Hello all,
My name is Dave and I just picked up a 1967 Firebird that was a stalled project.

It is originally a Sprint Six 4bbl 3 speed floor shift car. The PO had purchased it in 2002 with a leaky, smoky Chevy 230 in it.
He was very excited, bought the full PHS document package, did a bunch of research, ready to do it right. It was originally optioned like this:


He then disassembled it, planning on a restification (body restoration/performance modification) of it. He bought a 325 horse 389 from a ’66 Bonneville and had it rebuilt. He sold the 3 speed and bought a BOP TH350. He started stripping paint and purchased some replacement sheetmetal, and then the project stalled. It sat in his garage for 8 years, then in his field under tarps for 2. Now it is mine.

I am not a body guy, so that part is being farmed out. I am dealing with the mechanicals. The receipts on the 389 show all the parts and work completed. It was taken .030 over and the crank did not need ground. He used cast 9.5 pistons with a Crane H-272-2 camshaft. The Carter AFB from the Bonnie has been rebuilt, and he added Hooker Super Competition full length headers. I have a TH400 that will be going in this. It has 3.55 gears in the rearend right now.

I’m thinking with a 25-2800 stall, I should have a decent street/strip car that can be driven daily.

Since the engine was built almost 10 years ago and has never been run, I am going to take it down and inspect, reseal and reassemble it. I like to KNOW what is going on. I work for a medical device manufacturer and calibrate manufacturing equipment and instruments to extreme precision, so that is how I approach my own projects.

My plan:
Have bodywork completed (farmed out), painted Verdoro Green
Go through the engine
Rebuild the transmission
Go through rear end, install posi or more likely a powertrax locker.
Add front disc brakes
Assemble the vehicle and drive it like my socks are on fire.

The car will be 45 on July 27th and I hope to have it completed by it’s 50th birthday, so this is a 5 year plan.

These are the only pics I have right now. I have all the glass, interior and other parts in my shed. I'll be inventorying it all over the next couple weeks.






Your opinions are welcome, and experience is appreciated.
Dave

Welcome to FGF. This is the perfect place for you based on your plans.

Everything sounds good to me with 1 exception. Obviously complete originality is not your most important factor. So take a good hard look at the Verdoro Green choice before you have to live with it. I found I could not. It's a definite "love it or hate it color" and really sticks the car to it's original period in time.

Just like an Avocado Green refrigerator.

When you pull the engine down CC the heads and check how far in the hole the pistons are so you can calculate compression.
9.5 pistons don't mean a whole lot on a Pontiac, chamber size is everything along with a dish or valve reliefs in the piston tops.

If it's an 092 head you could end up around 10.5:1 with a flat top.

Persionally I love the Verdoro Green , but gave up looking for one,wanted a 68 vert,. 'settled' for a red 69.
one question , why installing th400 if you already have a th350? the 350 should be fine for that car....

and ..welcome aboard

PS, we may need to chat about life in Flag.

My wife has her heart set on returning to AZ for retirement and your area is definitely in the running. For me, I need to be close to nice places to fish.

And we have found that smaller towns are much better when they are college towns.

Welcome MoGas, I am interested in how things are going in the high country of AZ. I lived in Sedona for 10 years, and that's where i found my 67 bird back in 1989. good luck with the project, and keep us informed...........Mark

Welcome Dave! You will find a weath of information and help on this site. good luck with the project!

Very cool welcome aboard.

Reading my mind...I dumped my TH400 in favor of a TH350. Properly built, a 350 will handle far more power than the planned powerplant will deliver. And it will do it with less weight, less rotating mass, and therefore deliver more power to the rear wheels...

TH400 is no question stronger, but people seem to forget that it is a heavy HP hog. I personally wouldn't consider using a TH400 over a TH350 in anything I built that put out less than 650 hp. And for one simple reason: With a TH350 The car will be 100% reliable, and more importantly...it will be FASTER.

Just my opinion. Others always vary...

Enjoy the project! Sounds like a realistic timeline and a fun plan! Just beware...bodywork will cost you more than you think it will if you're farming it out, depending on condition of frame rails and floorboards...they're ALWAYS worse than you think they are...

Welcome aboard MoGas: sounds like you have a plan, enjoy and it seems like it is realistic, I too agree with crazecars, be weary of the body and the rear frame rails, hopefully she's all solid, and if you are gonna do a posi rearend, you'll need to get rid of if they haven't been changed already the rear mono leaf's or add another radius rod to the drivers side. I also installed a TH350 replaced my Powerglide, it works well with the 326. Good luck and Welcome

Looks like you have your work cut out for you my friend. As was mentioned body work can turn into a massive can of worms very quickly but one step at a time. Slow and steady wins this peticular race.
One thing I would suggest is to replace the cast pistons with a set of forged. I'll never use another cast set in anything I plan to keep. The cost savings are not worth the inconvience of a second rebuild. And while you're at it, if you plan to run it hard, you might consider a new set of rods. They are cheap insurance these days at $250 a set.

Welcome Dave, I'm just down the big hill in Phoenix. Looks like you are very realistic about what needs to be done and the time frame. I saved tons of time and a lot of mistakes searching the posts on this forum.

I also swapped a power glide for a TH350, works wonderfull, also changed the shift indicator plate on the console

Welcome on Dave, (great name BTW), lots of work ahead but it will come around, mine started out like that...(see pics)....just a labor o love!

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

I really love the Verdoro Green. I think it is truly a period color and when it is done, it should really pop. A couple other things that really turn me on about this car are the rear mount antenna and the Torq-Thrust wheels. I have always been fond of both and they are perfect with the design of the body.

A little of my history: I was born in ’67, My dad was born in 1938. He was raised on a Minnesota farm and was really big into hot rodding in the late 50’s. He then turned to Musclecars while in the Air Force in the 60’s I was brought home from the hospital in a ’66 GTO convertible. I grew up with all sorts of high performance cars through the years. Besides his Goat, he had owned many milestone cars that came and went. You have to remember, back then in the 70’s and especially the early 80’s these were just used cars. The ones I remember riding in were: 1962 Impala SS 409, 1969 Superbee 440 6v, 1970 Torino GT 351, 1973 Caprice convertible 454, etc.

I have owned: ’72 Duster 340, ’70 GTO 400, ’67 Mustang coupe 289 HP, ’67 Mustang GTA 390, ’73 Mach1 351C 4v, ’89 Firebird Formula 350 (My only brand new car ever), ’86 Mustang GT, ’71 442 (455), and now this Firebird.

The car club that I am in has work days where people go to someone’s home garage and help him out with whatever. A couple of the members are body guys and will swap mechanical work for body work, so I may be OK there.



Dave

You will have to come visit us native Minnesotans when you get the 'bird done. Not many firebirds up our way.

Update:
I went and picked it up, pulled the engine, and on Friday afternoon, my new dollies showed up from Harbor Freight.

On the trailer:



On the dollies:


She's in there somewhere:


I started to take inventory of all the parts. There were a couple pleasant surprises. Hurst Pro-Matic 2 shifter, center console, some new sheetmetal, hood insulation kit, etc.



I think these will be staying....Why advertise?



I pulled the engine apart, it is .030 over and the crank is standard sized "N".

I am on the fence for upgrading the rods (what are decent 389 rods?) and going to forged pistons.


I need to find a few things like: All the pulleys and brackets for an 11 bolt water pump setup with power steering, a fan shroud for a 7 blade clutch fan, stuff like that. There are still a couple boxes from different restoration companies that I have yet to open.


I'm looking forward to Winter so I can really get into it.

Dave