Resurrection of my youth and My 72 firebird

[BL72]

I am at a point in my life, I believe, where I can start to dedicate a fair amount of time to my beloved 1972 Firebird. I pulled it out of storage and moved to the garage this past weekend. I’ve owned it for 21 yrs. now. It was road worthy for the 1st 6 months of that. I had it in my barn with a gravel floor for the past 5 years. I was worried about the underside rotting and mice all this time with little other options. I was pleasantly surprised that it hasn’t deteriorated at all really. The worst is a little mildew inside form moisture. I’ve put a fair amount of time planning a budget and a time line over the past year and lurked here quite a bit as well. I work 12 hour days, every other weekend and ~ 5 days a week. Needless to say my time isn’t abundant. I think reasonably, 5 years is my target. 60K budget.

20K for suspension / frame

15k for body

10k engine

10k interior

5k trans



Im pretty overwhelmed in this undertaking. I am at the point of disassembly, which I think is the cheapest part! I don’t really know how to go about the order of reassembly, which is probably a year away. How far do I take this thing down? I want to do it all but are there things that you just don’t take apart?





I want to get the body dustless blasted ASAP, but Im worried if I don’t paint for 3 years, that it will have to be blasted again.

Im worried if I accumulate parts for the engine, they will have to be reworked to some extent before I can install them or if I get the engine ready early and it cant be installed for a year or 2



I want to do as much as I can personally, but I know my limitations. I wont be doing any body work other than disassembly and cleaning. Im not a painter etc



I am hung up on the suspension. I like the full chassis form Schwartz. I also like the rear conversions form Detroit speed or Heidts and the front clips form them also. is there an advantage to one or the other?



I want a cruiser first and foremost.

Pontiac powered. I have a 400 block I bought for it last year. I want to deal with Tin Indian and Kauffmans for that aspect.

I will take it to cruise ins and car shows some for fun, not to compete. I want a nice paint job but not a 30K paint job.

I want to be able to have the option to race it occasionally. tho that wont be a primary function. I want it to be able to compete there tho when I decide to run. Id love to do a road coarse or a OUSCI.

Drag racing isn’t really a desire any more… tho Im sure it will get ran out of curiosity

Im not sure what trans I want yet. I love manual but do I want to race with one? I will cruise more than anything tho. Paddle shifters? Just stick with a auto… I really cant make up my mind yet.

I want 4 seats in it and as little roll cage as I can get by with and a mini tub



Im open to any suggestions. Right now its lurking here and few books I’ve bought



For some of the back story on it:

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...hio?highlight=




- - - Updated - - -

Ill have to figure out the pictures later....

[RMMiller]

From what I'm reading I would stay with a stock sub-frame and go with bolt on pieces. Even staying mild with the build the car will still be held back by the driver (not knocking you, I'll be in the same boat!) if you are only racing on occasion. I have grand plans for my turd but in the end I will probably not follow through with most of my pie in the sky desires, just won't make sense to spend the money when it will see city streets more than anything else.

By the way....love the small back window second gen cars, Pontiac more than the Chevy but would kick either to the curb!

[Rebob]

I'd have to agree with Mr Miller, there's so many boltons now that that are a lot less expensive and do a great job. A arms, coil overs and brakes on the front, bolt in 4 link, coil overs and brakes in the rear. My buddy road courses the dog snot out of his 71 split bumper with a stock sub frame with arms & shocks and leafs in the rear and a 5 speed. American powertrain has some nice package deals on manual trans's.
as long as your not daily driving it I think a stick is a lot mor fun to play with.

I would take it totally apart , bag & tag, repeat, bag & tag everything! Its been sitting so Long that non of the weather strip, window felts or wiring is probably worth a crap. Have the body blasted then put on epoxy primer, that way you can do whatever you want until it goes to paint & body.

I would do all the mock up while it's in primer, you don't want to be trying to fit parts on a freshly painted car.

Good luck and have fun, Rick

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

At least you are well braced for the costs to build these cars! Though I'd say, like the others above have mentioned, you can cut your suspension/chassis line drastically. Unless you're going with a DSE subframe, you can get by with say a ridetech suspension setup all around for about $4k, and get some pretty awesome brakes for around $3-4k. Not much else, get some SFC's, and a rollbar. Maybe throw a little of that saved money into the paint and body, because that's always the most expensive part, especially if it's all being farmed out.

