Junk I drive

[idrivejunk]

Hey.

I've been on GPF for over a year and decided to make this ride thread, but be warned theres a lot to tell and none of it very exciting. I'll try to keep the retrospect brief and wade right through to the current herd. I like Grand Prixs but not exclusively. If I don't tell the whole story it won't explain my fever.

Right now my daily driver is a 99 GTP, a stock black coupe. You'll see (yawn). I've had some cool ones though and I have pics of em all so... in the interest of conversation-

1979, KS- Home made go kart by Dad except floor paint lol. Dukes of Hazzard TV show first aired in Jan 79 so I had the rebel flag bug. Don't shoot! 3.5 HP, very slow but with reverse (lawn mower trans).



1980, LA- First and last bike, a 75 (?) Honda CB125S



1980, LA- First car. Dad bought new, his third Tempest (62, 64 prev). Then brother's then mine then sold.

1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint6 (OHC L6, 4 barrel carb, split exh, 3.23 posi, 3 speed stick, stock) to which Dad added a five speed. Block was poked .125 in the last rebuild at over 200K so it used 327 Chev pistons (see USA-1 tag lol). These things ate cams and cam belts. But they were a monster at like 205 HP with 7,000 RPM redline. This was also the first vehicle I ever rode in. Wish it was here, Dad special ordered it with stripe delete, rubber mats instead of carpet, A/C, P/S, tinted glass, and a first year under-dash add-on option... hazard flashers. His only other mods were to add an FM tuner to the AM radio, paint the roof white, and install a B-W retro T-50 five speed. That helped my bro and I mop the floor with many smog V8s. Occasionally, "gasohol' was available then and the engine liked it. Now theres a retro paragraph for ya. If its nonsensical you're too young.





Got a Nova when I turned 16. With a hatchback for humpin it and a 350 with Q-jet for haulin it. I got bored with an automatic but I learned not to get in a hurry after tweaking the carb.





1982, LA- Scored a faded out 68 Malibu from a teacher with 75K on it. 307 2barrel, 3 on tree but moved to floor and messed up my senior ring doing so. Nabbed an SS grille emblem at the JY (you could do that then). Body shop buddies helped get me painted and striped, then with about 82K on it, a lady ran into the back going like 50. Killed the car. It was total loss #1. In retrospect, I never should have made it so shiny.



1983, LA- On to big block country now. A ratty 72 SS with the 402 CID BBC and a TH400 that would chirp the L-60s at 100. Loved it but the frame broke, a common issue that made them junk.



A deer got the grille. I put ZZ stripes on it because Eliminator just came out. Ha.



1985,LA- College bound (TX), I needed a tank. A local bus driver had this with 75K and working A/C. 1967 Impala hardtop 283 2bbl, PG trans (2-speed auto, slow), a cream puff with 64K. A scar on my coupe history but nevertheless... a sedan was useful during those years. It was time for something completely different...



Stay tuned for the dawn of my gripping Grand Prix era! More to follow soon.

[idrivejunk]

1987, AR / 88 LA- Now we're talkin! GP, that is. Traded the Imp at a lot and got this 1975 Grand Prix Model J. 400/400/4bbl. My first complete paint job. First custom color mix on my driver. First lots of things, but mainly Grand Prix. Best ET was a 14.95 or something like that. it was a smogger but I had a rebuild done in about 89. Ditched the pellet cat and went true duals, RV cam, re-curved the HEI but thats it. They had tall hiway gears in these mostly. But it was fairly fresh when I got it.





After paint-







Dammit, out for a Sunday drive and a merc Zephyr pulled right in front of me going 50, BAM! Done. The Merc ended up only about two feet wide, T-bone. Total loss #2



Yes, I painted "can't crack this" on the hood. Think MC hammer. What a waste. Paid to have it hauled off, things went bad and I had to move right then.



Coming next, the Buick era.

[idrivejunk]

1992, TX- Had to buy something today and get to work. This was closest to a GTO I found that day. The perfect GTO popped up next day dammit.

Its a 1970 Buick Skylark Custom, 350/350/4bbl, buckets, pegleg. Again, a troubled time arose and I had to sell and buy something with half the money. But I did get another custom mix color on it. back then your paint vendor would pitch in on materials. Not now!





So back to a Pontiac, but with a Chevy heart...

1995, TX / AR- Found this in front of the new Auto Zone and got it for $1375. Its a 1971 Pontiac Ventura II Sprint. 307 SBC, 2bbl, 3 speed on floor. A buddy of mine not far from here still has it and its fast. When I traded it to him I had a goodwrench 350, Q-Jet, headers, 3.08 posi on multileafs and 4 speed in it. I built it up and took it on my first Power Tour excursion, in 1999.

