Starting '67 Firebird Project from MD
 

Hi everybody, I'm Mike from Bryans Road, MD. My wife Emily and I recently picked up a 1967 Pontiac Firebird Sprint 6. We are currently planning out how to rebuild it. It is rough, but it is a solid base with a lot of potential. We will be doing all the work ourselves and since we are on a bit of a budget, I have been studying up a lot on the amazing DIY things people have come up with here.

For a theme, we are going to go for a mix of WW2 style bomber (Think flying fortress) or mad max interceptor.

The Firebird currently has a Chevy 350/th350 from a 76 Camaro. 4 wheel manual drum brakes, power steering, Camaro 10 bolt rear, single leaf rear springs. I have been told the springs up front were meant for a big block. 15" Z-28 rims.

I am planning on installing 4 wheel LS1 disc brakes, Hotchkis front and rear springs, Gen III steering box, positraction rear end.

I have been torn about the engine. A Chevy 350 is cheap and easy to work with, but there are so many options. An LS1 on a budget might not be possible, and I have a ton of experience with Pontiac motors, but they are heavy. Since it is a Sprint, I have thought about hunting down a Pontiac OHC 6, or even a GMC 4200 DOHC 6. Both motors have the advantage of saving a good bit of weight, though aftermarket parts are not so easy to come by. I would like to install a 5 speed manual transmission.

Looks like a fun project... it's great to see another Firebird on here... we are heavily out numbered by the Camaro's. I also started mine this year... hope to finish before I am dead!:D

Sounds like you have some cool ideas, can't wait to see it unfold! Keep the pictures coming!!

Streetsamurai – We see that this is your first post. Welcome! Congratulations on your new project! Thanks for considering Hotchkis products on your Firebird. It sounds like a cool build-theme. Good luck on choosing power. Lightweight is good in the engine department. Torque is good too. ;)

Keep us updated with progress.

welcome to the board. :thumbsup: Should be a great project.

Hey Guys,
I'll try and post up some interior photos soon, its a jungle in there :D
I think this weekend I am going to hit all the visible rust and cover it with some kind of primer till I can start really working on the body. The front drum brakes make it very "exciting" to drive.

Nice Bird and Welcome

Its very exciting to see so many firebirds on here, and so many great ideas. In keeping with the WW2 I'm thinking of naming the car Bombshell and putting some nose art on it.

Getting a bit deeper
 

I have a bunch more photos to post in the next few days. I have been spending a lot of time going over the car as well as thinking about various mods I would like to do to it.

Areas that need to be patched include the floor panels, driver side outer rocker, lower rear and front quarters, and areas around the rear window channel. I also need to replace the driver side door jamb area where the quarter panel meets the rocker. I don't know if they make a patch for that or if I will need to buy an entire quarter.

The biggest issue I found is a crack in both rear frames directly above the rear end. Neither frame is rusted, so I am not sure if the best plan is to weld the cracks, section the frames with new pieces, or get oversized patches to weld over the origionals? I have no idea how a frame cracks the way these both did. I have not found any evidence the car was involved in any kind of accident.

Areas that need to be replaced include the front passenger fender extension, passenger front wheel well, and I might just do an entire floorboard replacement.

I would also like to use a '69 camaro lower valence and route cooling ducts through the the headlight cutouts to the front brakes.

I am seriously considering getting a disc brake positraction rear from a second gen Firebird. The 8.5 ten bolt should be stronger then the 8.2 in the car, plus the parts should be pretty cheap. It looks like I will need to cut off the spring/sock mounts and weld First gen multi leaf mounts onto it. I may take this as an oppurtunity to relocate the right side shock like a '68 or '69.

I have been trying to figure out if you can fit front LS1 brakes in a 15" rim. I am getting mixed answers on if they will fit. I eventually would like to move up to 16 or 17" wheels, but for now I have to stick with 15. If the LS1 will not fit I am going to go with a 1LE conversion.

Photos - Drivers side door to quarter area.
 

I believe this is going to be the most difficult repair on the firebird. I have no idea how the inner support structure looks, but I have a feeling its probably pretty torn up as well. First I need to remove the outer rocker pannel.
Does anybody know if you can get this section of the quarter pannel without buying the complete quarter? I want to save as much factory metal as possible :D

Photos - Passenger Side Quarter Rust
 

This area does not appear as bad as the driver side. I am going to go with patch pannels, and probably outer wheel wells. Of course until I start tearing Bombshell up I won't know for sure. from here it looks like the Outer Rocker is ok as well. If you look at some of these photos real close you can see the original blue peaking out. At first I thought there was a ton of bondo in spots, but now I am seeing its actually 4 or 5 layers of paint. A whole lotta paint. Like a paint cake. :P