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73 Firebird Reborn

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29K views 120 replies 23 participants last post by  ddavis  
#1 ·
Hey Guys! This project is getting off the ground so I thought it would be a good idea to start a build thread to keep track of all my progress.

Here's a little back story....I purchased a 1973 Firebird on 06/02/2015 from a guy who lost interest & time in the car. The car had been taken to a body shop for work and never finished off by the owner. It sat there in primer with zero rust, a straight body, the original 350 engine, and just needing some TLC here and there. After some negotiating and 6k later I had the title to the car
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. Since the the car was already at a body shop also and practically prepped for paint, I was able to work out a deal to have it painted before bringing it home to start the build.

I knew I wanted it to be a black so I went to one of our largest car shows we have out here to check out black paint jobs. After hunting around I came across a Dodge Dart that was nicknamed Dart Vadar with by far the best looking black paint there. It looked a shader darker then all the others. The guy was nice enough to share the paint code to me and tell me that the paint was from House of Kolors.


So as i'm writing this, I'm waiting for my formula hood to show up at the shop from out of state and the car to be sprayed! In the meantime though I started working on a concept. I'm a 3d artist for a living so I figured I would put this time to good use to mock up where I see this build going. I'm sure this might change some down the road, but here's the latest concept I made. I'm wanting to go for a mix of old school and new school but something that still screams muscle car! Hope you like, Cheers!


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#3 ·
Welcome to FBN Dustin I like the look of what you're going for keep the pictures coming .
 
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#11 ·
Thanks guys for the warm welcome!

I will be doing the work myself once I get it back from paint. I grew up working at my families restoration shop a long time ago and now its more of just a hobby I enjoy away from my normal job. I've had a couple of 2nd gen Camaros but this will be my first Firebird and looking forward to to it! I didn't get any pictures the day I bought the car, but i'm hoping to make it out there this weekend to snap a few before the paint goes on. The shop is about 2hours from me unfortunately. I'll post some shots up when I get them.

The car will see alot of street driving, some road track days, and a few car shows. I want this car to handle and drive nice. Right now i'm leaning towards putting in a LS3 & 6 speed since I enjoyed that setup in my last Camaro and know the engine very well. Would love to get around 600HP at the crank in this build rather that be supercharging the LS3 or building it up to a 418. For suspension, I've been eyeing the different big name front clips and IRS setups lately (Chris Alston, Roadstershop..). I'm not 100% sure I will go IRS in the rear yet but i'm leaning that way. The interior I want to keep close to stock with a few modern touches (Recaro seats, updated gauges...) Alot of decisions to still be made
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I'll make sure to post plenty of pics & videos along the way!
 
#18 · (Edited by Moderator)
I stopped by the paint shop on Friday to drop off some new side mirrors, aerocatches and some awesome hood hinges from Eddie's Motorsports. Love the quality on these hinges. Car is unrecognizable right now but here's a shot of it getting ready for some door jamb paint. Also found a Formula hood that should work and had it shipped over from out of state.

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#20 ·
Thanks Cajun

Just a small update for now. The door jambs got sprayed and the doors put back on. The shop is moving pretty slow but the hood still needs some fiberglass repairs before the whole car is sparyed.

In the meantime I ended up putting down a down payment to get in line for the new Extreme subframe from SpeedTech which is a few months away! I love the specs of there subframe setup and the idea of running a wide tire up front also. Still deciding on the rear, but most likely I will be going with their rear torque arm suspension setup since they work well together.

Also I think I've made up my mind on the powerplant. Right now I'm set on getting a LS3 built to a 418 from Texas Speed. This would put out around 600hp while staying NA and match up well with a 6 speed :)
 
#21 ·
I'm interested in how the new frame comes out. Don't forget to use that session with Ron to help you tune the suspension. Are you considering waiting on final paint till the subframe is installed?
 
#22 ·
Hey John, the car is getting sprayed first at the paint booth. They're about 2 hours from me so I decided to just let them spray it before I ever take it home. I will tow it home from the paint shop and drop the old engine/trans/subframe out from under it in preparation for the new setup afterwards. I have some tall jackstands that raise up to 40inches that should get me the clearance I need to drop everything out under it.
 
#23 ·
It is a LOT easier and quicker to install the new subframe without the sheet metal forward of the firewall in place. With a loaded subframe it will be even harder.

It's not as easy to drop the subframe out of an early 2nd gen as it is the later ones because the early ones have a bottom mount core support with the bumper brackets going through holes in the core support. The subframe would have to move straight back at least 4" to clear the core support to drop it. So to get the old one out there will have to be some careful tipping/lowering to remove with the engine still in place (if it's even possible). At a minimum I'd remove the distributor if you try it. Not sure about clearance installing the new sub from the bottom with LS in place, never did one.

I suspect (based on experience) you'll end up removing the bumper, bumper brackets, splash pan, hood, core support, and at least one fender/inner fender by the time you're done. Removing those and reinstalling will require realigning everything again and risks paint damage while working as well as during storage while off the car. The core support will probably need to be modified to work with the new subframe also because the subframes were changed through the 2nd gen production run. The horns on the later frames were slightly wider than the early frames and the holes where the 70-73 body mounts are used are farther apart on the later stock subframes as they became just an access hole for a socket to get to the later frame style body mount bolts. Since there are far more cars out there that came from the factory with the later frames I suspect the aftermarket frames are designed to fit those cars easier than the 70-73 models so you will probably have some modifications to do to get a good fit of the core support and bumper brackets.

IMO replacing the subframe before final paint would be safer, easier, and save more time than driving back and forth to the body shop would take even though there's 8 hours extra travel involved.

Here's a very quick video of me aligning up a loaded subframe when making one car out of two. Pushed the unibody up the driveway and into place and ready for body mounts in 1 minute.
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the info, Speedtech told me the easiest method was to drop it out under with the engine if i could get enough clearance, but maybe they was unaware of the the differences. The jambs are already painted and the doors/fenders put back on. Really dont want to have to pull the front fenders/bumper back off since thats done now. I wonder if a better approach would be to unload the subframe first by cherry picking the engine out. Then I would only have to remove the hood. I dont have the car with me so i havent really had any time to examine how it was setup. Ive done a 78 and 80 but with the front clip removed years back.
 
#25 ·
Dude you need help...Do you know how much easier that could have been? lol

Welcome by the way...

Car is gonna be a Bad ass...

I need you and Brownie and Not A TA to visit me for a month...

Then I could have a Magazine type car too...
 
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#26 ·
Dustin: Bumper, bumper supports, and splash pan have to come off no matter what to swap subs. If you remove the engine then you'll only have to remove the hood, splash pan, bumper, and bumper brackets. You could leave the fenders and core support in place theoretically. If Speedtech is using the later frame design to base their new frame specs from you'll need to modify the core support body mount holes and use the 1" part of the solid body mounts for the core support to space the core support from the frame so the bumper brackets will end up in the correct height zone and the core won't push the front of the fenders up. The early 2nd gen core support factory body mount holes are smaller than aftermarket solid mounts made for 70-81 anyway so no matter what you'll be modifying the holes to use good solid mounts.

The horns on the later frames are about 5/8" wider at the front where the bumper brackets mount. So most of the side to side bumper adjustment the factory provided is taken up by the difference.

If the body shop aligns the fenders etc. now with old deteriorated subframe bushings you'll probably end up having to realign fenders anyway. That's another reason why I mentioned just waiting for final paint till after the new sub is installed.

The one I posted the vid of above was a 78 loaded subframe into a 81 unibody.

If you have the body guys align the front end now show them these pics unless they're well versed in 70-73 bird front panel alignment. Then they'll understand why they can't have the bumper touch the fenders and how to support it while adjusting the bumper brackets. Don't let them give ya the "Don't worry we know what we're doing" thing because most body shops now have no clue that the bumper is supposed to have a gap to make all the panels align correctly. The guys that fixed these cars as techs in collision shops when they were new are at least 60+ years old and moved on. Most people try to have the bumper touch the fender because they just don't know. Thats why you see 3/4 or more of 70-73's with the bumper touching the fender and the other panels not quite lining up.

Yes, I smoothed the top of the dash in my own car. Mostly a track car so no defrosters or speaker needed.

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