Project thread--'68 Firebird with a "Beak-Job"

[hotrodneb]

OK---guess it's about time for my "build thread'

The plan
LS1 / 4L60E from '98 Trans Am
Hotchkis lowering springs front/rear
Tubular A-arms, tall ball joints and tie rods
LS1 brake system front/rear with LS brake booster modified to stock pedal
Vintage air Gen-3
Mostly stock interior
Tanks Inc Fuel injected tank


I've liked the Firebird but REALLY didnt like the fact that the front bumper looks like an after-thought, and truth be told it really is. Pontiac had to "hang" their nose onto a camaro. So my mission was to make it look like it belongs there---

78648


It took a million trial fits and removing just under 1/2" from the chrome edge but the end result is that the lines of the hood and fenders follow nicely onto the bumper now. In total the bumper is moved back just over an inch from where the factory hung it. I was also fortunate that my car came with camaro fenders which gave me 3 tabs inside the headlamp bucket to mount the edge of the bumper to. This will allow it to remain in-line with the fender edge and not chew the paint there. I will have it re-chromed. Simply put---it got a NOSE-job.

Well' once that was finished the mods needed to continue to the lower vailance---

78649


To complete the nose, a camaro vailance was used. The air openings were narrowed about 6" giving me just enough room to put in a set of "frenched-in" '69 parking lamps. The narrowing of the openings put their start at the inside edge of the headlamp instead of some random point the factory chose, and the park lamps are centered between the headlamps. ALSO---the center X of the park lamp grill was removed and to my pleasure the shape of the remainder matched the curvature of the bumper perfectly.

And well, Since we are on the topic of bumpers, I don't like the Firebird rear bumper either. It is WAY too much for the car-----

78650

I knew I couldn't just put a Camaro bumper on a nice Firebird, puritsts and mod-guys agree on ONE thing-that. So I set out to make something that was neither camaro or Firebird. The rear "split" bumper is 2 camaro bumpers that gave their life and were split-chopped-modded-and welded back together. It is tucked in nice and close with 1/4 gap all around and I plan on having it re-chromed. The '68 fuel fill is filled-in and fueling will be accomplished behind the flip-down liscence plate using a '69 Firebird gas tank.

78659


All/all the cal has the "feel" of the stub-nose Camaro, but still maintaining the Firebird styling. I plan on the original black vinyl roof and a modern charcoal grey paint.

[srh3trinity]

I need to go and google some stock pictures to appreciate the work that you are putting into it. There was a build years back that has probably been finished or the guy ran out of money. It was a high dollar 67 or 68 Firebird build and he had a lot of body mods. They actually accentuated the nose and it was really shaping up nicely.

[hotrodneb]

You're prolly referring to this one......thought about something along those lines but it was too far away from Pontiac for me

78679

Here are a few more closeups of the beak-job

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[JHunter]

The amount of work you have in to those mods, and the result is Very impressive - thanks for sharing

[T_Raven]

Nice work on those bumpers

[hotrodneb]

Time for a little updating....here a pic the wife popped during fab. I spend alot of my work on the phone

96089

[hotrodneb]

And NOW.....it's a holiday weekend, rain/drizzle in the forcast....a perfect time for a garage paint job. Here is everything in primer. This weekend will consist of painting, color sanding, and buffing. The best holiday I can think of right now.

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[hotrodneb]

More Primer pics

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[Gil]

96096
Bumpers mods are very nice !
Keep plugging away & have a good paint holidays.
Gil

[hotrodneb]

Just an additional note....this pic sux....the tail panel is actually MUCH smoother that it appears. Lighting and breakthrough on the primer makes it look bad. The entire car gets a sealer before color so this wont be an issue.

96097

[68400BIRD]

You did some nice mods to your car. I really like them. I see we did a couple of the same things. I welded up my tulip panel, welded in the rear tail light panel, and welded up the seam on the lower quarter to rocker. I almost did the fender extensions. Looking forward to seeing some paint pictures. Good luck with the spraying.

[lucky13firebird]

I dig it, lots of work involved but the results are looking nice.

[hotrodneb]

It's been one LONG day......but Ahhh I like the smell of fresh paint in the morning.

