1969 Firebird, TT Pontiac engine

[redmist]

Speechless.

Absolutely amazing work, and I am now motivated! Thanks! ha

[69Phoenix]

Headlight bucket being fitted to the mock up grill insert, and bucket installed for fitment

Hope to have the grill and bezel pieces finished in the next handful of weeks. Hard waiting on everything but in order to get it all right it just takes time. I don’t have the patience Troy and his team at BBT have and can appreciate all the hard work they are doing.

[cbpldc]

I'm really enjoying this build. Based on the shape of the headlight openings and buckets, are you thinking Mustang or from something else?

Chris

[69Phoenix]

We have and are having all the grill and light components custom machined out of 6061-T6 aluminum. The lights themselves are HID units. Once we have everything together and in one place we'll post some pictures with them installed. Glad you are enjoying the build.

[69Phoenix]

Just wanted folks to see and get an idea of what kind of work the guys at BBT in Mahomet Illinois do. Can't wait to see the dash and doors coming together. For now the focus is on the plumbing for the turbos and the grill/headlight assemblies. We will be machining the grill and light bezels in our shop in Georgetown Texas on a Haas VF-6. Sometimes it’s okay to sit on the sidelines and watch, sometimes it’s fun to get involved.

Will post updates as I have them.

[69Phoenix]

Floors looking at what is now the firewall.

[Build-It-Break-It]

Amazing. Their skills are insane.

[Buryingthesun]

The metal work on this car is just unbelievable

[69Phoenix]

We've been busy on other aspects of the car and I've been waiting on availability on our shop floor to machine the grill components. Finally got some time in the Haas VF-6 and this is how things are progressing. Not sure how we are going to finish the components just yet but this is how they are looking in bare aluminum.

I'll post additional pics as we wrap things up to see what you think.

[69Phoenix]

Each hole is at a 6 degree angle and after roughing them all out we went back and profiled each hole into a honeycomb shape. The run time is long but the end product will be worth it. We wanted to make a few things in our shop to show our commitment to the project and to be a part of the build. Growing up in a machine shop has it's benefits and it's fun for our crew to get involved in more than just machined parts that go "somewhere" but never give the guy who makes them any idea of how they are used. Our programmer is having a good time running these one off pieces for the car. Hope to make more components when we get to the interior.

[ryeguy2006a]

Every-time I see this car, I am in awe at the level of metal finishing. It is amazing to me. Fantastic work!

[skylark guy]

That grill is looking amazing. I have been thinking of doing a billet grill for my Skylark and this may have pushed me into at least drawing it up in CAD. What thickness material are you using?

[69Phoenix]

Thanks for the props on the grill. We are trying to do as much as we can on the car and readily admit we are not fabricators like Troy's team at BBT but we like to machine and thought it would be fun to get involved if only a little bit. The base grill is .375" thick and the two large inner grill bezels covering the main portions of the honeycomb are .750" thick and screw directly to the grill itself from the backside using countersunk hardware. The light bezels/trim pieces are a bit thinner at .875", .375" of which drops down into the headlight openings centering them in place leaving the bezel standing .500" proud of the grill. Hope to have some finished pictures up this weekend.

[Josh@Ridetech]

My lord... That's insane.

[69Phoenix]

An up close shot of the passenger light opening.

[69Phoenix]

Although not a PT vehicle I thought it would be fun to share a new project at BBT Fab. My dad has always bought other people’s “projects” and remade them into his own, always tinkering and tweaking things to his liking. I have been so impressed with the work done at Troy’s shop that I dug out his old 34’ 5 window Ford that has made three moves over 35 years. It sat under a tarp next to the first house I lived in as a kid, then into the driveway, a shed, and finally to our shop where it has sat for the last 18 years. My dad is 77 and I wanted him to have something he could call his own. So... a plan was crafted and Troy and his talented group got busy. They found a Walden chassis with a quick change rear, and Halibrand 16” magnesium wheels from a project that never saw completion out west so we jumped on the opportunity to get the car rolling and scooped those items up.

My dad always liked superchargers and had a small 471 GMC blower he took off an old Diesel engine he found in a junk yard. He reworked it (clearanced the rotors) and runs it on a small block Chevy in a 31’ Model A Ford he bought when I was a teenager. Kind of a rat rod before there were rat rods. Never painted it, never finished the interior, just drove it.

I like technology and low maintenance so I thought it would be fun to blend the two worlds. My generation and his. Texas Speed and Performance is 5 miles from our machine shop in Georgetown, Texas so I had them put together an aluminum 427” LS based long block for the car. BDS supplied a 671 huffer, and Hilborn has the coolest four port stack injectors that are electronically controlled so we bought one of their kits to give it the old school look without the headache of being a full blown race injection system. Hoping this combination will produce plenty of power but be mild mannered enough to cruise the streets.

Lots of plans for the old coupe, hoping to have the car finished by this time next year. Just wanted to share what else BBT Fabrications does as they are not just about muscle cars. They like anything with a motor and wheels.

[69Phoenix]

The old man definitely has a weight advantage!

[Dons67]

so much talent

[69Phoenix]

The brown UPS truck should be showing up at BBT tomorrow with a package! Looking forward to seeing how she smile’s when her new grill gets set in place.

Here are a few shots of the two halves. Not sure what kind of finish will go on the aluminum but for now we’ll be happy just to see how things look with the opening filled.

Thanks to my programmer and machinist Trent Pope who gladly took on the task of taking the aluminum plate and turning it into something pretty.

[69Phoenix]

Full grill assembly. Thanks Trent.