget allows.

As for new bucket seats, I wouldn't spend the money on "store-bought' ones (not that they aren't nice or worth it). But, I put four Phoenix buckets in my '69 Lemans wagon that I got out of the U-Pull junk yard. I probably paid about $20.00 each and spent about $30.00 each recovering. They are a nice shape, with a high back, and fit the space comfortably.

As for engine, that 350 can deliver a lot of power, and the 350 trans is actually preferred by many over the 400. Although a stick is sure more fun. For mileage, a good 4-barrell with small primaries will deliver 2-bbl. economy (some times better) with reserve when you need it. If you've been into Mustangs before, you know that you don't always need a big block to have fun.

Enjoy your new project, and keep us posted of your progress.

[russosborne]

Thanks.

well, my black cloud strikes again, although I hope this is minor. Otherwise my wife is going to kill me if I made a $3000 mistake.

I didn't pay attention when I got the car, and it has a salvage title. In Ohio, that means it has to be inspected by the State Highway Patrol at specific locations, and they check for matching vin's, etc, before you can get a regular title and then register it.
If you don't have matching vins they require a receipt if bought from a business(Joe's junkyard, etc) or a notarized receipt if a private seller. They are worried about stolen parts.

I haven't had a chance to look at the vin's yet. I am not even sure where they all are. They are talking engine, trans, frame, everything that had a vin from the factory. I am hoping that everything is original, or else I will be buying stuff that I don't really need so I have the @#$% receipt.

The car is supposed to be "highway ready", although they aren't inspecting for safety items. So I guess that means I have to get the driver's side low beam headlight fixed. Hoping I can jury rig something, I don't want to have to buy a new header panel right now. Assuming I could find one.

I had never seen a salvage title before, and I didn't know that here in Ohio at least the only difference is the word Salvage in fairly small print on it.

On the cool side of things, I was sitting in it last night, and took a look at the radio. It is a Kraco (younger people are probably saying WHO?) am/fm/cb. Yep! it has an integral 23 channel CB. I noticed this weird connector socket on the front of it, took me a minute to realise what I was seeing was the connector for a CB microphone.

In the glove box, I found the original warranty paperwork that has the original owner's name and address, the dealer's name and address, and the date the car was sold. It was sold from a dealer in Youngstown, Ohio, which is a neighbor to Warren. That is pretty cool.

I also just got done spending too much money on it, ordered a new gas tank, sending unit, straps, strap insulators,and hardware kit. I had hoped to find it all in one kit, but couldn't seem to, so the tank and sending unit came from a place called something like Tanks to Pans. And the straps and other stuff was from OPGI.

I will be looking around for some decent used seats from something. Yours sound interesting. I am rather big, that is going to be an issue. The stock seats would fit fine, but the aftermarket seats tend to be a tad on the narrow side.

I don't think there are any Upullit type places around Warren, but there are two in the Akron area, and a couple up in Cleveland.

Oh, speaking of seats, I saw something on one of the sites I was shopping today. Some sort of seat bracket to change from bench to bucket. Around $45ish for the set. Does that sound like something needed?

Russ

[Larry]

Are you in Ohio, and the car's title also from Ohio? I forget if you mentioned where the car came from. If so, doesn't that mean that the car is already "legal?" It would seem so to me. The only time I have encountered reinspection was when a title was missing and being applied for, or when registering an out of state car. Check into this. Your worries may not be founded. If the car is from out of state, I would first try to get a statement from the owner.

When buying parts, be sure to check our Member Discounts showl under "AFFILIATES." We get a 10% from OPG and many other places.

If you locate new bucket seats, just be sure to get the brackets and all mounting hardware... that stuff can be hard to find later. Mounting from one car to another should be a simple process with only minor modifications. If you drill new holes in the floor be sure to reinforce the underside with at least very large flat washers. Check the buckets from some of the early '60s cars. They tended to be much wider and flatter.

Keep us posted.