73 Firebird

[jp455]

So...its time for a long time overdue refresh of my Firebird! It has been sitting for 5 years now and used to be my daily driver so its not the cleanest/neatest car out there. The body and paint are perfect but the rest...not so much. Theres already a few mods on it...wheels, coil overs, brakes, 700R4 and some bits here and there on the 455 but I'll be going beyond that without going nuts.

For the time being the first thing will be to strip it down and redo the floorpan...

Before...


















No project name yet...Im thinking either Eyfogedboudit or The Guvna´ for its previous life in Italy or its future life in England haha!

[keepat]

Looks like my kind of shop, full of Pontiacs Trans Am's and Dodge Chargers ;-)
Good luck with your build.
Pat

[jp455]

Looks like my kind of shop, full of Pontiacs Trans Am's and Dodge Chargers ;-)
Good luck with your build.
Pat

I thought the same! It's actually a shop in Miami that specializes in Firebirds. As I'm out of the country now I needed to have someone with experience and a good reputation to do the build. They sell cars too...SO tempted by some of the stock they have!

http://www.transamflorida.com

[jp455]

Nothing better than taking all that gunk off! On the plus side I guess that leaking rear main gave everything a nice coat of oil so...no rust! haha! Although its a Florida car its been sitting in a parking garage that gets standing water in it when it rains hard...so I thought there might be a bit of rust. But absolutely none other than surface rust on the axle and a couple other bits. But a nice sandblasting and some new paint took care of all that...

The 10 bolt is staying for now with the leafs and shocks it has. The front is getting Speedtech parts and later on at some point I´ll get the matching torque arm setup to go with it.

[jp455]

Of course it cant be all good news. Damn. :( The engine had a leaking rear main...so to take care of that the pan and main caps had to come off to put in a new seal...and good thing we did! The bearings were totally shot. A bit more driving with the engine as is and it would have spun one for sure or worst. The last time I drove it I did notice the oil pressure went down some when I went around a long turn but I thought it was just low oil level since it hadn't happened before. Anyway...this gets me thinking even more. Keep the 455 or go with an LQ9? The 455 would just get a rebuild and keep the iron heads so nothing high powered or anything. On the other hand the LQ9 has all the usual LS advantages and its way cheaper! I'm not even going to ask for everyones opinion as I know the Pontiac/nonPontiac engine debate heats up pretty quick haha! So Im going to have to price things out and see...

[Later-A-body]

Pontiac vs LS.....Since I have that experience behind me, I vote LS.

[cdoggy81]

Good stuff :]

[rohrt]

I would question the LQ9 being cheaper.

Now would be a good time to install some weld in subframe connectors

[jp455]

If I was going for a fully built LS then yes, I'd go straight for that option. But I'm on a budget so my choices are either a very mild 455 or an LQ9. I found a place that does a complete plug and play LQ for 5000 with 425hp (big cam, tune, etc). The 455 will most likely have better torque but there's the obvious advantages of the new engine design/tech.

Later...why so pro LS?

Rohrt...yup, connectors are going in too! I'll post stuff up as it arrives or gets installed.

[jp455]

Nice one...Kore3 brakes arrived! Once the front Speedtech parts get here it can be back on the ground.



Engine wise it's getting disassembled to see what's what inside. Think I might end up rebuilding it for now.

[SPDMETL]

How did you like the 700r4 behind the 455, and what rear gears?

[jp455]

How did you like the 700r4 behind the 455, and what rear gears?

The 700 was a good improvement for sure! I can't recall the gears in the rear, last time I touched the diff was in '95, but I think they're 3.33s. The only issue with the 700 was adjusting the shifting so the clutches didn't burn out when it up shifted. But other than that it's an cheap, easy, and quick upgrade that has benefits. I'm going to a TKO now though...I just prefer a manual in an older car.

[jp455]

Yeah the 18x9s are pretty common now. The billet Snowflakes YO makes are that size and many people use them in the front.

Not sure what brand I'll use, something purely for the summer that's for sure. I have Nitto NT-02s right now 255s all around. I might actually stay with 8" wide wheels and the 255s up front. In the back 18x10 and 295s for sure.

[70Uglybird]

Which Kore3 setup is that.

[jp455]

Its the full Z06 kit with hand brake.

[cdoggy81]

That's cool if you can go 255 F & 295 R. I want to see that! If it doesn't rub it will look real nice :]
I'm too chicken & was going to play it safe at 245 F & 285 R LoL

[jp455]

Yup...its been done before. I already have 255s in front and Oldflm has that same setup, 255 and 295 with 18" wheels. But hes running 18x8 and 18x10...I dont know what backspaces hes running though. Im starting to lean towards 18x8 instead of 18x9...

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...d-Gen-Firebird

[OLDFLM]

255/45/18s up front on 18x8 and 295/40/18s out back on 18x10s. Nice sidewall, 27"f and 27.3" rear overall, GREAT handling with the Falken R615s!!

fwiw I may go with 255/40/18s up front when I replace the next set of tires. The 295/40/18 Falken's the back are PERFECT imo!

[jp455]

By far the worst part of the car is the engine...turns out two lobes on the cam were getting rounded. So its going to get a light rebuild and a hydraulic roller cam is going to the replace the flat hydraulic that wore down. It would be interesting to see why it wore down though...I used good oil changed regularly and there doesnt seem to be any problems with the pump or anything. Maybe it ran low on oil for longer than I thought.

This is going to be a very mild build so the 2 bolt caps are fine.

[jp455]

Damn...looks the E/T wheels won't fit over the front brakes with the backspace needed. I really wanted to get those! So I guess I'll start another thread...

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...99#post1191899