1969 Pontiac Firebird "Routy"

[oestek]

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/12/RoutyCropSmall-1.jpg

New car build coming to V8TV - 1969 Pontiac Firebird "Routy"

"Routy" (rhymes with Rowdy) is the name given to this 1969 Pontiac Firebird project. It's a play on the last name of the owner, and the car's demeanor and looks are designed to cause a stir on the streets. We're starting with a 1969 Firebird that was originally a 350 2-barrel car, and adding a full Trans Am body package, upgraded interior featuring late model Trans Am seats, and 17" and 18" Boyd Junk Yard Dog wheels. The new engine is a 400-based Pontiac with lots of performance tricks. The design came from the creative mind of Ben Hermance at Hermance Design and highlights the car's original lines with a bright red scheme and subtle charcoal stripes. The stripe treatment suggests other Pontiac themes, like the 1969 GTO Judge. We'll be posting video and photo updates of every step of the restoration process. V8TV Forum member "Steve Firebird" is the man behind this car, and we're going to be using the forum to make lots of build decisions and choices along the way, so feel free to jump in an be part of the process.

http://www.v8tvshow.com/forum/index.php/topic,2383.0.html

[dropit69]

Damn you guys are killing me all doing these 69 birds..your gonna force me to keep mine and redo it farther down the road..looks like a killer project though..can;t wait to follow it..

[oestek]

Hey, there is always room on the road for more '69 Firebirds!

[SamHatco]

Great looking project!! Definately subscribing to this thread. FIREBIRDS RULE!!:cool:

Sam

[Josh69]

Sweet! Glad to see a Poncho under the hood too!

[Steve Firebird]

Thanks you guys. I am pretty excited about it. It should be a fun car that my wife can enjoy as well. She is scared to drive my 68!

[icebird84]

good looking project you have
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[1971CHEVELLE]

Great looking project:cool:

[Roadbuster]

Cool looking project!
I am curious to see what you are doing with the hood tach. Are you using the repro unit or going to put modern gauges and update the hood tach?

Jon

[Steve Firebird]

I am going to use the stock dash that has idiot lights and add aftermarket gauges . I see several options for adding them just not sure which one I will go with. I was suspose to have a new repro hood tach in the pile of parts that came with the car but have not found it yet.

[T_Raven]

MORE BIRDS!!!!:seizure: The rendering looks awesome

[69TAPoser]

I like the GTO striping, very cool idea. Love the color combo and wheel choice too! :1st:

Phil

[cdoggy81]

^^^
That is funny b/c I was just going to say, what's up with the GTO stripe :)

This will be fun to watch. I love the fact that there are now some firebirds that are being built!!!

Since you are open to ideas what do you think about this idea with the solid stripe & no black front piece?

(* Please note I did not create this picture I just added the stripe & removed the black piece for a different opinion. I do not want to take any credit away from hermance design*)

[Steve Firebird]

I would like to get rid of the black between the hood and the headlight surrounds but not sure how well that works. It’s a rubber piece and I do not know how well it holds paint. It is worth checking into. I like the stripe how Ben designed it a lot. I have a solid one on my 68 so I kind of want to do something different but thanks for the input.
Steve

[cdoggy81]

It can be done with no problem. Talk to Frank at Prodigy about what they did.

[Steve Firebird]

They are getting ready to order a bunch of parts for my 69 Firebird at V8TV and they asked me what I want to do about the sway bars. I originally told them to just reuse the stock one but now am questioning that.
The car is going to have a QA1 coil over kit in the front, DSE 3" drop springs in the rear and Global West Del-a-lum bushings front and rear. We are also going to get sub frame connectors as well.
This car is going to be a weekend cruiser and for the whole family to enjoy not a track car but if I can gain a real noticeable advantage in handling with the bars I will do it.
I guess I never thought the upgraded sway bar was needed unless you were really pushing the car. I am open to comments, is a bigger bar worth it? I could even be talked into a rear bar if it makes a huge difference. Thanks Steve.

[Motown 454]

Looks like another nice build . The car looks to be in pretty nice shape. Good luck with the build and keep us posted.
Wayne

[hollywood east customs]

Great looking build, I actually had the same idea on the gto stripes as my current 69 came to me with the stipes..see attached pics. it looks pretty sweet in my opinion

[Steve Firebird]

Yes I think that looks very nice. It's pretty hard to come up will a stripe that looks good on a Firebird but I think that does the trick.