$5k is good for a complete 6 speed kit. $10k is also good for a well built Pontiac engine with no exotic parts... i.e. no port work, or stroker setup. Probably be able to get EFI for the range you specified.

But welcome aboard, and I look forward to seeing another 2nd gen Firebird on here!

[BL72]

thanks guys! I've really been torn about the suspension / frame. I would love to order a kit and install it all myself. what advantages does a DSE subframe have over stock then if everything can be bought kit form and added on? How close to being as strong can you make the unibody compared to a chassis? really thats my biggest concern. but if it can be comparable and still handle great then Im all for it

[OLDFLM]

I agree with all of the above! But it sounds like you don't want or need a super high end suspension for what you intend to do with the car.

"I want a cruiser first and foremost."

"I will take it to cruise ins and car shows some for fun, not to compete."

And that's the key! Think about how you will REALLY be using the car. I've got BMR suspension on my car and LOVE it FWIW and it's completely bolt on. But you literally have dozens of options. Start by researching what the supporting vendors on here offer and call them.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

The DSE subframe is definitely bad ass, and top of the line, but I'd guess 95% of pro-touring guys wouldn't use the subframe to it's full potential... especially on a nose heavy car like a Pontiac powered 70-73 Firebird. That's why I'm running ridetech bolt on components on my Firebird, I know it'll never be a perfectly balanced car because even though I plan to run an aluminum Pontiac engine someday, it's a street car and I want the full strength front bumper, so the car will never be 50/50 balanced. If I ever feel like the suspension is holding me back, I'll build my 71 Camaro with a DSE setup. Till then, I'll use my Firebird to determine if I'm going to be good enough to justify the best of the best parts. As far as body strength, just use a good subframe connector (DSE if you don't mind cutting the floor), and you'll get pretty much where you need to be. That's what pretty much everyone on here uses, I don't know of anyone using a full frame. Once again, you'll likely never push the car beyond what just SFC's will accomplish. Some solid subframe mounts are a must, and a rollbar always helps, especially if you can add door bars. G-braces are nice (from the firewall to frame), but they don't list them as fitting Pontiac for some reason... maybe valve cover clearance, so unless you build your own (my plan), these might not be an option.

Pretty much any of the standard brand bolt on suspensions you'll see on here will offer outstanding performance over stock.

[OLDFLM]

Josh I've got a set of G-braces if you're interested. They cleared my engine with the TIP valvecovers but not my Fesler billet hood springs.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Josh I've got a set of G-braces if you're interested. They cleared my engine with the TIP valvecovers but not my Fesler billet hood springs.

Sweet, thanks Ty. I might have to take you up on those... I've got other 2nd gen F-bodies as well, if I don't use them on this Bird. I'll send you a PM in a bit.

[Josh@Ridetech]

I love 2nd gens! Be sure to keep the thread updated. If I can ever help out with anything, let me know!

[BL72]

So currently im working on complete disassembly. Ive got my budget i think in good working order. I want to have the car completely tore down over winter and on a rotisserie to get blasted. And ill probably blast the sub frame too. Im debating buying a bare subframe. They are 2100 from chris alston and with the money ill be saving by going ridetech most likely, i think i can swing it.

So my issue now is the game plan for reassembly. I cant find a logical hierarchy of events. I want to be efficient with out having to redo things too much. Example, i dont want to undercoat the car just to have to grind to bare metal to weld a part on. Ive read to paint early, above in this thread indicates otherwise. When do i put the rolling chassis parts on etc etc. Is there anything anyone knows of that has a order so to speak? Thanks alll

[NOT A TA]

We all seem to have a different sequence depending on variable factors like tools & equipment available, parts arrival, available funds, weather etc. Plus there's different levels of how "perfect" you expect the results to be. Taking the car apart is the easy part however maybe too easy as sooo many cars never get reassembled by the person who took it apart. Life gets in the way, years can go by. Be sure to bag and tag all the bolts fasteners and small parts with details. You won't believe how much you'll forget by the time you go to reassemble.

Here's a thread on G-Braces & stock sub frames. https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...or-extreme-use

My build thread (70 bird, bare metal rotisserie) might also give you a lot of info, long read but covers a lot of resto stuff as well as modifications. I need to update it, lately I've been installing complete PTFB suspension and a full splitter/under tray/diffuser. https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...hamas-and-more

[BL72]

John, great info thank you. I had no idea the 14 car was here... ive drooled over that on google more times then i can count. Such a fantastic build and the side pipes are great!