Story and cost to buy and build my 1974 Pontiac GTO

History, work done and the cost to buy and build my 1974 GTO with a 455.
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[@FiresideCoffee]

My very first car! 1974 GTO hatchback. 350 4 speed, red exterior and white interior. My uncle bought it brand new in 1974 of the showroom floor. When he died my brother bought it from my aunt. Then my brother sold it to me at 15 years of age. I had to sell at 18 years old. It may not have been the coolest GTO but it sure was fun as hell to drive. Damn I miss that car so much. Thank you for showing us this.

[@BigfootsnMopars]

The neglected GTO! Cool build.

[@bigbobk1963]

Love ALL GTO's!!!! I had 1973 Olds Omega had straight 6 and pulled it and stuck 455 w/shift kit and 12 bolt w/3.23 gears .....that thing was fun on streets and even more fun on highway :) Hope animals are good this morning!!!!

[@DamnedSilly]

Had a '74 Ventura I bought in CA for many, many years. An unfortunate number of those years were spent gathering dust after the transmission started slipping and I never got around to treating it right. Did finally let go a sell it to someone who fixed it up nice. He fell in love when he saw a rust-free 2 door, all original. Still think it's the best looking front end they ever put on that body. Oh, btw, the larger displacement Pontiac engines actually weighed a little less than the smaller ones, since it was the same block with larger holes bored out of it.

[@stevenzorteau3297]

Wow that’s impressive ! Not to many of these left and you got one with a lot of work for less then $ 4000 ! Good for you

[@mickangio16]

Cool car. $,$,$, & make it a REALLY cool car. Your paint & body work looks very nice. Hope to see more.

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@w41duvernay]

@@clunkersandclassics I don't see how that 10 bolt will last behind a 455.

[@davee.9906]

I definitely don't mind a few dings or scratches or really anything that isn't a complete mess. I really like it especially the color.

[@chuckwhitson654]

A friend had one up until a couple years ago. With a 428 out of an older car.

[@tonycarter669]

Just started watching your videos nice looking poncho iown a 69 keep up the great work

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@Ghostcotton]

Beautiful job brother 🤘🏼 love it👍

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@davidleland8729]

I really like both of them! Cool cars!

[@kevinumhey5939]

Pewter looks awesome

[@gshock3092]

Great story. Like ur poncho

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@GasserNorm]

Nice Goat! You have serious skills.

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@1RAYGC]

Great body work

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@bbb462cid]

Clean lines. Actually a good looking car.

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@bbb462cid]

@@clunkersandclassics no sweat brother. Keep on keepin on.

[@janew5401]

@@clunkersandclassics I noticed the tiny rubber round plug is missing where the optional clock radio would be. It is to the right of the odometer as I'm sure you know. Did that fall off or did you take it off. I have noticed that a lot people did not choose to have that option for whatever the reason. I'm not sure how many are left or where you could find a clock for it. It is likely extremely rare to find one in any type of condition. I'm not sure if it would add much value however. I think you would have better luck just finding that small rubber plug, to close that little open gap.

[@josephkutta599]

Last of the GTOs. Kool Ride

[@jaredfun3861]

Great video

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@richdetlaff-5983]

I like that scoop neve😢r seen one like ... good idea

[@philipchandler330]

great paint job

[@clunkersandclassics]

thanks!

[@clunkersandclassics]

Forgot to add cost of final paint and body materials, so add about $300 for that.

[@jeffrey4547]

i got a 73 ss nova that still has the factory paint in good condition was really good till i got it now it has rubber all over it burnt right in to the paint and vinyl top behind the rear wheels looks like under coating it was comp orange back there now it is black. i only had 700 in the car with a 396 tunnel ram and a pro built 400 turbo stage 3 shift kit good to 2,000 hp got it for 200 bucks from the shop fresh with warranty .now i been getting the ho 454 450 hp with a 02xx 400r turbo from 6,000 to 58,000 miles on them for free with a bunch of extra parts last year i got 4 crate setups all free . i found what they put them in and most people have no idea that they have crate engine setups in them . the engines have steel crank heavy rod with high flow heads so the bottom end is built from the factory all they need is to breath. they have a stock intake but still put out 450 hp with a small carb that i thought was impressive. i picked up a 750 double pumper and a high rise should give it a bit more power .my friend give me a roller setup but it will not work with stock heads have do some head work before i run it

[@levonne766]

Nice cars & work!

