Rusty Feathers (1967 Firebird)

[Jeff_R]

I have been lurking and learning on this site for a long time, and it is about time I started my own build thread.

It all started in 1997, I had just graduated college and was just married (to Tina she has been just as involved in this adventure as I have, 24 years and counting!) and traveled a lot for work. I needed a hobby after studying for so long, and went looking for an old car to work on. I found an ad in the local paper for a 1967 Firebird, OHC-6 (a 1-bbl, not the Sprint 4-bbl), automatic (2-speed), air conditioning, power steering, power drum brakes, deluxe interior. Always a PA car and oddly, no rust. The paint wasn't the best and performance was non-existent; but she was mine. The photo was taken shortly after I brought it home.



The first summer I had the car, I drove it alot (relatively speaking, it still only has 72K on the odo). My wife and I took it to the POCI convention in Sturbridge, MA that summer. I had a lot of plans back then; I was going to convert it to a Sprint with a 4-speed and keep the power features, much as John Z Deloren had intended. That winter, I took the front end apart; rebuilt the suspension, installed a Sprint motor and a 4-speed and drove it about 500 miles.

Fast forward to 2010. The Pro-Touring bug hit me and I wanted in. I was able to horse-trade having a 400 installed in the Firebird and started planning upgrades (the normal things: suspension, brakes, transmission, etc). I had some money saved up and started shopping. Planned upgrades included:



- ridetech Front/Rear Coil Over Suspension
- C6 Front Disk Brakes
- 4th Gen Camaro Rear Disk Brakes
- T-56 Transmission
- Vintage Air
- Keep the Pontiac 400

For the most part, I have stayed with that plan (as I hope to share in this thread).