TxDon's 67 GTX Project

[TxDon]

I bought my 67 GTX in June of 2015. After owning and working on countless project cars over the last 50 years I wanted this one to be different, a much nicer car that I could take to shows and enjoy right away without having to restore or rebuild a laundry list of "stuff". I already had one of those cars in my garage, a 63 Oldsmobile Starfire, on which I had worked my way thru most, but not all, of the list.

I found my 67 at a local dealer where I was able to check it out in detail, put it up on a lift and take it for a short test drive. It was restored in 2001 and visually was close to perfect inside and out. The engine was modified with a cam, high rise, Edelbrock carb, and electronic ignition, had a lumpy idle and sounded mean. The drivetrain was stock with 4 speed, 3.54 Dana, drum brakes and power steering. I was hooked, made a deal and they had it delivered to my house.

I joined the FBBO forum soon after I got the car. I posted a Newbie thread and another one about how this was my first Mopar car in 38 years. I even posted a thread with the smartass title "My 67 GTX Non-Project", actually thinking I had it made with this car. Well, as you all probably guessed, I started having trouble with the car just about immediately and have gotten a lot of help here solving things. So better late than never I'm starting this thread since in reality every old car is a project!

 

[XMAN JR]

Nice looking GTX

 

[68sprtsat383]

Cool looking ride

 

[khryslerkid]

Nice X!

Do you have any pics of your 63 Starfire? I've always liked that car.

 

[RT K_line]

I remember, what could possibly be wrong with that car? IT Looks sweet!

 

[TxDon]

Nice X!

Do you have any pics of your 63 Starfire? I've always liked that car.

Of course. I've had this one for more than 5 years! In the interim I also had a 1934 Packard which I sold last year.

 

[TxDon]

Here's the Packard:

 

[TxDon]

I remember, what could possibly be wrong with that car? IT Looks sweet!

Thanks. The looks aren't the problem and I'm grateful for that. Here are some of the things that have popped up in the last year, all of which I have posted on here in other threads:

• Trouble shifting into reverse - turned out to be simple clutch adjustment.
• Intermittant no- start - a defective wrong type starter relay.
• Poor driveability - this was the biggie. That wicked idle and mean sound didn't translate into great performance. Fixes included bypassing the ignition ballast since I had a coil with built-in resistance, adjusting timing, adding a carb spacer and rejetting / tuning the carb. The idle is now a little more tame and it runs a lot better, but I'm not done here.
• Running hot - living in Texas this is almost a given, and since the car has aftermarket A/C which I like to use it becomes even more of an issue. I have added a coolant recovery system and may be switching fans, I'm watching at least 3 threads now on the subject.

Bottom line on these issues is that every one of them was helped or solved by either using the search feature here or getting answers on a thread I started. So if I haven't said it before, a big THANKS to all the FBBO experts out there!

 

[68sprtsat383]

Those are great looking rides

 

[khryslerkid]

You can't tell me that Olds Starfire wasn't ahead of its time! Nice rides!

 

[TxDon]

My most recent car issue was what really got me to start this thread. I should mention that this is the first 4 speed muscle car I've driven in more than 40 years and the only Mopar 4 speed I've ever driven. I mentioned some trouble shifting into reverse when I first got it, the first thing I did was check the clutch adjustment and found it had no freeplay, I adjusted it to shop manual spec and I thought it shifted great. The clutch chattered a little but seemed to be OK. As I worked my way thru the tuning issues I started kicking it more and enjoying some quick shifting. It didn't take long before I noticed the clutch was slipping and chattering more then I started having trouble with the 1-2 shift. Sometimes it would not engage or pop out then it started feeling like the stick was loose with some clash. It finally got to the point where I knew I had to get some work done.

