I suspect the factory had the hinge halves mounted on the doors and jambs when they painted them separately so the hinge, bolts, pins/roller, and springs all got body color. During assembly they probably pulled out the loose pin, put the doors on, and pushed the pins back in and crimped the bottom of the pins.

Yes, I've decided the best way to color the bolts on an assembled car is to paint the heads with a brush after careful cleaning/degreasing. I'm going to try that before we put the fenders on.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to flatten the tailpipes where they pass between the leaf spring and the body? I'm still considering the splitters with the 3" inlet, 2 1/2" outlet pipes, but may leave the pipes as is if I can figure out how to duplicate the look of the flattened factory tailpipes--even though they are 3" instead of 2". I remember they were flattened with straight lines, but the narrow portion of the OD retained the original curve of the pipe.

"flattened factory tailpipes"? I don't recall ever seeing that. I have seen a flattened spot on the factory splitters. Is that what you mean?

This was how Gardner made their ends which are suppose to be the way the factory did it. It is flattened sort of. Not round like the upper part of the pipe. It made more space between the springs and the quarter.

Thanks. Never seen or heard of that before. Have no idea what my originals looked like. They were at least 4-5 tail pipes ago and I can only recall cylindrical.

I can't tell what shape the Gardner pipes are from the photo. Can you post another view? I don't want to have them look like I just crushed them in a vise.

Thanks.

Sorry, I had them cut and put the extensions on and I no longer have access to them.

Not as clean as Harold's but here is another angle of Gardner.

Gordy

Harold and Gordy, Thanks for the info on the tailpipes. We haven't decided which way to go yet. If we could duplicate the shape of the flattened pipes, that's the way I'd go without extensions. We'll check with a local muffler guy who has a good reputation and see if he can do it.

Here's how our system looks so far. I hope the pictures post upright. There is about 3/8" clearance on each side of the tailpipes when centered in the opening.

Tomorrow, the front fenders are going to be mounted. We're done under the hood. Notice the safety chain on the driver's side in case of motor mount failure.

The hood-mounted Ram Air pan needed some mods to fit the Tripower pan, but that's just about done. As soon as we have that, we'll cut the hood brace to fit the pan--nervous. .

Thanks for the pics. Nice car.

While a friend is welding the header collector flange to the downpipe, we decided to put he fenders on.

About five hours work, but decent result. We needed .750" of shims on each side where the rear of the fenders sit on top of the firewall. I've never seen that amount of shimming on any car I've worked on, but we did achieve proper alignment with that much shimming. Wow, it takes some convincing to get the proper profile of the fenders to match the doors. Those bottom shims at the dogleg really change that a lot, but judicious prying with a padded 2x4 was needed to move the fender as needed.

The black strips on the driver's side near the emblem is from Eastwood Rust Encapsulator that leaked through the holes when I sprayed the inside of the fenders. That is a really nice product--seeps into the seams very well.

Nice car!

I have pics to share ... I still have the original muffler & pipes.
Have you thought of using stock spliters?
Also some pics of my Tri-Power for 65 Catalina

The tube protector is for the wires leading up from starter to engine harness (coil).

Thanks for the tailpipe pictures. I cannot use stock splitters as the pipes are 3" and the input to the splitters is only 2 1/2" or maybe 2 1/4".

I like the way the original pipe was bent flatter to clear. We're trying to figure out how to do that.

Gus68, we have the tube in place to protect the starter wiring. It's not as long as the one you used, but goes from the bottom edge of the valve cover to the solenoid connections--from the backside of the engine. I didn't take pictures before we put the headers on, so you can't see the tube.

A friend of a friend has a pipe bender, and bent the last 6" of the tailpipes so they measure 2 1/2" across at the point where they pass between the leaf springs and the quarter panel.

Another friend welded the downpipes-to-header adaptor flange. He did a great job as you can see from the pictures. It's hard to tell where the seam is.

Both turned out really well and I now have the exhaust mounted except for the tailpipe hangers which should be welded to the pipes. I may use a 3" muffler clamp to hold them temporarily to make sure we have enough clearance throughout.

I had to move the air shock filler valves since we had them mounted directly above the tailpipes which would have melted the plastic lines.

What have you found to be the best coating for the hood hinges? Seems to me they should be dark gray. Rustoleum Stainless Steel wheel paint seems about he right gloss & color. Ideas?

One corner of my deck lid is above the quarter panel by about 3/16". Is there a way to correct this without major surgery?

