My 68 Firebird project

[Steve Firebird]

Steve,

I may have met you and your friend in '04. I recall one of you talking about the rough ride of the car? Let me know if you make it again. I think this year will be too soon for me by at least a couple months.

John

You may remember my friends car it was a April gold 68 drop top with black roof and interior a nice stock car. That sounds like something I would complain about. I never did like the stock seats in those first gens and the polyurathane bushing every where make it ride like a truck but it handles pretty well. I got some 73 TA deluxe seats to put in it so hopeful that will help make it better on long trips. SOMEDAY I want to upgrade to an air ride type suspention. Here is a picture of the new seats I still need to modify the brackets some how they set too high and tip a little.

[Hammered]

Yeah we probably met. I remember you complaining about the car having polyurethane everywhere. I'm glad you did because it caused me to be very judicious in the use of poly on my car.

I think the seats will look great. I almost went with those myself but am going to try to have some '69 headrest seats contoured to provide more support.

[Beastus_Maximus]

Steve, it is going to be a damn nice car when it is done. Cant wait to see it.

[Steve Firebird]

Thanks Beastus. I see you are buliding a 79 TA that will be a cool car. I have one myself. It has a pretty stong 400 and a 4 speed here is a pic. I am using it for a driver untill my 68 is back on the road or if I can sell it I could use the money for more goodies on the 68. BTW where are you from? I have a bunch of parts from 76-79 firebirds I got from the guy I bought the TA from. Let me know if you need anything. Steve

[Beastus_Maximus]

Thanks Beastus. I see you are buliding a 79 TA that will be a cool car. I have one myself. It has a pretty stong 400 and a 4 speed here is a pic. I am using it for a driver untill my 68 is back on the road or if I can sell it I could use the money for more goodies on the 68. BTW where are you from? I have a bunch of parts from 76-79 firebirds I got from the guy I bought the TA from. Let me know if you need anything. Steve

Wow Steve, that is a pretty damn clean TA. Mine currently has a 403/th350 in it. Other than that it is pretty much Identical to yours. I was pretty excited when I found mine it doesnt have a dent in the body that I have been able to find, and I havent found any bondo either. The paint is faded is all.

I am from Montana, I live just 24 miles outside of Bozeman. I think at the moment im good for parts, the only thing on my car that is going to be original when im done is the sheetmetal. :D I think the 455/4L80E install is going to make it pretty wild.

I am a member of a car club here, I will poke around and see if anyone might be interested in your 79 there, If I didnt have 5 cars of my own right now id take a serious look at taking it off your hands, but the last thing I need is more stuff to work on.

[trapin]

I thought that was Viper Blue. Great color. That's made it's way onto a few f-bodies on this site. Hell I'm thinking about it for my car.

[Steve Firebird]

I thought that was Viper Blue. Great color. That's made it's way onto a few f-bodies on this site. Hell I'm thinking about it for my car.

Thanks I really like the color too I was a little worried untill I actually saw it on the car. It should be a real eye catcher if I can ever get it back on the road. Spring is here and I am getting the itch to drive but the body shop has made all most 0 progress on it since I took it back to them. I think I am going to call and JACK THEM UP today

[Steve Firebird]

I went to the body shop yesterday and it was the last straw. The car is two years passed the completion date and in the last month he has managed to wet sand the deck lid and make up the release for the remote trunk. My wife and I talked it over and I am pulling the car from him this weekend if the weather is OK. I have an other body shop lined up to finish the project and I know he will follow through on his word. I am sure this move will cost me some extra $$$ but I do not want to go an other summer with out the car. Wish me luck !

[Roger Poirier]

This happen to me also. Except my car was 10 years at a body shop.
In my case the whole project was paid for. $10 grand out the door.
Trust me your not the only one this has happen to. In the end you will be much better off going to another body shop.

R.P.

[Steve Firebird]

Went and moved my car to the new body shop yesterday. When I opened the door at the old body shop I expected the car to be ready to go and to have my parts at least near the car. I should have know better. A Mustang was between my car and the door and my parts were all over the shop in three different rooms. I took me an hour to find most the parts and a few things were MIA. I had to push my car into a corner roll the mustang ahead then jack up the rear end of my Firebird and drag it over so I could get it to the door. To say the least I was angry but I should have know better its just par for the course at this place. It took me from 2:00pm till 8:00pm to get it all loaded and moved to the new shop 3 trips by my self. I did get in touch with the old body man and he was able to find the rest of my parts so I can get them. I paid for the enough paint to do the whole car but the hood inner fenderwells cowl and lower valance had no paint on them and there is about 1 pt of paint left over. Should 2 gal of paint been enough to paint the car? Now I am VERY worried about getting the paint on the hood to mach the rest of the car. ANYWAY thats my last rant about the old body shop I am sure the new guys will do a great job. I have had them do work for me before and I should have had them on this project from the get go.

