i bought a 68 firebird earlier this month and i was wondering what any of you reccomend me doing to it. the car has been owned by many people so there are a lot of strange things done to it. First of all, its green with green interior, but the car ws originally a white-gold? color with what i believe to be parchment interior. The production number in the VIN shows the car to be originally a 6cyl. It now has what I was told to be a 400ci and a TH400, i have not checked the # on the block, but the tranny pan looks to be a 400. Basically nothing on the car is original. I am going to have to get the following from up22.com, new front fenders, 400 hood, and rear decklid with molded-on spoiler. Anyone reccomend a company that has good sheet metal full rear quarters? It will need new floors as well, but I think I have those under control. I am probably going through NPD for some new black carpet and new black seat covers. I do not want to make this car into a drag car, just a good street machine. I am thinking about converting it to a manual, because the auto seems to be locked up. I have been thinking about 4,5,and 6 speeds as a replacement, can this be done? the drive shaft and mounts will obviously need modification, where can i find info on this if it is possible?
Welcome to the FGF site. My first recommendation is to have the car documented by Pontiac Historic Services (do a search on the web and you will find it). PHS will be able to tell you exactly how the car was built and what engine, trans, exterior color, trim levels and options the car had from the factory.
You can also decode the plate on the firewall on this site. It will tell you exterior and interior color.
NPD has pretty good stuff, as does Classic Industries and Year One. As far as quarters, they are available from a few parts suppliers - OER (Classic Industries) which are GM licensed, Sherman and Goodmark.
Unless your front fenders are just junk, I would stay away from the "new aftermarket" fenders right now. Too many negative comments on fitment.
As far as converting to a manual trans - a stock Muncie 4 speed is nice with no modifications required. If you try to install a 6 speed you will be required to modify the trans tunnel and fabricate a trans cross member. Bjorn (also on this site) can address the 5 speed trans as he has a friend in Houston who has one in his '69 Firebird and is not that happy with it due to the modifications he will have to make to install a console and the final drive is still 1:1 ratio.
Keep asking questions and I am sure many on the site will be glad to offer their opinions.
well then, swithing out a 4 speed for a 4 speed doesnt sound bad. the front fenders have about a pound of bondo between them so i really dont want them. and also, the tranny crossmember was moved to accomodate the larger TH400, the hoosiers didnt bolt it on, or tack weld it in place, the crossmember area tapers off and its just wedged into place, can i move it back to the original space and still put in a muncie? or will a relocation bracket be needed?
If you have the original 4 speed crossmember you will be fine. I do not have a picture of one right now, but I am sure someone on the site can send you one if you aren't sure of your current crossmember.
Yes , as Tom said , if you are using a console, you`ll have some fitting problems w the 5 speed...my friend is making some mods , to be able to get his console in...and if you`re driving it on the street...my friends 400 runs 4500 rpms at 70 mph...while I go 90 mph at 3000 rpms in my 400...
Welcome! Congrats on the new bird! When you get a chance, send Geoff (site admin) a picture to join the on line car show (you can update as the car changes)
What I usually tell people is do the major things you HAVE to do right now, (like the front fenders and figure out the tranny right now) and then research all the things you WANT to do and as you go, you may find that you might want to do things a bit differently that you originally thought?
Get the new fenders (NOS, good used or aftermarket) and get the car all cleaned up and looking and working ok. If you can figure out the tranny issues, then good, you are set until you can collect all the info and the parts needed to go manual. There are a few different 5/6 speeds out there many with true overdrive final drives, so do a little research on that end to find just the right combination for you. (Maybe figure out what rear gears you have first?)
The drive shaft will most likely have to be changed... so just expect that. And the cross member will more than likely need to be changed, and should mount with out actual modification in the end. (maybe double check to make sure you don't have an O/D auto in there right now?) They usually require a different cross member etc...
But, the good news in the fact that your car has been changed with each owner is, that you have complete and total freedom to change and or modify the car to suit your needs with out decreasing it's value say if it was an original survivor car etc...
So I say, do your home work, get all the info you can on what are the best mods for the money, what others are doing successfully, and then make your plans, and just go for it! Build the car of your dreams!
and i might be interested in that crossmember, or at least in the pics
talldude1610@yahoo.com
i will most likely get a 4spd, but i can probably fit the 5 or 6 because i am not putting that center console back in (I dont like them in older cars for some reason), consider it for sale as of this moment
i am a big fan of overdrive; standard or auto. i choose auto because of my knee, and i'm lazy. cant figure how someone would get a 5 spd without overdrive... maybe Bjorn will enlighten us
nice to have a car you can do whatever you want to, i think. .. i like an open tunnel area too. no console... i have column shift... actually, a bench seat would suit me too if i could get one. cozy passenger accesss.
This may not be an issue with you, but any of the newer style 6-speed transmissions will require that the transmission tunnel in the car will need to be modified. I think Quenton may be in the process of doing this to one of his cars.
Although I am doing the swap, I have not yet gone so far as to fit the trans into the tunnel. I'm doing a '99-'03 T-56. (This is the one with the hydraulic TO bearing.)
It's probably not best to use my installation as a benchmark, since it won't be "typical." I will do everything I can to make the installation straight-forward, but in my case I am moving the engine and trans as far forward as possible. The trans requires a custom bell housing since the input shaft is a good 1-1/4" shorter than a Muncie. This helps a lot in reducing the amount of transmission actually in the tunnel. Also, I will be able to angle the engine and trans slightly downward, since I can set my pinion angle anywhere I want to with my IRS set-up. This will help even more.
I also plan to run a T-56 in my GTO, which I will not have the luxury of as much flexibility. That one will probably require a neew roof on the trans tunnel. Oh, well, it isn't numnbers matching anyway!
If you want to put a 5 speed (or 6 speed) in your bird check out the following websites: http://www.keislerauto.com/ and http://www.5speedtransmissions.com/ They have just about everything you need, but it's not cheap. Almost 1/3rd of the price is converting from an auto to a stick, unless you locate used parts. You need the pedals, bellhousing, clutch, etc.
It looks like people doing the 5 speed swap are having best luck with the Tremec TKO tranny. It is a true overdrive tranny, with a 1:1 4th, and .64 (or .68) 5th gear. It would work well with numerically higher rear ends, like 3.42 and up. They handle big horsepower to.
The Richmond 5-speed is the one with a 1:1 fifth gear and it does seem strange. But it has a low 3.28 1st gear (TH400 has a 2.42 1st I think), so it works pretty well with a rear gear like a 2.78. One benefit of this setup would be lower driveshaft speed so your rear end would run cooler at extended high speeds.
There is also Doug Nash 5-speeds. I don't know anything about them.
Both of those websites will tell you the Tremec is the superior transmission.
I hope you decide to do it, cause I'm curious how it would turn out.
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