69 firebird T/A convertible

[Motown 454]

Nice progress . I think you will help more than just a few guys with this write up. . It came out nice.

[cdoggy81]

Yes Sam, excellent work indeed!!!
I feel ya too about the heat.... it sux... :(

[zman1969]

This is a picture of everything assembled


And here is a picture from inside the cowl with the motor installed and the wiper arm transmission installed. It looks close, but there is about a finger's width of room when the arm rotates


Hope this helps

Sam

Damn nice work Sam!!!

[SamHatco]

just have one word: SCHWING!


Oh Sam, I hate to , but that throttle body is kinda BLAH now - billet one?

Got a delivery from Street & Performance yesterday. I think this looks a little better.





What do you guys think?

Sam

[68/CamaroFL]

Sam,
Very Nice Project!!

[wellis77]

Intake and stripe color is HOK Oriental Pearl Blue. White is toyota super bright white. Pictures do not do the engine justice, you just want to stand a stare, it really pops!

I'm looking at a blue for my Dart and was thinking the Viper GTS Blue but I really like the blue you used. Is the Oriental Blue on the engine the same as the blue stripe on the car? I've been looking at the HOK color charts and it shows the Oriental Blue over a metallic base. Can you tell me which base you used?

That is a hot color and your car is amazing! Great job!

[SamHatco]

I'm looking at a blue for my Dart and was thinking the Viper GTS Blue but I really like the blue you used. Is the Oriental Blue on the engine the same as the blue stripe on the car? I've been looking at the HOK color charts and it shows the Oriental Blue over a metallic base. Can you tell me which base you used?

That is a hot color and your car is amazing! Great job!

Thanks for the compliment. Yes it is. The color is over a silver base I believe. Hope this helps

Sam

[68400BIRD]

Looks great as always. I started to jamb my last car the same color, viper blue. I went back to the Rally Sport stock colors. My wife wants me to paint the firebird blue so I'm leaning towards that color or a dark blue that is on the newer Cayeens (sp).

[BanditDave]

This car is an inspiration to me man! I love it. Planning on doing the same thing down the road a bit. Love it man...absolutely love it!

[SamHatco]

Thanks, BanditDave

This is the fun part putting everything back together.

Sam

[1Michel]

Got a delivery from Street & Performance yesterday. I think this looks a little better.





What do you guys think?

Sam

Hey Sam this is one nice build, beautifully done.
May I bring your attention on something.

I see your air filter is near the rad, it will probably suck in hot air into the engine.
Last month, Super Chevy magazine adressed this with a Camaro and changed the air intake so cooler air would get into the engine.
Got a few HP in the process.
Maybe you should check this out.

http://www.superchevy.com/technical/...ake/index.html


Again beautifull car my son is crazy about birds and we enjoyed your build. Keep it up.

[SamHatco]

Hey Sam this is one nice build, beautifully done.
May I bring your attention on something.

I see your air filter is near the rad, it will probably suck in hot air into the engine.
Last month, Super Chevy magazine adressed this with a Camaro and changed the air intake so cooler air would get into the engine.
Got a few HP in the process.
Maybe you should check this out.

http://www.superchevy.com/technical/...ake/index.html


Again beautifull car my son is crazy about birds and we enjoyed your build. Keep it up.

Thanks! Yes I know this isn't the most efficient way to get air into the engine, but I needed something quick. My future plans are to utilize the hood scoops on the trans am hood. Make a y shaped intake tube to both sides of the engine and fab some type of ram air system. This is just to get me running. I've been working on this thing for 2 years and its time to git r dun.

Sam

[1Michel]

Thanks! Yes I know this isn't the most efficient way to get air into the engine, but I needed something quick. My future plans are to utilize the hood scoops on the trans am hood. Make a y shaped intake tube to both sides of the engine and fab some type of ram air system. This is just to get me running. I've been working on this thing for 2 years and its time to git r dun.

Sam

Yes I know the feeling LOL and I didnt want to critisize, your doing on heck of a job.
I remember you cutting openings on the hood too and when I read the part in the magazine I thought about your car. they gave the same reason too, LOL we'll get it running and see later.

Again, super nice project.

[cdoggy81]

"My future plans are to utilize the hood scoops on the trans am hood."
That's what I'm talking about Sam! I want to do a 70-73 Formula next the same way

[gearheads78]

Engine looks killer and the kick ass job on the poors mans wiper motor.

[NickS351GT]

Got a delivery from Street & Performance yesterday. I think this looks a little better.





What do you guys think?

Sam

Hey Sam,read your build thread page for page and its lookin killer man!White and blue combo looks clean n fresh.Cant wait to see that dashboard installed n lit up...Nice work mate,keep the pics comin.
Cheers Nick-Sydney Australia

[SamHatco]

Engine looks killer and the kick ass job on the poors mans wiper motor.

Thanks, Richard, I always look for ways to build things myself if I have the tools, materials, and can figure a way to build it. I get a lot of satisfaction in saying "Yeah, I made that", much more than saying "Yeah, I bought that from ....".

Sam

[SamHatco]

Hey Sam,read your build thread page for page and its lookin killer man!White and blue combo looks clean n fresh.Cant wait to see that dashboard installed n lit up...Nice work mate,keep the pics comin.
Cheers Nick-Sydney Australia

Thanks, Nick! You guys down under are making some great rides also. Didn't know you Aussies were as passionate about cars as we are until I got on this site.

Sam

[SamHatco]

One of the items on my check list to do was to see if I could get a working cruise control. I plan on driving this car on long trips and thought it would be nice to have cruise. With that in mind I picked up a cruise control module from a salvage yard for about $30.00. Evidently there isn't much demand for these. Anyway, I studied how I wanted to incorporate the cruise control into my build and this is the solution I came up with.

Here are some pictures of a cruise control module used by GM for the last 10 years or so. This one is from an 04 GTO




This is a partial picture of the cable


I wanted to keep the engine bay as clean and uncluttered as possible and after looking at the passenger side fender I decided that there is too much stuff going on with the a/c and heater lines to try and locate the module behind the fender. So I decided to locate the cruise module on the driver side between the wheel house and the firewall. Well the cable was nowhere near long enough and it looked awful. I gave Lokar a called and talked to one of their technicians and he asked me to e-mail me some pictures of the control module, the same ones you see here. He promptly got back with me and said there was no problem making up a cable to adapt to the GM controller. He told me all he needed was the cable so I sent it to him. They made up a 48" cable for me and here is the installed pictures. The people at Lokar were very easy to work with. It was a pleasure doing business with them, I highly recommend them.






I think it turned out pretty nice. Once the fender is installed with the controller located behind the fender on the driver side the only thing visible is the cable and it blends in with what I have done so far.

Next up the wiring, ugh.

Sam

[Motown 454]

Sam nice job on that it looks neat. You have a beautiful build.