[Steve Firebird]

Some progress on the build check it out
http://www.v8tvshow.com/forum/index.php?topic=2383.new;topicseen

[gmcdermit1]

Sweeeeeeeet..........love those first gen birds. What are you doing to the engine? Power projections?

[GM_muscle]

keep up the killer work

[oestek]

Here's an update video on Routy... driver side floor replacement.

http://v8tvshow.com/content/view/770/1/

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/07/69FB050609s_041-1.jpg

[Steve Firebird]

The car is moving along here are some links to videos of the progress.
I think they are doing geat work I can't wait to get her home!!!
Steve



Trunk floor replace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aegbKrp_m5o
Subframe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpeq_7OiFmU
seam sealer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5tZyCCWWhE

[Steve Firebird]

I picked up the 69 Firebird "Routy" last week end. First of all Kevin ,Kelle & the crew at V8TV did a kick butt job on the car. I am very happy with it. I took it to the Chicagoland Goodguys show over the week end and had a blast. It won the Snap-On "innovation" award so thats pretty cool.
Here are some pictures of the car with my son Clayton making it pretty.
Steve
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/09/DSCN0831-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/09/DSCN0833-1.jpg


LINK TO MORE PICTURES
http://s979.photobucket.com/albums/ae271/sprouty64/Good%20Guys%202010/

[dhutton]

They did a great job putting together that front end and nose. Is that the metal hood? Looks great.

[Steve Firebird]

Thanks, Yes its a metal hood with all the Ram Air goodies.

[elitecustombody]

Looks great other than the fitment of left corner of the hood with headlight bezel trim piece and fender.

Did you use oversize glass or added metal around perimeter ?

[Steve Firebird]

We used the kit from Classic Auto Glass Innovations.

[oestek]

The car came out really nice and we're very glad that you like it Steve. We're also happy that it won an award is first time out. And that hood corner is the rubber piece that goes between the headlight bezel and noticed, it just needs to be pushed up a hair. Those pieces can move around if you're not careful. If we were to do that car again I would make those rubber pieces solid out of fiberglass because they're a pain in the a**.

[Steve Firebird]

I noticed the corner was up at the show and thought it was odd you or I did not see it when I picked up the car. I just went out and pushed the rubber back up were it belongs and wala looking good!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/09/DSCN0841-1.jpg

[Steve Firebird]

I also want to give some credit to Ben Hermance for the great rendering that guided the build. Thanks Ben
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/09/RoutyV8-1.jpg

[elitecustombody]

The car came out really nice and we're very glad that you like it Steve. We're also happy that it won an award is first time out. And that hood corner is the rubber piece that goes between the headlight bezel and noticed, it just needs to be pushed up a hair. Those pieces can move around if you're not careful. If we were to do that car again I would make those rubber pieces solid out of fiberglass because they're a pain in the a**.

Kevin, I know what you mean, that's one of the reasons I'm doing 67-68 front bumper on my 69 to get rid of that plastic mess with rubber gaskets. I figured you wouldn't miss something like that while finishing, it could be temperature change or when someone shut the hood that piece shifted. Great job, guys and congrats :cheers:

[WS6]

looks great! I'm glad this one saw the light of day.

[oestek]

Thanks Stefan,

Those '69 front ends are pretty challenging. There's lots of time in the steel hood, the scoop inserts, the filler between the bumper and the hood, and all the other little parts. Our bodyman Nathan did a really nice job on that car. We're still posting more build videos, so you can see some of the things we did.

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[rohrt]

Gotta love the birds.

[Motown 454]

The car looks great. Nice video Kevin.

[bryster]

First Generation Firebirds are the SHIZ..... Great project.

[oestek]

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/09/V8TV_Routy_NewPromoF-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/09/V8TV_Routy_NewPromoR-1.jpg

[oestek]

We've just completed the entire Routy video series and a new page for the car, complete with thousands of build pics. Check it out if you're so inclined..

www.v8tvshow.com/routy

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/02/69FB091510s_274-1.jpg

[LeighP]

Thanks for posting the link...some good videos there...nice to catch up with the end of the restoration job.
Car looks awesome, by the way.

[geberhard]

killer bird an glad I found the write up again. What color is that BTW?

[oestek]

killer bird an glad I found the write up again. What color is that BTW?

Thanks! The color is DuPont Hot Hues Red Hot Meltdown.