Hello: I recently purchased a 1967 400, 4 speed Firebird which I will be restoring in the near future. The car is completely numbers matching (engine, transmission, differential) so I want to do it right. I have a couple of questions for the firebird community: 1) What book/s are good sources of information to help with the restoration? 2) The car originally had a Silverglaze exterior with a Blue (dark metallic) interior. The car now has a red interior and exterior. I was thinking of keeping the red interior and going with a Starlight black exterior. How much of an impact will the color change from original (even though both are 1967 colors) have on price? 3) Any advise on a good, reputable machine shop in houston that specializes in pontiac engines.
Houston? Boy are you in luck. Bjorn will set you up and introduce you to HALF, a Houston area 1st Gen Firebird club.
I'll send him a private message to get in touch with you.
2012 Mustang Boss 302 #1918, Competition Orange. FGF replacement 2006 Mustang V6 Pony, Vista Blue. Factory ordered. 2019 BMW X3 (Titled to the wife, but I'm always driving it for her. So I'm claiming it) Old projects, gone but not forgotten: 1967 FB 400, original CA car. After 22 years of work, trashed by the guy who was supposed to paint it. I had to sell it. 1980 Turbo Trans Am 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4Bbl, auto 1988 Mustang GT, 5 speed 1983 F-150 4x4, built 302 1994 Chevy K2500 HD 4x4, 454 TBI
Best bet for a great Poncho engine builder in Houston!! Lee Atkinson....a Pontiac lover and part of HALF , our "local" First Gen Firebird group.....did You by chance go by the Autorama this year ,we had 14 cars there...anyway adding a few pics so you`ll see...., easiest way to get hold of us is to email me and we can probably help you get set up...we are about 25 members...
black with red interior sounds good...there is one or two like that in the group so you can check that combo out.
is your car driveable? if so you might want to join us on our 3rd annual New Years cruise , planned 1/1/08 (weather permitting...) starting out from Brookshire area from a members home, waffle breakfast then a +-100-200 mi country road cruise on west side of town....
I would go exactly stock or all out modified. The market is strong in these two areas. That is if you have 'investment' in mind. Otherwise, do it the way that looks good to you and fits your needs. If you are going to drive it you have some serious choices to make.
Hello: I recently purchased a 1967 400, 4 speed Firebird which I will be restoring in the near future. The car is completely numbers matching (engine, transmission, differential) so I want to do it right. I have a couple of questions for the firebird community: 1) What book/s are good sources of information to help with the restoration? 2) The car originally had a Silverglaze exterior with a Blue (dark metallic) interior. The car now has a red interior and exterior. I was thinking of keeping the red interior and going with a Starlight black exterior. How much of an impact will the color change from original (even though both are 1967 colors) have on price? 3) Any advise on a good, reputable machine shop in houston that specializes in pontiac engines.
Thank you.
1) there are two books that are valuable for info, the GM body book and the GM repair manual...I have both , both bought on EBay , +_$25 ea...you can borrow these from me too 2)silverglaze sounds like an interesting color too, you could keep the red interior with it? Todd Will is a great painter, he`s on the NW side, you can see his work on a couple of our guys cars 3)machine shop or engine builder? Scroggins Machine shop downtown, plus others...Lee A for engine builder..plus a couple of HALF guys ...Drew has built a great 455 for his, and is helping Paul out with one now, we DO have "monster garages" sometimes to help ea other out too
whereabouts in Houston are you located? and JLT, is it a vert or coupe? I`m assuming coupe since you didnt say specifically... Kelly ,our Corpus member has a 68 coupe , black with red. Todd , our Bellville member has a 68 black with black convertible
There are now 63 Members in HALF, Yes I am sure there are some doubles in there. To subscribe to this group, http://halftx.net/ scroll to the bottom of the page and sign up.
but all not active, I`m usually counting the 'active' members...
and JLT , as you see , our group is "local",, from San Antonio, to Austin , and Ding Dong (Yes Ding Dong) and Corpus , and of course Houston....most of us are in Houston...but we are 'inclusive'....
some of our "members" are actually in Seattle, Norway ,Sweden too...lol
If I had a car with the pedigree that your's does, I would go all original including back to the original colors. The silver is a nice shade for today as it is the most popular car color after black.
As opposed to some of us that ended up with definite 60's era colors like Verdoro Green. Kind of like the equivilent to 70's era avocado green refrigerators.
2012 Mustang Boss 302 #1918, Competition Orange. FGF replacement 2006 Mustang V6 Pony, Vista Blue. Factory ordered. 2019 BMW X3 (Titled to the wife, but I'm always driving it for her. So I'm claiming it) Old projects, gone but not forgotten: 1967 FB 400, original CA car. After 22 years of work, trashed by the guy who was supposed to paint it. I had to sell it. 1980 Turbo Trans Am 1970 Mustang fastback, 351C 4Bbl, auto 1988 Mustang GT, 5 speed 1983 F-150 4x4, built 302 1994 Chevy K2500 HD 4x4, 454 TBI
Jose, it was great talking to you....I`m sure you`ll find many of the HALFers very helpful....looking forward to have You in our group!
I`d just get the car running for now, take your time on the decisions... I made a "running resto" on mine ,meaning I didnt lose much useage time, only a few weeks here and there...