I admired them for 20 years. I showed my 67 chevy truck but really didn't want to be in that row. I sold the truck 7 years ago, I knew what I wanted but the wife had differnt plans for the proceeds. I went to all the car shows in the area in hopes to see a firebird but very seldom did here in the midwest. We have Camaros and Chevelles, there nice but not a Firebird. At the risk of being told I was going through a midlife crisis every...single...day, I got my 68 in Sept. When the wife says she don't know why I would you want a car like that, the only reply I can come up with is...because IT'S COOL!!!!
Jeff

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">because IT'S COOL!!!! </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">well put
Welcome

I got one for you...

At 18 I bought a new 1983 Trans Am, rolled it..
Next I bought a 1979 Black and Gold Trans AM, it got stolen..

In 1989 I meet and eventually marry a girl whose father is the second owner of a 67 Convertible, he dies and leaves it to her.

Oh come on JMac, show it like it is now!

Yes, Jeff ,they are cool, unusual and PERFORM!

Well I hope to drop the new motor in Sunday, so maybe I'll have a new pic then..

But this is what the car looked like then.. it was "kinda" under tarps in Nevada for a decade.

It _IS_ cool.
Very cool.

Okay, here's my story.

When we first met, I told my future wife that I had wanted a firstgen firebird since I was 14 or 15. I liked the Chev ponycar too, but I thought the Pontiac was just a little nicer, and a little "different" from what everyone else has. At this point I'm in my mid-30's.

I kept talking about getting one oneday. And then I got smart, and sold her on the vision of her driving to the golf course in a convertible. Wind in her hair. Everyone's looking at her. ...SOLD!

So she agreed to help me get one.

When a promising car appeared in the "AutoTrader" we drove a few hours to see it immediately. The garage door opens, it's just a beautiful thing, and the wife has a HUGE smile on her face. She was instantly in love with it. "Nice poker face, dear" I say. The seller laughs. "Go ahead, be the first to sit in it" I continue... I take it for a spin, and she gladly put up more personal money towards it than I did.

(But I'm slowly paying her back. As my $$$ accumulates, some goes to her... some buys parts...)

Great stories! It may sound crazy but has anyone noticed that sometimes cars find you? Mine sat since 1970 when the original owner didn't return from the war. 30 years later the son calls me and ask if I want to buy the car. What a question! What an honor!

Me and my youngest son just got done yanking the motor out of my 68 so I could repaint the engine and compartment. I found out the motor was a 69 i think. It was origanaly dark blue and I seen a 69 stamped by the rotor. It was one of the best days we have spent together. That's not all bad haveing a 69 in a 68 is it?
Jeff

I have a 69yd in my 67 vert.. PHS says my car was produced with the top motor (325hp).

I wonder the same thing.

To me, having a #'s matching car was never important. I just wanted the car to drive, show and sit in the driveway on nice days to stare at. I build cabinetry in my garage/woodshop to make payments and finance any parts. What I make at my day job the wife gets to pay bills and keeps what ever is left over. That was our deal so I could have my firebird. It is worth it to me.
Jeff

Johnny Mac, Did you misplace your car ???I think I found it !! someone parked it in my garage!

I have a 72 block YX in my 69...
if your engine was repainted and is a 69 (Firebird Engine) it should have a two digit letter code on it under the valve covers on the front drivers side , like ,WC,WM,XL,XB,YJ,YE, WN,XC (350s),WZ,YT,WQ,YW,WH,XN (400s)for the different V8s

these numbers are all out of a Firebird redbook, there are other possiblities too if engine came out of another Ponitac

At least mine isn't a sign of mid life crisis: I bought my first 9 in 77 when I was 19, the one that had the front clip swiped out in front of my apartment. The "replacment clip" turned into my second 9, a basket case bought in 85, 90% restored in 87, so I guess it's safe to say that still haveing the car for 21 years certainly classifies the bird as other-than-mid-life crisis.

The boat: that was a mid life crisis, but I got over that.