Started about 5am....and a little sealer, color and clear and following is what I ended up with. I SUCK at painting so tomorrow will be filled with a ton of color sanding. There are sags, and then there are runs.......but there is actually clear dripping off in a couple places.

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[hotrodneb]

and a couple more---

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[AtomicFirebird]

Very nice

[gordonr1973]

Color looks awesome!!

[hotrodneb]

Color sanding is a wonderful invention

96316

Orange peel almost gone......It is taking ALOT of color sanding.........that IDIOT i hired to paint it will never earn a living in body work.

96317

[AtomicFirebird]

That's hilarious, I had to go back to see who you were talking about. I thought maybe I missed something. I think it's great you let him paint the car. You gave him a start and it should improve over time.

[CamaroJesse]

I love the color. The cars coming along nicely. I can't wait to see it done.

[Wall]

Looks awesome! What color is that?

I am doing similar work to my bumpers. I already finished the rear bumper which is a firebird bumper that I cut and fit snug to the body, also welded up the bolt holes. Now though I wish I would have gone with the camaro rear bumper.

I am still trying to decide what i want to do to the front bumper but it will at least be sucked in to the body.

[hotrodneb]

Color is "House of Kolors" green

It is their HOK82-03-Q01 Karrier mixed with their HOK82-FX35-HP1 green pearl

And thanx.....done colorsanding and buffing now.....new pics coming soon

[gordonr1973]

Pics??

[hotrodneb]

Here are a couple pics post color sand......WELL worth the effort

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[hotrodneb]

Hotchkis lowering springs...'74 Nova housing with 8.5" Eaton Posi....LS1 brakes.....and a cheap-o rear sway bar

97359

[hotrodneb]

Fat-mat......Ensolite and some MLV to follow before carpet

97360

[mikewoods]

Looking Good!

[hotrodneb]

Ensolite installed, fit carpet and controls. Tilt column is '84 camaro, Brake MC/booster is 98 Firebird. Steering box is JGC.

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[hotrodneb]

Modern version of the Cragar S/S in Aluminum .....8X17 with 4.5 Bs

Tires are some 225-50/17 scabs to run until I get the drivetrain bugs worked out.

97397

[FireBeater]

Man!

Those 69 Bird fog lamps are soo cool. I see alot of 1st Gen with the 69 Camaro fog lamps. I think creating a little mods like that really snap up a car. Keep it up!



OK---guess it's about time for my "build thread'

The plan
LS1 / 4L60E from '98 Trans Am
Hotchkis lowering springs front/rear
Tubular A-arms, tall ball joints and tie rods
LS1 brake system front/rear with LS brake booster modified to stock pedal
Vintage air Gen-3
Mostly stock interior
Tanks Inc Fuel injected tank


I've liked the Firebird but REALLY didnt like the fact that the front bumper looks like an after-thought, and truth be told it really is. Pontiac had to "hang" their nose onto a camaro. So my mission was to make it look like it belongs there---

78648


It took a million trial fits and removing just under 1/2" from the chrome edge but the end result is that the lines of the hood and fenders follow nicely onto the bumper now. In total the bumper is moved back just over an inch from where the factory hung it. I was also fortunate that my car came with camaro fenders which gave me 3 tabs inside the headlamp bucket to mount the edge of the bumper to. This will allow it to remain in-line with the fender edge and not chew the paint there. I will have it re-chromed. Simply put---it got a NOSE-job.

Well' once that was finished the mods needed to continue to the lower vailance---

78649


To complete the nose, a camaro vailance was used. The air openings were narrowed about 6" giving me just enough room to put in a set of "frenched-in" '69 parking lamps. The narrowing of the openings put their start at the inside edge of the headlamp instead of some random point the factory chose, and the park lamps are centered between the headlamps. ALSO---the center X of the park lamp grill was removed and to my pleasure the shape of the remainder matched the curvature of the bumper perfectly.

And well, Since we are on the topic of bumpers, I don't like the Firebird rear bumper either. It is WAY too much for the car-----

78650

I knew I couldn't just put a Camaro bumper on a nice Firebird, puritsts and mod-guys agree on ONE thing-that. So I set out to make something that was neither camaro or Firebird. The rear "split" bumper is 2 camaro bumpers that gave their life and were split-chopped-modded-and welded back together. It is tucked in nice and close with 1/4 gap all around and I plan on having it re-chromed. The '68 fuel fill is filled-in and fueling will be accomplished behind the flip-down liscence plate using a '69 Firebird gas tank.