 

[TxDon]

My days of pulling a transmission on my back under the car have been over for a long time so I knew I had to find a good shop to do the work. I have had some bad experiences in the past with shop work and while I have a pretty good place for "normal" cars I didn't want to trust them with something like this. I go to two Saturday morning "Cars & Breakfast" meetups on a fairly regular basis and started asking around and one place got a lot of positive ratings, Collin County Customs. Best of all they are located in my town, McKinney Texas! Before the trans got to it's worst I stopped in for a tour with the owner, they do a mix of Pro touring and stock restorations along with a lot of maintenance and repair on classic muscle. I brought the car in for some simple stuff, wiring cleanup and a timing check which I watched them do - quick, clean, and reasonably priced. I asked for a rough estimate on a clutch and trans rebuild and the numbers sounded reasonable. At that time I was hoping to delay the work for awhile but it wasn't long after that that 2nd gear went away....

 

[TxDon]

So I got on the list at CCC and they got me in pretty quick. They pulled the trans and clutch - no surprise, the clutch was toast with plenty of heat showing on the flywheel. I also had oil leaks from the oil pan and the plug at the rear of the cam so I had them fix both. They needed two pan gaskets as it had a windage tray, was that original to the 67? One good thing, they dropped the exhaust pipes and I was able to verify that my heat riser valve was stuck in the open position, something I wondered about when I was having my driveability issues. I also had them replace the motor mounts and tranny mount. The trans went off to their rebuilder and parts were ordered so the car went to storage for awhile.

 

[69Runner]

They needed two pan gaskets as it had a windage tray, was that original to the 67? One good thing, they dropped the exhaust pipes and I was able to verify that my heat riser valve was stuck in the open position, something I wondered about when I was having my driveability issues.

Sounds very familiar, I'm at the same point. I like the strap idea to support the engine.

Nice to have a shop like that nearby, I'm wondering if they will replace the oilite pilot bushing in the crankshaft?

 

[TxDon]

After about a week the tranny rebuilder tore it down , he didn't find anything catastrophic but said it was a very well used and slightly abused unit, big surprise. It needed a new 1-2 synchro assembly and a 2nd gear plus steel shift forks to replace the stock brass ones. He said the 3-4 synchro was "OK" but I elected to replace that also. Of course all the bearings and seals were replaced.

While he was working on the trans CCC got the new clutch kit. We picked a Ram HDX kit which is a stock style street performance clutch with 30% more clamp pressure. They sent the flywheel out for machining and I had the whole assembly balanced.

While the car was gone I bought a repro bellhousing dust cover from Brewers, the car had a crappy plastic one that had melted. I painted it and brought it to the shop

 

[TxDon]

Sounds very familiar, I'm at the same point. I like the strap idea to support the engine.

Nice to have a shop like that nearby, I'm wondering if they will replace the oilite pilot bushing in the crankshaft?

I'm following your thread. They did replace the pilot bushing with a bearing - they actually had some trouble finding the right bearing.

 

[TxDon]

The rebuilt trans came back to the shop and they reinstalled everything. The Hurst shifter was adjusted including the stop bolts. The whole job took about three weeks, more than half of that was waiting for parts and the trans guy's work. I went to pick it up expecting it to be dirty but it was all clean and detailed. The total cost was very close to the initial estimate and their communication was top notch throughout the job. I told them I wanted the old parts and they saved everything.

 

[TxDon]

So the job is all done. Like always I jacked it up and got under when I got it home just to check everything out. Everything looked good, nice and clean and no more oil leaks! (Yet). The only screw-up is the paint on the dust cover, I didn't have the car there when I ordered the paint, got Mopar Blue instead of Mopar Green! The car shifts MUCH better, the clutch is a bit stiffer but not a problem and it engages very smoothly showing how bad the old one was.

I do have one question, on the recommendation of the trans rebuilder they filled it with ATF rather than 140 like the manual says. I've searched a lot of threads on here and ATF seems pretty popular, is there any downside to using it in a street driven car?

 

[69Runner]

Always thought ATF was for colder climates. I have run the recommended gear oils in my 4 speeds so no experience with ATF.

 

[RT K_line]

I've used a 50/50 mix with no problem in older units for many years. I worked in a trans shop about 8 years, JMO. I'm glad you have a competent shop near you, that seems harder to come by as years pass.