Merv., you can say the same about me, mine is definitely no "mid life" crisis, more like a "late life" crisis....LOL

I was 57 when I got this one...(was 26 when I got my first...)

Since we'r telling stories...got my 1st car in 77 at 15.

My older brother went thru 2 BB(396&427) Camaro's and 2 FB's(400&455) before i was old enough to drive. All were 67-8.
Always the guy to beat, especially when he had the birds...so i was hooked on the f-bodies. After looking at many, found my 1st car.

68FB/350HO/st300/3.23 posi for $400
Next year converted it to a RAIII 400(GTO)th350(78TA), 3.73 posi, headers, nitrous, etc...
After awhile, no one would race me on the street.
It was getting beat up from body flex and midwest weather.
While looking for a driver, i found my 2nd car...at 17.

67FB/400/4spd/3.36 posi.
p/b-p/s-hood tach.
It was in good shape, all original except GTO 3x2's, stereo, and wheels, so i didnt abuse it.
Just drove it until someone wanted to race.
It was faster then most anything out there, but i would say, hold on, i'll be right back

The 68 body got sold in 82
The 67's been waiting on me to restore since 93.

Well, i finally got started last year, but decided i needed a street/strip car so i dont ruin the 67(race), so found another 68 that should be in the 11's(NA) this year

We'll for me, the day I bought the car, I drove it 600 miles home. Before I left, I stopped at the local auto store, for a tow strap, portable battery, and all the usual stuff just in case (oil, coolant, dot 4 etc...)

The good news is I never looked back, and got home safely. 4 years later, she's better than ever.

My 69 vert, has a 68HO (GTO) and M22. The newest addition is an 8.5 posi w/3.42 gears. Now she takes it out on those poor tires...oh well...

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Johnny Mac, Did you misplace your car ???I think I found it !! someone parked it in my garage!
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">that looks nice.. you have done a really great job..

I guess you want it back now? I see someone turned it into a 4-speed......

Amen to the Cool thing...My 1st was a 76 TA Competition Orange..455 ..muncie 4 speed. I ate more camaros and mustangs for lunch than you can imagine..I was 17. I ended up selling it to a very motivated buyer (big mistake).
A wife and 2 children later... I found my 67 400 on ebay. Won the bid. Then told my wife...hee hee. The old saying holds true...easier to ask for forgiveness than permission (besides..it was my personal dough). They ARE cool and more rare. Now if I can just scrape the $$ to make it perfect! And just what is up with Barrett Jackson!! I never a FGF on there. So far just a 69 TA!

I guess I must be partly in a mid-life crisis. I have had a 428 sitting in my various garages since 1978 waiting for a 69 vert. None of my wives (three gone now) ever believed I would ever get one and all said to get rid of that stupid motor, especially everytime we moved and I had to cart it along. Well, I finally got rid of the last wife and found a basket case on ebay two years ago. Maybe the wives were right, but it sure has been fun building a bird from the ground up. It might even run someday.

i'm only just a freshly turn 40 so when mid life crisis get here i'll be ready and the firechicken
hopefuly will be on the road by then i bought mine in 1986 sitting since 1991 its like new now nothing like planning ahead bring on the mid life crisis i'll be ready i'll be ready for all those little whiper snapers

At 16 I wanted a sporty convertible (my dad wanted me to get a big 4 door) and bought a '68 Mustang off a used car lot. Went back to get the car a few days later and the guy didn't have the key to unlock it, once in, it wouldn't start, after it started the engine was blowing blue smoke like a tire factory. I got my money back and a few days later found a '67 Firebird convertible that is now my parts car. That was 1978 and thank God or might be a Ford man today! The car had a lot of rust and in 1980 I found a parts car in Colorado that I BUMPER TOWED home to north central Ohio. I had started working in a body shop and dismantled the car to use as parts. It was such a mess (except for solid sheet metal - by 1980 standards) when I bought it that little did I know that it was a factory 400/4spd convertible with power windows, AM/FM, fold down seat, hood tach (missing), mirror group, remote mirror, courtesy lights (including ash tray), tilt column and wood sport wheel. Lucky for me, everything was there but the engine and drivetrain were not original. It was also one of the first 100 V8 cars off the assembly line! A few years later I got serious about college and the car sat in various storage places until 2003 when I was forced to move it. In the process of moving it, I offered both cars and the RA pans, Ralley guages and other parts I had collected for $3000. He needed to think about it and that was just long enough for me to change my mind and resume my restoration. Now my Colorado parts car is being restored and my first car is the parts car. I should be about 95% done by late summer.

