1969 Firebird TA clone track car build

[Motown 454]

Did you look at it with the suspension compressed? Does it get any tighter?

[jlwdvm]

This is at ride height. I think I will be ok...unless I go airborn.

[Motown 454]

It looks good.

[gator68428]

Loving this project BTW. My favorite part about the 69 is rear wing. Just put a stock spoiler on my 68, but I like the wing better. Will be nice to see it out on the track, sometime soon hopefully. What part of the country are you? I'm in FL.

Ever think about optima USCA? I just got bit by the bug this year and am preparing for further upgrades to be more competitive next year.

I like your cage. I recently put in something similar in my 68 Firebird. From Rhodes Race cars. The price was right and all of the bends were spot on: some of the pieces were too long, but that was no issue as it allowed me to customize it to my liking, some of the pieces were pre-notched and some weren't and some were notched on too long of a piece that need cutting--but that's my only critique--for the price I was more than happy. I squeezed it as high and tight as possible and you almost can't tell I have a cage from outside the car. My main hoop is further back as I plan to sit as far back as possible and soon I will move back steering wheel, pedals and shifter (may accomplish that by moving engine back if I can tackle such an endeavor). I have a project thread but I'm still playing catch up. Hope to be current soon. I still need to add door bars and a dash bar, and i want to put down bars from firewall in the engine compartment. Any plans to do the latter two on your 69?

[jlwdvm]

My 8-point cage is by Alston with the halo and a-pillar bars coming from Jegs. I also added a cross bar between the a-pillar bars that braces them and also acts as the dash mount. I may add the front firewall-sub frame bars later. Next on the agenda is to get the sub frame connector mounts welded to the sub and attached the the connectors before I have to move out of my current home on 7/21. I won't be able to move into my new garage with attached house (1200sq ft, double deep 3rd stall with 2-post lift, 4-post lift, 220 outlets, heat, tv, etc!) until mid October. I hope to get the car into a few autocross events to get the bugs worked out before I hit a larger track like Autobahn. I have a baffled and trap door oil pan, but still need to get the Accusump and oil cooler plumbed in, but I am waiting to do that after I get the break-in oil changed out. I would love to do an optima event. Road America is about 4.5 hours from me.

[Motown 454]

Beautiful garage! pretty nice house attached to it also. That's going to be sweet to work on the car.

[gator68428]

My 8-point cage is by Alston with the halo and a-pillar bars coming from Jegs. I also added a cross bar between the a-pillar bars that braces them and also acts as the dash mount. I may add the front firewall-sub frame bars later. Next on the agenda is to get the sub frame connector mounts welded to the sub and attached the the connectors before I have to move out of my current home on 7/21. I won't be able to move into my new garage with attached house (1200sq ft, double deep 3rd stall with 2-post lift, 4-post lift, 220 outlets, heat, tv, etc!) until mid October. I hope to get the car into a few autocross events to get the bugs worked out before I hit a larger track like Autobahn. I have a baffled and trap door oil pan, but still need to get the Accusump and oil cooler plumbed in, but I am waiting to do that after I get the break-in oil changed out. I would love to do an optima event. Road America is about 4.5 hours from me.

Wow awesome--that will be a nice shop!

Oh wow, so you integrated the dash bar into the dash. Hidden well, good idea.

Good idea on the getting the bugs worked out on the AutoX courses, same thing I did with mine in the few years prior to my first track day in 2014. I'd love to do RA one day.

Interesting that you mention the Accusump. I am considering what to do with mine. I have baffled trap door oil pan too, but old Pontiac not nearly as good oiling as a LS7 (assuming that's what you have... but same goes for LS-anything). I am planning to rebuild the Pontiac with Eagle rods and forged crank--get the rotating assembly from Butler for ~$2400. Since I'm already invested in with the KRE heads and roller cam etc., and I do the engine assembly myself, its my most cost effective option and will allow me to keep the Pontiac pride going... This 4-bolt main 428 with stock bottom end (My dad, brother and I did the rebuild back in early 2000's) has held up to track abuse well and given me more than I could have expected--and I want to rebuild before I ruin the block. I'm also a little bit lucky too b/c depending on the track and the length of the sweepers, I know I need a better oiling system to be safe.

