Project "KLRBRD" 1973 Trans Am

[chichirone]

My wife and I just completed our 1973 Trans Am. Here is a pic...more details to follow!

[chichirone]

Can't get pics to load from iPad. Will try again later.

[chichirone]

I'll try my phone.

[chichirone]

I'll try my phone.

[LUV2XLR8]

click on reply to thread ... go advanced... upload photo.. click preview to make sure the picture is there and then post.. hope that helps

[chichirone]

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[chichirone]

click on reply to thread ... go advanced... upload photo.. click preview to make sure the picture is there and then post.. hope that helps

Thanks Bennyhaha! I was born in Erie, PA!!

[chichirone]

A little bit more about the car...it started life as a 455 4-speed car, white on white sold into Canada. It became the shop car for Carbon Kustoms and has seen many iterations and improvements during the last 5-7 years. The car was primarily used on the track and at events previously and has participated in a number of ASCS events, OUSCI in 2012, and was at MSD's booth at SEMA last year wrapped as the Tire Bird.
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It now has a Wegner built 416 LS3 stroker making 550rwhp and 500rwtq, T56 Keisler, Ford 9", DSE subframe, Ridetech 4-link, Ridetech triple adjustable shocks, EVOD Custom 18x12" Rally II wheels with 335 BFG Rivals on all 4 corners. Carbon Kustoms installed all their carbon fiber goodies on the car. Fenders, hood, shaker, inner fender wells, front spoiler, and wheel flares. West Bend Dyno in West Bend, Wisconsin has been the shop responsible for the project. They have simply blown us away with the outcome of the car. None of this would have been possible without their help and a special guy named Albert Melchior. He was the visionary for the car and has become a great friend throughout the purchase of the vehicle. Amy and I are very grateful man!!

Her smile says it all!
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[LUV2XLR8]

car looks awesome!... glad it worked!

[68firebird]

are you serious! that car is gorgeous! looks way better in white.

[lucky13firebird]

That car is amazing. Hope you guys have all the fun in the world in it.

[saltfuture]

As soon as I saw the white seats in the first pic, I knew this had to be one of Alberts! haha! Beautiful car. I hope mine turns out half as nice.

[mascot]

Man, that is VERY cool! Nice car!

[chichirone]

Thanks guys! Appreciate the feedback.

[dmc69]

Very nice!

[NOT A TA]

Was cool when they did the Tirebird wrap but I like it better the way you've done it now. Beautiful car, enjoy it!

[howehot]

Saw it Friday when my Monte was being tuned at West Bend. Looks great.

[chichirone]

Thanks John. Appreciate the comment.

[chichirone]

How did the Monte do on the rollers? I would recommend Brad, Brian and the whole team at WBD to anyone. Thanks for the kind words on the TA. Like your style on the interior color choice!

[chichirone]

Thanks man!

[srh3trinity]

You took an awesome car and made it better. I have been thinking about white for my 74.

[chichirone]

You took an awesome car and made it better. I have been thinking about white for my 74.

Thanks Stephen.

A few more pics:
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[Gil]

Killer !
Perfect stance & digging the wheels choice...
Enjoy
Gil

[zamora7]

Nice car, I love those wheels and the stance is perfect

[bs46488]

What a great setup. Car looks great.

Is it wrapped or painted? What color white?

[chichirone]

Thanks guys. The wheels are one off 18x12" rally II's built by EVOD. Yard Racing and West Bend Dyno are responsible for the suspension setup and stance. You guys are right. They nailed it!

The car is painted. The color is a 1973 factory color cameo white.

[Chadman27]

What's the story on the carbon fiber wheels wells? I know Anvil only sells Camaro versions, so I am assuming those are also Carbon Kustoms? Any extra wheel space, how was the fit?

Beautiful car!

[chichirone]

What's the story on the carbon fiber wheels wells? I know Anvil only sells Camaro versions, so I am assuming those are also Carbon Kustoms? Any extra wheel space, how was the fit?

Beautiful car!

The hood, fenders, wheel flares, shaker and inners are all from Carbon Kustoms. We have 335's on the front so the combination of the inners and the fenders (design is wider versus a stock fender) definitely create the extra wheel space. Fit is excellent! Keep in mind this is the Carbon Kustoms shop car so all the parts are very well sorted by Albert and his team.

[cpd004]

Awesome car!

[BurtRenolds]

What kind of chin spoiler set up is that?

[chichirone]

What kind of chin spoiler set up is that?

It is a custom splitter that the fabricator for West Bend Dyno designed and fabricated. It was painted carbon fiber and the turn buckles were added for rigidity.

Here is a pic of it before it was mounted and then installed on the car.
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[BurtRenolds]

are going to ad one like it in the back?

[chichirone]

Not at this time. I do like Brian hobaugh's 2nd gen Camaro rear spoiler.

[cpd004]

I'd like to see some pics of the interior.

[chichirone]

Here are some pics of the interior

[chichirone]

Pics are not posting from my phone. I'll try again from my PC later.

[Nicks67GTO]

Probably my favorite year for Firebirds....that is a killer build

[cpd004]

Pics are not posting from my phone. I'll try again from my PC later.

Thanks.

