1969 Firebird "Project Phoenix"

[onebad400]

The Concept/Goal for the car is to be a tribute to the 4 cars that I had lost in a garage fire almost 2 yrs ago. I am taking styling cues from the cars as well as some parts I could save from the remains to incorperate into this one build.

-Engine- 467 CI- Rebuilt with ported Kaufman heads and intake, roller cam and fast EFI. The motor is out of my 1979 Trans am that I recieved as a graduation gift from my father and spent 6 yrs building.

-Trans- T56- Out of my 2002 WS6 TA

-Rearend- 3.73 gear out of the 79 TA

I will be posting current photos later tonight of the current progress and some photos from the day a got the car. I have not made much progress yet with the main body so far I have just been getting the drivetrain rebuilt. I will also get together some photos of the cars from the fire.

[lucky13firebird]

Coolness, keep us posted

[onebad400]

94941

[onebad400]

The door to quarter gaps as pretty dead on but it looks to me like the fender gaps are a little large. anyone have any suggestions on how to tighten them up. I also completed the rebuild of the T56, and included a picture of my 79 Trans am at the show before the garage fire that claimed its life.
94942
94944
94943
94945

[lucky13firebird]

You'll either have to center your door or add material to the back of the fenders with a welder and clean it up. No easy way to do it... digging you motor btw.

[FireBeater]

sweet! keep us posted

[jlwdvm]

My doors were reskinned...I had to ad metal to the fronts to match up with original fenders, and in a few areas on the rear door edge to match up with the contour of the repro quarters.

[onebad400]

I might be better off just splitting the difference between the the 2 gaps do you think. They are repo doors and fenders from CI and after this I have to swap the quarters and install the mini tubs

[lucky13firebird]

Make it close and open right. Since you're swapping quarters just add material when and where you need it.

[onebad400]

Tuesday it should go under the knife, starting the quarter panal swap then I will start welding up the fender/door gaps. Anyone got any tips for replacing the quarters? I would roather learn from experience then from my own mistakes.

[onebad400]

Got sometime this week to get the passenger fender and door gap adjusted around it is pretty close to the 3/16 mark. Now I just need to grind away on the tight spots. Should I be worried about the skins of the fenders coming apart if I grind the edges?

[lucky13firebird]

Yeah tall happen, but it's no big deal, just use tiny vice grips...and about the quarters, butt weld them. Small spots at a time. Don't overlap the metal. It'll turn out better, and use a wet clothe to cool the metal every few Seconds when you grind down the welds. That's if you do skins. You do doing full quarters? Advice is buy amd... The fit is good on their stuff.

[onebad400]

95552
Ok well after about another 5 hours of panal alignment I am pretty sure I got it handled. Thank you to everyone for all the advise it was a huge help, but I need some more help being a building beginner. The photo above is of the door alignment in relation to the fender where it all meets at the a pilar. I am wanting to go with a flush mount windshield and was wondering if I should add material to the top edge of the fender to make the line match up with the door since the lower window trim will not be used.

[onebad400]

Anyone from Kansas to Texas have a set of used 335/30 r18 tires I could get for cheap/free just to use for mock up on my 69 firebird. I am heading to the Good Guys car show in Texas on Oct 4th and will be willing to swing by and grab them if anyone in the area has a set.

[onebad400]

Got the mini tubs and new outer wheel well in along with starting to finish welding the quarter. Next objective is to get the gaps straight and extend the rocker panels for the side exit exhaust.

[onebad400]

been a while since I have posted an update. so here it is
116942
passenger side is done with the mini tub, and the rocker was extended down 1 in. its coming along slowly will try to get some more photos of the completed side soon.

[onebad400]

been getting some done, a little here and there finishing up the driver side fender vents currently, so that I can get the hood back on and start gaping the panels. I also have decided to make a one piece fiberglass front bumper with the headlight buckets, and the front lower air dam. It has been coming along a couple hours here and there going to try to get it to the point I can start body work by the end of the summer.
126924

[onebad400]

Started fitting the front bumper and getting it ready to be a plug for a 1 piece fiberglass mold.
127950127951127952127953

[onebad400]

129403129404129405
About ready to start covering with fiberglass

[onebad400]

Finished the plug Friday, now it is ready to be covered with fiberglass to pull a mold off. I am really surprised about how well it has turned out so far. 131374131375131376

[Motown 454]

It looks good, Nice job!

[onebad400]

laid up the first 2 layers of fiberglass for the mold. This is what it looks like so far.
131483131484131485

[onebad400]

Finally decided on a color and wheels for the project. Decided to make my 69 match my 2002, so I will have one of the first and one of the last model years made. The color is maple red metallic, which I fell in love with since I bought the 2002, and then painted the bumper plug that color and saw how well the light reflects off the metal flake, and the color changes tone based on the way the light hits it.
131678
131679