I was fortunate enough to be GIVEN a 1969 Firebird 350 and will be building it up to a good driving muscle car with some modern touches for comfort and drivability.
I was very torn on what to do with the car at first as it is a VERY low mile and option car. 1,040 miles to be exact. Ordered new as a Stock Eliminator car for Biener Pontiac in Great Neck, NY. It raced with them until about 1971 as far as my research tells me and was sold as a roller after it was given back by the race team that ran it. Somewhere in it's life it was painted and outfitted with a RA-V motor and was set up for Super Stock but I'm not sure how long it ran like that. My father's friend bought it in 1976-8 or so and took it apart to paint it and sadly it sat since then due to life and other interests.
Recently he wanted the storage space and told me "Get it out of here". Time was not the best to it, leaky roofs, raccoons and being picked for nice parts for his other '69 Bird (T/A Clone) that he bought as a driver in the last few years leaves me with about 60% of a Firebird to work with.
The bad is that it's obviously pretty stripped, the dash seems to be the only part that was never removed. There is also the rust in the floor pans, they're toast thanks to raccoon...droppings...gathering mixed with the water from the leaky roof.
The good is that there isn't much rust other than the floor pans. Wheel wells, 1/4s, roof, fenders, doors are all near mint, save for surface rust (he had it sandblasted and primed in the early 1980s)
The RA-V is still around and nowhere near for sale, not that I could afford to buy it.
Long term plans are to make it into a good driving and road tripping muscle car. The original drivetrain is long gone and there aren't any drag strips within a reasonable distance from me, so I'm steering away from a day 1 car. I'm not planning on doing anything that isn't reversable if I change my mind down the road.
I would like to run a 400ish HP 400 or 455 with a Super T-10 and a Gear Vendors Over Drive bolted to the back. Mild suspension upgrades and a power disc/drum setup. Stock body, stock interior with a hidden bluetooth receiver to keep the look (radio delete car baby!) of an early muscle car that I won't hesitate to drive daily in the nice weather. Verdo Green is my color choice (not keen on the yellow it was originally)
Here's my starting point and after the holidays I'm going to get going with phase 1 which is fix the rust in the floors and get it back to sitting on its own suspension.
Before you ask, no I did not put the car on that sketchy trailer, my tow guy is a SAINT for helping me with that rolling pile of sketchy, unfortunately I do not have the bolts for the front suspension nor a rear axle (have a GM 12 bolt located though) so taking it off the trailer was not an option with the few days notice I had to get the car out of there.
