1969 Firebird "Savannah"

[JLMounce]

I was a member here several years ago and had a small build thread, but I wasn't able to find it. Now that I've gotten my car back out of storage to work on again, I figured I'd make a comprehensive thread on where it's been and where it's going.

At the heart is a 1969 Firebird Sport Coupe. This was an original 2 barrel 350 car with AC. Although the AC is no longer with the car, that option put a number of goodies on it, like the TH400 transmission, which are of course nice to have.

It has a moderately built 455 with #62's resting on top, the forementioned TH400 and a yet to be installed moser 12 bolt with a TruTrak differential and 3.73 ring and pinion.

I purchased this car in April of 1999 while I was still in high school. Originally it was thought to be a fairly solid car. However after siezing an outer wheel bearing on the drive home after purchase, it became apparent that it still needed some TLC.

Overall the car wasn't too terribly bad. To get the project rolling and hopefully on the road while I was still in high school, my father and I opted to do a partial restoration on it. We removed the front clip, cleaned it and shot it in black. We also rebuilt the steering companents and added disk brakes up front.

From there we focused our attention on the areas of the car that had notable corrosion. New rear fender linings, partial 1/4's and a patch for the drivers front fender. The patch didn't turn out all that great, so when the car went for paint, I had them rebuild the driver's fender. While in paint prison, we found more areas that needed attention. They ended up replacing the seal plate under the rear glass, the upper windshield moulding as well as both rockers. Everything else was good to go. After paint the car came back to me (2007 at this time). I put some work in to it getting it back together. As my career started moving I no longer had time to really work on it, so it went in to storage. Now I've got it back and I'm hoping I can get it road worthy as quickly as possible. My C6 I've put in storage in it's place, which I'[m hopeful will push me to get the bird done.

I've never been one to really name cars, but my girlfriend is ademant about it. So we named her Savannah and thus she's project Savannah.

I'll try to keep this thread updated as I go. Here's a few pictures of where it started and where it's at now.

The day I got it home, but after the wheel cylinder had been replaced.


With the front clip back together. Starting the rest of the body work.




Passenger side 1/4 replacement


Prior to being sent off for paint. You can kind of see the patch that I did which didn't turn out so well.


Finished with paint.




After that I really didn't keep any photo details of the work done. Basically just started piecing odds and ends back together. Lights are in, some of the trim items etc. Here's the car back at my place from storage.


First up is getting the dash and package tray sorted. The car originally was green, so it's got green interior. The green flake in the paint ties that together for now, but eventually the interior will be changed to all black.

[Buryingthesun]

looks good!

[srh3trinity]

Great looking '69. Don't tell anybody around here, but I think the 69 Firebird is a better looking car than the 69 Camaro (just barely).

[WS6]

BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But I agree so I guess I'm a heretic too, lol.


Good looking car. Good luck getting it back on the road.

[CruizinKev]

oh nice looks great so far!

[JLMounce]

I've been busy with work lately so I haven't had much to update on. I've got some time again so work continues...

I ran in to a pretty big snag getting the Moser 12 bolt in the car. That's the problem with not doing full rotisserie restorations, you always run in to crap from the previous owner! One of them, in their infinite wisdom, decided air shocks would be a good idea for the rear end. The car has always "leaned" slightly on the passenger side and I attributed that mostly to possibly a shock that didn't hold as much pressure as the other. However as I went to start the swap I found the reasoning for this.

In order to mount the shocks, the lower shock mounts were modified to accept the shorter air shocks upward in the wheel well. Whoever did this modification literally just used some steel bar stock and looks to have "eyeballed" it. You can see in the image below what I'm talking about.



Sensing that wasn't the extent, I checked the upper mounts as well. Sure enough, they had been swapped out for mounts that accept a "T" style mount for the shocks. That means of course I had to order parts, which of course were on back-order. I did finally receive the new plates this week.



Now all I need are the Hotchkis Bilstien shocks and I'll be able to get this bad boy in the car.



The rear end is a Moser 12 bolt with 33 spline axles, true-trak differential and a 3.73 ring and pinion. I've also got disc brakes going on the rear as well. Hopefully I'll have some pictures with the new rear-end housing in the car next week.

[68firebird]

paint looks like it came out real good. I like when people paint the birds bumpers to match the body, especially the darker colored cars. I don't see the rear bumper on there, did you paint that too? more pics as you build up please.

[JLMounce]

Yeah I haven't gotten around to installing it yet. It's currently chrome, but it either needs to be painted or redipped. I'm leaning towards painting it.

[ProTourGSX]

Oh, how I've wanted to drop a Buick 455 in a '69 Firebird, for so long!
LOVE this car (also more than Camaros)!

[JLMounce]

It's been a LONG time since I updated this thread, so here goes.

The car sat for quite a while due to a busy end of year 2012 and 2013. Ended up getting married, selling my small condo and having a house built during that time. Obviously that slows work on project cars!

Anyway, the car is getting pretty close at this point to being road worth. Not "done" by any stretch of the imagination, but roadworthy is always the first goal. When my condo went up on the market, the car was on jack stands without a rear-end on it. During the swap from the factory unity, this is what I uncovered.



Both driver and passenger side leafs had cracked and split under the leaf spring pads. As soon as pressure was released, they both completely snapped. I had debated not putting the new rear-end in the car and just driving it with the stock pieces for a bit. Boy am I glad I opted to replace it. Any real stress on those leafs and I would have found myself in an awful way.

