1969 Firebird, TT Pontiac engine

[skylark guy]

That fender bulge work looks great! Looks like they kept the line on the car nice and clean.

[slimjim]

it's sickening how skilled that group of guys are. this will be such an amazing car

[69Phoenix]

From 2006 with a 377 inch Nelson built Chevy, to 2017 with the Butler built aluminum 482. As with many projects, they take on a life of their own. What was the goal in 2006 before the recession, completely changed this time around. Just glad the project has momentum and will finally be finished. What a ride this has been.

If I had advice for anyone, it would be to lay out what you want in the beginning and stick to your plan. We scrapped 100% of what the local shop here in Texas had done. Including the chassis, tin work, roll cage, and so much more. Hated to lose all that money and time but it was not going to perform to expectation the way it was going so it just had to sit and I had to learn the hard way. I am very confident in what the guys at BBT Fabrications in Mahomet Illinois are doing. They don’t just make pretty stuff.... they make stuff that works and is safe. This car needs to do 200+... at least once or twice and I feel confident it’ll do so smoothly and safely.

[69Phoenix]

Pete Fortney at BBT spent quite a few hours getting the fenders perfect. This provides just the right amount of clearance for the 19” Evod wheels.

[69Phoenix]

Images are out of order but you get the idea. A little bluing material on the fender, some good scribe marks, and then the cutting can begin.

[Buryingthesun]

The metal work on this car is just unbelievable

[redmist]

Speechless.

Absolutely amazing work, and I am now motivated! Thanks! ha

[69Phoenix]

Headlight bucket being fitted to the mock up grill insert, and bucket installed for fitment

Hope to have the grill and bezel pieces finished in the next handful of weeks. Hard waiting on everything but in order to get it all right it just takes time. I don’t have the patience Troy and his team at BBT have and can appreciate all the hard work they are doing.

[cbpldc]

I'm really enjoying this build. Based on the shape of the headlight openings and buckets, are you thinking Mustang or from something else?

Chris

[69Phoenix]

We have and are having all the grill and light components custom machined out of 6061-T6 aluminum. The lights themselves are HID units. Once we have everything together and in one place we'll post some pictures with them installed. Glad you are enjoying the build.

[69Phoenix]

Just wanted folks to see and get an idea of what kind of work the guys at BBT in Mahomet Illinois do. Can't wait to see the dash and doors coming together. For now the focus is on the plumbing for the turbos and the grill/headlight assemblies. We will be machining the grill and light bezels in our shop in Georgetown Texas on a Haas VF-6. Sometimes it’s okay to sit on the sidelines and watch, sometimes it’s fun to get involved.

Will post updates as I have them.

[69Phoenix]

Floors looking at what is now the firewall.

[Build-It-Break-It]

Amazing. Their skills are insane.

[69Phoenix]

We've been busy on other aspects of the car and I've been waiting on availability on our shop floor to machine the grill components. Finally got some time in the Haas VF-6 and this is how things are progressing. Not sure how we are going to finish the components just yet but this is how they are looking in bare aluminum.

I'll post additional pics as we wrap things up to see what you think.

[69Phoenix]

Each hole is at a 6 degree angle and after roughing them all out we went back and profiled each hole into a honeycomb shape. The run time is long but the end product will be worth it. We wanted to make a few things in our shop to show our commitment to the project and to be a part of the build. Growing up in a machine shop has it's benefits and it's fun for our crew to get involved in more than just machined parts that go "somewhere" but never give the guy who makes them any idea of how they are used. Our programmer is having a good time running these one off pieces for the car. Hope to make more components when we get to the interior.

[ryeguy2006a]

Every-time I see this car, I am in awe at the level of metal finishing. It is amazing to me. Fantastic work!

[skylark guy]

That grill is looking amazing. I have been thinking of doing a billet grill for my Skylark and this may have pushed me into at least drawing it up in CAD. What thickness material are you using?

[69Phoenix]

Thanks for the props on the grill. We are trying to do as much as we can on the car and readily admit we are not fabricators like Troy's team at BBT but we like to machine and thought it would be fun to get involved if only a little bit. The base grill is .375" thick and the two large inner grill bezels covering the main portions of the honeycomb are .750" thick and screw directly to the grill itself from the backside using countersunk hardware. The light bezels/trim pieces are a bit thinner at .875", .375" of which drops down into the headlight openings centering them in place leaving the bezel standing .500" proud of the grill. Hope to have some finished pictures up this weekend.

[Josh@Ridetech]

My lord... That's insane.

[69Phoenix]

An up close shot of the passenger light opening.