1969 Firebird Convertible Project "Killer"

[Acetylene]

Well I have been working on this car for a few years as a broke college student, now a grad as of december '07. Started to have some paint and body work done by a guy my grandfather recommended. That was a nightmare. The guy had the car for 6 months and royally screwed up a lot of work I put in. Oversprayed my Cal Tracs, my coated trunk, rebuilt front frame. The body work was lumpy and the paint was horrid. After 6 months of only seeing the car once in a blue moon. I was going to the shop one day to just yank the car and take it elsewhere to salvage it hopefully, when I find the place surrounded by SWAT and Sheriffs dept. Turns out he murdered someone and buried them next to his shop. Hence the new name of my project, "Killer".

I have done most of the work on my car myself.
Smoothed firewall
Boxed in the A-arms
Rebuilt the suspension
Rebuilt the rearend (3.73, eaton posi)
Front disc conversion
Cal Tracs
Comp Eng rear shock crossmember
Subframe connectors
Hotchkis 2" drop springs
Pontiac 400 .030 over roller motor

Now the car is getting every bit of paint the murderer put on it taken off and its going to a far more reputable shop where it will cost me 4 times as much to paint, but owell, life lessons learned and new job to pay for it.

I was initially painting the car HOK Stratto Blue with what were supposed to be ghosted flames (not what happened at all). Now with it going to a new shop I am leaning towards either daytona blue or grabber orange, then either with a matte black 400 scooped hood, matte black trunk lid, and matte black tail panel, black convertible top, and 18" A.R. Torqlites powdercoated black too. I am having a hard time deciding on either Daytona blue or the Grabber Orange.

Here are some pics of the car as of today in the middle of getting walnut blasted before it goes to the new paint shop on Wednesday. A lot more bondo under the paint than I had known the idiot put on. Also a shot of the mostly finished rearend, and the motor thus far (finishing the valvetrain now then find a local bench dyno).

[BossaNova]

If that engine speaks of the quality of your work, then the project is appropriately named.
Great job.
-Mark

[Acetylene]

Thank you, did the machine work myself at a friends shop. Here is a before and after pic of the motor. It was a $100 junkyard find while yard crawling one day. Sonic checked and Magnafluxed. Line bored and torque plate honed. Forged crank, h-beam rods, KB forged pistons, Comp Cams XR276HR hydraulic roller cam. Ported and polished #47 heads with 2.11/1.77 Ferrea valves, comp 995 springs, Tapped for screw in rocker studs. Performer intake on top from the original 350 motor. Going to be an E85 motor. Sits at 11.5:1 compression.

[Hammered]

Wow - I've heard some bodyshop horror stories but that one really is a horror story. Stripping the car is analogous to taking a shower after you've had an encounter with someone creepy.

Good luck with the car - as you can see I love the 'birds.

[Acetylene]

That was my exact thought. Wash away the stink of the killer. Though in the end it gave my car a good new nickname from my friends that stuck.

Beautiful '67. How do you like the NT555s. That is the rubber I was thinking of running on. Motor looks great, good job with the FI setup. That Daytona Blue looks great.

[68Formula]

I was going to the shop one day to just yank the car and take it elsewhere to salvage it hopefully, when I find the place surrounded by SWAT and Sheriffs dept. Turns out he murdered someone and buried them next to his shop.

That was probably the last customer to yank a car back from his shop. Good thing you waited.

[speedster]

Nice '69 project. Your engine looks awesome. Looks like killer is going to be a nice ride. Keep us posted.

[Acetylene]

Well the car got to the new shop yesterday evening. Either today or tomorrow they will begin stripping the remaining bondo left from the walnut blasting. The front subframe and the wheel wells get pulled and sealed. The rear passenger quarter, front passenger fender and cowl panel will get replaced and the windshield frame will get some attention with new metal to remove rust. Goodmark panels and a 400 hood on the way.

Hopefully over the next couple weeks some great changes happen. The car was definitely a bit more rough than I had thought, but thats why you blast them. More pics to follow next week or the following after vacation.

[Hammered]

Beautiful '67. How do you like the NT555s. That is the rubber I was thinking of running on. Motor looks great, good job with the FI setup. That Daytona Blue looks great.

Thanks-the Nittos work quite nice. Great all around tire. I've gotten stuck in the rain three times and they work well on wet pavement too.

[1969CamaroRS]

Thank you, did the machine work myself at a friends shop. Here is a before and after pic of the motor. It was a $100 junkyard find while yard crawling one day. Sonic checked and Magnafluxed. Line bored and torque plate honed. Forged crank, h-beam rods, KB forged pistons, Comp Cams XR276HR hydraulic roller cam. Ported and polished #47 heads with 2.11/1.77 Ferrea valves, comp 995 springs, Tapped for screw in rocker studs. Performer intake on top from the original 350 motor. Going to be an E85 motor. Sits at 11.5:1 compression.

Nothing like the smell/look of a freshly machined block! Awesome work

[Acetylene]

Resurrecting a long dead thread to bring an update. Finally found a good local "trusted" body shop to take my Firebird too after getting the run around by a couple others. They "wanted" to do the work, but fleet contracts got in the way. Got it at a great shop now. Currently getting its final sanding and black coating to check for the last of the small things in the body before it starts paint next friday.

[BirdsThaWord]

Glad to see you're making some progress! I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of timing cover that is? Looks interesting!

[Acetylene]

It is a Ram Air Restorations slick front timing cover. Allows the use of any small block chevy electric or short-neck mechanical water pump.

http://www.ramairrestoration.com/cat...roducts_id=142

It feels great to have progress again. In about 2 weeks I should have pictures of the car finally painted and ready to trailer home.

[T_Raven]

I think you might have the craziest body shop story so far lol.

[John Wright]

I think you might have the craziest body shop story so far lol.

LOL...I agree. Wow!

[doribak]

looks great! keep updating!

[BirdsThaWord]

It is a Ram Air Restorations slick front timing cover. Allows the use of any small block chevy electric or short-neck mechanical water pump.

http://www.ramairrestoration.com/cat...roducts_id=142

It feels great to have progress again. In about 2 weeks I should have pictures of the car finally painted and ready to trailer home.

Thank you. I'll be getting one of those for sure!

[Acetylene]

Black coats are done to check how straight the body is. All the black is getting sanded back down tomorrow and last coat of primer. Then the car gets it paint. Beak is going to stay chrome instead of body color most likely. Not sure yet. Blue is going to be 2004 Nissan Daytona Blue. Hood, trunk and tail panel will be matte black. Should be trailering it home on the 23rd.

[enex]

thats gonna be a sweet ass ride.. i took my car to a shop and the guy is going on five months now... i see slow progress but he originally had told me it would only take a month... the only thing that cahged was that he had to replace the lower quarter panels on both sides that he didnt count on. i didnt wanna rush him at first because i didnt want a nasty job. what do you think i should do? should i just take it back

[Acetylene]

Mine has been at the body shop in total for about 4-5 years. Since it got to the second shop it has been two years, but I am in no rush, its actually nice this way and it keeps me from paying out a lot of money really fast. Though mine is now wrapping up and the majority of the work has been done in the last 4 months. Talk to the shop owner and see what he has to say, I wouldn't just pull the car from the shop. Communication can go a long way.