1968 Firebird...Project Childhood.

[Josue]

After hanging around these forums for years, gathering ideas on what route I wanted to take with my car, I'm finally getting some work done! Having the cash flow helps too, haha, but even that's somewhat limited, so I'm trying to stay patient and keep my eye open for deals. Here's a quick backstory on the car...

My parents originally bought the car for me back in 1996 when I was 13, from my 8th grade history teacher, for $1,700! Interior was in very good shape and all original, body needed quarters, doors, and fenders, but everything else was solid, and the motor was original and untouched. We tinkered around with it for a few years, but I became more interested in lowered trucks by the time I got my license, so I bought one and they kept the Firebird for themselves all these years. It's still mostly original though, they had the body work done about 10 years ago, new fenders, doors, quarters, inner quarters, and the color is C5 Corvette Millennium yellow. Interior is still all original minus some A/M gauges, and the only thing the motor was taken apart for was a mild cam. Not that the WHOLE motor was "taken apart", I just mean that other than a cam, everything inside is still untouched. Other than that, just bolt ons; Holley 600, Performer Pontiac Intake, Hooker headers, Pentronix Ignition, etc.





It needed tires, so he bought a new set of Eagle II's along with these trailer wheels for it. They were like $50/ea at the time. lol






Out with the old, in with the new! My first car was this '72 Nova, but the Firebird was in better shape, so we sold the Nova in favor of the Firebird.



And today...





I was able to get a few things done to the car last season, swapped out the original powerglide for a TH350, and installed a 2nd gen Formula steering wheel. I also started playing around with timing and carb adjusting. We've always had to rely on other people for that stuff, but I figured it was time I knew how to do it with how much I'm going to be working on the car. This season's list goes...

-BMR solid subframe bushings
-Hotchkis subframe connectors
-Hughes 2000 torque converter (the TH350 came with a 2600-3000 stall, WAY too much for my original 2.56 rear end)
-1992 Camaro steering box
-Nova 8.5 10 bolt with 3.08's (open for now, not sure if I'll have an extra $600+ for posi this year)
-C5 master cylinder and booster
-Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve
-C5 disc brakes up front
-LS1 disc brakes in back
-1/2" wheel studs
-US Mag Bandits; fronts - 17X8 with 235/45's, rears - 18X9 with 275/35's


Let's get started!!

[Josue]

I bought the wheels over the winter in the classifieds section here, but the tires weren't going to work for me, so I sold the fronts (225/50) to my brother to use on his drag wheel setup on his TBSS, and the 305/40 Nitto DR's got sold on craigslist. I went with Sumitomo HTRZIII's because they're really inexpensive, but still a good tire. I've ran them before, and was surprised how great they performed!

Old...



New...



Old...



New...



Amazing how wheels can change the entire look of a car!



Random pics now...

Formula steering wheel. It had the 2nd gen phoenix in there last year, but I was able to find a 1st gen, wings down phoenix over the winter, so I'm super pumped about that! haha



8.5 10 bolt, torn down for inspection and cleanup/paint.

[Josue]

If ANYONE needs LS or Corvette swap parts, I HIGHLY recommend Cleveland Power and Performance!!! They specialize in LS dropouts, full Corvette rolling chassis, bumper wall art, all at great prices! I won't say what I paid for the things I got from them, but it was WELL under what I saw other people paying for the same stuff off ebay or craigslist.

http://www.clevelandpap.com/

Since they're local to me, I hit them up and wound up getting a complete LS rear disc brake setup, C5 calipers for the front, and a C5 master cylinder/booster. He even had no problem putting together a Lt/Lt set for my staggered shocks.



At the request of my wife (of all people haha) I ground down the raised "CORVETTE" lettering on these. She's like..."why do you want your brakes to say Corvette? It's not a Corvette, it's a Firebird!" Alright, alright....I gotcha. I also had to shave a bit off the ribs to clear the wheel weights. Then I hit them with a sandblaster real quick, to give it that texture again instead of something completely smooth. It was also to hide some grinder/sander marks that I didn't feel like working that much harder to get out. haha






Custom fittings to adapt original lines to the 3rd gen steering box. I can post the part numbers if anyone wants...

[Josue]

Mocking up so I can check fitment and measure for stainless lines. Brackets are from Kore3, and the lines will be as well.




And, finally got over the hurdle of cleaning and painting everything that needed it! It feels like it's all downhill from here, like I can start putting stuff back together and cross that part off the list. We had some Eastwood Chassis Black from a previous project that did the trick just fine, and I used Duplicolor caliper paint on the brakes.








And, I can't get over the difference in how much better it looks from the back with meatier tires!! haha

[xsboost90]

nice looking car! I had a 69 firebird with a small block chev race motor in it- man that was fun! Sold it way too cheap back in the day. I too had the lowrider truck bug for awhile....

