DoctorLarry Posted October 12, 2015 Posted October 12, 2015 After spending a lot of time developing parts and bodies for 73-77 Pontiacs, I decided that I needed to actually build a car with my own parts. I always liked Pontiac's All American Grand Am show car (that some say was the inspiration for the Can Am), so I decided to build an updated version of the car. It will be a Pro Touring 1974 Grand Am. I will use my own resin body and interior castings along with my soon to be cast resin chassis. I will use the engine and transmission out of a Foose Firebird, make a copy of Pontiac's Ram Air system, and use other after market components for four wheel disc brakes. Wheels will be C1 Models Fifteen52 Tarmacs with low profile tires. As weird as it sounds, color will be Chrysler/Jeep Rescue Green, which is a proxy for 1973 GTO Golden Olive. Interior will be saddle tan. The red chassis is the original one from a JoHan Cutlass snap kit. The intermediate picture was building in realistic floor pans and the comparison picture is the nearly finished product. Suspension is Revell 1966 GTO, which is pretty realistic. The engine in the picture is actually a Tri-Power 400 fom the 66 GTO, I will use a single four barrel one from the Foose Firebird. Body, interior tub and seats, console and dash are my own resin castings. Body mods will be similar to the All American Grand Am show car. Front and rear spoilers and possibly Trans Am fender flares.
GMCMAN52 Posted October 12, 2015 Posted October 12, 2015 going to be a nice looking project. still a big fan of Pontiac. to bad GM dropped Pontiac instead of Buick
donb Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 Subscribed! Owned a '73 back in the day, bought it used in '76. My brothers still talk about that car. Bright red with a 400 and a 4-speed. Only one I ever saw, Fond memories.
geemoney Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 love the "colonnade" bodied cars!looks great!go go go
bill_67 Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 This is a great subject to start with. Should make a great project when done.
biggreenponcho Posted October 13, 2015 Posted October 13, 2015 I own a restored 1974 Grand Am, are you selling these kits? I would love to build a curbside model of my beast!
DoctorLarry Posted October 13, 2015 Author Posted October 13, 2015 Yes-I have a posting on the Resin Forum. Do you have pictures of your car? I have an 83,00 mile 73 Grand Am myself. I put a LeMans nose on it while I fit my aftermarket fiberglass one. I have resin castings of 1773 Grand Am, 73 GTO, 74/75 Grand Am, and 77 Can Am.
biggreenponcho Posted October 14, 2015 Posted October 14, 2015 Sure do! I bought this car back in 2003 and have spent quite a bit of time and money bringing it back to life. I normally am a purist when it comes to engines, but I am really tempted to sell the factory 400 (rebuilt) and put in a nice fuel injected LS motor out of a late model GM truck.
DoctorLarry Posted October 14, 2015 Author Posted October 14, 2015 Beautiful car! What size tires on it?
Ford guy Posted October 18, 2015 Posted October 18, 2015 Awesome work Dr. Larry. Very good work on the chassis.You've tapped into a up and coming automotive market place. These cars are becoming very popular in the 1:1 world. I had a '74 LeMans back in the '80's. Cool car.I'm gonna check out your resin stuff. Gotta get some.
DoctorLarry Posted October 19, 2015 Author Posted October 19, 2015 Molds are curing on the chassis components. Frame/floor pans, front inner fenders, rear differential and control arms, front crossmember and control arms, front steering linkage and sway bar. If all turns out right the finished chassis and suspension above should be done in resin. Fingers are crossed that it all turns out right!
DoctorLarry Posted October 28, 2015 Author Posted October 28, 2015 First pass at the chassis casting. Still working out the bugs but progress is being made.
louie Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 Wow Larry, how did I miss this. I usually browse the forum every other day and I cannot believe that I missed this post. Larry I am up in the air with my kits. I won't rush, especially with these babies. Just too let everyone know, I have a few of Larry's resin kits and they ARE BEAUTIFUL. Larry your build is is going to be a home run and I can't wait to watch the progress of it. I am going to be in touch with you Larry about the chassis and a kit for my friend. Thanks again. Jeff
DoctorLarry Posted March 30, 2016 Author Posted March 30, 2016 After a few months doing other things like finishing a 77 LeMans sedan and beginning a 76 Grand Prix to cast, I spent a few hours this week on my Grand Am. I started the body mods with parts from a 1980 z28 and some sheet styrene. I also started doing correct seats for the 74/75 Grand Am resins. I did the "horsecollar" seats for the 73 and a rear seat tub for the 73 but had never done the correct seats for the 74 and 75. I'm also doing a bench seat interior for the sedan.
DoctorLarry Posted April 9, 2016 Author Posted April 9, 2016 Got the body in primer. Now need to sand and shoot the paint. Doing the 74/5 seat and interior molds today and will use them in the build. Now I need to get the chassis put together and plumbed and the engine wired. More progress.
cook_dw Posted May 24, 2016 Posted May 24, 2016 Very interesting build.. I like the lines of this car.. Very cool.
DoctorLarry Posted February 14, 2017 Author Posted February 14, 2017 Making very slow progress after working in China for a month. Painted interior parts (my resin castings)
DoctorLarry Posted March 20, 2018 Author Posted March 20, 2018 After sitting for a long time, I finally started work on this project after doing resin masters for awhile. The body, interior parts, chassis and inner fenders are all my own resin castings. Got some paint on but no foil or trim paint yet. Hopefully I can actually finish a build now! Paint is Chrysler (Jeep) Rescue Green lacquer with Dupli-Color automotive clear. Interior is a custom mix to replicate 74 Grand Am Dark Saddle. Engine is from a 66 GTO with single carb with Fireball BOP Quadrajet. Still have to create the 73 GTO ram Air setup. Progress, albeit slow.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now