Also, what is the proper way to shim the cowl panel in front of the windshield so it's the same height as the fender tops? Ours is about 3/16" low.

Several people use zinc phosphate. http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-zinc-phosphate-aerosol.html

Make sure you have the back down all the way by loosing bolts to fender and left up on the hood nose to force the back down then tighten bolts. Also make sure the middle fender hood bumpers are not to fat. I had to shave some of the rubber to make thinner.

If all that fails. Some slot the rear hinge holes some to make the back lower.

Harold, I think you misunderstood my question. I was referring to the right front corner of the deck lid being too high. We don't have the hood installed yet.

Also, we can't ID the piece pictured. It's fiberglass and about 4 feet long with three mounting holes. Is this from a '68 Firebird? I think the bodyshop painted this and gave it to us from another customer's car.

We put the lower sheet metal shroud in place that holds the parking lights. That went on just fine. The reproduction parking lights we bought from Ames, however, are a problem for three reasons.

1. The three sheet metal screws that hold the housings to the lower shroud will not clear the holes in the plastic lenses. The holes in the plastic are not large enough. I tried putting the lenses over the housing and putting that same three screws over the lenses as you can see in the pictures, but I know that's not right. Enlarging the holes in the plastic lenses is a possibility, but once I do that, return would be unlikely. Also I'd be worried about the drill catching and destroying the lens. If I do enlarge them, I'll find a hole saw that size to lower the risk of damage.

2. The electrical connections for the parking light socket are unique. I've never seen a plug that would fit over the prongs behind the socket. If such a socket is not available, I'll have to use stab-on connectors and waterproof the rear of the socket as well as possible. Not a good solution.

3. The bulb sockets are for 1157 bulbs. It is nearly impossible to put the bulb in and turn it to lock it in place. I was able to get a bulb in one of the sockets, but not the other. This may be OK if I apply dielectric grease to the bulb base and socket to lower friction.

I'll call Ames tomorrow to see if they have any answers for the parking lights. It's disappointing that parts that cost so much don't fit.

The red part pictured is not from a '68 'bird. The screws you used for the front housing are not correct. Those should be round head sheet metal screws. Likely why the holes are too small. The bulb socket looks correct (from my old memory), but I may not be right on that one. the front screws that mount the lens to the housing are shoulder bolts.

Thank you. I'll return the piece to the body shop--it's probably off someone's Corvette.

Yes, I will find some round-head sheet metal screws the of the same thread size as the hex-head ones in the picture. That will definitely work.

A forum member recognized the sockets from his '68 GTO. He sent me a pair with pigtails so I can splice them into the front harness. I believe Tempest's/GTO's used these from '68 thru '70. I don't know about the '69 Firebird.

Here's the pair of socket connectors I got today for the parking lights. How would we restore our cars without help from other forum members?

Now, to figure out the best splice into the front harness. I like using the crimp connectors with shrink tubing over about 2" of the splice area.

Thank you.

Solder the wire and then use shrink tube to seal it. Crimp suck. Leak, corrode and then disconnect.

Shrink tubing and solder took care of wiring the parking light sockets to the harness. Even though the ones I got were from a '68 GTO, the wire color codes were the same as Firebird.

The reproduction parking light housings and lenses are a real challenge to install. We spent five hours today trying different things to get a decent fit into the openings on the body. Both sides fit poorly even after enlarging the holes in the housings and the lenses. This is a case where original pieces would have been a boon!!

We took a drive around the block and discovered that the right rear tire contacts the rear upper corner of the fenderwell (where the trim is attached). When measuring, we see that that side of the rear axle is 1/2" further back than the other side. You can see the difference in the two pictures of the rear wheel wells.

What locates the rear axle onto the leaf springs? Can the axle be moved forward and back? I thought there was a pin or locator to insure the axle is in the right location. I do, however, see a lot of Novas and Camaros dogtracking because the axle is not straight.

We're going to test fit the hood tomorrow--hood hinges are done. Eastwood Zinc Phosphate is a really nice product for this unique finish. I hope we don't have to jockey the fender positions too much to get the hood aligned properly.

This is intersting that you bring this up as I have this same problem with my rear end. I have about 3/4 of an inch difference from the left to right side and have never been able to figure out the problem or find anyone who knows why this is. Would be interesting to figure this out or if this is just how the cars came out from the factory. Has your car ever been hit? I thought that might be my problem since mine was hit prior to me owning it but everything seems to measure out correctly. I have heard of a couple of other folks saying they have the same problem but nothing to explain it all. I even loosened up the U-bolts and tried straightning the axle in the wheel well, but only got a little bit of movement to take it to 3/4 inch difference. Would be interesting to hear from someone who had this problem and figured it all out.