[Josue]

I still do at times, but I'm over the terrible ride quality and wearing out tires in a lowered truck. haha

[lucky13firebird]

Loving the bird. Especially the bandit wheels. The KORE 3 setup is my favorite too. Great bunch of guys.

Personaly love the 2.56 gears in my 12 bolt... well, except the speeding tickets...

[rohrt]

looks like a fun car.

[Jimmy Sean]

Nice updates to the Bird!

[Josue]

The sad part is, most of it won't be noticeable to the eye! Except the wheels, and maybe a peek at the disk brakes....the spokes are pretty wide. Better steering, better brakes, better converter, better gear ratio. I'll notice the difference though, I guess that's all that matters. haha

Loving the bird. Especially the bandit wheels. The KORE 3 setup is my favorite too. Great bunch of guys.

Personaly love the 2.56 gears in my 12 bolt... well, except the speeding tickets...

I can't believe how EASY all this stuff swaps on with some simple brackets! I didn't even have to get my hubs and axles machined down! They fit in the rotor hats as is....I was shocked!

I've been meaning to ask you, did you make any kind of bracket for your Wilwood valve? Or do the brake lines do a good enough job of keeping it suspended and in place?

I was thinking about doing something like this setup, but if it's mounted solid enough with just the lines holding it, then I'm all for less work. lol

[cbpldc]

Love it! Great looking car, and love the mods. I'll likely be doing some chassis and brake mods to my 2nd gen soon.

Chris

[Gil]

Hi Josh,
very nice upgrade !
Better unseen but you notice when you drive it IMO

I think Lucky's brake valve is below the MC & knob turned outside, so the lines won't have to go up & down like in your picture... Also I don't see if he made a bracket, I don't think...





I'm in the same boat, front brake swap starting this WE with MC, prop valve, front calipers...

[Josue]

Thanks, Gil!

Bending, trimming, and flaring these lines was one thing I wasn't looking forward to. Hopefully I do it right the first time and get no leaks!

I'm also not looking forward to the steering box swap, getting the pitman arm and column in the right place so my wheel isn't 90 degrees off!

[Gil]

Exact same feeling ! I'm a bit scared to do it not the right way...
Bench bleed the MC then have fitings leaks & do it again is not what I want ! So i'll first test flarings & bending lines , then moke up everything in place before bench bleed.
My steering box swap will be fun too to have the wheel strait...
But brakes first ! One cool thing is I'm in France so the metric to inch adaptors are useless as I'll be metric from box to pump with new hoses...

Won't be fun if no pain !

Keep up the good work! nice color too lol !
Gil

[Josue]

Thanks! It might not have been my first choice when deciding what color to paint a car, but when my dad said he wanted a yellow, my first suggestion was Millennium Yellow. We used to work on a ton of C5 Corvettes at the body shop I worked at during this time, so I saw my fair share of C5's with this color...always liked the way it stood out.

[Gil]

I'm partial as mine is nearly the same paint code

Gil

[Josue]

I always thought yours was more orange than yellow, looks good!

[Josue]

Here are some gratuitous parts shots I took today. I plan on getting over there tomorrow, Tuesday, and a bit on Thursday morning this week. Starting off with getting the old master cylinder out of the way, then getting the steering box in, then the front brake assemblies.

Thursday morning will hopefully be for getting the rear axle in and put back together. I'm waiting on a set of leaf spring pads from Classic Industries that should be here on Wednesday.

Got the rear caliper brackets/backing plates put back together. I was able to switch one of the ebrake levers so they'll both pull to the front like they did from the factory in '68. Just gotta get the cables figured out, and make brackets I saw on another forum that should work great!




C5 on the left, LS1 on the right. (if it wasn't obvious lol)



These went in with 2 strikes of a hammer, so I'm going to tack weld them to the hub to make sure they're not going anywhere.



The size difference really is amazing! Rear studs on the left, front studs in the middle, and new on the right.



And some rear axle hardware. I also got a chrome cover from Summit, the original was all pitted and nasty. So for $25, I figured it wasn't worth my time and effort to restore!

[lucky13firebird]

Yeah, my wiwood valve is just hanging out... been there for over a year of intense driving, roadtrips and all kinds of towing... no leaks and hasnt come off yet. Couple weeks ago i towed a 68 charger across the USA... its in my latest video, and yes the brakes did just fine.

[Josue]

I just watched the vid last night, crazy stuff!!

Good to know about the valve too. I found a 8" hose that goes from M12X1.0 bubble to 3/8X24 inverted for the front port, but I haven't been able to find the M12X1.5 to 3/8X24 needed for the rear port. I do have the adapters to do this, but it would look cleaner with 1 fitting there instead of 2. I also wouldn't have to reflare anything on those connections, again...less work! haha