My Firebird build
 

First off my name is Sean James and I’m introducing my project and starting a build thread. I bought my 1969 Firebird on October 1st, 2000.

It started off to be just a driver, get it running and drive until I get my Camaro done. I had it running in two days and then I started cleaning the engine and engine compartment. I thought I might as well blow the heads off and re-gasket the engine plus it makes it easier to clean. Well there were holes in two pistons, so I went out and bought a remanufactured Pontiac 350 short block, had the heads rebuilt and bought an Edelbrock intake. For the money I spent on it I should have bought a LS1. Oh well. Skip to today, second house and two more kids.

I have acquired many parts and I’m ready to just get it drivable. So my theme for this is JUST GET THE DANG THING RUNNING AND DRIVE IT! Also the budget is small (by small I mean try not to spend money frivolously and only on things that are necessary) considering I have four kids, house, wife and one income.

Here is the basic plan. Power will be from the Pontiac 350, 290-340 horsepower with 400 lb-ft of torque backed by a T-56. Later I will swap it out for a 5.3L LS out of a truck and add the turbos I already have.

Front suspension has the Guldstrand mod with hybrid 13” c4/c5 brakes and Z06 red calipers and hydroboost brake assist from Hydrotech. It also has hidden spring adjusters installed and poly urethane bushings that will be swapped for Delrin or equal after I start driving it. Steering box will be upgraded but I haven’t decided on what box to go with. Eventually I want to get the adjustable a-arms from SC&C.

For the rear it has 3” drop leaf springs and offset shackles from SpeedTech. 12 bolt out of a Chevelle with 4:10 gears and a posi. Later it will be converted to a coilovers and a torque arm setup. I need the back seat for the kids so that leaves out any 3-link. Brakes are from a LS1 Camaro with Z06 calipers.

Wheel and tires, Front 17x9.5 with 275/30-18 and the rears are 17x12 with 335/35-18. Front tires and wheels will be delivered today. I will hopefully post up some pictures tonight. They were cheap one piece wheels and I’m having the rears widened but they look a lot like the HRE 547.

Here are the wheels I bought.
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pr...ss.smf.ang.jpg

Body and paint will be minimal for now but the plan is to shoot it in a flat or semi gloss dark green primer/sealer, nearly black with a lime green stripe.

My goal is to have it drivable in May for my birthday.

That's alot of rubber. I agree with just get the thing going. It is real easy to get side tracked for years without a running car. I plan to stop changing my mind soon and make progress. Post up those pics when you have them.:thumbsup:

Well I bought a camera over the weekend, a Canon PowerShot A720 IS. Some pictures will be posted tonight for your viewing pleasure :D .

You know how we love pics. :D

Here are some pictures. First here are some hubs that I have. The left one is a two piece disk brake hub and the one on the right is a drum hub.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/1795/img0039st9.jpg

This is the bracket I made for the disk brake conversion. you can also see the s10 bump stop.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3931/img0040pt1.jpg

C4 13" rotor and C5 caliper.
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/7336/img0041cd1.jpg

With wheel and tire.
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/4680/img0042gt8.jpg

Here is the money shot.:lol:
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/5616/img0050zr8.jpg

Front tire.
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/1070/img0048nx5.jpg

Here is a rear wheel that I had widened from 9.5" to 12" by WeldCraft Wheels, cost was $225 each wheel.
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8458/img0063ho6.jpg

For fun, three of my kids. Titus, Destiny and Haley.
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1508/img0064ga6.jpg

That's the money shot. :cheers:

That's great!! :cheers:

Wow I really like those wheels. I looked them up and found them to be the MB "Essen" wheel. Do they come in a variety of offsets or did they just happen to fit on the first gen? I might consider a set of these myself as the price is very nice.

Thanks,
William

I agree with Scott. The kids in the wheel is the money shot. Keep the pics coming. Go Firebird...

William,

I bought mine from Discount Tire Direct for $145 each and free shipping. They come in two widths 8" or 9.5" and two different offsets, 20 and 35. Which works out to be.....

18x8 20 offset = 5.29" backspace
18x8 35 offset = 5.88" backspace
18x9.5 20 offset = 6.04" backspace
18x9.5 35 offset = 6.63" backspace

Hear is one I really liked, Titus looking through the wheel register.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7363/img0065fq9.jpg

A few more of the back wheels.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7186/img0068mf1.jpg
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5499/img0069ic9.jpg
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4200/img0070ok7.jpg

Here is a shot of the hydroboost.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1331/img0049an5.jpg

Hear is what I made too mate the T56 to the pontiac motor.

Adapter.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9171/img0051wf2.jpg

Spacer.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9331/img0056ca0.jpg

Modified Bellhousing to clear the starter.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/3972/img0053wn5.jpg
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4193/img0055lh0.jpg

The abonimation of a cross member that I made and I will be remaking.
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/159/img0057bj2.jpg

Do you guys think I should grind the welds down on the back wheels that were widened or leave them?

Jimmy,
Grinding the welds down may affect their strength- I'd mount a tire on the rim and see if it balances with the minimum required wheel weights. If it doesn't you may have to have a machine shop cut the welds down on a lathe.

Nice work on finding a low-cost 18" rim and low-cost solution to finding a 12" wide rim for the back. A '69 Bird and cute kids- what more could a guy ask for?

Geno

Small update, I continued to work on the mini-tub. Here are a few pictures of the progress.
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6416/img0077aj7.jpg
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/9428/img0078pr6.jpg
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/1568/img0079em0.jpg
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/9283/img0081zp0.jpg

Hey Jimmy, I'm also in the process of building a 69 firebird and im looking to mate a t56 to a 350 pontiac block. So my question is what type of t56 do you have, a lt1 version or ls1? I might be able to buy a lt1 style t56 soon and was wondering if it would work with the modification that you did. Thanks

BTW... awesome bird

Thanks!

I used the LS1 version for my build not sure what it would take to use the LT1 version.

Keep me posted.

Chris

Nice car- Poncho powered to boot!
Good looking kids- enjoy them, they shoot up quick. I still scratch my head when I look at my oldest and think "weren't you just born yesterday?!"

That's a really great idea on getting a 18x12 wheel on the cheap. I am thinking that I may do the same thing.

Which offset did you get?

But am I figuring this right, assuming you got the 38mm offset, your wheels now have 9 inch backspacing? How does that work? I just have never heard of anyone running a wheel with that much backspacing.

Looks like the guy who did your wheels did a nice job. I was going to have a set done like that but was crunched for time. progress looks good.
Wayne

I bought the ET20 and the backspacing works out to be 8 5/16" after having them widened.

Here are some pictures of a camaro with wide wheels and stock width rear end.
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/462...0004bn3.th.jpg
http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/908...0005gw3.th.jpg

Wow it’s been a while. I got sidelined and remodeled our bathroom. I was supposed to do it before we moved into the house, that was seven years ago. I’ll attach some pictures of the before and after of the bathroom. I totally gutted it down to the studs, expanded and took the hall closet. I did all the work myself except for the taping and mudding. Well I got eczema really bad on my hands when I put the floor down. The thinset killed them, like a doof I didn’t were any gloves. So I have been battling that for two years and still have issues, so anyone that reading this, be sure to where gloves when working with the thinset.

Ok back to the firebird. I have been working a lot on it lately and have made some progress. The driver’s side mini-tub was finish before I started in on the bathroom. Recently I made (for free) and installed a DSE style cross member and started the passenger’s side mini-tub.

Here are few of the purchases I have made recently.
New gas tank – Rock Auto $97 Shipped
Megasquirt EFI DIY Kit – DIYAutoTune.com
In tank fuel pump PA_Series – Tanks Inc.
SS 2-1/2” Magna Flow Exhaust – Prodigy Customs, Thanks Frank.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3828/p9290249.th.jpg
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/4091/p9290251.th.jpg
Mold!!
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1957/p9290255.th.jpg

Remodeled

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/4524/paintmd.th.png
The shower
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/4251/showera.th.png
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9074/vanityk.th.png
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6546/doord.th.png

Progress has been slow. I have been working on the torque arm suspension. I also modified the front lower control arms to accept the Ridetech coil overs.

Control arm modification.
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/9...trolarm.th.jpg

The rear lower control arm mount - front
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/640/frontmountt.th.jpg

Rear Shock mounted
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/8...arshock.th.jpg
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/2807/rearendo.th.jpg

Panhard Bar
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/3...ardbar1.th.jpg

So it’s been a long time but that is what happens when you don’t have money or time and life gets in the way. I have owned this car for 11 years and I recently told my wife that I wanted to get it drivable by my birthday in May 2015. Then my father-in-law called a few days later and wanted me to bring it down to Arkansas (from MO) for his birthday in late April. He also wanted to make sure I met that goal by helping me financially with it. What a blessing!

Some things have changed with the project since I last posted. I have two LS truck engines that I have acquired a 5.3L and a 6.0L that has some damage but I’m not sure what it is yet. I will be using the 5.3 instead of the Pontiac engine that was in it. Instead of fabricating a bunch of parts I have decided to buy parts that I can bolt on and speed up the progression. I want to focus on getting it running, get the under carriage painted and worry about the body after I get it road worthy. I’m tired of not being able to enjoy it.


Here is the initial list of large parts.

Hooker LS retro-fit adapter motor mount brackets
Hooker T-56 crossmember
Holley reto-fit oil pan
DSE subframe connectors
DSE Firewall fill plate
DSE Fuel pump access door kit
Ridetech tru turn
600 Steering box
Tanks Inc. Fuel injection tank
3/8” confer fuel lines
Matt’s Classic Bowtie Griffin Radiator combo
Classic Auto Air
Dakota digital VHX Gauges
Moser Axles

More to come…..

I'm tired of the black subframe and want to do something different and felt inspiration from Mary's camaro and the Trans-am series race cars. I like the darker grey, it is darker than the picture shows.

http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5877abe0.jpg

I was able to get the firewall fill plate installed.
http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8602ed81.jpg
http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5d0c7b1c.jpg

Looks like I need to find somewhere else to host pictures but until then....

I can sympathize with the wanting to just drive it feeling. Just make sure you do it right as you go. Good luck!

Post up pictures of the entire car if you can.

What are your plans for the interior? It's neat that your father in law's in with you. I wished I had that kind of support (emotionally, not financially) when I was doing my car.

With the help from my FIL I won't cut as many corners as I would have with out his help. I want to do it right the first time, nothing bothers me more than having to do something over and over and over and wasting money.

After I get it drivable then I will focus on the interior and the body. But the plan is to either use the new TMI seat cushions and covers or use Sparco seats. New carpet, headliner, Twist Machine billet stick, Modo pedal covers, three point seat belts and Trans-am steering wheel.

My FIL and I didn't really get along that long ago so it was a huge surprise to me that he wanted to help me. My wife can either take it or leave it but gets pretty frustrated when thinking of how much money I have tied up in the car and it's just sitting in the garage.

I don't think I have any pictures of the car when it was all together. I'm going to work on the subframe connectors tomorrow and will post up a overall picture of the car as it stand now.

Great to hear your moving forward.
Awesome that the FIL has gotten in on the action as well!!!
GLWTB....:G-Dub:

With a friends help I was able to get the drivers side subframe connector installed.

http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...psd8c94bf4.jpg
http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps061afe5b.jpg
http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps54f0dd32.jpg

Can someone explain what type of spacers go on either side of the coilover shock and where to get them?

http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1d311058.jpg

I have some of those but thought they where to change the inside diameter of the bearing. I'll check them out tonight. Thanks.

Finished the passenger side subframe connector install.
http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps755d8344.jpg
http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3c16027d.jpg

Its looking good!

Good job on the subframe connectors!