Now i picked up this bird for cheap! im talking 500$ cheap, and that included Delivery


Day 1, first look at the car, it looked pretty solid to me, with a little rust in the seams, and the trunk lid was done (split)



Something didn't look right about this, so i assumed the worst and put a pair of rear quarters on the wishlist





Got it into my side of the shop, and started by pulling the hood off and trunk lid and a few other bits,

then i decided to start tearing into the quarters to see how bad they really were.











not only was that all fiberglass, but they did that same for the trunk pan, so more work

the exhaust literally fell out when i was pulling the smashed rear bumper off



so now we begin

i wont be like the others, im going to do the mechanical myself, but leave bodywork and interior to some friends that own shops that i trust to work on her.

the number on the odo lists 65294.6 miles or 105081.47 Kms

It doesn't get much cheaper than that Good luck with the build and keep pictures coming when you can!

Looks like a good deal...you have your hands full, don't be surprised the deeper you dig, the more issues you find.... have fun with it!

Is that a Sprint?

looks like a lot of work! But for $500 it's worth doing

Holy Crap! That's a Sprint find! It even has the original high energy coil still in it! Man oh man DONT throw away anything on that motor.

WOW! We NEED pics of the other side of the motor and the harmonic balancer. Heck it even has PS. So cool!

The one odd item about it (if it is a Sprint) is the column shift. I don't think that was available. However, $500 is a steal.

I can remember looking at our bird and thinking "It doesn't look like that much work" hahahahaha

Every time I look at this picture of my car, I am amazed how it looks today. If that doesn't motivate you (or make you throw up), nothing will!.

Heck the deluxe white interior is worth the price of admission.

I know it's an original sprint what a find, good luck with her seeker. Take lots of pictures welcome to First gen Firebird.

It is an Original Sprint, Optioned with the Bench Fold Down Front Seats, and Automatic Column Shift, parchment interior, any pictures you want, let me know, im not getting rid of the Engine or Trans, i want this girl to be as original as i can get, Brakes are going to be upgraded, and as soon as i can afford it, im getting the PHS documentation on this girl

i also want to thank you all for the kind words, when i started tearing into her, i got a little more depressed, and a little more depressed, i know i have as close to a one of a kind firebird as i can get, but ill be questioning everything i can with you guys as i proceed, it actually looks to have half decent floors, Interior is coming out on sunday after my buddies baptism

I applaud you for wanting to keep it original. The Sprints are timepieces of history IMHO. When you go to a cruise night or car show, it will be the only one there, it is almost a certainty.

I will warn you that the Sprint paired up with the ST-300 is not a good combination. If mine wasn't original, I would ditch the auto in a second (I may eventually do it anyways). It's like having a dirt bike with 2 gears.

1968 Pontiac Firebird V8 Coupe with Custom Trim Option

The paint was Solar Red with Solar Red upper body color.

The trim color and material wereParchment Knit Vinyl Weave.

This car has the Fisher Body Unit Number 6,025 built in the 3rd week of February. at the Lordstown, Ohio plant.

Oh please post some pics of the front bench and center arm rest..
The parchment is of great interest. My front bench is also parchment with headrests (1969). Where oh where can the correct upholstery be (purchased)?

Fantastic find Nick.

Only place to get the correct comfort weave and vinyl in at SMS auto fabrics. http://www.smsautofabrics.com

I will give them a try.
Thanks so much Harold and nice Resto.

ill post some pictures of the interior when i pull it out of the car tonight, was working on my 74 Vega Wagon Last night, getting a more streetable 750 Holley on the Engine instead of my 950 Demon.




that was last year when i broke the bellhousing in my TH350 Right in half

FYI the bench seat / armrest option in that car is rare.

For some engine help:

This is the official OHC forum and a great bunch of guys. You'll find EVERYTHING you'll need to know here:

http://sohcsix.yuku.com/

THis is the OHC CHapter of the POCI. You can join the POCI (just like I did) with their "online" registration which is $20 per year. Smoke Signals make sit completely worth it.

Then when you get your POCI number go to this site:

http://www.overheadcammerschapter.150m.com/

and join the OHC Chapter. You'll receive an email list of Cammers that have more knowledge than you can image.