78659


All/all the cal has the "feel" of the stub-nose Camaro, but still maintaining the Firebird styling. I plan on the original black vinyl roof and a modern charcoal grey paint.

[vannatta20]

Did you use camaro front fenders?

[hotrodneb]

Why yes I did........not many would notice that still after the mods. They came with the car when I bought it....and happened to fit nicely into the eventual outcome. All the side marker lights are getting replaced with small LED markers. Those pics will come later.

[hotrodneb]

Saftey being of utmost importance.......I certainly dont want to hurt someone, or myself after all this hard work.

I have hired an inspector for ALL of the work I've done. He seems to be an expert at everything, and he works cheap too. But sheesh he nit-picks EVERY little detail.






97488

[Wall]

Looking really good man, can't wait to see it back together with all the bumper and valance mods!

[hotrodneb]

It might not look like much....but it took alot of work

Fabbed my own bracket (adjustable) to hold the '68 shifter cable on the side of the 4L60E
Re-worked the arm for proper travel of the cable in relation to shifter operation
reduced shift detent resistance to accomidate the '68 shifter
cut my OWN detents and modified the '68 shifter to operates the 4-speeds

Also put together my driveshaft----

'98 Firebird transmission yoke
'68 firebird driveshaft shortened 3" MYSELF
Diff yoke from the '74 Nova

97934

[hotrodneb]

Interior progress-----

Steering wheel installed and clocked
Brake lines plumed and readt to bleed
Accelerator pedal hooked up
--'68 firebird 6-cyl pedal with modified '98 Firebird LS1 cable

Please note---I am running the PROPER Accel pedal and dimmer covers for someone who "came of age" in the 70's

97935

[hotrodneb]

Enging bay progress----

Power steering hooked up
--Re-bent the pressure line that came FREE with my JGC box from junkyard
--only need to slip on a longer return line onto the barbs
TRSA1A AC compressor installed in stock F-body location
--heavily modified Trailblazer SS AC bracket
--BIG notch in frame for AC compressor
Hope I put the Cruise module in a place it wont be seen or get in the way
Booster and M/C are donated from the '98 Firebird.
Stock '68 sway bar with new bushings and links

97936

[rohrt]

Subscribing. Nice work

[hotrodneb]

UPDATE---Vinyl roof installed

98134 98135

98136

[Gil]

nicely done !
Push her outside and take pictures
Gil

[hotrodneb]

Interesting idea....but there are a couple small obstacles at the moment.....

I COULD have brakes if I bled them....
and the car DOES have park now and a driveshaft.

But the REAL problem with that is-----

After my nice level garage floor there is a 20' drop in my driveway over about 60'.......I could get it out....but would never get it back IN <smile>

[Gil]

Yep, better to wait, no worries ...
Rear lowering springs are 1.5" drop or stock?
Gil

[hotrodneb]

Springs---dunno..1.5 or 2.....whatever Hotchkis specs are

Update---Little more interior work. I don't like spending money so I made my own kick panels. A little 24 ga, some snipping, a little left over Ensolite, cover with some extra vinyl that came with seat upholstry and BAM.....'ya got 'cher self some kicks!

98311

[hotrodneb]

Test-fit the radiator support and inner fenders today...good thing I did too. Will have to re-route the brake lines and had to move the cruise. Found a good place for the computer I think.

98318

[hotrodneb]

It's kinda starting to look like a car from this angle


98319

[hotrodneb]

Test fit of passenger seat so I could locate heated seat switch in center console. Ya---dunno why I did it, but having heated seats sounded like a good idea at the time I was doing the upholstry. You can see the round hi/low switch at the front edge of the seat in the console side. Also added a 12v plug at front side of console. It was $5 at the auto store, looks like it belongs there, and will run my Garmin nicely.

98320

[hotrodneb]

'Ya just simply HAVE to have your priorities in line when doing something of this magnatude----

There was really not a fully functional area on the car until today. Got the radio working. It is a Custom Autosound top-tier unit. It is currently running an old DJ radio air-check on a USB flash drive i bought off Ebay. WLS-Chicago, New Year's day 1978. I used to listen to this station at night as a kid when you could pick up good AM stations after all the bad ones had to sign off at sunset.

