1970 Firebird - Pro Touring Project

[jtwoods4]

Well guys, I finished the 1970 Trans Am and I didn't know what to do with myself. I was on craigslist about 3:00am the other night and this popped up. I immediately went to the bank the next morning, loaded the trailer, and drove up to north Georgia to buy it. The previous owner was a body shop guy with 29 years experience. He was planning to build the car for himself but ran out of money and had to move to Florida. He was unloading all his car stuff. He had already finished all the sheet metal work and the car was in primer. I have not been able to find any rust anywhere on the car and the original factory red oxide primer can be seen in a lot of places. I was really shocked at the condition of the car. Not to mention it still had the original numbers matching drive train, even though it was only a Pontiac 350 Esprit.

His plan was to restore it as a Formula 400 clone so he had an original 1970 Formula 400 hood on the car ($1000 by itself) and the rear spoiler. What a perfect car for a pro touring build!

My first plan of action.... DSE Tubs and DSE Quadralink :)... Then in goes the cage 8)

Enjoy the build

NnHSTh0KyJo

-JW

[Vince@Meanstreets]

looks like a great pallet jw.

[WSSix]

Welcome to the site. Glad to see another 2nd gen here. Where in Ga are you?

[Jay Hilliard]

Looks like a great starting point. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[INTMD8]

Looks great! As far as 2nd gen's go, Formula is my favorite.

In the mid 90's I was lucky enough to buy one of those hoods from our high school janitor for $50. It's surprisingly heavy!

[PonchoJohn]

WOW!! That's a solid car!
400 stroker? You know you wanna.... Forged rods, crank, pistons, HR cam.... 8,000 rpm! WHAT??!!!

[jtwoods4]

Well after countless hours researching rear end suspension designs and reading several chassis and suspension books I have decided to go with the Speedtech Torque Arm setup on the rear of this car and the Track Time package.

http://www.speedtechperformance.com/...prod/prd50.htm

Wilwood Aero 6 Big Brakes

http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Bra...%20Brake%20Kit

Speedway Mod Lite Ford 9 Inch Floater

http://www.1speedway.com/Floater_Rear_Ends.htm

[Vince@Meanstreets]

If you order direct from Strange (recommended) they will have all the information that you will need for your brakes ( mounting flange and offset) and floater as not all are created equal. The pro- touring kit looks good.

[jtwoods4]

If you order direct from Strange (recommended) they will have all the information that you will need for your brakes ( mounting flange and offset) and floater as not all are created equal. The pro- touring kit looks good.

Yeah good idea. I can just have it shipped to BMR so they can weld on the brackets for the Torque arm setup.

[carbuff]

Just one thing to consider before you finalize this plan (from someone who has one). Make a plan for your exhaust routing before you commit. I run dual 3" pipes under the car and all the way out to the back. The Torque Arm prevents you from tucking the pipes into the driveshaft tunnel. For clearance on mine, about 1/2 of the intermediate pipes was re-made from oval tubing to add clearance.

Note that I don't have the BMR setup, but I don't think it will offer a lot more clearance in the tunnel. I also have a Watt's Link which added to the complexity. You will have to deal with some of that with any coilover setup as compared to the original leafs though...

This said, I like my Torque Arm setup. It just adds to the complexity of exhaust routing and ever having to remove the driveshaft...

[jtwoods4]

Just one thing to consider before you finalize this plan (from someone who has one). Make a plan for your exhaust routing before you commit. I run dual 3" pipes under the car and all the way out to the back. The Torque Arm prevents you from tucking the pipes into the driveshaft tunnel. For clearance on mine, about 1/2 of the intermediate pipes was re-made from oval tubing to add clearance.

Note that I don't have the BMR setup, but I don't think it will offer a lot more clearance in the tunnel. I also have a Watt's Link which added to the complexity. You will have to deal with some of that with any coilover setup as compared to the original leafs though...

This said, I like my Torque Arm setup. It just adds to the complexity of exhaust routing and ever having to remove the driveshaft...

Yeah I hear you. The main reason I chose the Torque arm setup is because all the other 3 and 4 link setups require significant fabrication and modification to the rear frame rails / trunk pan. The torque arm setup supposedly provides awesome handling compared to leaf springs but does not require custom fabrication to install.

What setup did you uses and what rear end?

[carbuff]

I have the JRS Apex torque arm setup. Eric did some work on the front mount to allow it to do double duty as my transmission mount also. This TA is a heavy sucker, and the Watt's Link creates some nice challenges for exhaust routing. Here is one example: you can see most of the welds in this one tube, although I think there are 2 others behind the axle (at least 1 for sure).

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/carbuff69/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/IMG_20140808_203055_zpsekeoq2ie.jpg (http://s100.photobucket.com/user/carbuff69/media/1971%20Firebird%20Formula%20-%20Project%20TOW/IMG_20140808_203055_zpsekeoq2ie.jpg.html)

Somewhere I have a bunch of recent pictures of the entire underside of the car. I'll try to dig those up if you're interested... They must be on my phone.

[jtwoods4]

That would be great. Other than exhaust routing, which can be overcome with a custom exhaust pipe install, what other issues did you encounter with the torque arm setup? Were you able to run a 3.5 inch driveshaft?

[carbuff]

Off the top of my head, I cannot remember for sure if it's a 3.5" or 4" driveshaft. But you should be able to fit either. There's a pretty good amount of height above my torque arm to the driveshaft...

