More 1969 Firebird Goodness

[Torch10th]

This thread has made me realize how amazing Firebirds look. This is right up there with the charger and challenger. Damn, love it man

Thanks, obviously I'm biased but I definitely agree.

You're getting to fix 46 years of people hacking into the factory harness. I've been there, done that. Ditching it all with new is a PITA, but WELL worth it!

You're not kidding, it's been brutal lately on me mentally. It's definitely been two steps forward, one step back the last month or so. Once I get all this wiring taken care of, I think I'm right there. On the plus side, the thing is basically brand new. All the drivetrain is new or rebuilt, it'll have 100% new wiring. About the only thing old on it will be the interior.

Agree, such a great looking car that you don't see too many examples of.

It's not like they didn't make a ton of them either. There wee 87,708 1969 Firebirds made across all models and trims, so they are definitely around. Definitely overshadowed by the more popular Camaro of course.

I agree that the wiring re-work is a blessing in disguise. Imagine if you went to all the expense and time of re-storing the Firebird only to have it potentially destroyed by an electrical fire. Great peace of mind now.

You're absolutely right. The fact that the car hasn't already burned to the ground is probably due mostly in part with the fact that I've had most of the electrical subsystems unplugged while it was undergoing restoration. To immediately start getting electrical hot spots is definitely cause of concern.

 

[Torch10th]

How about an update? Sure!

I've been able to make the car electrically sound again. There's still work to do there as you'll see from the rear picture below. Everything on the car is functioning 100% now except the tail lamps. I have brake lights, but the brake switch needs adjusted for the new pedal travel after disk brake install. I have partial running lamps and no turn signals in the rear. I'm about 80% sure this is simply due to the bulb connectors being severely corroded.

I'm still clearencing a bit on the wheels, but it's rub free for most types of driving. I'm just having issues on deep undulations. This is to be expected when you lower a car a good 3"

Anyway, the next step after figuring out the tail lights is to start putting the interior back together, passenger side door handle, alignment, tune up etc. Probably a month away from plating it.

 

[starnsey]

Nice!

I really can't be okay with the side pipes but I understand their purpose. Cars look hawt though.

 

[Torch10th]

Nice!

I really can't be okay with the side pipes but I understand their purpose. Cars look hawt though.

The previous owner put those in. They're hideous and will be coming out.

 

[Jaysin]

Man that thing looks sick!

 

[starnsey]

The previous owner put those in. They're hideous and will be coming out.

Whew! That's VERY good to know.

 

[JBird_Cobra]

The car looks amazing! I'll have to keep an eye out on the odd chance I see it around when I'm up north.

 

[Torch10th]

Thanks guys! It's been a journey to get to this point! I've still got a lot of work to do and there's certainly more that I want to do (6 speed, heads, fuel injection) but it's great to be able to actually drive the thing!

 

[crazycarlo]

Awesome project man. I was very close to buying a 74 bird with a 73 nose. In the end I decided I wanted a project I could work on and enjoy it still be driveable so I got my fox coupe. I still have a soft spot for pontiac though.

 

[Jaysin]

I just came back to look at the pics again. Idk exactly what it is but that thing is mesmerizing to me. Looks so sinister, and off to craigslist I go to search for some lol!

 

[Snake Plissken]

Ya gotta dig the Firebird. Camaros = dime a dozen.

Good luck with the rest of the project.

 

[Torch10th]

I just came back to look at the pics again. Idk exactly what it is but that thing is mesmerizing to me. Looks so sinister, and off to craigslist I go to search for some lol!

Thanks! I'm really happy with the way the stance has turned out. I was really kind of set on an 18" wheel and tire combo, but I think the meatiness of the 17" combo really helps the car out.

I'd like the front to come down just a hair more. I'm using Hotchkis 2" drop coils made for big block cars. The Pontiac engines are heavier than a small block chevy by about 150 lbs, but lighter than a big block by about the same. So the front sits just a hair higher than I'd like.

Eventually I'll put coil-overs on the car and I'll be able to adjust that out.

 

[coposrv]

This thread is making me jelly. I want to do a resto mod GM A body so bad. I've been looking for another Chevelle for a few years already. Nice work man. Really impressive.