[speedster]

Went and moved my car to the new body shop yesterday. When I opened the door at the old body shop I expected the car to be ready to go and to have my parts at least near the car. I should have know better. A Mustang was between my car and the door and my parts were all over the shop in three different rooms. I took me an hour to find most the parts and a few things were MIA. I had to push my car into a corner roll the mustang ahead then jack up the rear end of my Firebird and drag it over so I could get it to the door. To say the least I was angry but I should have know better its just par for the course at this place. It took me from 2:00pm till 8:00pm to get it all loaded and moved to the new shop 3 trips by my self. I did get in touch with the old body man and he was able to find the rest of my parts so I can get them. I paid for the enough paint to do the whole car but the hood inner fenderwells cowl and lower valance had no paint on them and there is about 1 pt of paint left over. Should 2 gal of paint been enough to paint the car? Now I am VERY worried about getting the paint on the hood to mach the rest of the car. ANYWAY thats my last rant about the old body shop I am sure the new guys will do a great job. I have had them do work for me before and I should have had them on this project from the get go.

That pretty much blows. Tell that old body/paint guy to take a flying f%$*. What a waste of YOUR time and money.

I hope your new shop does it up right. You deserve that much.

[Steve Firebird]

The time is what really gets to me. I can make more money but the time I can never get back. It had started to make wonder why i even mess around with this old car stuff. I am sure when things start to move in the right direction my attitude with get better.

[ProTouring442]

I have felt like this many times before.... Remember though, cars are a chronic illness, sometimes it may feel like you are getting better, but the disease always re-emerges.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill
'72 442 "Inamorata"

The time is what really gets to me. I can make more money but the time I can never get back. It had started to make wonder why i even mess around with this old car stuff. I am sure when things start to move in the right direction my attitude with get better.

[Steve Firebird]

I stopped in to check the progress on the old bird Friday and the owner of the shop met me at the door and said we need to talk. We went and looked over the car and found some very troubling problems. There are 5-6 spots on the car that the paint is pulling away from the body. He said it is some thing that may continue to show up in more areas or it may just end up being those spots. Then we looked at the fenders and doors. By the time they had worked out some of but not all of the orange peel they started to burn though the paint on some spots. The tool the use to measure (paint micrometer?) showed the paint thickness to be all over the place. Some areas were pretty thick others very thin. The paint also never seemed to dry even though it has been on the car since October the sandpaper was gumming up as they started blocking out so they could make it strait and spray again. So it was expanded to me like this. Something is wrong with the paint and or the sealer used on the car. It’s bubbling / pulling away from the body and seems like it will not dry or get hard. The long and short of it is the car will be taken down to bear metal and repainted the right way. It sucks and I was pretty upset for a while but I can’t stop now and must finish the project. At least now it will be done the right way.

[Roger Poirier]

Yes, again this has happen to me, except my car was still in primer. Car was sand beaded back to metal and the total body reworked. Its live and learn...... thats all I can say. Cheer up! It gets better in the end.


R.P.

[Steve Firebird]

I was prety ticked off for a while but hey its just a car. I am actually very glad it took it fom the butcher before it was finished I would have been very unsatified with the end product at least now I will have a quality job in the end.

[Roger Poirier]

I was prety ticked off for a while but hey its just a car. I am actually very glad it took it fom the butcher before it was finished I would have been very unsatified with the end product at least now I will have a quality job in the end.

Thats how I felt also! If you had let the paint job stay, 1-2 years later you would be back to redo the whole car anyways and end up paying for two total paint jobs. This way before you car hits the road it will be correct. My 2nd paint job on my car came out golden. Top of the line paint job!

R.P.

[trapin]

Sorry to hear about that Steve. Hope it works out in the end.

You guys are really scaring me. Mine goes to paint in July.

[Roger Poirier]

Sorry to hear about that Steve. Hope it works out in the end.

You guys are really scaring me. Mine goes to paint in July.

Tony,

Call me and I will give you the ins and outs what to look for in a body shop. There are easy tips before you commit to determine if this is the right guy for you. Live and learn from my own previous mistakes.

248.624.4526

R.P.

[68Formula]

Roger,

That's was a very nice offer. Any chance you could post the info. in the body shop section? I'm sure we can con the moderators to make it a sticky.

BTW, I saw the finished product at Autorama. Your car deserves it's own website.