Richard’s Ride
From eBay Deal to Roadworthy Beauty: My Journey with a 1975 Car Rebuild
I bought the car February 1st of 2006 from a dealership in Missouri, which will go nameless. You'll understand why as the story unfolds. I saw the car on eBay for an asking price of $11,000 but, no one bought the car nor did they meet the reserve. So, I called to see if the car was still for sale, which it was. We agreed on $10,000 and I sent an inspection company out to look at the car since I live in Virginia. The report came back that all was well and the car was worth the money. So I paid and had the car shipped. As soon as the car pulled in front of my house the problems started. First, the car wouldn't start to get it off the trailer. Had to push the car off the trailer and into my driveway. To make a long story short over the next few days, with the help of my mechanic, we found so many things wrong with the car it would bring tears to your eyes (it did mine). From broken springs, to holes in the floor boards, from hacked up wires under the hood to missing bushings in the front suspension. None of which was reported by the seller or inspection company. My wife and I hired a lawyer but, in the end, we had a 50/50 chance of getting anything so we wrote off our loss (we figured the car was actually worth about $3,000). Since I didn't know much about cars at that time we spent thousands to have our mechanic get the car running and safe to drive, no restoration work, just mechanical. After that I tinkered a bit learning how to work on it, which was one of the reasons I bought it. I didn't know much about cars and wanted to learn. Sure, I could change the oil, change spark plugs, some small backyard mechanic stuff but nothing major. Well, I was soon going to learn.
Since the suspension was pretty bad I decided in 2008 to rebuild the entire suspension and steering components. We put in a Pro-Touring F-body GT kit which dropped the car about an inch in the front and an inch and a half in the rear. I also added sub-frame connectors and solid body bushings. Car definitely improved in handling and stance. After everything was completed I didn't like the stance so in Oct. of 2009 I purchased a new set of stock rear leaf springs and replaced the GT springs which gave the car a great rake/muscle stance. The car handles great and looks great with this setup.
On Jan. 1st, 2009 the engine spun the crank bearings and had to be rebuilt. A "new" friend of mine helped me rebuild the motor. We did just a mild street build as I love to drive the car and go to events like the Trans Am Nationals in Dayton Ohio so I didn't want something that was outrageous. Plus, I couldn't afford it so instead of building the engine I wanted, I built a practical engine. Engine was completely torn apart and all brand new parts put in. It was bored .040, forged pistons, roller tip rockers, and a mild Comp Cam XE262H. I have also had the TH350 transmission rebuilt (local shop) with a mild shift kit. Rear end is a Pontiac posi-trac with 3.23 gears. (pics 20090104 - 20090222). In 2021 the transmission was replaced with a 200R4 overdrive.
I've done some minor body work on it. When I bought the car it didn't have the valance or the bumper stops on it and came with 1979 fender flares and spoiler on the front end. I found the valance (very hard to find a '75!) and bumper stops and installed them. I didn't get to installing the 1975 fender flares and spoiler until 2012. At that time I refurbished the bumpers and some other cosmetics, painted the flares and the fenders and installed everything.
Today the car will go anywhere safely and she looks pretty good as well. I take the car, mostly, to charity events like Relay for Life, CHKD Children's hospital events, and in 2013 I went on a seven day event for triple negative breast cancer called The Appalachian Beach Run which was a trip from Pigeon Forge, TN to Ocracoke Island, NC. We raised over $6,000 for the charity.
Car has also been to the Tail of the Dragon (picture attached) in 2018. It was a 4 day 3 night weekend event and we had a blast. Drove the car pretty hard to where I needed to replace the shocks when I got home. A video of the trip can be found here