Project Anchor (68 Firebird Coupe)

[blitzer454]

Installed door jamb wiring boots. I got them off Ebay for just under 20 bucks. I think they will work fine.

[blitzer454]

Test fitting fenders. They still need more work but the fit is not bad for non-OEM parts. This is actually the first time I have seen the car with the front parts attached as I brought it disassembled.



Both inner fenders were also beyond repair. I found a used one for 50 bucks and Summit had the other one in stock. The used one is from a camaro. It only required some modifications to the front to make it into a firebird inner fender. So they are not exactly the same.

[blitzer454]

Here's a tip for removing rust. Instead of buying a $100, 5 gallon pail of Evaporust I brought a 10lb bag of oxalic acid for about 35 bucks. You mix 5 lb per 5 gallons of water and it works the same as Evaporust. However I think it is more toxic so keep it away from the kiddos.





Here's some before and after of the hood hinges.





works great.

[blitzer454]

Worked on the head light assembly. Mostly just needed new hardware and some fresh paint. I also fabricated the metal support braces that hold the grill in place.

[blitzer454]

My lower valence is in pretty rough shape. After taking it down to bare metal I can see where someone had done some work on it already as there was some brazing in places and and plenty of bondo hiding some hammer marks. The parking lamps were also cracked and rusted so I decided to do something a little custom with what was left.



I found some LED lights that were designed for '07-2017 Jeep. I plan to use them for DRL's and blinkers. I made some brackets out of 3.5 inch expanded muffler pipe.





Ignore the misaligned hood, bumper and fenders they are not fully bolted down. I still need to do some more work on the fenders.





What do you think? I'm not sure if I like it yet, but going to wait until after paint to decide if I keep it or not.

[Vimes]

Thought they might look better on the outside of the opening, perhaps centered between the headlights or under the brights. My Paint-Fu is sloppy. Good job on the lights though, it would be neat to see the blinkers in action with the driving lights on.

[blitzer454]

I thought about doing it that way as well, but I was afraid it would make the openings look too small, but after looking at your picture I think it would look okay. I was thinking about filling in the openings and make it look more like a 69 camaro valence, but I also want the extra cooling capability. I still I think I'm going to wait and see what it looks like after paint. I feel like it stands out too much right now because the valence is in metal whereas everything else is in primer. I think it will look more proportional when everything is the same color.

[rickpaw]

Nice work. Really enjoyed your Camaro thread.

Following along on this build. Thinking about adding similar lights to my 67 Firebird, but using the stock location of the turn signal

[blitzer454]

I've been working on fixing the fender gaps and installing a Camaro hood scoop.


First I created a template for a base plate that I could build off without having to weld directly to the hood.


I bonded the base plate to the bottom of the hood.


Then created another template for the scoop and cut my hole.




Then created a third template for the rain gutter




Welding in the gutter support brace


Pretty happy with the fit just not sure if the rain will dump ahead of the engine. I may need to create some extensions to the gutter using my 3d printer.


Final product fits surprisingly good with little to no gaps around the edges. Should be easy to perfect with minimal body filler.


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Dialing in the fender bumper and hood gaps.

[blitzer454]

I added a ring using some metal rod around the parking lights. Probably not a huge difference in how it looked before but I think it gives the lights a little more depth and completes the look I wanted.

[Jimmy Sean]

This is a known issue with the shock mount ripping off, mine did it twice even after I reinforced it. Keep an eye on it. It was never designed to support the weight of the vehicle. I ended up using the BMR coil over mount for a first gen. Hood insert looks great!

[blitzer454]

This is a known issue with the shock mount ripping off, mine did it twice even after I reinforced it. Keep an eye on it. It was never designed to support the weight of the vehicle. I ended up using the BMR coil over mount for a first gen. Hood insert looks great!

Thanks, I'm definitely keeping an eye on it.

[blitzer454]

I attempted to make a custom rear spoiler that doesn't swoop up as much as the stock one and is laid back more.




But it fell apart on me when I did the finish welds and fill in the bottom pieces. The heat warped it too much to save. In retrospect I should have just removed the entire trunk lid and treated it as one new piece. Anyway I got upset and decided to just go with the fiberglass one.



But it's going to need more work as the gaps on the edges look terrible. So I'm walking away from that job for a bit. So which spoiler do you prefer? I'm wondering if I should give the custom one another shot or fix the fiberglass one.