So i continued tonight by pulling the Benches out

front bench

rear bench


rust cancer

rad out
new points and everything

(i think the coil might need replacing)


far back look


Parts List to Order So Far

- Rear Quarter Panels L + R
- Floor Pan - Full
-Trunk Pan - Full
- In Rear Fenders
- Door? (if i can save them, they dont look to bad, some pounding and some cleanup should bring them back
- Door Panels (Interior) Front and Rear
- Re-Upolster Bench Seats
- New Carpet (came apart in my hands)
- Pull Engine and Run on engine stand to check everything out
- Exhaust
- Drain Gas Tank and inspect, Replace if needed
- Battery Tray ( I could save, but probably easier to replace
- Transmission Cooler Lines
- Flush Clean and Inspect Transmission
- Find Appropriate Mirrors
- Head Liner
- Cleanup and Repair Rally Wheels
- New Front Bumper (or if possible re-chrome old one)
- Replace Cracked Windshield (probably cheapest thing here)
- Find Rear Bumper
- Clean, Inspect, Reseal Tail Lights
- Primer!
- Paint
- Clean Inspect and Paint Front Subframe (the oil that the engine was leaking probably saved this from alot of rust)
- New Brake Lines
- Front Disc Conversion
- Remove, Repair/Rebuild Carb
- New Fuel Lines
- Replace Parking Brake lines
- Rebuild Rear Drums
- Install 400 Trunk lid (Wedding Present)
- Install 400 Hood with Rally Scoop (Wedding Present)

Vacuumed out the trunk



pulled off the door



Pax Fender = GONE!



Had Some Critters living in the engine bay

Nice project. I believe that a second gen heater housing will fit that one if that one is too bad.

Suprisingly, does not look too bad, i think a soak and a coat of paint, and it will be fine, motor looks to be in good shape. I bench tested it and it spun up to full revs without any real squeel or complaint. im going to try giving it a coat of paint on the inside, and some POR 15 on the out, and then i think ill put it back in.

Anyone out there in firebird land,

when i started working last night, i wanted to pull the Cam Cover and check things over, it got new points so i dont want to fuss with the engine if its broken, so i pulled the inspection cover off and all the bolts and nuts, but the valve cover refused to come.. any ideas?

did you take the timing belt off?

No i did not, i wanted to try to pull it without that. im assuming by your comment that perhaps its all tied together?

yes

the timing belt is holding down the cam which is holding down the cam housing

line up all your timing marks including the mark on the accessory drive gear before you pull it off

You will need to loosen the four bolts that hold the accessory drive to the motor. This will relax the belt and it will slide off. Then you can remove the cam tower and gear.

You seriously NEED the GM Shop Manual for this engine when doing these repairs.

loosen all six so you dont get frustrated again



the 67 manual has the most ohc information

WHOOPS! forgot the two in the front. My bad. See even I need the manual even after staring at this engine for 30 years. Doh!

http://thefirstgensite.com/library/68sm/engmech/engmech9.jpg

http://thefirstgensite.com/library/68sm/engmech/engmechohc.html

yeah, i kinda feel scared by this engine, so i think i might just take it to a shop i trust to have them rebuild it

make sure they have done one before

too many will tell you they have seen one but none of them have ever actually worked on one

Yup. A friend has 69 FB Vert Sprint and he had a local mechanic do his. Although the motor runs fine is makes some noises that the OHC shouldn't. Jerry Woodland is the guy to send the head to have a rebuild and/or any machining done. The bottom end is pretty straight forward. Using the 67 and 69 GM Shop manuals should be good to put everything back together minus any improvements made along the way.

Do what I did and pick up a spare OHC to build and install while you work on the one you want to keep.

I have a guy up here that specializes in pontiac blocks, hes done 2 OHCs (In Tempests) before and he knows how to cram some decent numbers out of the little engines. He has a 350 sitting in his shop that i might "borrow" but at this time im working on getting the body to the point i can get all the welding done on it to get it back into decent shape.

So i turned the motor over tonight by hand, and everything was free moving, so i then i hooked up the starter and spun the engine over that way, everything sounded like it was spinning properly, i didn't hear any binding, pulled the inspection cover and checked that the belts were all turning properly, so that makes me feel pretty good that the engine is not siezed.

tried to pull the 3 screws off the timing chain cover, but the one (looking at the engine) on the right is a little bit stripped and i couldn't get enough pressure on it, does anyone know if i can slot it and just replace the screw with a 6pt bolt instead?

yes you can replace it but try an impact screw driver first if you can get one

its a uns 5/16-24 thread

So last night started working on the car again, everything else has put the car on the back burner, but i spent about an hour on the car last night, Tore the Pax Door Down (no Pics sorry) and bagged and tagged everything, put the Door mech in the parts washer, looks pretty good now, works freely and doesn't bind




thats what the engine bay looked like when i started tonight





and when i finished.

going to get the rest of the front RAD and possibly the drivers side pulled apart next weekend, then ill pull the motor and trans in one piece.

front end off, ready for engine to come out now.