68 firebird 461 stroker daily driver

[heyhiitsmevlad]

well, this thing has been with me for some time, and its finally picking up tons of steam. when i bought the car years ago and drove it across the country it had a 350 pontiac and bondo everywhere.

I've since then replaced darn near all of the car. new interior, door panels, seat covers, redid some of the dash with a radio delete and such. replaced the crappy saginaw 4 speed with a ford 3 speed toploader (toughest trans ever), replaced the fuel tank, the rear leafs with heavy duty 5 leafs, front springs with hotchkis big block camaro lowering springs and the 350 with a 461 stroker. replaced the stock sway bar with a hellwig 1 1/4 tubular one and did ls brakes on the rear, and just recently did the front brakes with c5 corvette brakes. all brake hoses are braided stainless and the driveshaft is a used nascar 4.5" piece with 1350 u joints. 65 chevelle 12 bolt with moser axles, 69 camaro ss eaton posi, 331 gears and moser 1350 yoke.

car has been driven daily since the day i bought it, the first week i had it i drove across the country with it in february, and have been sriving it since, and sometimes towing things with it.

last year it got hit with a uhaul truck and I wound up buying a complete ront end from another guy who was converting to a one piece front end.

i've cut out the quarters, replaced thee drivers door with a mint original, reskinned the passenger door and replaced all 4 hinges. when i do the taillight panel and the fenders and front bumper i will have replaced the entire outside of the car...:G-Dub:

but thats how it is sometimes.

[heyhiitsmevlad]

http://youtu.be/-Xdlc2M0tjM

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brake upgrade video

http://youtu.be/la2TAqVxdyk


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swapping over to the edelbrock mechanical fuel pump

http://youtu.be/tPW8eNzJba4

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sound clip of the 3" exhaust

http://youtu.be/iEp4omrCfa8

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http://youtu.be/sNFFelyak7U

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0-90 mph pull on the highway, this thing hauls ass, first gear is good to 57, so i shift at 55mph... and second is good to 75-80 but i usualy shift early, no need to rev a 461 hard with all the torque it makes

[WSSix]

You are a braver man than me. Glad you're enjoying the car and able to make progress on it as well. Welcome to the site.

[heyhiitsmevlad]

build pics have been organized now

[FETorino]

some more stuff.

http://youtu.be/iEp4omrCfa8

me and the wife and kids driving around today. ;-)

Cool car:thumbsup:

We need to get you some turoring on using the site tools:lmao: :lmao:

Love the actual Pontiac motor BTW.....

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[heyhiitsmevlad]

pics organized, as you can see it was a lot rougher than originally had been advertised...

[heyhiitsmevlad]

and some more, yeah sorry. I'm young but in computer ways i'm like an old man, not too savvy

[heyhiitsmevlad]

and the last are of the 3" exhaust i built using hedman 3" header extensions, adding 3" exhaust tubing where i needed it and thrush 3" chambered mufflers

[heyhiitsmevlad]

before i had a chance to change out my rear quarter panels someone smashed my front end and drivers door with a uhaul truck. Insurance tried to crush the car but after a long fight the company they settled on giving me 2,900 which was enough for me to then buy another door and a complete front end. here's ome pics of the damage so you could see how bad it was.

I spent 12 hours yesterday swapping out the complete front end. I also got a lift off fiberglass hood from the same guy and I'll be putting that on today.

[heyhiitsmevlad]

a handlefull of days ago i also swapped out my 12" LS front brakes for a set of C5 corvette 13" brakes. they are awsome, but i need to get the wilwood proportioning valve so i can dial out some of the rear brakes, I've done a handful of panic stops and the rears lock up WAY before the fronts do. I think it has to do with the rear LS brakes being small calipers in the back and the bigger C5 calipers in the front so the rears apply more with the same pressure.

[heyhiitsmevlad]

got the wilwood adjustable prop valve and should be installing it tommorrow. got rid of my hood hinges and 50lb factory steel hood. threw on the free hood i got with the fenders for now, the scoop is a little goofy but i'll buy a flat hood to replace it later. fiberglass lift of hood and fiberglass front bumper. judging off hand i prob lost around 35-45 lbs in the front. certainly feels that way lifting the front nose and factory hood.

also redid my dash finaly and finished it up for now.

a pic of the new corvette brakes right before i did the nose swap.

[heyhiitsmevlad]

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rolling around town coming home from work, got a new mount for my phone so i can take ya'll along for the ride ;-)

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[heyhiitsmevlad]

http://youtu.be/sSe8z1xw7c8

[heyhiitsmevlad]

installed a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve, I LOVE this thing, so easy to adjust and get the brakes exactly how you want. Also got rid of the goofy scoop, was too much for me.

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[heyhiitsmevlad]

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[heyhiitsmevlad]

painted the fenders and stripe, as well as painted on the cards again.