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@junkyardhero5202]

Glad its got a pontiac motor in it. Im not a complete purist except when it comes to pontiac. My reason is gm made plenty of similar chevys cars, so why not get one to put a chev motor in. At the end of the day though I'm happy anytime I see someone saving these old classic.

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks

[@junkyardhero5202]

@clunkersandclassics You're welcome love the channel your d.i.y stuff is great.

[@jamespn]

Purple Lemans, I like it.

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@glennhales7302]

Good luck with that HEI. I have had 2 of them be bad, won't buy them anymore. 1 lasted about 6 months, the other one about 9. This was in 2 different applications.

[@Hoplite9]

One of the saddest years for GM. Your GTO/Nova looks great. I really like your purple car.

[@clunkersandclassics]

Thanks!

[@joebrock9784]

Original part group that makes that stuff for the GTO

[@kurtistraux8435]

Great job, and a great choice on the 455 is it a HD or a SD ? 4 bolt main? I had a 455 7.5 ltr with a automatic turbo 400 in a 1974 Pontiac Grand Safari station wagon . It was 5500 pounds empty. Ice Cold r12 V.I.R dryer aircondititoner. I really loved the 455 it was a terrific engine.. Again I think you have a great car. I always liked that body style uni-body. Pontiac is a class of its own.

[@clunkersandclassics]

It's a 1970 455 370hp, the first year and highest hp for the 455.

[@kvnkaveman]

455 SD is rarer than a Unicorn. If you happen to come across one you struck gold.

[@timrobinson3972]

I had a 74 red gto wish I would have kept it

[@gregbenwell6173]

It is funny when you said that about the Pontiac 350 being the same size as the 455, and that there is no difference between them!! Also you said that there is no "small block" or "big block" which is also true!!! Why I find this funny (not haha funny) is because I am an Oldsmobile guy myself and I learned the same thing about Oldsmobile engines and idiot STILL fight with me that an Olds 350 is "smaller" than a 455 Oldsmobile engine!! In fact one moron tried to tell me that the "Olds 455 has a taller deck height, just like a 455 big block Chevy" and that is NOT THE CASE EITHER!! For starters the Oldsmobile gets there "displacement" from both the crankshaft and the bore size!! Denominational size of both the Olds 350 Rocket and the Olds 455 Rocket are exactly the same BUT the Olds 455 has a larger diameter bore and a much longer stroke in the same engine block!! Another strange thing is if you look at the "V" angle on an Oldsmobile engine the cylinders sit at 60 degrees from the center line instead of the Chevy's 45 degree spread!! This means the Oldsmobile engines are physically wider (which I think Buick and Pontiac share this feature as well) on their engines!! While Chevy DOES have taller decks to make up the 455, the cast iron cylinders of an Oldsmobile engine are generally "thicker"!! THERE IS HOWEVER ONE OLDSMOBILE SMALL BLOCK!! In 1963 and 1964 both Buick and Oldsmobile built their own versions of a 215 cubic inch all aluminum engine!! The engine Oldsmobile built was installed in the F85/ Cutlass bodies while the Buick engine was installed in the Skylark. IT IS THE ONLY SMALL BLOCK OLDSMOBILE EVER BUILT THAT I AM AWARE OF!!! And every thing I have read about that engine says that they also had an optional supercharged version of it that produced around 400 horsepower from an engine that only displaced 215 cubic inches!! ALSO this all aluminum engine was a much tighter "V" configuration at about a 30 degree center line, which when you see one of them the intake manifold is only about 9 inches wide or so!! Or narrower to that of the intake on a 2.8 liter V6 roughly! I have only ever seen TWO of these cars (which happened to be ONE Buick and ONE F85) with this engine configuration!!

[@gregbenwell6173]

Oh and by the way I owned a 1974 Oldsmobile Omega with a 350 Rocket in it, I also had a 1977 Oldsmobile Omega with a 305 Chevy in it! I miss both of them greatly!!

[@arthursmith5409]

Forgetting the 301, it's an actual smaller block, same trans pattern. When someone says small block pontiac, I think 301!

[@clunkersandclassics]

The 301 is best forgotten...lol. I think that was a corporate engine, not a true Pontiac.

[@arthursmith5409]

@@clunkersandclassics True, it was , however, an almost, high revving race engine, almost! Not good in the form given to the public! Now, with stand alone computers, a fuel injection and turbos would make good power!

