'69 Firebird - Counterfeit Trans Am

[Josh@Ridetech]

That caliper looks nice enough to be on display in your office or living room.

Haha, thanks. When I saw those colors as an option, I had the "Yep, that's the combo" feeling. I've caught mixed feedback from some guys that saw them, some think they're awesome, and some think they should be more visible. I'm not a bright/shiny color guy so I love this combo, subtle, but awesome when you realize what they are.

[Josh@Ridetech]

Took a couple pictures that I think turned out cool so I might as well post them here!

[ryeguy2006a]

Love the pictures! Car looks amazing man!

[Josh@Ridetech]

Love the pictures! Car looks amazing man!

Thank you! I'm really happy with how it's turning out. I'm also ecstatic that I'm finding some time to work on it/drive it! It's a fun car for sure .

[Rod]

looks great Josh

[Josh@Ridetech]

looks great Josh

Thanks Rod!!

[JLMounce]

Looking great! I noticed you are using the Dakota Digital gauge stack. Is the tachometer sandwiched inside the speedometer large enough for actual performance usage? It's the one thing that has kept me from purchasing a set.

[Josh@Ridetech]

Looking great! I noticed you are using the Dakota Digital gauge stack. Is the tachometer sandwiched inside the speedometer large enough for actual performance usage? It's the one thing that has kept me from purchasing a set.

Thanks! That's the only thing I'm not 100% thrilled on. I find myself looking around for the tach longer than I want to. I know where it's at but I wish it stuck out to me more. It's a super nice set of gauges but I wish the tach was the same size as the speedo. In my opinion, it would've been perfect if they put the tach in the left pod and then put the rest of the gauges in different locations.

[JLMounce]

Appreciate your thoughts and the photo, that's quite helpful. Considering there is a gauge pod location just to the right of the cluster, I'm not sure why anyone isn't using that.

[Josh@Ridetech]

Appreciate your thoughts and the photo, that's quite helpful. Considering there is a gauge pod location just to the right of the cluster, I'm not sure why anyone isn't using that.

Anytime. I'm sure there are some guys that use/would use that location where the clock was. For me, I just haven't put anything there because I don't like I'd like something there that didn't match the Dakota setup now (I haven't found anything I like at least). When I bought the car, it had the fuel gauge there and then one of the universal 3 gauge panels below, and I hated the way they looked.

[JLMounce]

There was a rarely chosen option U30 in 1969 for an in-dash tach and stacked gauges in the clock pod. There is a guy that is supposedly recreating these, but quality appears to be spotty and lead times are incredibly long. It would be great to see a quality product like Dakota set up in this fashion.

[dhutton]

Appreciate your thoughts and the photo, that's quite helpful. Considering there is a gauge pod location just to the right of the cluster, I'm not sure why anyone isn't using that.

This guy used to sell a gauge pod. In this day of 3D printers it should be relatively easy to make one.
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=652972

[Josh@Ridetech]

There was a rarely chosen option U30 in 1969 for an in-dash tach and stacked gauges in the clock pod. There is a guy that is supposedly recreating these, but quality appears to be spotty and lead times are incredibly long. It would be great to see a quality product like Dakota set up in this fashion.

I've seen that setup and I love it. It would be great to see Dakota do something like that.

This guy used to sell a gauge pod. In this day of 3D printers it should be relatively easy to make one.
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=652972

Very cool! 3d printing definitely opens alot of windows for sure.

[Rooster67]

Josh,

Does the ridetech subframe allow a low mount AC?

[Josh@Ridetech]

Josh,

Does the ridetech subframe allow a low mount AC?

I have had a couple customers use the lower mounted AC setups. I'm not entirely sure on the brands though. The mid-mount setups are by far my favorite on these though!

[Josh@Ridetech]

I got a chance to finally put the parts to use and do what they were built to do this past weekend. I ran the DriveAutoX event at NCM in Bowling Green, KY. The car did more than I could've asked for, especially being on 245 Continental's that are a 340 treadwear tire. I wasn't planning on using these tires but I had an open weekend and decided to sign up. I ran into an issue where I was pushing way more oil into the catch cans than what it should (I had to empty them after every 3 runs). After doing some thinking, I'm not entirely sure that the baffles are set up right in these after being modified for the 10an bungs that are welded into them. The large sweeping corners allowed the oil/condensation to run right out of the covers and into the cans (and I may have slightly overfilled the engine, who knows..). After some band-aid work to try and make the oil flow path harder, it helped out and I continued to run. I ended up having the fastest time in the GRV group on Sunday and then took first place in the GRV shootout. I couldn't be more happy with the initial performance of the car, not to mention how greatly ran the event was. I also got to go down with my good buddy, Herb (Yelcamino on here), he's helped me out in more ways over the years than I can remember. All in all, it was one of the best weekends that I've had for a while. I just wanted to do a quick update and post some of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

[Vimes]

Excellent! I always liked those old Firebirds. 4 headlight noses look better than 2 headlights.

[Josh@Ridetech]

Excellent! I always liked those old Firebirds. 4 headlight noses look better than 2 headlights.

Thanks! I do too haha. This past weekend was a great time being out in the car.