[blitzer454]

My fuel door won't stay shut. The casting for where the spring mounts is broken so I can't simply buy a new spring and get it working again. A new door would cost around $95 so I decided to make a fix using a cabinet push latch. I 3d-printed a spacer for the latch.



I then drilled a hole next to the filler neck and stuck a washer to the end of the latch and some epoxy to the fuel door then closed the door to place the washer into the epoxy insuring I get it placed just right. The fuel door must be a zinc cast as the magnet will not stick to the door alone.



Yes, I did remove the rust from the filler neck and gas cap and applied epoxy primer to both. After the epoxy dried I gave it a try and all seemed good, until I pounded on the bumper with my fist at which time the door would fling open. The magnet is not strong enough to withstand this kind of bump and I suspect the same thing would happen when driving and running over a rough road. So I decided to epoxy a neodymium magnet onto the end of the latch as it's a much stronger magnet. I redid my test and now it performs much better. Time will tell if it works on the road.

[blitzer454]

I made this on my 3d-printer.



Which assembles into this.



It's a wheel fit tool to determine what size wheel I can fit on the car. I can select the tire width and tire diameter and by sliding the gauge I can determine how that tire size will fit under the fender and determine wheel offset. I forgot to take a picture of it in action with the fenders still on the car so here's one without the fenders.



It looks like I can fit a 245 tire with around 6" backspace. But I want to dial in my toe, caster, and camber before making final determination which is why I pulled the fenders back off.

[blitzer454]

Went down to my local European salvage yard and scored this for $200. Not a bad price considering that I got all the electrical connectors, master cylinder and reservoir for that price. It came off a 2018 Honda Accord. The same unit is also used on the newer Tesla's.



It's a Bosch iBooster to replace my vacuum booster. I was going to use a hydro-boost setup but then I started reading about how some people were using these electric boosters with success. It has a 25mm bore master cylinder and only requires power, ground and a switched power source to operate. It also has a additional features that could be used by a computer to control regen braking and autonomous driving via a CAN interface, but I don't plan on using that anytime soon.

Here's a picture showing the location of the original firewall holes for the vacuum booster. In this pic I was getting ready to weld on a round plate to level the mounting surface for the iBooster.



Here's the new hole locations. Essentially I just reused the top left hole and new holes for everything else. The iBooster has a bore stroke of about 35mm and with this placement I have about 60mm of brake pedal travel. The other hole is for the clutch master cylinder.



This is the pedal mount assembly after I removed the 4 mounting studs before I modified it for the new hole locations.



Here's what it looks like after the modifications.

[blitzer454]

For the clutch master cylinder I fabricated some metal from a buck to take the shape of the base of the master cylinder. This is a pic before I cut in the required angle to make it work with the clutch pedal. In this pic you can also see the tab I welded to the brake pedal for the iBooster.



Here it is welded in place. This master cylinder has a bore stroke of 28mm. To get the correct pedal distance I had to angle the master cylinder by 110 degrees which gives a pedal travel of about 31mm.

[blitzer454]

Since there isn't enough room to mount the clutch master cylinder under the brake booster I had to place it to the right of the booster which means I will need an extension for the clutch pedal to reach the rod. So I made this from a 1/2" pipe and a bolt some nuts and a washer all welded together.



Here's the completed pedal assembly with extension welded on. I also added a clutch pedal stop, clutch switch (for cruise control and starting engine), some landing pads for the two switches and some new rubber foot pads.



View from inside the car. The pedal travel is perfect for both pedals.

[blitzer454]

Here's how I did the brake lines. I used a Wilwood proportioning valve although I think I'm going to remove the pressure sensor as I don't need it since I already have a brake switch on the pedal assembly.



I also wired up the brake pedal position sensor on the iBooster and got it so there are now only just the 3 wires I need to make it work. I tested the booster using a power supply and all seems to be working properly.



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Applied Lizard Skin to inside of front fenders and wheel housings.

[blitzer454]

Test fitting Dewitt radiator I purchased last black Friday. Still wasn't cheap, but it does have a lifetime warranty.



I need to fabricate some kind of bracket to hold it in place on top as the well nuts are pulling through the firewall. I probably should also add two more well nuts to help hold it in place.