by Few things are as impressionable as the mind of a 15-year-old boy. It was at that age that Eric Aull, who was working part time at a gas station in Merrick, New York, saw one of his coworkers “get into his 1966 GTO and lay down about 4,000 feet of rubber on Merrick Road.” The impact was indelible, with Eric saying, “I became obsessed with buying my own GTO.” That happened several months later with the acquisition of a tri-power, four-speed 1966 convertible. “It was a beautiful original car that I did every horrible thing imaginable to!” First to go was the original 389, which Eric blew apart in spectacular fashion. A 421 Super Duty that replaced it led to the violent death of the original gearbox and rear end. Ultimately, while “fumigating the parking lot at Calhoun high school with the most horrendous, nonstop burnout possible, I cracked the chassis.”
Dejected but not defeated, Eric bought a gutted 1967 hardtop that featured a full cage and other race mods, courtesy of Long Island’s Speedwin Automotive. The 421 and other salvageable pieces from his convertible completed the buildup of the ’67, which left a memorable impression wherever Eric went courtesy of its drag slicks, “Mad Max” gold leaf lettering among the other race stickers, and wide-open, thundering exhaust.
At the ripe old age of 33, Eric temporarily matured enough to sell the GTO and seek honest employment. He worked as a long haul trucker for seven years, hauling cheese between New York and Florida, and then in 1987, joined the Nassau County Police Department, where he went on to fly helicopters in their aviation unit.
Around 1996, some 15 years after selling the 1967 drag car, he woke up one day thinking, “I must have a GTO.” That quickly led to the purchase of another nice, unmolested car, this time a 1967 hardtop with a 400, automatic, and almost every available option. “It was a really nice car,” Eric recalls, “and I kept it for quite a few years, but it really didn’t make me happy. It wasn’t a hot rod and it was too nice to take out and blow things up street racing and striping parking lots. Also, I like turning wrenches, and the car didn’t need anything and it was too original to mess around with.”
In 2009 Eric decided to sell the original 1967 Goat and look for a non-original one he could build into his dream car. By that time, he was suffering with very serious respiratory problems as a result of his work at Ground Zero following the terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center. “Some of my pessimistic friends told me I’d undoubtedly die before finishing an extensive project like the one I had in mind, which only convinced me to go ahead and do it.”
Eric completed the GTO in June 2013 and has racked up about 3,600 miles since. As he eagerly demonstrated for my camera, it’ll smoke the tires all day long (“I buy my rear tires six at a time,” he reports), and it’s rock solid at 140 mph. “It’s fast, it’s reliable, it’s fun, it’s comfortable, it’s exactly what I envisioned it would be, and best of all, I proved all the naysayers wrong when they said I’d die before it was finished!” he says with a laugh.
Tech NotesWho: Eric AullWhat: 1967 GTOWhere: Long Island, NY
Body and Paint: “The roof was the only part of the car that wasn’t rusty,” Eric says. He scoured the globe for NOS and good original sheetmetal to avoid using any reproduction parts. Frank Trimarchi from Thriftway Autobody Work did all of the metalwork, including fabricating a flush firewall, and sprayed the Special Black paint. Roll-Rite Towing applied Line-X to the wheelwells and underbody. Don’s East Coast Restoration modified the hood to accommodate the blower, installed all body glass, fabricated the exhaust system, took care of the chrome plating, and restored all metal trim pieces to perfection.
Chassis: Eric wanted the look of a 1967 GTO with the stopping, steering, and handling of a more modern car, so he turned to Street Rod Garage for a custom SRG-Force A-body chassis.Suspension: Chassis maker Street Rod Garage also supplied the front and rear suspension. SRG fabricated tubular front A-arms for the front and supplied Wilwood ProSpindles to join the uppers and lowers. The rear rides on a SRG four-link setup and QA1 coilovers dampen the rough spots.Steering: Precise steering comes courtesy of a Flaming River billet rack-and-pinion. An ididit billet steering column spins the rack with help from a Tallon hydroboost that’s fed hydraulic pressure by the power-steering pump.
Brakes: Wilwood calipers clamp slotted rotors on all four corners. A hydro-boosted Wilwood master cylinder completes the system. As with the steering rack, the brake booster is powered up by the power-steering pump.
Wheels and Tires: Billet Specialties carved custom 18×9-inch rear and 17×7-inch front wheels. They wear Continental Extreme Contact radials sized at 225/50ZR17 up front and 275/45ZR18 in the back.
Engine: Motive power comes from a 505-cid engine that started with an All Pontiac IAII block that was extensively machined and prepared by Rich Haubold at PCHS Racing Engines. Richie Hoffman of Hoffman Racing assembled the engine and did all post-assembly tuning. It was fitted with a Scat crank, Crower rods, Diamond pistons, and a Comp Cams hydraulic roller camshaft. Ported and polished Edelbrock Performer aluminum heads move the squeezed air provided by a polished BDS 8-71 blower. Billet Specialties supplied a super-strong serpentine beltdrive system, and Derale dual electric fans were installed to keep engine temperature under control. Fuel flow comes from dual 750-cfm Quick Fuel Technology blower carburetors and a 6AL MSD delivers the spark.
Transmission: Though at heart a manual gearbox guy, Eric decided to go with a 4L80e four-speed automatic for this project. “I thought it would be nicer with the supercharger,” he tells us, “and I’m very happy with the way it performs.” To ensure it would stand up to the engine’s torque, he relied on CK Transmission for a custom buildup using strengthened internals.Rear End: Eric has blown up his share of rear ends and knows firsthand that big power, a multi-link suspension that can hook up, and sticky tires demand a stout differential. He went with a complete, heavy-duty 12-bolt from Strange Engineering assembled with Strange axles and a 3.73:1 differential.
Interior:Electronics: Drawing on years of experience building hot rods and GTOs, in particular, Eric wired the entire car himself. Tunes come courtesy of a Pioneer stereo head, twin Alpine amps, four speakers, and two subs housed in the custom-finished trunk area. A Vintage Air air-conditioning system tames Long Island’s hot and humid summer days. Don’s East Coast Restorations added power windows.
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