Questions about my 1972 Lemans

[Jinkz05]

I recently just bought a 1972 Pontiac Lemans, it's a little beat up kind of rough but not horrible. The price of the vehicle was just too good to pass up. I really do not particularly like the front end that is on the car at the moment I was wondering if anybody can help me in trying to figure out how hard it could be to change the front. I have tried to upload photos of my actual vehicle and of the vehicle I would like the front clip resemble. If anybody please help me that would be great thank you very much.

[GTOHunter]

You could probably put a 1971-72 GTO front end on Your LeMans or even go back to a 1970 GTO front end/clip.You will need everything for a complete change over since it will take all the fenders,core support and hoods to do the swap!

Another cheaper route to go with would be to put a 1970 LeMans front clip on Your car and You can simply buy a 1968-70 GTO hood for a cooler looking car.

There are several parts that will interchange from 1970-72 from the firewall back but the LeMans and GTO front ends differ....You can't just put a 1971-72 GTO hood on a Tempest,LeMans unless it has a GTO front end,fenders,core support and bumper etc!

The older Pontiac LeMans,Tempest and Custom_S could be fitted with a GTO hood but they changed the design in 1971-72!

Let's see....the 1965,1966 and 1967 GTO hoods would interchange with the Tempest,LeMans,Sport LeMans and Custom_S Pontiacs,the way the hood bolted on was a little different but You could still swap out all those hoods and scoops to other Makes.

The 1968,1969 and 1970 GTO hoods would all interchange and fit each other or the Tempest,LeMans or Custom_S Pontiacs!


They did fit certain 1971-72 Sport LeMans with GTO front ends and they are pretty Rare.The 1971 GTO front fenders had No air extractors on the lower back part of the wheel well opening...the 1972 GTO fenders had the open air extractor/vents like the 1977/78 Trans Am's...1971-72 GTO fenders & GTO hoods will swap out between each year it just won't be Factory correct!

[Jinkz05]

Thank you, you certainly cleared up a few of my questions. But now I actually have one more. My 1972 Lemans is an Endura and I recently found out that simply meant it was an option that just put the GTO front clip on the car. Is that an accurate state my or was I misinformed?

[GTOHunter]

Yes,that was actually an Option that could have been ordered for Your LeMans,You could also have the 400 or 455 engine,a 4-bbl carb and intake,bucket seats,floor shifter with console.Any LeMans with the GTO/Endura Option is a pretty Rare Pontiac in itself.....and parts are hard to find because You have to find or order GTO parts for anything for the front end!


It would be nice if You could post a pic of Your Pontiac,You should have the rubber Endura front bumper that is painted the same Boby color as the rest of the car and the long hood with the scoops!You could even have the Ram Air Option on Your car with the functional hood scoops!Most Guys would want to have the GTO front end on their LeMans,You can go in reverse and find a plain 1971-72 LeMans or T-37 Front end and change it over but You'll have a flat plain hood and a chrome front bumper!

I forgot about the 1970,71 & 72 T-37,they were similar to the LeMans and Tempest and were 2-Door and/or 4-Door Cars!There were also Luxury LeMans that had different options on them and they had some different options and trim on them!The list goes on with the old Pontiacs and You could order them with all kinds of different cool options,motors etc!

[Jinkz05]

Well I have tried to put pics in the post but won't let me. I can send them directly if you don't mind giving me an email address.

[GTOHunter]

Sure Jinkz....I thought I had my e-mail addy in my profile?

Mogtohunter@yahoo.com


From Your description I pretty well know what You have,years ago I bought a wrecked '72 LeMans that had the GTO front end.These cars and most of the other old Pontiac were notorious from the rubber braces on the bottom of the front core support to go bad,then You have to take it all apart,clean it up and usually cut out the rusted part and weld new pieces back in or buy another good support!

[Jinkz05]

Ok thank you very much for all your info and I also sent pics all around the exterior to your email, anything else you could possibly tell me would be great. Thanks again

[GTOHunter]

Jinkz....go to performanceyears.com and look into the 1970-72 Tech Section,join and search all Your needs!You'll find more Pontiac Owners there with the same Cars and tech questions.I'm on there from time to time as 1-GTO

[Jinkz05]

Did you get the pics of my Lemans?

[GTOHunter]

Yes...You Definetly have the Sports LeMans with the GTO Endura front end...very Rare and hard to find parts for!its a 1972 model,looks like You need new hood hinges....be sure to grease them because if they stick or hang up you'll bend your hood in the middle!

You have aftermarket rims,looks like the vinyl top is shot....look under the backend at the rear end and see if You have a factory sway bar...that would be a good option to have and disc brakes up front instead of drum brakes all the way around!


Shoot me a few interior pic's and I'll help You out there too....I hope You have buckets and floor shifter?

[Jinkz05]

Wow that's great to know, parts may be a little harder to find then I expected but if its rare, it's worth fixing. I paid closer to nothing for it. I'll have to get some interior pics when I can get over to the car maybe tomorrow. It does have buckets and floor shifter I know. I'll check out the rear like you mentioned and also has front discs.

I think I may have screwed myself though. The guy I bough the car from gave me a price with and without the original motor. With the motor was only $100 more but I have a 383 to throw in so told him he could keep the motor.

[GTOHunter]

You should get another $100.00 together and keep it original...You'll pay more to swap everything over to the Chevy engine...but that's up to You!

If I was You I would buy a 1970-72 GTO "Judge" rear wing spoiler for it and option it out!

Bet You have an in-dash rally clock or tachometer in there too...if not You can put one in there!

I saw the "350" emblem on the rocket panel chrome so I figured it was either a 2-bbl or 4-bbl engine.