1971 Firebird455 - Project

[Monte71]

wow great car.i found a pontiac firebird,but he wont sell it.its beens setting since 1971.....blew the motor 3 months after purchase(i know i was passenger)and has sat ever since

[T_Raven]

Cool project. As much as we all like the high dollar builds it's nice to see what guys can do with a smaller budget and some creativity

[cdoggy81]

Grills look great & turned out real nice! I like the G8 touch
Did you know those are off a 73? 70-71 had the small squares, 72 had the honey comb & 73 had the big squares.

[formula]

those gauges are so so so sick...might have to steal that idea as I love aviation-themed stuff.

[LeighP]

lol, yeah...I now know they're off a 73...a friend kindly pointed that out to me..after I restored them. They don't fit into a 70-72 nose. I just assumed they were the right grills as they were sitting in the trunk when I bought the car. I've got a couple of good 73 noses if I want to use them (less the additional heavy 5mph bracing stuff)....but I found out the 71 grills are available reproduction, so I'll order a set while Classic Industries has a 15% off sale.
I'll store these ones away. If I ever need to use a 73 nose, then I'll be right for grills.
Doesn't matter...it was good practice....lol.

[WS6]

Nice car Leigh. I hope to build an early 2nd gen one day as well. I think it would compliment my 79 just fine. Keep up the good work.

[LeighP]

I dropped into the panel shop this afternoon after work and this is the sight that greeted me....

They've cut out and patched the RH side of the firewall, filled a few holes, cut the steering column hole back into the firewall....just has to add the booster mount back into the left hand side.


When I left, he was cleaning up the rear window channel area....not too much rust, mainly small pitting with a couple of holes to fix.
The boss says he wants to finish it by saturday...I sure hope so.

[LeighP]

So, after much stuffing around with little issues, I finally finished the head light mount assemblies.
I originally ordered some repro buckets, but they turned out to be incorrect for this application and didn't work....so it was down to the local wrecking yard with a sample bucket (I had one crusty old one). I found that local GM Holden buckets from the same vintage cars fit and work, so I snapped up a good pair of them. Added advantage, unlike the original ones, these Holden ones are galvanised.
I used my die grinder and clearanced the backs of the buckets to suit the seals on the new Hella H4 headlights (100W/55W).....new adjusters, retainers and springs later....and all done.
These little projects are all I have to amuse myself while the panel shop drag their feet.....

[SamHatco]

Starting to shape up, Leigh. I know your ready to get your hands on it to begin reassembly.

Sam

[thedude327]

Leigh,

Your project is great because your doing it your way with innovation where you need it to make things work! I'll have to check back from time to time and see how it's coming along. It took me 2 years to put my 73 camaro back together and alot of fitting polishing and modifying to make things go and, once I got it on the road, I found that I'm still modifying things. Just warning you it never ends..........lol

Great job!!
Paul

[LeighP]

lol, yeah...they're an on-going commitment...thats for sure.
I saved myself some $ yesterday. I had a pile of crusty looking window alloy trims that came with the car.
Some time spent carefully straightening them and some buffing later and I've got a good looking complete front windscreen set ready to fit. Have to do the back window ones now.

[67speedfreak]

Nice looking project !

[transamguy79]

looks like a great project. good luck man and have fun with it

[LeighP]

Well, I can report that there has been concerted effort this morning to get work done on my car....rust is now all repaired, car is ready for priming of the repaired sections...the firewall, front and rear screen mount areas and the dashtop.
I went down to the shop this morning and stayed there until it was done...helping out, doing some sanding etc. I wasn't going to leave because as long as I stayed there, he couldn't wander off and do something else....lol.
After talking with the shop owner, I've decided to leave the front and rear screens out until its painted....easier to dry strip the old paint and a cleaner, neater job in the end...and no risk of accidently damaging a screen.
At least all the rust is now repaired.
Here you can see where the conversion back to LHD has been done....the filled firewall and the booster mount relocated to the LH side. The new column drop I got has been welded into location inside.


Heres one of the rear upper seat belt mounts I had fabricated and fitted. A top feeding inertia reel will locate in the bottom of the well section....there will be a brace that runs down to the inner wheel well to further reinforce the mount. When the rear is all trimmed, the belt will feed out like a late model car from under the trimmed deck.

[LeighP]

Dropped in this afternoon.....the worked on areas are now in hi-fill....still some work to touch up in a couple of little spots and he wants it to sit in primer for a few days at least before the colour coat.....but its getting closer to coming home.

[SamHatco]

your getting excited about having it painted.


Sam

[CruizinKev]

[Young Gun]

niiiice

[LeighP]

Looking forward to getting it home in the garage....so I can start in using some of these expensive pieces I have sitting around....lol.

[WS6]

I like the rear seatbelt idea. Very nice touch. Is it mandated or just something you wanted to do?