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View Full Version : camaro conversion on my 69 firebird should I?



forcefedturbine
11-11-2009, 11:01 AM
im restoring my bird and i really love the look of the camaro front end and i dont know if i should convert it or not what would that do to value and what r your guys opinionhttps://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

6'9"Witha69
11-11-2009, 11:04 AM
As much a Camaro guy I am, leave a 'bird a 'bird. Birds can do look really good, especially with front grills made to look a little smaller. Take a look around at some of the well done 'birds and you will see what I mean.

formula
11-11-2009, 12:00 PM
there are too many done-up camaros as-is. Do a bird, it'll stand out better in a crowd and be cooler in the end.

forcefedturbine
11-11-2009, 01:20 PM
there are too many done-up camaros as-is. Do a bird, it'll stand out better in a crowd and be cooler in the end.

thats what i was thinkin but that front end is hard to make look good imo

Mr.VENGEANCE
11-11-2009, 01:44 PM
if you dont like the 69 birds front...

take a 67-68 bird front end and put it on the 69 front... THAT would be fresh i think.

i havent seen it done before.. anyone?

Ishmael
11-16-2009, 04:30 PM
^^ agreed with both the above, the 69 bird nose is ugly but the lines are nice so try that big beautiful beak of the 67/68

thetoystore
11-16-2009, 05:39 PM
that would not be possible without a TON of fab work. the 68 and 69 sheetmetal are completely different

68Formula
11-16-2009, 06:21 PM
Please don't hack the Firebird. Either sell it and get a Camaro or leave it be. One think that can detract from the front is the chrome surround for the grille. Try painting it body color for a smoother look. At least that is easily reversible.

JQE80
11-18-2009, 09:29 PM
The wheel well shapes wouldn't match if u put the older front end on the car. Just like the camaros the 69 wells have the flat area on them and the 67-68's are round.

Jarrid

Mr.VENGEANCE
11-18-2009, 09:56 PM
that would not be possible without a TON of fab work. the 68 and 69 sheetmetal are completely different


Yea i agree with this guy, DO-IT!!.. Hes telling ya to DO-IT!..

T_Raven
11-19-2009, 06:19 AM
Yea i agree with this guy, DO-IT!!.. Hes telling ya to DO-IT!..
LOL!!

To the OP, if you care about resell value I'd say don't use Camaro parts. I personally like the 69 front end, though I have been trying to come up with a way to change the one on mine to make it look a little cleaner with a noticably custom look that doesn't look out of place. I think I have seen a 69 with a 67-68 grill and bumper. I don't know, I love custom stuff but I think it's silly to put obviously wrong factory parts on a car. Like the wrong front end on any year Firebird, or Chevy parts on a Pontiac or vise versa. I like 67-72 GMC trucks but I won't buy a chevy and put a GMC grill on it, it has to be a GMC, but that's just me. And when I see stuff like that for sale, a GMC with a chevy grill or vice versa, or a 79 TA with a 78 front bumper it totally lowers the amount I'd be willing to pay. It just looks like the owner used what he had lying around to piece together a car so he could sell it. I definitely think it would be a waste to put camaro parts on a firebird, UNLESS you did some fab work to make it somewhere in the middle. I like first gen birds just fine the way they are but I love the way a camaro looks from the side with a cowl hood. Every firebird cowl hood I've ever seen looks dumb, it just doesn't flow with the lines. So I've tried to imagine how i could use a camaro hood and header panel but add a bit of a peak so it still looked like a Firebird but less pronounced than an original hood.

68Formula
11-19-2009, 07:27 AM
I almost forgot one part of your original posting. The value will go into the toilet. 99.999% of potential buyers - whether they are Camaro or Firebird fans - aren't going to want to touch your hybrid regardless of how far you take it body wise (all Camaro Panels, or just the front end). I've seen a couple hybrids in the past, and usually they list for about half the value of what a typical Firebird in same condition would go for, and they stay on the market forever.

Like I said, look up some Birds with painted surrounds (I think Empty Nest was one, I've seen a couple others), or sell it and get a real Camaro.


Please don't hack the Firebird. Either sell it and get a Camaro or leave it be. One think that can detract from the front is the chrome surround for the grille. Try painting it body color for a smoother look. At least that is easily reversible.

Mr.VENGEANCE
11-19-2009, 08:01 AM
LOL!!

To the OP, if you care about resell value I'd say don't use Camaro parts. I personally like the 69 front end, though I have been trying to come up with a way to change the one on mine to make it look a little cleaner with a noticably custom look that doesn't look out of place. I think I have seen a 69 with a 67-68 grill and bumper. I don't know, I love custom stuff but I think it's silly to put obviously wrong factory parts on a car. Like the wrong front end on any year Firebird, or Chevy parts on a Pontiac or vise versa. I like 67-72 GMC trucks but I won't buy a chevy and put a GMC grill on it, it has to be a GMC, but that's just me. And when I see stuff like that for sale, a GMC with a chevy grill or vice versa, or a 79 TA with a 78 front bumper it totally lowers the amount I'd be willing to pay. It just looks like the owner used what he had lying around to piece together a car so he could sell it. I definitely think it would be a waste to put camaro parts on a firebird, UNLESS you did some fab work to make it somewhere in the middle. I like first gen birds just fine the way they are but I love the way a camaro looks from the side with a cowl hood. Every firebird cowl hood I've ever seen looks dumb, it just doesn't flow with the lines. So I've tried to imagine how i could use a camaro hood and header panel but add a bit of a peak so it still looked like a Firebird but less pronounced than an original hood.

