Why I belong to the Royal GTOs

Hi everyone.  I love you guys so much for all the help and encouragement with my ’66 GTO.  You have heard that “the squeaky wheel gets the oil.”  That’s about the extent of my knowledge about cars.  So when my GTO squeaks, I oil it.  But seriously, if you don’t know much about cars and don’t take advantage of all the knowledge and skills of the fellow members in our great organization, you are really missing out.  I don’t want to be one of those who just throws money at their car to make it the best and then trailers it to events.  My dream is to get in, get my hands dirty, and actually do most of the work myself.  Many of you in the club are making my dream come true.

My California GTO had a top notch body off restoration 15 years ago by its previous owner.  After years of wear and tear on paint, engine, minor burn off, and surface rust on nuts and bolts, I felt it was time to revive it again.  With encouragement from fellow members and a place to work on the car donated by a club member (God bless you, brother) I now have it totally torn down.

While helping out at the Bohn show I was enjoying everyone’s cars.  Admiring a fellow member’s restoration job, I found out that he had done all the work himself, including the excellent paint job.  When I told him that I planned to repaint my GTO, he volunteered to come to my house, shoot the paint for free, and show me how rub it out.  I all but fell over.  I so appreciate this loving gesture, since I am retired and on a fixed income.

At the Fall Ocean City cruise I mentioned to a fellow Royal GTOs member that I was going to paint my engine.  A few weeks later he sent me an interesting article on how to paint an engine with the least amount of paint burn off.  I know he was very busy with his own life, but for the love of our GTOs, he took the time to bless me.  Thanks.

Another member overheard me talking at the Royal’s Christmas party about rebuilding my engine.  He ordered one of the last copies of “How to Build Max-Performance Pontiac V8s” personally signed by Jim Hand and had it delivered to my house.  WOW!

Everyone’s generosity has overwhelmed me.  In addition, I am so grateful to all of you for your time and patience in the many questions that I have asked and re-asked.  I hope to pass on the blessings to other club members.  Again I would encourage every member to stay active; you never know when you will receive or give a blessing.  I’ll keep you all abreast of my trials and errors and what I’ve learned.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Tom Guinard