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---






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---




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-----



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.




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.