It was totaled twice while I had it, ( Total loss #3, #4 ) but that helped me get the 74 GTO hood and late TA shaker on it. This color was a stocker, we were in a hurry when paint getn time came so I went with a 4th gen Firebird color,. WA119B, mystic teal.



This pic gives you some idea how long I've had this house!



This is after John traded me a 69 GP and wad of cash for it. Crate stroker, 6-speed, cal-tracs added. 12.2 first time out, nitrous added after. Haven't seen him in awhile but he also has a built up 428 69 Bonne coupe that I painted a hyundai color. Rare car, that one. Anyway yes I painted the hood but did not bond the scoop! The GTO hood is just stashed as far as I know, this was a flat one.



2002, AR- We both worked at the Olds GMC Benz house for 6 yrs.



Theres more pics of these two, we did laps on more than one Power Tour. I've gone eight times, six in the 69 GP. But we'll come back to that car, I still have it and this is just the run-down for kicks.

[idrivejunk]

Then back to Chevy. A 76 El Camino. Bought in 2005, Caravan slammed into it 3 weeks later. Total loss #5. I pulled the frame and daily drove it for 4-5 years. it was a 350/350/2bbl, single exh. I made it a 4bbl with duals but it had 2.73 gears. Sold it between jobs dammit.



It would also tote 2 400 blocks.



I had a primer-ing frenzy in 08, everything needed paint-



Hey, theres an Olds chapter next...

[idrivejunk]

Jump back again... This 1972 Oldsmobile cutlass Supreme was in my brother's hands since '86 or so. I got mine on it, had great fun for a couple years and yep, job change, hard times, sold. Wah. It has a bullet hole now but the now owner is just crazy for it. It was tan when we got it, brown top. A cousin primed it with purple stuff which turned pink. I used "buff" primer. And put the GP wheels on it once... for PTour

[idrivejunk]

There were others along the way- this 73 Camaro I got in an ATV trade. Swapped engines with the Camino and sold.



This 500HP 83 Monte was me helpin a relative at tax time, sold back later.



A couple trucks, 83 long with L6, 76 short with 454. It was wearing the EPS carb I run on my 69 GP now, when bought.

[idrivejunk]

Well, looky two old buddies wearing guide coats...



... hiding in the back yard, a decade or more later,



...and making a segway now, to the black FWD era. 2009-present. Heaven, help me.

[ericspecullaas]

What you need is a fully restored 65 gp just to baby it

[idrivejunk]

Enter Betty as in bam-a-lam. I drove it from 09 to '13 before i stared getting hit. Still have it with clean title and it drives better all the time but is still recovering somewhat.





Total losses #6, 7, 8. I got hit in every month starting with J that year. Sideswipe on right, plowed door, qtr, fender. Focus. Lane changer ran into right fender, door. Highlander. July man in a CX-9 came across five lanes and never saw me in the far lane. He hit and kept hitting, I ended up in a BK parking lot and was going 40 when hit. That put it on the bench and I went GTP hunting. I still have the car so later, pics a plenty. Bought it off a cop's wife, a girl car.

After I had it awhile- I believe this was after the right door swap. Qtr is fd but u can't see it.




First blood.





last blood-

[idrivejunk]

What you need is a fully restored 65 gp just to baby it

How about just the money pile instead. I could build up that 69 of mine and make folks want to slap they mamas! Not that I'm the least bit into mama-slappin! I know I'd be slappin em away with a 65 rag though, yes sir.

[idrivejunk]

This one will grab ya, Total Loss #9. 2002 GTP coupe, 40th anni edition, 135 well kept miles. I paid too much and immediately had trans rebuilt. But it was pretty.











aaaand then for no apparent reason, I flipped it over. Dadgummit! I use the trans now in my current GTP, and the engine is stashed as are the rest of the unbolt kinda parts. The pile is getting deep.



What a mess. Found another though... and (sigh) scrapped the 40th.

[idrivejunk]

This is SuperBetty. Found her ain the hands of a dyed-in-the-wool Pontiac nut in November 2013. 99 GTP! Spittin image of Betty. Both are level 2 optioned, but no Bose in GTP. Scored it and it has been amazing for me, a good car. had 196k and a cone when I got it, and you know the rest of the story. Last November, dump truck bumps into rear at red light. January, a kid in a Ranger turns in front of me and blows the airbags, breaking my right arm which I built a career on and is now not much good for that. But I stay in it, albeit now with a dash cam. Total loss #10.

I'll stop here for today, but whore here on the tomorrows. Good stopping place. Theres still one more yet, an old one I saved from the crusher literally and am still clinging to. Gotta leave room for a sequel, ha ha. Everybody knows what the GTP looks like now, from the WDYDTYCT thread. So here it is before the onslaught. She is a fly girl and we are sneaking up on 220K as we speak.