Heres Mine. I am currently 17 years old and a senior in highschool. Ive always wanted a muscle car but it was never really an option. ive always heard stories from my moms family about this yellow firebird they had new back in the day and how its been sitting for 23 years now in a field. my grandfather used to drive it then it was passed to my uncles and my mom then another uncle then to the field. in my highschool we do a senior project so i decided mine was going to be getting this car back on the road. last week i got plates for it and jsut finished throwing in my new engine. ive been driving this thing around in the worst possible shape imaginable..no floors, cracked winsheild, no seatbelts, no wipers, no light no nothing. people give me all these funny looks but i ignore it and jsut think about what ive put into it and what it will be like once its complete.

Im 18 and still in high school and ive always lived around muscle cars. It started with my dads 1971 cutlass supreme that he has owned since 1977. he restored it in '77 and it has been driven since about 1996. the car sat in our back yard and started to collect rust and in about 2003 i started bugging my dad to start restoring it and finally in 2004-2005 we restored it and i still had the restoration bug and I wanted an old car of my own. Then i found a 1969 firebird convertible for $4000 in very rough shape that didnt run, and needed alot of work. I bought it in the summer of 2005 and so far ive rebuilt the motor tranny, done all the bodywork/welding on the front end and now im tackling replacing all the rear sheet metal. I still havent driven the car yet but im really excited for that day to come and for this long and expensive project to be done. Everything has really slowed down now since ive run low on money and its hard to pay for gas. I just cant wait to lay that paint on the car.


Heres my dads car http://tinyurl.com/atuzy
and heres mine www.1969firebird.org

Good to hear from the next generation. I've had mine since age 18 in 1988. I did do what restoration I could, a piece at a time. It still begs to be put on a rotisserie, but is a solid car.

67 Firebird 400, i love the blue console.
Never seen a painted one.
Is that factory?

Well, I guess I'll throw my hat into the ring, too. I grew up infatuated with the 69 Commonaro. First car I went to look at was a Canary Yellow 69 with a fresh paint job and a fresh 454 with a TH400 and a 12 bolt. Got in it to turn the key and it wouldn't crank. (dead battery) My mom used that as a good excuse to pass on it....can't drive an unreliable car. Fast forward to 2001 I have my own house and my own means to buy the car I wanted and I start shopping. I happened across a 69 Firebird on yahoo classifieds for $1000. I fell in love with the looks immediately....same body lines as the Camaro from the side, but a unique GTO like 1-year only front end. Car was bought new and spent it's life in San Antonio, Texas....so it was solid and only had minor surface rust from someone sanding the car and putting it in primer. It had been parked behind a guys house since 89 because it needed a starter of all thing. I picked it up for a mere $500. The guy had no idea what he had so I stole it from him.

Its not a mid life crisis. Its a Mid-Life Opportunity!!

A-men! When exactly is mid-life???

As early in life as you can afford.

I did`nt know I had a 'mid life' until it was too late ,now it is a 'late life' crisis.....

Today...

Congratulations Johnny! Those wheels really set it off too. What size wheels and tires did you go with?

Thanks John, you have one heck of a car there.

I have 17x7 wheels and 225/55ZR17 tires

Thanks, but it's another 6-10 months from being where your's is! I really like those wheels, but will probably stick with the Intro Vistas that I've settled on.