Cool story, bro..

Yea what this guy said.. DO-IT! itll be SWEET!

T_Raven
11-20-2009, 03:10 AM
Yeah like i said, do it, and then when you're ready to sell it I'll buy it at a stupid low price because it's got all the wrong parts:cool:

Mr.VENGEANCE
11-20-2009, 07:39 AM
couldnt agree with you more, Traven..

classiccardude69
11-29-2009, 02:13 PM
Why did you get a 69 bird if you don't like the way it looks? lol

Heck, you can always do a camaro later on.

Mr.VENGEANCE
11-29-2009, 09:26 PM
eeEEEXACTLY!

so that what ^this guys saying... later on you can turn the firebird into a camaro..

NO RUSH!

T_Raven
11-30-2009, 03:44 AM
I think he should turn it into a fastback mustang. I love 69 Firebirds, but I love "Elanore" style mustangs. That would be the ultimate! Plus Mustang sheet metal is cheap!

formula
11-30-2009, 06:24 AM
if it's about the cost of sheet metal, just turn it into a 'vette. They don't even have sheet metal!

classiccardude69
12-02-2009, 10:08 PM
I meant build up an actual camaro later on. :P Don't jack up the bird.

T_Raven
12-03-2009, 02:27 AM
WAIT!! Turn the bird into a camaro and then later get a camaro and use the left over firebird parts to make a firebird! Problem solved, right Mr. Vengence? lol

Mr.VENGEANCE
12-03-2009, 01:24 PM
exactly... he just told you to turn the spaghetti into a cowboy boot.. the body panels line up perfect for the transformation.. itll be cool.. noone will notice!

forcefedturbine
12-04-2009, 12:38 PM
when i go to the gallery how do i just look up 1st gen firebirds?

T_Raven
12-05-2009, 03:32 AM
Wanna see some pics eh? I've got quite a few of cars that I think looked pretty good.

This one I almost bought a few months ago but there was a lot I wanted to change and he wanted more than I was willing to pay for a car with a bunch of parts I didn't like. Great looking car though
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/B52kKGrHgoHCUEjlLl1UPiBKcIYWgyg_3-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/BklCGkKGrHgoHDMEjlLluysEBKcJJR4CoQ-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/pic5-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/pic15-1.jpg

T_Raven
12-05-2009, 03:35 AM
A few more 69s I thought looked good.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/BQUYeg2kKGrHgoHCYEjlLlq68ZBKqqUC5E-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/90329423_1-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/22442480019_large-1.jpg

T_Raven
12-05-2009, 03:37 AM
and some 67s and 68s just for the heck of it.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/DSCN1264b-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/yellow672-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/0703phr_08_z1968_pontiac_firebird-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/465a-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/5fb9_12-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/65684604090-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/9-1.jpg

68Formula
12-05-2009, 03:49 AM
Traven, got any pics of the 69 with a painted bumper to show him? I've seen it on a couple cars before, but I don't recall where.

T_Raven
12-05-2009, 07:51 AM
This one is on ebay right now
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/BgpzGwBWkKGrHqMHCMEsK43JK42BLGFLST-1.jpg
A quick cardomain.com search brought up this one, there's a whooole bunch of 69s on there
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/30920590011_large-1.jpg
Here's one I just scanned out of an issue of High Performance Pontiac. You can see they modified it quite a bit
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/scan00011-1.jpg
This one's not body color but I forgot to post it before.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/12/M078-1.jpg
I think I might've pulled this one off here or lateral-g.net. Some of what I've posted might belong to board members. I tried not to post any I got off these forums though. I don't want to piss any members off for posting their pics before they get the chance lol. You can find quite a few first gens in the project updates sections here and at lateral-g. Just search thread titles for firebird.

T_Raven
12-05-2009, 07:52 AM
I like the bumper either way. I think painting it makes it look more like a GTO though.

forcefedturbine
12-08-2009, 10:35 PM
im not going to have bumpers on this car im gonna shave the holes and the little bird on the back as well the pics r great guys keep them coming i really like the 2 tone black and orange on with the hood extended over the grill is there anymore pics of the one in the pontiac magazine that r clearer?

T_Raven
12-09-2009, 12:06 AM
Here are the two articles where they painted that car
http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/sch/02/eye-kandy/articles/index.html

Taman
12-17-2009, 02:52 PM
On a 2nd gen F-body, the only parts on the body that are the same is the roof and trunk lid. All the body lines are different. That might also be true on a 1st gen. I would check to see if the 1/4 panels and the doors have the same part number. If not, they are different and require a lot of massaging to make them look good.