Ahh the memories---

99386

[hotrodneb]

Beginning stages of the install of a AAW Power-plus 20

Now is where some life starts coming back.....but standing on my head underneath a dash gives me a headache <smile>

99845

[CamaroJesse]

Any updates on the car?

[hotrodneb]

Been a LONG time since update. Lots of wiring done....all tail lights-signals, AC, andwipers are operational. I decided to abandon the stock shifter and replace with the entire 98-02 F body setup. It took a little dent into the tunnel and some modification to the shifter. Also the park lockout is wired into a hidden switch to prevent theft. Thanx to "machota154" for his GOOD deal on cable and 2006 Pontiac G-6 shift handle that fits right into the first Gen theme I think.

[hotrodneb]

LOTS of changes since my last update....some pics of that coming soon

Check out the window sticker I made. Got a pic off the net, used powerpoint and a little imagination
---it is optioned as currently built, but as if Pontiac did it in 1968

110767

[hotrodneb]

Here is a couple pics of the installed headliner. I did it myself without help, and not a wrinkle to be found.

110771

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[hotrodneb]

Installed a compass/Temp/Auto Dim/Homelink rear view mirror

110773

[hotrodneb]

Converted the 1998 wiring harness over to a 2002. Had to re-pin everything. I also took the time to cut to length and re-terminate all the ends. NO ball 'O wires in my car.

110774

[hotrodneb]

Hung both doors and aligned. Installed side mirrors and both glass. Got a good deal off Ebay--$350 for a complete 6-piece glass set plus shipping. It is green tint which works well on the car. Got most of the weather stripping installed. Hooker mid-length headers also on.
Will be moving onto fuel plumbing and completing the exhaust. First run will be coming soon. Then install front clip. The bumpers are out getting re-chromed at the moment so would like to have the car ready for their install when complete.

110776

[hotrodneb]

Dakota Digital VHX gauges installed. Went straight to the factory itself in South Dakota to get the controller.

111376

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[hotrodneb]

Starting to look like a car again. Front fenders installed. Did my best but only a couple scratched during install. Good thing I made up a
touch-up while I was painting the car. It needs a little lift in the front but that is no problem. I installed the coils without insulators, so a couple of them on each side should solve the issue.

111378

111379

[hotrodneb]

It is amazing how quickly you can fill up an engine bay.

111380

[hotrodneb]

It runs.......IT runs..................IT RUNS. Time to go for a ride.

Pre-drive check and top-off the trans fluid. Damn.....this thing is like Bruce Jenner in the desert

I have a thirsty tranny, it drank up 12 quarts so far.

112533

[hotrodneb]

Off we go.....No headlights, seatbelts, plates or insurance, shocks, and on and on......

112534

[hotrodneb]

Even got my first admirer before putting it away for the night

112535

[CHUCKIE]

Looks great!

[hotrodneb]

Ok.....finally
Bumpers are back from the chromers. A 2 month promise ended up being a 4 month wait, more money that estimated, and a couple arguments with the company. The car is as close to being "done" as any of these ever are I guess.

First a few pics of the finished bumper

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[hotrodneb]

AND now a few pics of the "never done" completed car. Lots of things missing from this thread that I should have documented, but oh well, better to have it finished. THANK YOU to anyone here who had a part in helping get it together.



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Lisence plate ended up interesting. Got a firebird because a best friend in High School was Jay, It took 3 years to complete, and it's a 68

115186

[hotrodneb]

And of course, the obligatory engine bay and interior shots
Nothing fancy in the engine bay, PCM controls the AC clutch and Radiator fans.
Interior include, Keyless entry, power locks, single-button set electronic cruise, Vintage air cable operated AC, Delay wipers with Hunter's switch, Temp/Comp/Homelink rear view mirror, Power trunk release, Heated seats, Dakota Digital VHX gauges, and I cant remember what else.

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[mikewoods]

The car looks GREAT! I love what you did with the front end. Congrats on getting it "finished".

[Josue]

Looks great!! Lots of technology in this build!!

After putting some miles on it, any rubbing issues with the suspension/tire setup? You have the 245/45's on there now?

[rfalker1]

looks good! Thanks for the dash advice! but it would require more work than i am willing to do lol!