What high school kid taking shop class didn’t dream of owning a classic musclecar as a daily driver? For Chris McLelland, owning a classic musclecar in high school became a reality after he and a friend saw a vintage GTO for sale on their trip to a welding class.

“My friend and I were taking an ROP Welding class and had to go to a different school and on the way there each day we spotted the GTO,” said McLelland. “The next day we stopped by and found it for sale. We couldn’t believe they were only asking $3,500.00 for the car.”

According to McLelland, “I got my father and we test drove the GTO. He instantly loved it and decided to purchase it.” Since that day in 1992, McLelland has owned the car and much to the envy of his classmates, he drove the car to high school as his daily driver.

The original 400ci engine didn’t last too long once McLelland began driving it daily.

Chewed Up Parts

“I drove it for a couple months and the 400-cubic inch V8 lost oil pressure. We pulled it apart and discovered it was over revved with a couple lifters and push rods that were chewed up and in the oil pan,” he explained. “The previous owner replaced the valve train parts and left the pieces in the pan which wrecked the crank, oil pump and the rest of the internals.”

No willing to let the vintage Pontiac sit while they searched for a new mill to power the beast, Chris and his father found another solution. “We temporarily dropped in another 400cid GM motor that we had and I drove it for a little while like that and enjoyed it.”

Like most gearheads, McLelland kept an eye out for improvements that could be made to his hotrod. “One day my Dad found a 1970 Pontiac Bonneville with 70,000 original miles that ran great and was only $600.00.”

Chris and his father bought the Bonneville, drove it to their house where they removed the 455ci engine, the TH400 transmission then sold the rest of the car.

In the spray booth getting a new layer put on.

The New Bullet

“In the beginning we cleaned up the 455 and dropped it in. Then ran it that way for awhile. Soon we decided to swap out the cylinder heads, intake and carb,” he said.

They put on a set of “62” Pontiac 400 cylinder heads, which improved the compression ratio. “The motor ran great but needed higher octane gas. We backed off the timing a little bit to help with the higher compression. My brother drove it one day without permission and blew the head gaskets and in turn, broke all the ring lands out of the pistons.”

This is how the engine looks now.

Pulling the motor, they decided to rebuild it the right way with a set of ported “96” heads and a zero deck the assembly with forged flat top pistons and plasma moly file fit rings. Currently the 455 block is bored 0.60 over, making it a 468cid engine.

Engine Specs

• Engine: 468cid Pontiac
  • COMP Cams 300 B6 solid lifter camshaft with .610 lift and 310 duration, 106 LSA.
  • Norris stainless steel 1.6 ratio rocker arms
  • COMP Cams pushrods and stud girdle
  • Nodular crankshaft
  • Milodon 7 quart baffeled oil pan.
  • Studded Crank scraper and windage tray installed
  • Factory cast connecting rods, beam ground, shot peened and polished
  • ARP connecting rod bolts
  • TRW forged pistons
  • 4.210-inch Bore and Stroke
  • Plasma Moly file fit rings
  • Oil restrictors in the oil galley
  • Ported cylinder heads that have the heat passage filled in with aluminum
  • Port matched Torquer 2 Intake
  • Holley 850 carb
  • NOS Cheater 250 horse system
  • Mallory comp 140 fuel pump
  • MSD pro billet distributor
  • MSD wires
  • MSD Blaster Coil
  • MSD Digital Plus 6 box with timing retard and rev limiter

At Leguna Seca.

More Details

• TH400 Transmission with 32 element sprag clutch
• Denny’s nitrous ready driveshaft with 1350 joints and chromoly slip yoke
• Beefed up 8.5 10-bolt rearend with 4.10 gears and bolt-in axles
• Koni Spa single adjustment shocks in the front and rear
• Hotchkis lowering springs in the front and rear
• Hotchkis frame bars
• BMR adjustable upper control arms
• Indian Adventrures adjustable lower control arms
• HRpartsNstuff adjustable anti-roll bar in the rear
• Battery mounted in the trunk with a Moroso battery box and Moroso heavy duty cutoff switch
• Painless Wiring alternator shut down relay
• 10-inch Continental 3,000-stall converter
• Fuel System: Upgraded with 1/2-inch pickup in the tank and 1/2-inch fuel lines
• Exhaust System:
  • Hooker Super Competition Headers with 1 3/4-inch primary tubes and 3-inch collector
  • Headers coated at Accessories Plus with high luster ceramic coating
  • Exhaust tubing is 3-inch aluminized mandrel bent tubing sold by Torque Technologies
  • Dr. Gas X-pipe
  • Pypes Racer Pro mufflers
• Center Line Auto Drag wheels:
  • Fronts are 15×7-inch with Mickey Thompson 26×7.5 8 ply skinny tires
  • Rears are 15×8.5-inch with Mickey Thompson Drag Radials 295/55/15-inch
  • McLelland keeps another set of centerlines with Hoosier Quick Time Pro’s 28×11.5×15 and a set of Weld pro stars with BF Goodrich 275/60/15 and 235/60/15 for street driving

Finishing Touches

The GTO was originally built in Fremont, California, as a Vedoro green with black vinyl top coupe. It is now painted Flame Red with Dupont’s premiere base clear coat system. 

The interior has been restored including the seats, carpet, headliner, and door panels. The dash was restored by Just Dashes with the clock turned to quartz. The chrome has been redone on all plastic bezels and the gauges have all been gone through with new circuit board and bulbs. The factory flip face AM/FM radio has been restored and a new dual under dash speaker has been installed.

The car is well loved by the owner and has been to many of the Pontiac shows in the Oregon area, capturing first and second place in the modified class at the Bend, Oregon Tiger Run show over the past few years.

If you’d like to share your ride with us here at SLTV, send us an email at Reader’s Wheels, and tell us a little about your car. Get some pictures ready and we’ll contact you and get more information and you’ll be on your way to sharing your car with the rest of our readers. Let us know what you think in the comments section below!