[Tuske427]

Sweet car and great story. I look forward to more posts on this car

[heyhiitsmevlad]

had an interesting track day, picked up some trans parts off the track but overall had a great time. the shift linkage fell off due to the nut backing off, after i makeshifted a fix with a rubber grommet i drove home, got a package of fine pitch nuts on the way and fixed the problem. going back next sunday now that my shifting problem is over with and hoping for some decent passes. Also doesn't help that i have 350 threadwear tires...


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[WSSix]

Glad it wasn't a serious issue. Good luck on your next trip!

[heyhiitsmevlad]

yup, pretty stoked about it not being a big deal. All ready for next sunday now. Adjusted my carb, and threw a thermal gasket under it to solve heat soak issues. totaly cured sitting in traffic on a hot day. used to be that my fuel would just boil away when the motor got too hot. uC93vQiBjNw&feature

[69MyWay]

Awesome thread!

[heyhiitsmevlad]

thanks, cut up the old drag racing scoop that came with the hood. trying to figure out the best way to cover up that hole left after i had taken the goofy scoop off.

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[geberhard]

:relax: Very cool and subscribing to thread. Digged the stripes and cards paint tutorial (my buddy wants to do something similar on his ride). And you got some mad nailpolish paining skills too!

[heyhiitsmevlad]

thanks, yeah the whole front end cost $10 to paint, for now anyway. hope the cards thing helps your buddy out, I was amazed 7 years ago what this homeless crazy man in hawaii named "nova" could do with $5 in paint and a handful of stencils... after that and watching some airbrush tutorials (i used to think airbrush was magic, now i know its just stencils...) i realized anybody can do it, and for the cruder bigger shapes you can do it with 96 cent spray paint...

took the car to the track again today and learned two things... a 5/16" fuel line is not enough to feed a 461 at full rev through 3 gears... and a 5/16 fuel line running all neat like right next to the block will vapor lock like none other...

so after one halfway decent pass of 13.7 and 106 miles an hour with a 60ft of 2.5 seconds, i had a few disapointing passes. I was able to get a 2.3 second 60ft time but then the motor fell flat on its face from heat soak to the carb and the rest of that pass sucked.

after that I went home and grabbed some 3/8 fuel line at a parts store, bent a new section from the fuel pump to the carb that was completely free and clear of any heat sources, I won't know untill next week how that works out for me. My next mod is gonna be to pull off my manifold and JB weld the heat crossover under the carb shut and use gaskets that eliminate that damn crossover...

also will weld in some exhaust cutouts, just cause. can't hurt really.

biggest thing though is gonna be to get some tires that actually hook up, not just corner good on freeway cloverleafs and last forever... ;-)

some may wonder what a pro-touring car is doing at a drag strip, well. Its a great family activity and there was no autocross events that were fairly close by in the last few weeks... not to mention, its a good way to iron out all the things that would've been bad for time at an autocross event 300-400 miles away... once thats all hammered out i'm willing to drive any amount of distance to partake in the fun, and boy am i itching...

[heyhiitsmevlad]

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[geberhard]

Vladimir! Checking out the vids and very cool how the car is turning out. Love the bird hot rod theme, so keep it coming!

was going to make a few suggestions:

1- the routing of your fuel lines could be re-routed a bit more away from the heat sources, also wrap your fuel pump line to carb. If you are planning to drag more often, may be worth looking into getting an electric pump, and routing the line at the firewall, shoudl help address the heat soak issues going on. I would also remove the current filter setup at the drag and go plastic if you have to, or closer to the carb.

2- heat tip: you mentioned few free to shoot some tip your way, and here is a good one: add some insulation so not all of the heat is creeping inside the cabin (wife's feet and kids). I would add it to some areas, best bang for buck is the Home Depot Sure it is not Duraliner but works excellent for a budget rod. I run in on a few rides and at a 1/5 of a price it beats the heat big time. One side has adhesive, so very easy to use. You can run2-3 rolls for the whole interior, (I would add to the roof area since you do not have a headliner, and about $20 a roll. It will help specially on the summer taking a bit of the HOT and loud out of HOT rod :)

http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/forum_images/TechExchange/rmousirBudgetInsulation/xpic1.jpg.pagespeed.ic.NjB8tBfiFN.jpg

http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100028603?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&N=5yc1vZ1xr5&R=100028603

http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/interior-articles/488907-budget-insulation.html

I run it on my orange hot rodded bird and was a night and day difference as the headers were really close to the floor and firewall and made driving the bird on the summer not too fun.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t1.0-9/37982_422902413010_1824853_n.jpg


3- Manifold cooker :) going on another day drag trip or pic-nic with the kids? Yes this is a bit redneck, but works great, manifold cooking\burrito warmer. I had this on my buggy running a Pontiac 400 engine, a ammo box by the manifold or block, open the lid, throw a couple burritos in tinfoil in, and works freaking awesome :)

http://www.rvwheellife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/manifold-destiny-cover.jpg

[Panteracer]

Cool car... love the Poncho

I have a 3/8" line at the firewall and when routing
some water lines I zipped tied them to the fuel supply
and returns... the car would stumble after running for a
while but no vapor lock.. It took me a while to figure
out that I was heating the fuel... moved it away and
problem solved

Panteracer with a 494 Pontiac in my bird

[heyhiitsmevlad]

Great minds (or cheap ones) must think alike... I've used that actual flashing tape on my 70 vw when I drove across the country in it last december, good stuff. Drove from upstate new York to oregon in -5 degree weather... worked good.