The Accusump seems like a great intermediate before going all out dry sump--and frankly something I should have done a while ago. The only thing I'm debating for after the rebuild, is whether to go full dry sump or not. Mainly because I want crankcase evacuation of some sort. Butler sells a vacuum kit for $1000. But if I go dry sump I won't need that, but the cost would instead be closer to $2k with custom fab work required on my end... But actually, Butler vac kit + Accusump will be $1500, so I'll have to keep thinking about it. Keep up the good work on your build. Looking forward for updates when you get it on the AutoX and track.

[jlwdvm]

I have an LS3. LS motors can have oiling problems with high g corners, so initially I went with the largest Accusump I could get. Then Improved Racing came out with a trap door/baffle insert for the Holley 302 pan that wasn't available when my motor was built. I got tired of thinking about it, so I dropped the motor with the sub. I pulled the pan and installed the insert for piece of mind. I looked at having Kaufmann build me a 400 in the 550-600hp range, and it was the same as having Texas Speed build my LS3...so I went that route.

[jlwdvm]

I'm in between garages at the moment, but trying to sort out the brakes with the help of Ron Sutton. When is the last time the president of Summit Racing called you back on a Sunday night to help you sort out an issue you were having with your build?!?! I can't say enough about the all of the advice Ron has given me both before and after the sale on products I have used for this build! Heck, he even sent some brake pressure gauges for me to borrow so we could get a better idea of what is going on with my system. One more month, and I will be in my new garage!

[jlwdvm]

Still lots to do to get the new garage up to speed and it seems like forever since anything has been done to the car, but at least I got it scheduled to be painted after the 1st of the year!

[T/A Addict]

Great to see that she is still alive! I've read through this thread a couple times and plan on using some of your ideas and work on the build of my '69 Bird. Hope you don't mind. Great car and thread btw.

[jlwdvm]

Teaching myself how to TIG weld aluminum. The spoiler started off life as a 6'x6"x1/8" piece from McMaster Carr that I cut in half to get the slight point in the center. The bracing is 1/8" bent flat stock bolted to the lower valence and the rad support.

[jlwdvm]

Pretty cool right up...but I think we need to edit out the part about getting married!

https://www.hotrodhotline.com/joes-r...e#.WmXzXDRG2M9

...and TIG welding aluminum looks a lot easier in YouTube videos.

[jlwdvm]

The bulk of the welding and fab is done on the front spoiler. The rad support brackets and center brace aren't bolted up yet and it is already super stiff. A new addition to the garage is waiting to be shipped up from Dallas!

[jlwdvm]

A new addition to the garage arrived from Dallas on Monday.

[jlwdvm]

I cut down some aluminum and filled in the gaps on each side of the spoiler. Also getting ready to finally mate the front sub frame to the connectors.

[jlwdvm]

I made a close out panel to help direct air flow into the radiator and also stiffen up the center of the spoiler to help keep the weld from cracking. Not sure if it was necessary on either count, but I did it anyway! The Spectra door panels fit excellent.

[Mr Nick]

How do you like the 4 post Direct Lift? I'll be purchasing a drive on lift in the near future, can't decide between Direct Lift or the more expensive BendPak lifts.

[jlwdvm]

I've set it up, taken it down, and set it up again (by myself) since I moved last summer. I went with Direct Lift because they are owned by Rotary Lift. No problems. If I had to choose, I would go with a 2-post for more versatility.

[jlwdvm]

Trying to get a bunch of little projects done before paint. Mounted the Control Cables E-brake handle after making sure I wouldn't have any interference from the driveshaft on the cable mount. I ended up spraying the handle with bed liner to match the shifter nob. I'll measure for custom cables after I mount the rear bracket in the tunnel over the rear axle yoke.