Car of the Month

This month Tim Adams of Texas is sharing his recently restored EV2 Torred 1970 GTX with rare white bucket seat interior. It came with the optional 440-6bbl 390 horsepower engine backed by the heavy duty "hemi" 4 speed transmission and 3.54 gears in the rear end.

This EV2 Tor-red 4 speed 6bbl GTX (one of only 350 made) is now owned by Tim Adams of Texas. Much of the following information is from phone calls from the 2nd and 3rd owners and talking personally to the 4th owner. Tim related that this rare GTX was sold new from Stone Mountain Chrysler Plymouth (now Stone Mountain Chrysler Jeep Dodge) in Stone Mountain, GA in 1969. Tim doesn't know the original owner's name but the 2nd owner said the original owner was a senior in high school when the car was bought new. The first owner was going off to a college that did not allow freshmen to have cars on campus so he sold it to Mike of Palm Coast, FL in 1970 for $2,500 with only 7500 miles showing on the odometer. Mike worked as a mechanic in a service station in the Atlanta area. Later he had jobs in the Atlanta area with Lunati Cams and with a company that made cranks for race motors. He was of the “street racing generation”. He drove this 1970 GTX for a while with the 440 in it. Subsequently, he pulled the motor and stuck in a stroked 426 (523 cid) and also put in an automatic transmission. He said the original 3.54 gears must have been changed by the previous owner to 4:11s. He wasn't sure why or when but it had the 4.11s in the Dana 60 when he got the car. He wanted to go with 4:56s so he pulled the Dana and put in the 8 3/4” that was in the GTX when Tim bought it. Mike cut the inner front fender wells to run shorty headers and he rolled the inner lip on the rear wheel wells to run bigger tires. Mike also yanked the interior out and anything else he could to take weight out of the GTX. Mike went as far as to scrap the seam sealer out to save an additional 14 lbs. He was serious about going fast!


This picture shows the engine compartment now after the restoration by Tim
Note: due to the lighting at the building the Tor-red color appears bright orange.

In 1981 Mike sold the GTX to a longtime friend Bryan from Memphis, TN with 20,000 + miles showing on the odometer. Bryan didn't title the car until 1982 when he put a 400 cid motor in it. Bran stills sees Mike from time to time and stay in touch with where this car is. Bryan also has many original parts from this car, which Tim is planning to collect. He kept the GTX in a heated garage for the first 15 years he owned it. The 400 motor was mated to the automatic and 8 3/4” Mike had put in it. Bryan drove the GTX about 1,000 miles in the 15 years he had it, before he gave it to his son who lived with his grandfather. It was Bryan's impression the GTX was stored in a barn most of the time however he later learned the car had been sitting behind the barn for about 8 years. Prior to parking the GTX behind the barn, Bryan's son drove it for another 9,000 miles.

Then Bryan listed the car for sale in Hemmings Motor News magazine. A lot of people came to look at the GTX. The 4th owner was from Ocala, FL. He bought the car in 2007 with the GTX showing 36,500 miles for $15,500. The GTX still had the 400 cid engine, automatic and 8 3/4” in it. The 4th owner put a 1968 440 block and added the 6bbl in the GTX and an A833 transmission. He also did some cleaning under the hood. He had some rust around the rear window repaired and had the car repainted. In April 2010 the GTX was listed for sale on Cars on-line for $32,900. At this time it was showing 36,000 miles on the odometer with state documentation showing 34,000 in July 1983.