Also, I've been cooking food using motor heat since I was 14.

I'm getting ready to cut out the floors on both sides so I'll have to hold off on the flashing until I replace them, even at $20 there's no sense in buying three rolls twice. Plus cutting the floors out would then be a nightmare.

Drag times are a third priority, first being daily driving and second being road course work... so I need stuff that'll last thousands of miles. I just bought an edelbrock performer rpm pump and installed it, it's mechanical and I tend to trust mechanical things more when rolling through nebraska open plains and such... love the two birds you posted a pic of, I have a staggered set of those same black wheels going on my 67 tempest...

[geberhard]

Vlad, cool! I would go with the insulation on the roof area to keep the nogging from cooking and the kids and wife out of the heat :)

Where are you guys located at?

[heyhiitsmevlad]

North Carolina, in laws in nebraska and my family in Oregon so I drive all over the country.

[heyhiitsmevlad]

fuel vapor lock issues solved, that fuel line routing I showed in the end of the last video solved my problem. Got the car nice and hot while running errands around town, and then hammered on it for a quick 0-90 pull from a stoplight. no more more heat related stumbling, loving it, can't wait to hit the track this weekend again.

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[heyhiitsmevlad]

went racing this last weekend, had some fun, didn't do too much to the car, here's a video of a sunset cruise on some country roads i took earlier doing some donuts ;-)


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[heyhiitsmevlad]

fixed the giant hole in my fiberglass hood with fiberglass. turned out pretty awsome.
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[heyhiitsmevlad]

almost done with the hood patch. came out awsome and saved me from spending $400 on a new fiberglass hood....

on a sour note I blew up my ring and pinion... no fun. almost destroyed my posi too. so now i'm going down to 308 gears from the 331 gears i had. reason being is I'll later be swapping to a toploader 4 speed instead of the toplader 3 speed so the first 3 gears will be the same as me having the 3 speed with 3.42 gears and the 4th will be an awsome top speed gear of over 150...:thumbsup:

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[heyhiitsmevlad]

the guy who i bought the 308 gears from burned me. however I bid on a set of 355 gears on a whim and won them for 25 bucks. not bad for richmond gears. they were used so i could see how some people would be sceptical of buying a used set of gears, but since they only had 500 miles on them i figured i might as well.

worked out very well for me. I bought a set of timken bearings and seals and rebuilt the rear with 355 gears for just over $100 ;-)

here's a 13 part series for anybody interested in detail on how to rebuild a GM 12 bolt rear and set up the gears properly in their driveway with minimal tools ;-)
first video is linked, its a playlist so if you open the video in you tube it'll play all 13 videos and you can get whatever info you need.

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[69MyWay]

the guy who i bought the 308 gears from burned me. however I bid on a set of 355 gears on a whim and won them for 25 bucks. not bad for richmond gears. they were used so i could see how some people would be sceptical of buying a used set of gears, but since they only had 500 miles on them i figured i might as well.

worked out very well for me. I bought a set of timken bearings and seals and rebuilt the rear with 355 gears for just over $100 ;-)

here's a 13 part series for anybody interested in detail on how to rebuild a GM 12 bolt rear and set up the gears properly in their driveway with minimal tools ;-)
first video is linked, its a playlist so if you open the video in you tube it'll play all 13 videos and you can get whatever info you need.

mxDE_95sLmw&feature

Just over $100! That's awesome!

[heyhiitsmevlad]

yup, $43 shipped for name brand richmond pro gears, lightly used. and a $77 timken 12 bolt setup kit... all name brand premium parts to go in the 12 bolt...

[heyhiitsmevlad]

Kinda miss the the 331 gears, 355 is a little much, sure pulls hard but top end is nothing. Well, nothing compared to what 273 gears would be. Ran into some brit Paratroopers who are training here in the USA and took them out and showed them around. THEY LOVE American muscle cars, also had some guy blow by me at 110 like he was hot **** in his boss mustang... had no choice but to embarrass the living crap out of him.
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[tombar67]

Kinda miss the the 331 gears, 355 is a little much, sure pulls hard but top end is nothing. Well, nothing compared to what 273 gears would be. Ran into some brit Paratroopers who are training here in the USA and took them out and showed them around. THEY LOVE American muscle cars, also had some guy blow by me at 110 like he was hot **** in his boss mustang... had no choice but to embarrass the living crap out of him.
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That's hilarious!!