There is a slot in the bottom leaf spring/shock support bracket. A "nipple" welded on the bottom center of leaf spring goes into slot in bracket thus providing proper alignment.

So, you could grind it off and weld on another "nipple" if you determine it's located wrong?

I know my problem is still there even with these (nipple and hole) aligned properly, that is the reason I can only get a little movement out of rear end when trying to adjust the forward and aft alignment.

Would it be possible to grind off the "nipple" on the bottom leaf and relocate a welded "nipple" to the right spot? In my case, it would be 1/2" further toward the front of the car to move the axle forward.

Have you compared the leaf springs to see if they are the same?

I got curious and checked mine. The distance between the tire and lower quarter point is the same (approx) 3". F70X14s.

We drove the car around the block and discovered that the 255-70r15's contacted the wheel well on both the driver's and passenger side. This is with air shocks pumped to 100 psi. The approx. 1/2" difference between the two sides is there, but the 29.1" OD is too much.

We returned the tires to the dealer and had him mount 255-60r15's. These are 27" OD and, in spite of more than 9" tread on the ground, clear everything by at least 1".

We don't like losing the OD with the 4.11 gearing. This combination puts us at 68.4 mph at 3500 rpm. It's OK, but not ideal for freeway cruising. We are not going to do anything about the axle offset at this time. Depending on how the ratio works out, we may end up with a different rear end--maybe 9" Ford with gearing in the low 3's. With the power of this engine combo, this 8.5" unit may not survive very long. Will keep you posted on that.

The surprising thing with these tires is that the dealer took the tires back for full credit and only charged for mounting and balancing. This in spite of the fact that we bought the tires in March. The dealer is Baumgardt Tire in Appleton, Wisconsin. The owner is a Pontiac nut, which may be why this worked out.

We mounted and aligned the hood. The rear corners of the hood were too high, which was panic time until we remembered that shimming the front bolts that attach the hood to the hinges lowers the rear of the hood. After a few hours of jockeying the front fender mounts, core support, and hinges, the hood alignment is good. We will have to remove the hood one more time to cut the passenger side hood bracing to fit the Ram Air pan.

Front bumper will be the last step of assembly for this project. It's assembled and ready to mount.

Forgot to mention--Note that the driver's side windshield wiper is angled downward toward the center of the car. Has anyone figured out how to correct this? I tried the other wiper arm, but the result is the same. Bending the top part of the wiper arm is the only way I can see this could be fixed.

Maybe rotate the arm up a tooth or two on the mounting stud?

The convertibles have a .25 inch shorter left arm and it does not appear that tilted.

I agree with Harold. They should sit up a bit higher when parked. (level with the chrome, about an inch and one half above the top of the chrome)

I highly doubt that
I personally built 8.5's that were in cars with big blocks and 400+ of nitrous that are just fine.

Thanks for the info. I'll move the wiper one notch higher, which will get it more parallel to the chrome.

We'll soon know how the 8.5 survives. Can't wait to open those end carbs for the first time! The trip around the block revealed a little of how this thing will run. With the 3500 rpm converter and the 4.11 gears, just a slight blip of the throttle (on just the center carb) chirps the tires.

Wipers moved--looks a lot better.

Here's our progress from yesterday--Ram Air pan mounted on hood after cutting the brace, rocker panel moldings, front bumper assy.

Took it for a drive--the torque and response of the engine is more than we had hoped for. Tires will break loose anytime you punch it--even at 40 mph. Idles at about 700 rpm and sounds awesome!

Now, however, we have a slight front tire rub on the passenger side with the 214-70r15's. The rub is at the 10:00 position. As you can see in the side photo, there appears to be enough clearance, but it's not enough. Has anyone seen this change with front end alignment. That's not yet been done.

Dick,
The pan looks great! Now, cutting the bracing wasn't all that scary, was it?
Looks like your getting done just in time for the snow to fly. Fantastic job!

Here's the 'Bird going home. This is my grandson's first ride in his dad's Firebird. It has been parked since before 1994, but now has new life!!.

How do you like the sound? I think the 3" Magnaflo system sounds pretty healthy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwf5F1wl1-4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOpJQrcXox0