1968 Firebird 400

[ModernMuseum]

looking good! What dash is that?

[Motown 454]

Nice progress it loos great.

[LeighP]

Nice work mate....I got one of my AR500's out of the box the other day and tried it on the front on my 71 to check clearances with the Wilwoods and 12" rotors.....work nice...they are a cool wheel!

[CliffS]

awesome wheels!

[68400BIRD]

I bought it from a member here last fall. It is an OER dash from Classic Industries. I had to do a lot of work to make it fit correctly.

[68400BIRD]

looking good! What dash is that?

I bought it from a member here last fall. It is an OER dash from Classic Industries. I had to do a lot of work to make it fit correctly.

[68400BIRD]

Nice work mate....I got one of my AR500's out of the box the other day and tried it on the front on my 71 to check clearances with the Wilwoods and 12" rotors.....work nice...they are a cool wheel!

I see your wheels arrived. I still do not have the PMD center caps. When I buy some I will figure out a centering spacer and give you a PM.

[truckshop1999]

glad to see someone building a non-camaro!! the firebirds are so overlooked! Way to spend quality time with the kids (im building a 73 Charger with my son after having built many camaro's)

[68400BIRD]

WOW it's been a long time since I had any updates. So here goes.
It was time to get the doors in primer. I knew that the passenger door needed a little work. I could tell that there was some past bodywork along with a little rust. The drivers door was in near perfect condition. I of course picked one of the coldest days to do the sand blasting. I welded in a new patch panel and welded up all of the dent puller holes from the PO.


Doors all welded up and ready for primer.

[68400BIRD]

Next in line were the door internals. I started with the door latches. They were quite dirty. The passenger side door did not always open correctly either. After cleaning them I noticed a missing spring.

All cleaned up.

I made the spring on the left out of a throttle return spring. Works great.

[68400BIRD]

The door hinges needed new pins,bushings, and detents.
I found it very odd that some of the original bushings were made of plastic.
This is whats left of the hardware.

I have three of the hings put back together, I need to buy two more bushings. The kit came with two oversize bushings which I did not need. Off to the HELP section, $5.49 later and I have eight more bushings which of only two are the correct size. I will need to pull them all back apart and sandblast and paint.

[68400BIRD]

The steering column needed a new turn signal switch along with a lower bearing. The lower 68 non tilt bearing is not avaiable. I used a 69 non tilt bearing and just reamed out the original plastic housing with a sanding drum on my dremel. Was a very easy fix. I also have a good friend who started doing powder coating so I dropped off a load of parts starting with the steering column.
This is what I started with.

New turn signal switch.

New 69 lower bearing.

Nice clean powder coated parts.

All put back together.

[rickpaw]

Looking great Rob. I've been slowly working on my 67 as well. Hopefully will have some updates on my build soon.

[68400BIRD]

Looking great Rob. I've been slowly working on my 67 as well. Hopefully will have some updates on my build soon.

Good to hear, looking forward to some new updates with a lot of pictures. The nice weather is giving me a little kick start to get back on the project.

[srh3trinity]

Those wheels look great. I have been interested in seeing them on a car since they came out. I thought the spokes were a little too thin for a Pontiac, but the more I look at them, they look right. I will have to follow along with your build.

[68400BIRD]

Thanks Stephen. The PMD center caps will also work and they look great. A friend borrowed me one for a trial fit. I should have taken a picture. I figure the black PMD center caps along with the black dot lug nuts will make it even look more period correct.

[redzula]

I love restoring parts rather than just replacing them nice wirk on the doors

those wheels are killer too good work

[68400BIRD]

Thanks for the compliments. I would rather spend a few hours cleaning and fixing old parts. I know it would be easier to just buy new parts but they don't always fit and work correctly. Plus, they cost a lot of money which I do not have right now. LOL

[rickpaw]

Rob,
Any tips on installing the Pypes exhaust? I figured I'll be ready for the exhaust install in a couple of weeks. Did you install it from the tail pipe and work forward?
Tu

[rickpaw]

Rob,
Here are some shots of the original dash wiring in my 67 before I gutted it.









Here are some shots of the new wiring going in under the dash.






I'll take some more and post it up here of the finish wiring. Hope this helps.

Tu