Hi all, just wanting to introduce myself and join the conversation here. My name is Matt and I have five Grand Prixs. Nothing else, just 5 GPs so it would seem that I belong here. I have a question to open with but in the interest of starting out on the right foot, I'll explain myself a little.
I am an old school dude who works at a hot rod shop fixing classics and doing customs. Spent a decade fixing wrecks. I am mainly a bodyman but do most of my own mechanical stuff. I had special luck (or a curse) last year, and I am trying to turn it from bad to good. People crashed into my Grand Prix three times, "totalling" it in each case. After the third it wasn't driveable so I scooped together all the claim money and added my own to buy a super-nice one. Had it just a few weeks and flipped it on a slippery road. First crash in over 30 years of driving. Anyway, thats four wrecks in all and now theres a pile to sort thru. After the last wreck, I bought another and thats what I drive daily now. Confused? Heres what I've got, and to keep it simple I'll skip pics for now-
1969 Model J- De-chromed and purple pearl painted by me, black interior, Cragars. Mostly a stocker but with a 455, TH400, and 12 bolt posi. Had it since the turn of the century and it has turned heads ever since. Fun, shiny, loud. Its the weekender. Originally a bench seat car which is a little unusual.
1972 Model J- Numbers match, complete except for back bumper just about. Dragged out of the woods as a parts car, no title.
1999 GT coupe, black- Wrecked left front, suspension damage but runs and drives, 178K. My daily driver since 117K, drove it four years every day. Plan is to fix it.
2002 40th anni coupe, 135K miles. Of course this is the one I flipped over! It sure was nice but I tore up just about every body part wrecking it. Woops! I hadn't had it long enough to change the oil but did have the trans rebuilt and we all know how high that is. Luckily, all that is OK. I pulled plugs and got the oil out of the cylinders and fixed the blown tires so it also runs and moves now. Considering options but planning to junk the shell after I strip it.
1999 GTP coupe, black- My daily driver, and the only one I could find at the time I had to buy. Has almost 200K miles on it and is stock but healthy. I was told the engine and trans were rebuilt at 100K by the previous owner. I want to do some swapping around of parts and thats why I'm here.
Thanks for reading, I look forward to participating here. By the way my username is a long story, its certainly not intended as a GP slam! Peace
