Finally took one I liked.

Had a well deserved bath and took her top off. I should put a coat of wax on her but my wife is home so ....

A pic of my '68 coupe on the left and Darren's (newer member to the forum) '69 on the right. Picture was taken at our work. Not sure how the pony got included.

pic i took the other day after a cruise.

One more before I put her up for winter.

Nice...hey...you guys don't have snow yet! Got about 3 feet of the fluff already! Kid dumped her bug in the ditch already!

You have snow already Brian??? Holy crap! Bad word, bad word....

OK...she's back from some recent paint touchup and the paint shop did a beautiful job of blending inexpensively for me after I completed all the body work, as still 3/4 of the paint is from the previous 1998-ish resto. But now no more primer spots, and far less embarrassing to look at than she was this entire past summer. So other than still having a dingy white top that needs a serious cleaning...here are the first official pics of my FINALLY cosmetically "finished" (as if there ever is such a thing) 68 400 vert-clone-restomod-driver-non-original-but-fun-as-heck-to-beat-on-or-whatever-you-wanna-call-it-machine...

PHS says it was born as a 350 2bbl car. I never have seen any of the original parts, and this car was severely molested and very poorly restored once long before I bought it. Current drivetrain is 1970 Firebird 400 engine, 1977 era Cliff Ruggles recipe Qjet, 3.08 posi rear out of a 1974 Nova and TH350 automatic out of who-knows-what...

Figured I better take a few quick fresh pics now so I remember how good she CAN look, cuz about 1 week from now I anticipate I will probably be touching up multiple rock chips already...I know how I drive LOL. A trailer queen she certainly is NOT...

And the other angles...I really need to add a snowplow spoiler to the front to compliment the BEAUTIFUL Camaro rear spoiler which I LOVE and encourage ALL FGF owners to install... Maybe soon...

And lest you think she looks KINDA originalish (she is far from it)...here's how I molested her underbelly a year or two ago while I was tackling severe rust-out repairs and replacing both full rear frame rails and doing some floor patches. I figured integrating some subframe connectors and a rear crossmember was in order, just for the sake of making her a much better cornering machine and performance driver. Greatest handling improvement I ever completed, and a very fun winter project. This chassis is now as stiff as you can get it without going full roll cage, and nothing can be seen from the topside except a subtle little bump under the carpet at rear seat passenger's feet where the connectors poke thru the floor. Purists look away....

Hello all!!
Haven't been on here FOREVER! I'm back over in Afghanistan, working as a Computer Network Defense/Information Assurance manager. Been here since May. If you all remember, when I came home from Iraq in May 2012, I had just bought a 68 Firebird convertible. I found some issues with the car once I got home..and it turned to be worse than I thought. I have a bunch of pics, but I wont post all here. Here's the car in it's final couple weeks.

The car has had the floorpans replaced, trunk pan, inner rear fender wells, and rear quarters replaced. Two new doors were put on it because the door skins were not put on correctly by the PO. Car got front fenders cleaned up, everything straightened, and stripped. House of Kolor Wild Cherry Candy was painted over black base. Soon as it's done, it goes to get a new StayFast top with glass rear window, the front seats recovered...then it will time for OD trans. I'll post questions on that in another forum.

Guy wanted to know what Flowmaster 40series mufflers sounded like. http://s44.photobucket.com/user/400PLUS/media/2005-02-15102948_zpsa7ac5c14.mp4.html

Had to get a sound bite before the tear down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgFymd6RcGU
Should sound better when it goes back in after all the dough I'm dumping in her. Turn it up and enjoy!!(I hate the whine from the electric fuel pump but what are you going to do?)

What are you idling at? 550? Sounds like you don't have enough vacuum to suck coke up a straw? lol

Here is sweet cheery ...

Really bad statement. Actually I am blessed with a cool wife who is far more beautiful than anyone I work with.

Here are some of my favorite picks

Very nice. Gold on gold. Beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen an insulator collar around the upper radiator hose. Is that a 67 thing?
I kind of forgot about this show and tell thread. Gotta post a pic of my latest project.

very pretty. I am envios of that picture. Hey in your video before teardown of your engine compartment it shows some kind of a reinforcement across the front of your engine tying your suspension together. Can you elaborate? btw, different intake and exhaust rockers. Same ratio?

The braces are based on the Hotchkis design. They call them handlebars. For years I looked at the Herb Adams ones. Just never pulled the trigger. Glad I didn't. This is a much better design. No cross brace on the HA design. I actually made a couple of sets of these and have enough material to make one more set. Quite a noticable difference from before to after. The front end feels very tight indeed. Almost like the car has a full frame. Not all bouncy feeling. You don't realize it till it's gone.
the intakes are SS 1.65:1, the exhaust are HS 1.6:1 because I'm running a single pattern cam. Just gives a little more lift on the cylinder filling cycle.

A little closer every week.

Looks like just a few spins around the driveway. ..

How was that when you went from slippery surface to dry? Was there an oh s**t moment looking at that fence?

Just trying out the new set up? Looks like fun.

LOL Nahhhh. The garage is just out of site! LOL Just pulled it straight out and back for the pic. Was a beauty of a day here. 53. The day before we got a half foot of SNOW. My quad has a blade and goes great donuts LOL

It was great here as well. Sloppy but great. My buddy has a Quad and he loves to plow with it.

I am spoiled- blade on the truck, no more open cab tractor with a back blade! Coffee and a radio...

You going to Monticello car show this weekend?? Will probably do Saturday

I hate it when you open a packing box with styrofoam and the wind blows it all over the yard like that.

400PLUS, I love the stance of you 'bird.

Before....


after... work in progress...

That's what happens when you decide to change the oil, and then decide, well, I can also do this.... and before you know it....

That's exactly how it went....

That's how it always goes.

Amen brother!

Just a pic.

Nice shop space. Color me jealous.

I love this shot of my 8 year old son and my 68 Bird at Lake Galena in Doylestown PA which is a 1/2 mile from my house.

My son took this picture the other night while we were out for a cruise
1968 Firebird by Colorado_68, on Flickr

Dude, that's like an advertisement poster!! Nice!!

Beautiful!

That is cool!!!