As I was working on that I also discovered that over the years the rear floorboards have softened a bit. I checked them when I purchased the car, but that was 15 years ago and it's primarily sat, sometimes outdoors during that time.

[mg]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/TorchRed10th/null_zpsd2a4eb3e.jpg[/img]

Fortunately this is the only problem area as far as rot goes at this time. I haven't torn out the interior yet to rectify the situation, but I've got the new pans ready to go in once I do.

So next up was the install of new rear suspension pieces as well as the Moser 12 bolt.





I was rushed for time here so the rear end went in uncoated. A short term plan is to do the ridetech four link, so I'll coat it at that time when it comes back out.

I also installed rear discs at the same time along with new hard lines in the rear. Nothing fancy here, but functional.



The added size of the 12 bolt over the BOP 10 bolt also necessitated a change to the driveshaft. Originally I was just going to shorten the stock unit and put new yokes on it, but it was a bit beyond repair so I had a custom aluminum shaft built.



With the car finally on the ground I was able to move it to my parents place while my new house was being built. Once the house was complete and I could get the car moved again, I was able to startup work on it again. The first order of business was getting the front springs installed.



To compliment the Hotchkis 3" drop leafs I installed a set of Hotchkis 2" drop springs up front and went with a half in tall UBJ on the factory control arms.



Obviously this is still a very stock setup. It'll look better than it'll turn, but I'm kind of excited about that. My plan this summer is to get the car out for as many HPDE's as I can fit in and start tuning on it. I'd like to see how quick I can get the car as a fairly stock setup before I start putting more parts on it. Obviously I mentioned earlier that one goal is the ridetech 4 link out back. I'm clearly looking at the ridetech setup up front as well, but depending on what direction I end up going there will determine what I ultimately do with the rear. I'm hoping to be able to catalog the car's progress in lap times as I'm able to dial in and upgrade it's suspension.

Along with the minor suspension upgrades I needed to do a bit with the brakes. The car was originally a four wheel drum car that I cobbled together a couple different upgrades for. One thing that it needed was a proper disc/disc combination valve, so I got that installed recently as well.



Unfortunately I'm still fighting bleed issues with the master. I've bench bled it several times as well as gravity bled it and I've still got air in there. More than likely I'll take it to a brake shop that can pressure bleed the system and get me going.

Here's how she sits as of me typing this.



To get it ready for use on track this upcoming summer, I still need to install the new wiring, glass and put the interior back together. It also needs a new set of wheels and tires. The rears rub significantly enough that you wouldn't want to drive the car for fear of bursting a tire.

Finally here's a cold startup recently to get the car better positioned in the garage since I won't be working on it as much during the cold winter months.

[LUV2XLR8]

Where did you go to get your driveshaft made?

[JLMounce]

I had it made at a local drivetrain shop. Northern Colorado Driveline Services.

http://www.ncdls.com/

Turnaround time was just one business day. Local to me of course.

[PontiacJim]

Looking and sounding good. Of the first gen Firebirds the 69 is my favorite.
Keep the updates coming.

[Gil]

... you always run in to crap from the previous owner!

I think we are in the same boat...
Very nice car, keep plugging away !
Gil

[NJSPEEDER]

Cool ride. What wheels are those?

[Buryingthesun]

I couldn't handle the previous owners "repairs" so I investigated and decided to rebuild my entire car that was supposed to be "bone stock"

[JLMounce]

Thanks for the kind words guys! The wheels are Ultra wheels style 050. I think the style is nice and they weren't expensive back when I purchased them. They just don't fit well though. For a stock ride height car with stock size tires and factory drum brakes, they will probably work pretty well, if not being a little aggressive on the offset. With a lowered ride height, wider wheels and the added hub to hub width from brake conversions, they just rub the fenders beyond the point of massaging or making it worth it.

In hindsight I probably should have done a full restoration on this car to begin with, but that's not what I wanted in high school when I purchased it. I of course wanted to be out with my buddies and their hot rods. That didn't happen and I'm still dealing with the previous owner's mess.

[JLMounce]

It's been a couple cold months mixed in with the holidays, so I haven't had much time to do anything with the car. I do have a quick update now however.

I ordered wheels and tires about a month ago and they showed up yesterday. I mounted a rear wheel to check fitment and all is good. In fact, I could have gone wider. These are a 17x9.5 with a 275/40/17 BFG Sport Comp 2. I've got a solid inch and a half inboard that I'm not using. I may check fitment of these up front and order a 10" wheel with a 285 tire for the rear.



Glass service is coming out on Friday and will be installing front and rear glass. I've got to replace a single stud on the driver front rotor and then I'll be able to take it for a quick shakedown to make sure I don't have any rub issues.

Getting ever closer!

[Gil]

Nice teaser shot !
What's in the front ?
17x8 BS4.75 with a 235/45 ?
I like the black wheels
Gil

[JLMounce]

Nice teaser shot !
What's in the front ?
17x8 BS4.75 with a 235/45 ?
I like the black wheels
Gil

Very close. 17x8 with a 245/45 and a 4.75bs

Every car is different of course, but I could have easily stuffed a 17x10 with a 285 tire in the rear with a 6.25" bs.

I'll get quality pictures this weekend after glass is in and the rest of the wheels are on.