[chichirone]

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[chichirone]

We attended a couple events the past few weeks. We attended the North Texas Camaro Club auto-cross and the Good-Guys Lonestar Nationals at Texas Motor Speedway. My wife Amy finished 14th out of 49 cars in the street machine class. We had a blast hanging with old friends, meeting new ones and running the car.
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[chichirone]

Been a while since we have updated progress on the car. Amy has not been too fond of the wheel flare fittment so we decided to have them redone. We are fabricating a bracket, reshaping them to follow the contour of the wide body carbon fiber fenders, eliminating the welting and fitting them flush on the car. They will be repainted Cameo White and then covered in 3M film to protect them from road rash.

Here is a few progress pics.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/02/77F85D0EA27B49AF987A6CF3A13F2614_zpsqusp-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/77F85D0E-A27B-49AF-987A-6CF3A13F2614_zpsquspk9rt.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/02/77F85D0EA27B49AF987A6CF3A13F2614_zpsqusp-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/77F85D0E-A27B-49AF-987A-6CF3A13F2614_zpsquspk9rt.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/02/D3FC8656B51C47A2B54DF167F8B19BF1_zpsynmm-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/D3FC8656-B51C-47A2-B54D-F167F8B19BF1_zpsynmmnzpq.jpg.html)

[cdoggy81]

Great looking car :]

[chichirone]

Fender flares are coming along. I look forward to posting some before and after pics. We are going to have to wait for the paint to cure before we put the 3M film o them to protect them against rock and road debris...including cones!!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/02/AD7759FCBCE94A629E79DAB4219B2F76_zpsakeu-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/AD7759FC-BCE9-4A62-9E79-DAB4219B2F76_zpsakeuulry.jpg.html)

[TwinSting]

I love this car. Looks great guys. Enjoy it!

[cdoggy81]

Looking good :]

[Onebad78ta]

Very cool,what kind of power does it make?

[mert.celet]

Hi,

Your car is simply stunning. Really. I have been trying to figure out how could i be able to achieve something like your car with my 74 Firebird for the past 3 years...
I have a question if You don't mind... What Vintage Air have You been using? I'll really appreciate if You can give me the part number. I just couldn't figure out what to buy...

Regards
Mert

[chichirone]

I love this car. Looks great guys. Enjoy it!

Thanks Shaun!

[chichirone]

The Wegner LS3 makes 550rwhp/500rwtq.

[chichirone]

Hi,

Your car is simply stunning. Really. I have been trying to figure out how could i be able to achieve something like your car with my 74 Firebird for the past 3 years...
I have a question if You don't mind... What Vintage Air have You been using? I'll really appreciate if You can give me the part number. I just couldn't figure out what to buy...

Regards
Mert

Mert, the guys at West Bend Dyno modified a 2nd gen f-body kit and Vintage Air provided us a custom control panel designed for the Trans Am dash.

[chichirone]

Recently we found out the frame rail was cracked and our suspension UCA mount broke. We are replacing with a custom 3 link with watts link.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/0F552F699EF04EEFB05023B14DC517A0_zpsq5qt-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/0F552F69-9EF0-4EEF-B050-23B14DC517A0_zpsq5qtxx0i.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/5E3346CE82C54441BBBF6D1764D17CAD_zps664t-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/5E3346CE-82C5-4441-BBBF-6D1764D17CAD_zps664tdsnl.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/IMG_0559JPG_zpsbb9cf08e-1.jpeg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/IMG_0559JPG_zpsbb9cf08e.jpeg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/1469CCFA8A27483698B091A101EEF8FE_zpsog82-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/1469CCFA-8A27-4836-98B0-91A101EEF8FE_zpsog82g8gj.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/2447FFCAAD54454B89E6D88CFB9481F7_zpsnsbr-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/2447FFCA-AD54-454B-89E6-D88CFB9481F7_zpsnsbr74tn.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/IMG_0331_zpsobpzdy8d-1.jpeg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/IMG_0331_zpsobpzdy8d.jpeg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/03/IMG_8706_zpsd2ykjqey-1.jpeg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/IMG_8706_zpsd2ykjqey.jpeg.html)

[chichirone]

All the time, energy and effort has paid off. Kudos to all involved in transforming KLRBRD into what it has become today. We were rewarded this weekend by being voted the Participants Choice award for the Optima event at Texas Motor Speedway. There was 73 cars registered and the participants selected our Trans Am as the car they most likely want to take home with them. Its an honor to be recognized by peers, especially the incredible car guys and girls who attend these USCA events. Thanks to PT.com for sponsoring the award and to Mike Dusold and the team at Dusold Designs for busting your a$$ to get the car done in time for the event. The "concierge service" delivering the car Saturday morning was awesome.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/04/imagejpg4_zpscdbddd0f-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/image.jpg4_zpscdbddd0f.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/04/KLRBRD20on20the20Autocross20at20TMS_zps7-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/KLRBRD%20on%20the%20Autocross%20at%20TMS_zps7nfjwe s6.jpg.html)

[cdoggy81]

Congrats!

[chichirone]

Been a while since an update. KLRBRD is a completely different vehicle with the new suspension. The guys at Dusold Designs did an incredible job. I drove it for the first time on Sunday since Mike delivered it to Amy at the Optima Search for the Ultimate Streetcar event at Texas Motor Speedway at the end of March. The forward bite and ride is super.

Thanks to Kaleb Kelley for taking some kicka$$ pics of the car during the event and for the guys at ProTouring Magazine for putting a pic of the car in the Premiere issue.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/06/KLRBRD20at20TMS20in20ProTouring20Magazin-1.jpg (http://s1372.photobucket.com/user/Jdeluca/media/KLRBRD%20at%20TMS%20in%20ProTouring%20Magazine_zps nru3bmkn.jpg.html)