I'll work on finding those pics.

[jtwoods4]

Thanks

[jtwoods4]

Oh my god, and just when I thought my decision was final I saw this on the speedtech site..... full front and rear kit... looks kit ass

http://www.speedtechperformance.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=50/category_id=36/mode=prod/prd50.htm

[Panteracer]

I have the speed tech setup but no spindles
yet. Works pretty good

Bob. Dreaming Ta's 70 bird

[jtwoods4]

I have the speed tech setup but no spindles
yet. Works pretty good

Bob. Dreaming Ta's 70 bird

"Pretty Good".... Its not totally awesome? :)

[OLDFLM]

I have BMRs Torque Arm on my car with 3" exhaust out the back...

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv273/OLDFLM/20140807_113621_zpsfa9aae41.jpg (http://s691.photobucket.com/user/OLDFLM/media/20140807_113621_zpsfa9aae41.jpg.html)

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv273/OLDFLM/20140807_114108_zpsf66da4a5.jpg (http://s691.photobucket.com/user/OLDFLM/media/20140807_114108_zpsf66da4a5.jpg.html)

I also have BMR's upper and lowers as well as their sway bar up front.

FWIW a 440-stroker = 4.185" x 4" bore/stroke = a LOT of fun!!

[jtwoods4]

FWIW a 440-stroker = 4.185" x 4" bore/stroke = a LOT of fun!!

Funny you mention that. I was planning the exact same engine build :)

[Panteracer]

Pretty good... I have not run the
car much other than on the street
been tweaking a bunch of other things
Lets say the car used to go down the road
like a truck.. now very smooth.. just changed
to lighter springs and vikings and seems to work
really well.. still need to dial it in with the shocks

Bob

[OLDFLM]

Funny you mention that. I was planning the exact same engine build :)

I love the combo! Sounds good too! :morepower

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv273/OLDFLM/th_IMG_0242_zpsqcrq6fla.mp4 (http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/vv273/OLDFLM/IMG_0242_zpsqcrq6fla.mp4)

[jtwoods4]

Latest updates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7r5cVAa6HM&list=UU-DPxYmjWwYKKN1E2n-8A_g

[jtwoods4]

More updates.... by the way what happened to the ability to imbed a you tube video? When I try it a large white square is inserted instead of a youtube video... see below

http://youtu.be/9gRIk4s4GIQ

9gRIk4s4GIQ

[WSSix]

More updates.... by the way what happened to the ability to imbed a you tube video? When I try it a large white square is inserted instead of a youtube video... see below

http://youtu.be/9gRIk4s4GIQ

9gRIk4s4GIQ

just use the numbers and letters after the /

you're moving along nicely!

[jtwoods4]

this past weekend I finished cleaning and painting the subframe the firewall and the undercarriage next weekend I start the suspension install

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[jtwoods4]

Here is a quick video of the plasma cutter I am going to use to modify the frame for the speed tech chicane coil over install.

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[jtwoods4]

Intermediate Steering Shaft restoration

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[jtwoods4]

Speedtech Front Suspension mount modification

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[WSSix]

Moving along nicely! I wish I had a plasma cutter when I did my coil over conversion. Using the cutoff wheel got the job done but is not as easy that's for sure.

[jtwoods4]

More welding updates

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[jtwoods4]

Front Suspension Complete!

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[jtwoods4]

More updates. Welded some seams on the rear frame and did the Gulstrand Mod to the front suspension.

Gulstrand

BCHx-t20l5s

Seam Weld

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[waynieZ]

It looks good, nice job.

[Empty1]

I really appreciate your step by step update on your Pro Touring Project. I only wish you would have done this 1 year ago, as I just completed my installation of the same Speed Tech suspension system in a 71 Firebird. If I'd of had your direction, it would have been a lot easier.

[Empty1]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/20/0431ce8a009e08004d68f657ece95441.jpg
Here how it's turned out.

[Trans am sim]

Hi I seen your build your doing looks like a great starting point I might have something you may be interested in a matching # formula 400 engine and pedigree give me a call if you're interested my name is sim 727-851-2787 thanks

[jp455]

Looks good! Hows that suspension working out for you? Im thinking of getting the same exact one...

[jtwoods4]

Started dating a stripper 6 months ago.... got a little distracted..... whoa..... not going to make that mistake again, but I'm back and the car build is back underway.

A lot has happened so I'm going to post several videos on this post. Suspension is done, short block engine has been built, cage went in the car today.

Interior disassembled
https://youtu.be/_NLSVAqPqwA

Dash Painting
https://youtu.be/b-zTGwxN088

Collapsible Steering Column Install
https://youtu.be/oG3u-zyjnNQ

Suspension Done and car back on the ground
https://youtu.be/xhqG64onEvY

Machine Shop
https://youtu.be/mmykIs9bHHw

Short Block
https://youtu.be/gcTmkvhgDiU

Cage install
https://youtu.be/lWfT20_GbF8

[LeighP]

Looking good, mate.

[jtwoods4]

Thank you

[jtwoods4]

Cage Install Complete

https://youtu.be/nvuTDORCZDI

nvuTDORCZDI

[jtwoods4]

Engine and Trans Mock-up Complete

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[jtwoods4]

Engine on the Dyno...

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[jtwoods4]

Engine in the car!!!

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[SBDave]

Awesome!