67 Firebird project ( C4 suspension, LS, T56 )

[cobraguy65]

Hi everyone, Wanted to share a project I started a month or so ago. This is my 67 firebird I've had for a couple years now. I pulled it out of a barn in Indiana (read, alot of rust). Here is a general outline of the project.

-Fab front sub-frame to join C4 corvette front suspension to 1st gen f body.

-Fab rear section to adapt C4 D44 rear suspension.

-Repair body rust

-Repair some more body rust. lol

-Install LS1 and T56.

Here is where I'm starting.



Thanks for lookin, Scott

[John Wright]

Love those old birds.....keep us updated with pics of your progress.

[67rstbkt]

Cool, another firebird. They're just all over the place now. What sort of rust issues do you have?

[cobraguy65]

Ok, uploaded a few pics to show progress to date.

First thing was to buy a donor car for the suspension. Scored this 86 vette off of Craigslist for $900. This turned out to be a great deal. pulled the suspension, brakes and wheel/tires. Sold the rest for $1500. So far my budget is looking pretty good. lol

[cobraguy65]

Cool, another firebird. They're just all over the place now. What sort of rust issues do you have?

Joe, My car has similar issues as yours did. Floors, trunk, wheel houses, doors have some issues. previous owner put camaro quarters on. I have followed your build. It was inspirational on this project. thanks for sharing. I am anxious to start on the body. Working to get past the concept stage on the suspension.

[67rstbkt]

Joe, My car has similar issues as yours did. Floors, trunk, wheel houses, doors have some issues. previous owner put camaro quarters on. I have followed your build. It was inspirational on this project. thanks for sharing. I am anxious to start on the body. Working to get past the concept stage on the suspension.

Thank you, I'm glad I could inspire someone. I'm just trying not to screw up too bad. I like the direction you're taking on this. I'm looking forward to seeing how the project progresses, especially the suspension setup. The guy I bought my subframe from did something similar, but he's not done yet. He basically shoved the entire front of the C4, including the dash, firewall, and windshield under his 67 Camaro. I'm not sure how it's going to turn out, but it's definetely an interesting way to build the car.

[68firebird]

excellent, another firebird. I think we'll overtake the camaros soon, LOL. How the hell did you score that vette for $900, thats an outstanding deal!!

[T_Raven]

Looks like a cool project.

[cobraguy65]

Bolted the corvette wheel/tires on to get some measurments on ride height.





Started with the dis-assembly to mock up the corvette front suspension under the car. More measurements



corvette front suspension in place.

[cobraguy65]

Started building a jig for the front sub-frame. First step was to capture the mounting points from the stock sub-rame.





Then added the corvette suspension points using the measurements from the mock up.

[cobraguy65]

excellent, another firebird. I think we'll overtake the camaros soon, LOL. How the hell did you score that vette for $900, thats an outstanding deal!!

Yah, I bought this firebird a couple years ago thinking it would be something different. Its nice that they're getting popular. The vette definately turned out to be a great deal. I was only going for the front suspension and end out buying the whole car. i think i could have gotten it cheaper. I just got tired of haggling. lol

[cobraguy65]

I also bought a set of Z06 wheel/tires off of graigslist. Got the rears only for $475. tires are 325/30/19 goodyear F1's. Will have to run spacers to clear the rear control arms. Looks like the rear quarters will need to be widened an 1" to 1.5" per side as well.



I have a lot of the new subframe fabbed. Gonna start tacking it together tonight. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

[CruizinKev]

sweet project!!

[SamHatco]

This is going to be great! Firebirds are starting to catch up on the camaros. Of course I'm a little partial. Buuuuhahahah!


Sam

[1971CHEVELLE]

Awesome project

[srh3trinity]

This is going to be a great build. There was a local guy that was selling a Camaro recently that had C4 suspension. By the wording of his ad, I thought he had only done the drivetrain, but I saw it not too long ago and it did indeed have the C4 rear suspension.

[srh3trinity]

Here is the rendering that put first gen 'Birds on my radar. ZVT designs has a great eye for these cars. http://www.zvtdesigns.com/orders.php

[ponjohn]

Subscribed.

[LSfan70s]

Subscribed.

+1

[John Wright]

Quick work...good job on your jig....you'll have this done in no time, if you keep up this pace.