Frequently Asked Questions

Short answer: The Banshee was John DeLorean’s pet project — a sporty two-seater that borrowed styling cues from the upcoming third-gen Corvette but used a solid rear axle (to stay cheaper than the Corvette) and a unique clamshell door. GM nixed it to protect Corvette sales, and DeLorean was handed the Camaro to build a Pontiac version — also to be called Banshee.

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Short answer: The Comanche appears to have been a central-Canada district/dealer sales package for 1969 Firebirds — cars modified/prepped in Canada before reaching the dealer — inspired by the era’s regional appearance packages (The Judge, The Jury, Royal Bobcat, Mustang “California Special,” etc.). Hard documentation is scarce.

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Short answer: Quick answers on the assembly plants (not the final word):

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Short answer: Yes — some 1969 Carousel Red/parchment Firebird convertibles were built as beauty-pageant cars. One member owns an original Carousel Red/parchment convertible whose build sheet (found under the back seat) reads “TAG NATIONAL COLLEGE QUEEN PAGEANT.” It was sold new in Fort Myers, FL and later moved to Orlando and then London, Ontario.

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Short answer: “Blueprinting” has two senses. One is matching parts and modifications so they work together toward a defined goal — so the first step is deciding what the car is for (cruising, stoplight drags, street/strip, road/autocross) and your budget. The other is checking all measurements (cylinders, rod and main journals, etc.) to confirm they fall within factory blueprint tolerances. How far you take it is up to you and your machinist.

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Short answer: Building a 1969 Trans Am clone — the key authenticity details (members disagreed on a couple, noted below):

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Short answer: If you want a diecast of your year, contact the makers directly. Diecast model-car makers include: ERTL, UT, Vitesse, Herpa, Detail Cars, Best, Brumm, Bang, Burago, Jouef (Eagle Race), Anson, Solido, and Revell.

A few examples:

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Short answer: Functional (cold-air) Ram Air induction came on the 1969 RA III; 1968–69 400 H.O. cars did not have it. Apart from that, the RA III and 400 H.O. are 100% identical — same carb settings, cam, heads, and exhaust manifolds.

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Short answer: A fun first-gen sighting: in the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, there’s a barbecue near the end made from the front end of a 1967 or 1968 Firebird — which inspired one member’s idea of turning a parts car into a BBQ (front end) and a trailer (trunk end).

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Short answer: A member shared this passage from Ben Hamper’s Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line — a vivid account of Family Night at the old Fisher Body plant in Flint:

I was seven years old the first time I ever set foot inside an automobile factory… The assembly line did indeed stink. The noise was very close to intolerable. The heat was one complete bastard.

…we found my old man down on the trim line. His job was to install windshields using this goofy apparatus with large suction cups that resembled an octopus being crucified. A car would nuzzle up to the old man’s work area and he would be waiting for it… Car, windshield. Car, windshield. Car, windshield. No wonder my father preferred playin’ hopscotch with barmaids.

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Short answer: NOS = New Old Stock — leftover factory replacement parts.

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Short answer: A firsthand account from a member who raced a 1968 Ram Air convertible (with Pontiac engineering contacts) — on the 400’s special engineering and how the Ram Air engine behaved.

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Short answer: You can reach concours quality without shipping the whole car (and a blank check) to a big-name shop — the trick is to pay pros for what’s truly hard and do the research-driven parts yourself.

Below: how to plan the project, what it really costs, how to pick the shop for the work you hire out, and where to find the factory-correct details for the work you do yourself.

Plan Before You Wrench

Most stalled projects die in the planning stage, not the garage. Before the first bolt comes off, settle three things:

• Define your target. “Restored” means different things to different people — a reliable driver, a show car, or a concours-correct original are three different projects with three very different budgets. Write down which one you’re building and let every decision flow from that.
• Off-frame or rolling? A full off-frame (subframe-out) restoration gives the best result on a rusty or long-neglected car, but it multiplies cost, time, and the risk of a stalled project. A solid, running car is often better served by a rolling restoration done in stages — you keep driving it while you work.
• Budget a cushion. Plan on 10–20% beyond your estimate for what teardown reveals — hidden rust, missing hardware, and parts delays are the rule, not the exception (Coastline Restorations, 2026 cost guide).

The proven sequence: document everything with photos before and during disassembly → bag and label every fastener → structural metal and rust repair → body and paint → drivetrain and chassis → wiring and interior → final assembly and detailing. Fight the urge to jump ahead; paint before metal repair, or interior before wiring, means doing work twice.

What It Really Costs

Honest numbers, so nobody starts a project they can’t finish. As of 2026, restoration shops bill roughly $85–$150+ per hour, and typical full-restoration totals run about $20,000–$50,000 for a driver-quality build, $40,000–$120,000 for high-quality work, and $100,000+ for show-level, frame-off restorations (2026 industry figures). A professional concours restoration can absorb 4,000–5,000+ labor hours.

Two facts to internalize before you start (Hagerty):

• Unless the car is rare and high-value, you will probably not recoup a full professional restoration at sale time. Restore because you love the car.
• The DIY strategy on this page — you do the disassembly, research, and reassembly; professionals do metal and paint — is exactly where the big savings live, since labor is the largest line item.

Choosing a Body & Paint Shop

Since body and paint is the work you’ll hire out, picking the shop is the highest-stakes decision of the whole project. Distilled from Hagerty’s guides on choosing a shop and avoiding a rip-off:

• Find candidates by word of mouth — car club members, show judges, other Firebird owners (our forums are a good place to ask). Ask past customers whether the shop hit its timeline and estimate, and whether they’d go back.
• Visit the shop and look past the showroom. Organized parts storage, engaged employees, and in-house equipment are good signs. Dusty customer cars used as shelves, and parts from six projects mixed on one rack, are not.
• Get a written contract covering the exact work, quality standard, total price, payment schedule, start and completion dates, and confirmation the shop’s insurance covers your car while it’s there.
• Insist on itemized invoices (parts and labor, with descriptions — not just hour counts), and visit regularly. Never let more than a couple of weeks pass without seeing the car, and photograph progress every visit. Resistance to visits or vague billing are the two loudest red flags.

Getting the Details Right: Your Research Toolkit

Detailing is research, and these are the primary sources for 1967–69 Firebirds:

• PHS documentation for your VIN (PHS Automotive Services) — proves the car’s original equipment, so you restore what the car actually was.
• Factory literature: the Pontiac Service Manual, Fisher Body Service Manual, and Firebird Assembly Manual for your year — reprints from Firebird Central or National Parts Depot. The assembly manual’s line drawings answer most “how does this mount?” questions during reassembly.
• Club expertise: the Pontiac-Oakland Club International judges cars at its annual convention against factory-correct standards — judging sheets and members are a deep well of originality knowledge.
• Our own references: the year-specific technical pages, factory paint codes, and Body Tag Decoder on this site, plus unrestored original cars photographed at shows — the ultimate reference for factory-correct detail.

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Short answer: Which to do first (body/paint vs. engine/suspension) depends on your approach — DIY vs. farming out, and how detailed you want the engine bay. Here’s a middle-of-the-road order (adjust to your situation); 6 months between phases isn’t much in the long run.

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Short answer: One member shipped a 1968 350 convertible (Boston to Seattle) with Intercity Vanlines (intercitylines.com), which uses fully enclosed trucks — very careful and recommended, though pricing competitiveness wasn’t confirmed.

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Short answer: Two member tips for shipping a car: ask the driver/haulers hanging around a large wholesale auto auction — they have good logistics and try to fill their rigs. And be cautious with transport brokers: one member’s experience with “Best Discount Shippers” (BDS) went badly — brokers sometimes don’t pay the actual truckers, making loads hard to fill, so he canceled and disputed the charge through Visa.

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Short answer: A reader, Mary Jo Poston, wrote in about winning her 1967 Firebird convertible on a TV game show. In her words:

Dear Geoff,

… In 1966 or early 1967 this Texas family (my husband, six-month-old and I) resided in NYC for a six-month period… I enjoyed… live taping of TV programs. Bill Cullen, a popular TV personality of the ’60s, hosted a game show called “Eye Guess.” It was sheer luck to be picked from the audience… then luck to beat my dentist opponent… As winner I began to pick hidden prizes, and if I could pick seven in a row without finding a stop sign, the bonus car was mine. History was made.

My father suggested I ask for delivery in Texas… Tyndale Pontiac (San Antonio) let me pick the color and add options at cost — so I added a lot, including a power top and air conditioning… My choice of colors was butternut yellow with black top and interior.

… Four children in all drove it to high school, but finally I get to drive it to the golf courses… it stands proud. … honestly it has given me joy all these years — there is no amount of money that could replace it. I wouldn’t think of selling for $10,000, $50,000 or even $100,000.

— Mary Jo Poston

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