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My first car was a 1968 firebird 400.

On wed I picked up a 1968 firebird coupe just north of Ft Worth. Let the project begin!

Will be doing some sheet metal work...trunk pan, PS floor pan, window to deck lid panel. Anyone here do this kinda work for fun? Wish there was a way to upload pics here without external linking.

Enjoy and good luck!

Nice.

enjoy and exspect to put twice the $$$ you plan into the project .
that's why I turned down a 57 chevy pickup last year! I was looking at a $20 ,000 project min and doing the work myself .with a bit of help from friends .

I do it for fun, but ever since I had a kid, I have less car fun time than I would hope.

normalicy wrote:I do it for fun, but ever since I had a kid, I have less car fun time than I would hope.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.. LOL!

I actually just bought another motorcycle. And I'll tell the story in another thread.

Little history.

The guy that sold me the car was not the owner. His mother had been awarded the car in a divorce. It was not in the best of shape and apparently his ex-father in law had someone do a pi55 poor interior job on it. The seats look great, but the bs indoor/outdoor boat carpet was a big no no...The headliner looks pretty good but it had to come down so I could OSHPO the entire inside of the car...I only want to do this once! Theres surface rust everywhere. Console, and dash look good though. Door panels are good as well. Window and door seals are like concrete lol.

I picked the car up last Wednesday around 3pm and got home around 8pm...damn 5:00 Dallas traffic!

After looking it all over, the entire PS floor pan will be coming out, seat mount braces, subframe floor braces as well. I ordered all the components to do the job from Summit racing for $148 bux!! Goodmark brand sheet metal.

The trunk pan has some rust in it so I will be replacing it next. Then the Window to deck lid panel will be removed along with the entire DS full quarter panel. I could use a patch kit (sheet metal) and fix it, but I'd rather just replace the entire thing in one swoop. Figure after doing the floor and the trunk, I should be pretty good at it lol.

The motor is actually a SBC 350 and TH350 transmission. the heads, edelbrock air gap RPM intake, and edelbrock carb were all laying in the trunk. Also the uber tall aluminum valve covers and other accy...alternator and the like. With a box of bolts (head bolts, rocker nuts, rocker arms...hand full of lifters) I decided what the hell and decided to attempt to put the motor back together. It had very little ridge in the cylinders and still showed some cross hatch in some bores. I couldnt find the push rods and 4 of the lifters so I bought some new ones along with a felpro head set. Started on it last Friday around 7pm and stopped around 11pm. Sat morning went to the hardware store and got some nuts/bolts...odds and ends, and by noon Sat, It was backing out of my drive way under its own power. The motor runs GREAT! No knock, no leaks, great oil pressure, and plenty of power. However, the bad news is I made it around the block and the trans was slipping like all get-out. I pulled the pan and found a crap ton of clutch chunks....not particles....actual chunks. So i changed the filter, sewed it back up and it drove ok for a few miles. The trans is screwed but thats ok though as I worked out a trade with my old boss that owns a transmission shop in copperas cove. Hes going to build a 700R4 with kevlar ban, corvette servo, shift kit, detent cable, and 3500rpm stall converter. Hope to have it by end of next week. I will have to shorten the drive shaft 2" since the 700 is 2 inches longer than the TH350 and will have to modify the crossmember a bit...no biggie. Will be nice to have a 40+ year old car with an OVERDRIVE transmission and still be able to run it down the drag way with 3500stall. Im sure the cam will choke out long before that so Ive lined up a deal on a 355 with a solid roller cam, and world products sportsman II heads fully ported. Once its running and driving, I will start on the quarter panel and deck lid panel. Other than that, its going to be a daily driver...well half the week days (no air conditioning!).

sounds like you have it under control . for a lot of guys that been a 2 year project and still body work to be done.

Take pics of your progress. I love seeing how these projects evolve.

Losbot wrote:Take pics of your progress. I love seeing how these projects evolve.

X2!!!!

Losbot wrote:Take pics of your progress. I love seeing how these projects evolve.

X3 - that!

Few photos.

holy $hit those photos are mungus!

That's fine. We can see more details that way.

Keep 'em coming over time.

Nice. I had a 1978 TranAm with the 400 shaker hood in the early 90s.