When Tim bought the GTX it looked good in pictures but was for sure a “10-footer”. The advertised “new interior” seat covers were yellowed and the seat foam was shot. The complete 4 piece chrome trim surrounding the grill was missing and about 80% of the electrical system was non-functional. As far as sheetmetal, only the trunk floor needed replacement. Tim replaced the factory front power disk brakes and the rear 11” drums with 4 wheel discs. In-Line Tube was used to replace both the fuel and brake lines. The original steering box was upgraded to a Flaming River unit. The manual steering with close ratio takes some effort to parallet park. The engine block was a 1968 440. It was kept due to being in good condition but everything else was replaced. Indy heads were installed with an Edelbrokc aluminum intake and the carbs were completely reworked. The double roller timing chain was replaced with a Jezel belt drive to spin the new .660 lift roller cam. The A833 transmission was cobbled together from parts from several different years and models. The tail shaft was correct for a B-body but the shift linkage was not and needed to be changed. The 4 speed transmission was sent off to Brewer's for a proper rebuild that could transfer 600+ hp. The “period correct” street drag exhaust system was headed for the dumpster and another chunk of cash headed to TTI for a super fine 3” header back x-pipe system. A correct bom Dana 60 replaced the incorrect 8 3/4” and Richmond 3:54 gear set was installed with Strange axles to make this unit bullet proof. Custom forged pistons were installed with H-beams into the '68 440 block that was decked and line honed. The motor runs stron on pump gas at 11.5.1 All exhaust porting and bowl work on the Indy heads was done by “Slick Rick” at Naiser Racing. After the body was painted back to the original EV2 tor-red color, the hood did receive the (V21) hood performance paint treatment even though it was not on the buildsheet, because it looks good.. The GTX was restored by Lakewood Car Clinic with special thanks to Rick Cook and Albert Sanchez. The engine work was done by Naiser Racing. Tim entered the finished GTX in Autorama in Houston on Thanksgiving 2011and won best in class. (see picture below)..


Note: due to the lighting in the building the Tor-red color appears to be bright orange.

 

Dec. 2012

 

 

Past Car's of the Month

 

Rusty Easterling's EW1 automatic
Garry Keay's Blue 1970 GTX
Roger Wilson's 999 paint code GTX
Bryan Davis's EB7 6bbl 4 speed GTX
Barry Funk's FK5 automatic 4bbl GTX
Roy Garcia's triple black 1970 GTX
Blair Wightman's EB7 4 speed GTX
Darwin Leis's rare black 1970 GTX with white vinyl top
Brian Dougon's rare two-tone paint 6bbl GTX
Dave/Julie Stewart's EB5 w/white interior 4bbl GTX
Chip Haine's rare TX9 4bbl automatic with blue interior

Dave Grimmon's EF8 4bbl automatic with 1/2 million miles
Jim Chandler's FK5 4bbl automatic in the UK
Ron Knorr's EF8 with white interior 4bbl GTX
Dave Hechler's FE5 now 6bbl 4spd GTX
Dave Chisholm's modified TX9 GTX
John Borzych's FJ5 GTX race car

Rick Richard's EB5 6bbl 4 spd GTX

Don Collom's FT6 4 speed 440-4bbl GTX
Bob Thompson's GTX 440-4bbl automatic
Joe Petrungaro's FC7 automatic 440-4bbl GTX
Darren Phiipp's FE5 automatic GTX
Mark Sillar's EB7 A/C auto GTX
Norm VerHage's EB7 4 speed GTX
Chris Akin's FC7 automatic GTX
Steve Lester's FE5 automatic GTX
Ed Aprile's EB5 w/white vinyl top & side stripe 4 speed GTX
Ron Simonar's FC7 4bbl auto GTX
Fred Gilmore's Ivy Green GTX w/ Hemi engine
Brian Moceri's black 440-4bbl 4 spd GTX
Dave Kruszewski's TX9 GTX w/ white interior
Mats & Eva's FK5 6bbl. 4 spd GTX
Doug Dufour's EW1 4bbl GTX w/AC
Frank Forest's FK5 6bbl. 4 speed GTX

Chris Lobascio's EB5 automatic 440-6bbl. GTX
Mike Doddo's 440+6bbl. 4 speed GTX
Russ Carpenter's EB7 4bbl. 4 speed GTX
Ivan Kron's FE5 6bbl. 4 speed GTX
Nick Pieramico's FK5 6bbl. 4 speed GTX
Chuck Brunell's FJ5 GTX
Steve Coe's EK2 4 speed GTX
Dave Drozdowski's FJ5 GTX

[Home]