 

[Zemedici]

Whew! That's VERY good to know.

+1. yuuuck.

 

[2L8IWON]

I love this project! So cool?

 

[Torch10th]

Another quick update!

It's taken some trial but BOOM, functioning tail lights.

At this juncture, from a functionality and legality standpoint, the car can be used on the street. I still have a bit left to do however. Up next is tackling all the weather stripping for the doors and windows, installing the side glass and passenger door hardware, then putting the interior back in the car.

 

[Torch10th]

And then this happened...

What you're looking at here is gear lube leaking from the housing end. My car has a Moser 12 bolt which is a modified 12 bolt that uses late model Torino housing ends for use with big ford bearings. During installation I was advised by Moser that the bearings require lubrication from the center section and to not use axle seals. They said the press fit of the bearing will seal the axle housing.

This is clearly not the case. As a result I've now got a nice gear oil stain on my garage floor, and the lubricant dislodged a set of weights, so I'll also need to have the wheel rebalanced.

It's not a hard job to fix this, but I should have just RTV'd the axle ends to begin with. Looks like the wheels and brakes are coming off this weekend to tackle that.

While I'm updating progress, I'm currently at the point where I'm trying to insure the car. This has been somewhat of a nightmare due to my wife and I being a single car family. I work from home and any time I need the car for a day, I drop the wife off at her school and I work an early shift. Insurance companies like Hagerty and Grundy don't like this and see the car as possibly becoming a secondary car for use in going to work, errands etc.

So I'm stuck with trying to get a standard policy through your typical insurers. State Farm (my current carrier) will cover liability but may not want to cover comp and collision. Obviously this is a problem. I'm not sure how this gets remedied, but I'd have to have come this far only to be told I can't insure the car.

Anyway since these insurance carriers need all kinds of documentation, here's a couple of the pictures I took for the companies review. As you can see the car is in dire need of it's first real bath and detailing. Still needs a good wire tuck in the engine bay as well.

 

[MattGT06]

The car looks really good man. I'd love to someday do a 72/73 Firebird Formula.

 

[Torch10th]

Just a quick update here. I've been trying to get a professional alignment done on the car so I can drive it around without damaging the front tires. Unfortunately nobody in town has an in-ground rack. Because of those stupid pipes it won't make it up on a standard rack.

Friday night I aligned the toe on the car myself in order to allow me to do some actual driving without tearing up the tires. I've got the toe set at near 0 for both front wheels and a crude look at camber with my phones angle indicator shows about +.5 degrees camber on both wheels. From the literature I've seen this is close to if not spot on factory spec.

I'll be utilizing David Pozzi's specs later on when I have the car professionally aligned.

I did take the car out for it's first car meet, which is a milestone considering it's never really seen public eyes for about 16 years.

I've been taking the car out here and there lately trying to work out all of the kinks. Bye and large the car drives well and runs well. In normal driving temps stay cool around 185 degrees. Since we had a hot day yesterday I decided to take it out and put it on the highway and run it around town to see what the temps would do. Running around town temps stayed where they typically have been. Unfortunately once I got out on to the highway and started playing around with her, temps rose to about 200.

That's not overheating by any means, but definitely shows That there's something amiss there. First thing I'm going to do is start with a good inspection of the entire cooling system. I'm going to do a complete flush of the entire system and try to get out any old gunk that's in there from it's long hibernation. Another common issue on Pontiacs is the lower radiator hose collapsing. I'll probably go out and buy a spring for that hose just to be sure that's not causing the highway and spirited driving heat up.

More than likely the heat issue is primarily just a tuning issue. That's next on the agenda.

In regards to the exhaust, I've gotten several quotes to hack those side pipes off and none of them are what I would consider acceptable. To the point that I'm simply going to purchase a full exhaust system and have that installed instead of modifying the exhaust that's on it now.

I'm currently considering either the Pypes system with their Race Pro muffler or a Magnaflow system.

Pypes:
[youtube_browser]5Yo9Mu4Ya5E[/youtube_browser]

Magnaflow:
[youtube_browser]Aj8Rkd1HanI[/youtube_browser]

 

[TClark22]

Thank god your hacking off that exhaust...those side pipes look like shit.

The car looks great besides that!