1971 Firebird455 - Project

[syborg tt]

man that looks nice. That is going to give the inside of the fenders a cool look when you open the hood.

He stone guarded the interior of the fenders before painting....not really sure that was needed as no rocks can get up there with the inner fenders in place, but it looks clean and neat.

[daytonayellaz]

This a sweet build Leigh! I was looking hard for a 70-73 bird when I found my 70 camaro, I couldnt turn it down or I would own one of these cars. Keep up the good work!

[workbenchracer]

These are my favorite Firebirds. Had a friend in high school do something stupid with his Dad's (while Dad was out of town) and I was heart broken. :( It was bad. Wet roads, hit from side, front end moved over about 1 foot. I will watch in envy!

[LeighP]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Small hold up...thought my hinges on the car were OK, but they didn't pass muster....small amount of play in the bushes and the detent roller looked a tad average on one.
Luckily, my friend with the Pontiac parts store came to the rescue with a new set of repro hinges on overnight delivery.
Those repro hinges look pretty good...heavy guage steel just like the factory ones.

They're trying their best to get the car fitted up and maybe a base coat of colour laid on before they break for the holidays. Picked up the re-chromed bumper from the shop today as well, nice job, and I had them weld up the jack slots while they were at it.

[LeighP]

Change of pace....while the car is off getting painted, I'm working on small parts so they don't slow me down later.
Latest project is to make up my customised dash panel.

I bought a restored T/A panel off Randy Combs, I really like the engine turned dash and Randy does the finest work. I had Randy remove the instrument rings as I wouldn't need them.
I planned to fit aftermarket instruments from Classic Instruments, I've used them before and they are good gear...plus they had a special style gauge that I really wanted for my car. I've been in the aircraft industry, military and civilian, all my adult life - so when I found these aircraft styled gauges, I just had to have them.

Problem being, if you hang all the gauges into the thin alloy engine turned facia, its not going to like that weight in it and it'll flex and feel flimsy. The answer is to make a doubler of alloy that will fit to the back of the facia and the gauges will then clamp it all together (with some polyurethane adhesive to help it along the way).

Marking out the doubler


Painting up the pieces you can see through the facia


Polyurethane bonding...I knew buying the jumbo pack of clamps would come in handy


The instruments....still have to do a panel for the LH side where some switches are going. The long billet piece is a trans shift position indicator and brake warning light.




The speedometer has these false adjustment knobs that conceal LEDs that act as the high beam light and left and right turn indicator lights.

[bhcustomdesigns]

The gauges look great !!!!!

[LeighP]

Well, the boys got past the issue with the hinges...the new ones are painted and on the car, doors re-hung, and this afternoon they were working on setting up the front end (trial).



Of course, they need the new bling hinges for the hood....


I picked up a pair of used bumper guards for the rear bumper....I had them rechromed at the same time as the back bumper and added new rubber. They don't look half bad. I just hope the polyurethane holding the rubber on stays stuck.....seems pretty good, I had to cut some that squeezed out of the join with a razor blade, so I'd say its good.

[LeighP]

Well, Christmas break is here, the guys finished up this afternoon. Heres how things sit....a lot of the gaps are finalised, but theres still some work to do here and there.

The LH fender rear edge needed some help on the gap to the door....







Have to wait till next year to see it in paint.....

[LeighP]

Well, to complete the facia of the dash, I finished the LH side where the switch gear goes. No face level vent in my car (was an A/C car) so I used that area for locating some switches for lighting etc.

Made up a doubler to fit the back of the dash, painted satin black to match the other side.



Urethaned that into the dash facia and when cured, mounted up the switch gear.




Switches are (from top Left)

Dome Lt Head Lt
Rear Demist Park Lt
Trunk Release Inst Lt

The wiper switch opening is set up for the DSE wiper kit switch and the old headlight switch position was perfect for the starter switch. I have to research up a little first, but if my alternator requires a warning lamp (some do, some don't), I'll mount one where the "LIGHTS WIPER" plastic sign used to sit.

Now all I have to do, is loom it all up and fit some plugs, so I can easily fit/remove the facia as needed.

[NOT A TA]

Looks great Leigh! Are you going to use the original lighter opening for the headlight switch?

[LeighP]

The small billet push buttons are for the lights....not using a factory style push/pull knob switch. The lighter spot will have one off the heater/demister cables running in it...the other one is going in the hole to the immediate right of the lighter spot.

[dusterbd13]

ao, where did you get the switches? havent come across thiose yet, and they seem like theyd be perfect for some of the stuff i do.

michael

[LeighP]

AutoLoc Billet Buttons.....part of a company called The Hoffman Group. You design the custom switches on line and they make them up and mail them out....lots of combinations of switch logos and LED colours.

[LeighP]

Been working on the wiring looms for the dash, I want to make it modular so I can remove and replace the dash just by disconnecting some plugs.




Panel shop guys are still playing with the gaps, trying to get the nose right....they fitted up the Aerocatches yesterday. Their painter isn't back from holidays for another week, so I guess theres time for them to tweak the bodywork.

[tazzz25906112]

Nice Leigh!!! Please forward some shots from hood latches (top and bottom side) to my e-mails at [email protected] if you get a chance...
I really like the placement they chose for the Areocatches and I'd love to see more...

[LeighP]

No worries....I'll take some more pics of the whole install. They positioned them in that spot (and facing the way they are) so the strikers could mount on the rear outer edge of the rad support....just outboard of the hole thats there fro mthe factory (couldn't use that as it put the latch in the wrong spot).

[LeighP]

Still playing with the dash wiring...today I got the main instruments and the starter switch wired to plugs.



Just the billet switches on the side to do now...those are a little fiddly as I have to solder the wire connections to the pins on the switches.

[sr73bu]

Looks amazing Leigh! Love the Color, Guages and hood latches! Can't wait to see this all come together!

-Sean

[LeighP]

Had a quiet afternoon - everyone was out, lol.
Got a chance to finish off the dash wiring.....a couple of more plugs than I intended, but with the pulse generator for the speedometer and all the button switches with LEDs in them it got a little more complicated.
Annoying soldering wires to the button switches....my small circuit board soldering iron doesn't put out enough heat to solder the wires, and the larger one I have is a bit tight to work with in the small spaces between the pins....

Heres the connections on the button switches, the LEDs light up when the switch is selected on...I tested them and they work fine.



And heres the finished dash from the rear. All the looms are designed to pass through the structure of the dash itself, so I didn't have to cut anything behind there for clearance.

[Ripper]

I really dig the dash! Looking real good!
Oh, I dig everything btw...Great build, and I really wish I will have the same high finish on mine.


Did you mount the aerocatch flush or on top of the hood? It's hard to see on the pics (at least on my screen...).