Thats my story, and I'm stickin to it. Hope you enjoyed, tolerated, or dismissed it. Feel free to talk. Peace.

[idrivejunk]

Just yesterday-

[Scottydoggs]

damn, everything you own gets painted lol

damn nice list of cars over the years. brings me back.

[bandook]

Wow what a walk down your memory lane. Makes me want to put a seatbelt on my sofa. I see how you got your screen name now. Not that you actually drive junk, you buy a car, make it beautiful...then turn it into junk! When you buy a car now, do you wonder to yourself what type of collision IT will suffer?

[idrivejunk]

Scotty, I do like them to be all one color when possible! Seriously, before I did bodywork I was in auto paint distribution. That made it easier (sales rep would "comp" a few things) through those years. Grape was the last of that, so there won't be any more that I can foresee. I sure as hell can't afford any of it. Day of the 69 GP shoot, $1,200 went through the gun. At least! These days what I drive has factory paint that lasts 15 years. Kills the need, and the creativity.

Bandook, I gotta try real hard to keep myself believing I'll never get hit again. How its gotta be. Last wreck damn near knocked over my sanity. Its still wobbling anyway. I'd like to think I've learned to be fairly observant in traffic. But yeah I guess its like a pet... all you can see is a little ball of fur thats too cute to not give a home to. Then ten years later your house reeks and you have to decide when to put it down. I've always just ran the course and let chips fall where they may, with little consideration for whats next.

Contrary to popular assumption, my username has nothing to do with wrecking. Never has. I'll explain...

Magazine forums are where I started interwebbin at. Having pondered my statement to the world in thinking up an online name, I came up with "drivejunk". And thats how I began over at Car Craft's site. Not long after that, the user/pass didn't work one day so I added the "i" which changed the message. Well, it stuck that time and here we are many years later. My original intent was to tell people to drive junk. Meaning don't scrap and buy new, fix old and drive.

Nobody ever got that message from it. But I don't mind making fun of myself. There was over five years of unwrecking bliss with the IDJ name before the wrecks even started. My driving never changed but the local population exploded in my face. Now local traffic is mortal combat and I just try to slip through or go around un-noticed. But then I got the cool job and can't avoid 40 miles a day of sailing the idiot oceans. Bam-a-lam. The only wreck I've been at fault in was the 40th car. I wouldn't hurt a fly.

Without further ado... my grape warrior, beginning at the turn of the century:

[spazzz]

Damn now that's a portfolio!!

Did you ever think about flipping cars instead of flipping cars?

[idrivejunk]

First look at the shiny in sunlight at Monday lunch. Uh-oh, thats not the color I formulated under all clouds. Too red. Oh well, people love the color and theres no mulligans in paint.



Burnouts are more important than door handles-



And she found good company-



had many adventures-



and retired in her prime. She might get 50 miles a week on average now, but its strong medicine-





This is what "made" the car, in 2009. A rebuilt low miles 455. The 400 I had used for about 75K finally puked. It was overbored and over cammed anyway. This is a 71-2 455 at .030 over, #66 heads, and with Schneider cam. I swapped on my M/T valve covers and in it went. Its perfect for the car. The trans is a TH400 with HD sprag, deep pan, reusable filter, TCI Trans-Scat shift kit, and B&M Tormaster 2000 converter. The rearend is an el Camino 12 bolt, stock with 3.31 gears as far as I can tell. headers are Doug's 3-tubes that were on it when I got it.







This was the 400-

[idrivejunk]

Damn now that's a portfolio!!

Did you ever think about flipping cars instead of flipping cars?

Yep, did. Trouble is folks only want to buy things if they can steal 'em! This is just the family album, lol. The resume is in the jobs done for others which is yet another thread but whew there not enough internet to hold those lol. Thanks you guys.

Hail has hammered it twice and she still wears the dents. After the first storm I replaced the hood.

Heres grape on a good day, not too far in the past-











This may not sound right, but I wasn't even a bodyman when I did that "resto". Had been a painter a couple years and was about to embark on the actual collision repair decade of life. I could barely weld when I did this car, and now my work jobs go to SEMA and get eye-sexed. Just last week, my childhood ambition kinda came true (no ink, just pixels) when last year's shop project was featured on the hotrod website. Never say die, man.

http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/...ur-muscle-car/

[idrivejunk]

Some more recent...



...and more revealing shots-









So its not junk but does need love. Shes a giver though, treats me like a king and I feel that way driving it. It has ran the same for many years now and has no reason to quit that. Mostly I go kill insects at dusk in the countryside, rarely I flash her through town to collect upped thumbs and strike fear into the hearts of ricers. She and I have mutual respect, it seems. I'm head over heels.