[@bradleybisping]

I’m sorry but you are wrong about the 301. It’s the same as all the other Pontiac engines. This was Pontiac’s smog engine just like the 305 was for Chevrolet. I had a 1977 Grand Prix with the 301 with the 2 bbl carb that was a quadrajet with the back barrels molded shut. It was great on gas but was a gutless wonder just like the 305 Chevy. I went to the local junkyard and bought a intake and carb off a 73 Bonneville 455 and it bolted right on the 301. Boy did that wake up the 301. Drove it a couple years and sold it to a friend.

[@arthursmith5409]

@@bradleybisping Interesting. No port overhang anywhere?

[@bradleybisping]

@@arthursmith5409 If I remember correctly it’s been a long time ago. The ports in the 301 were a lot smaller but I used 455 gaskets and it worked ok.

[@joebrock9784]

Pretty ride I'm gonna date you for the most people get that I've seen

[@gibsonexplorer8777]

Did you paint it in that garage?? I had to of heard you wrong that paint job looks great!!

[@clunkersandclassics]

Yes. About to paint another one. Stay tuned!

[@gibsonexplorer8777]

Wow that's awesome!

[@wesdoobner7521]

Now for some trans am suspension parts if you haven't done that already.

[@christopherohara9421]

I heard those glass fuel filter cause fires

[@clunkersandclassics]

they can if you break them

[@joebrock9784]

If you ever get a rock chip quick tip for you that's cheap if you could stop at any command store and give you some real deal super glue I mean the stuff with cyanolac related in it you can fill in the crack you'll show but it won't never spread they also have some stuff in o'reilly's it's pretty high if you want to know something you aint gonna see if it's called glass wild for chips and stuff but I always use real good super glue on my stuff and it never spreads out they talk my brother that used to work at the Jiffy Lube for a long time when he was on probation and that's what they did to the window will it come in chip and they charge certier 40 bucks for the To people so that super glue treatment for spots where do you get the spot and catch it before it spiders out and bust out until big on crack like that in my area they throw rocks out of gravel trucks and stuff like that so it's very common for us to get a chip

[@KING-LEO]

I found a 74 GTO in NV all there but needs everthing NO rust.verry sun beaten.not shure what its worth?

[@clunkersandclassics]

$20-$25k restored

[@tomschweikert9537]

oiling restrictors?

[@tomschweikert9537]

oiling system?

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

Too bad you couldn't find the tent or camping option did you ever see that there's a few Pontiacs/ left that have them but you can see them online from when they were a dealer option.

[@clunkersandclassics]

they were for hatchbacks, mines not a hatchback.

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

@@clunkersandclassics oh okay I got that confused I thought it was just an option I forgot the GTO had two different lines I thought it was just one standard body style.

[@johnkendall6962]

LOL poor dude in 10 years he'll wish he had kept the pile of junk and ditched the wife.

[@clunkersandclassics]

no doubt...haha

[@paulhowerton1770]

Air dam not right...

[@tomschweikert9537]

or 268

[@joebrock9784]

But you gotta do that I don't wanna hear from the back of this deck for power and then takes a green one here comes out of the back of the tack and run it to the host next to the start on your HEI will be the next full storm repeat attack at some label on your distributor and that will make it work you remember why or are you gonna do it or it doesn't get caught anything

[@rogereyre6933]

Wrong shaker

[@Profabdesigns]

This entire engine is halfassed and Gerry rigged. What a pile!

[@backroom12]

Rust bucket pile of shit 😂😂😂 I have a 72 goat I’m restoring they are money pits for sure !

[@barroncrist5779]

Basically the 1974 was nothing more than a Pontiac Ventura with a functioning rear facing shaker scoop. The last good year for the GTO was 1972. You could still get the 455 H.O. engine.

[@richpdm]

Navy blue exterior with red interior. Gas hog, slow piece of junk!

[@clunkersandclassics]

It has a 375hp 455 in it. I would describe it more as a neck snapper rather than slow. It's painted the factory color.

[@bobtraub9945]

POS when new, POS Now!

[@clunkersandclassics]

want to race?

[@eriknelson45]

@@clunkersandclassics u tell em

[@eriknelson45]

From a poncho fan, I've had a 68 firebird 350, 70 lemans sport 400, 70 formula 455, 73 formula 400, 75 firebird 350, 77 T/A 400, 79 T/A 403, 79 firebird 550hp sbc 11 flats all day/night

[@gwendolynwebb4441]

Hello sir! I think I can help you out. I'm old and not tech savy. If you could email me and I can share my number with you. We can discuss this car information.