68 firebird build - Lateral-g Forums

68firebird · #1 05-04-2010, 12:33 PM

I'm working on a 1968 firebird. this is my first every build, so I'm learning as I go along. She's been sitting on jackstands in the garage since 2005, the kids are older now so now its time start this project back up. Long story short, I just don't have the space to pull the front clip off, the motor out, and the subframe out, I have a really small garage, but hey it beats working in the rain. oh, and I'm working on a pretty tight budget. progress so far: ( I apologize if the pics are kinda crappy, I use an iphone camera)

the wife was starting to use it as a shelf, didn't like that too much,

took the control arms off

took them to work, blasted them, primed and painted them with eastwood chassis paint, installed poly bushings, new ball joints, and new upper shafts.

Did the Guldstrand mod to both sides

covered up the front end and cleaned the subframe with flap disks, wire brushes, anything that would help me do the job.

painted the top of the wheelhouses since I had the front end masked up

once the frame was as clean as I could get it, I hit it with a couple coats of eastwood chassis primer then a couple coats of eastwood chassis paint.

Now its time for reassembly, just put the control arms on last night on both sides

so that's where I'm at right now. I've got hotchkis/bilstein shocks, hotchkis 2 inch lowering springs, global west subframe connectors and solid body mounts, and hotchkis sway bar yet to be installed. I'll be ordering some disk brakes over the next week or two to tie this front end up. More to come....

**waynieZ** · #2 05-04-2010, 01:23 PM

Nice progress. It looks good.

68firebird · #3 05-04-2010, 06:50 PM

Hotchkis sway bar finally arrived today, I installed it (after I went to my local gm restoration shop to get the sway bar bushing bolts which I had tossed, thought this came with new bolts), then I just mocked it up on the endlinks for pics. this thing is huge, way bigger than the stock piece.

Tuske427 · #4 05-05-2010, 12:23 AM

Looking great! It's always good to see a Firebird being built up.

One tip for the next time you paint an engine bay or other irregular surface- use aluminum foil for masking off the areas you want covered. it's cheap (buy the generic) and conforms to many shapes. It can save some time versus wrapping up the paper and reduction in tape. I hope this helps!

68firebird · #5 05-05-2010, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuske427

Looking great! It's always good to see a Firebird being built up.

One tip for the next time you paint an engine bay or other irregular surface- use aluminum foil for masking off the areas you want covered. it's cheap (buy the generic) and conforms to many shapes. It can save some time versus wrapping up the paper and reduction in tape. I hope this helps!

That's actually a great tip, I'll use that idea in the future, thanks

67rstbkt · #6 05-05-2010, 10:20 AM

Nice progress and welcome to lat-g. I was following your build on p-t as well. Did you have any issues with drilling the holes for the g-mod? I just did it on my 'bird last week and was wondering about the curved section on the rear hole. It gave me a little trouble.....

68firebird · #7 05-05-2010, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 67rstbkt

Nice progress and welcome to lat-g. I was following your build on p-t as well. Did you have any issues with drilling the holes for the g-mod? I just did it on my 'bird last week and was wondering about the curved section on the rear hole. It gave me a little trouble.....

It went pretty well for me, second side was easier because I used more drills and stepped up more gradually than the first side, other than a drill bit getting caught up here and there it went ok. I think it was more of a pain to cut the old holes off, plus that was the scary part, no turning back after you've cut those bad boys out, LOL. what kind of problems were you having?

Update: as of now, I'm pretty much at a stand still on the front suspension until I get my brakes ordered, which should be within the next two weeks. so I'll direct my attention to the interior until then. I had started changing everything over from that aqua color to black before she went into hibernation. I bought new carpet for the doors, used the primer and paint for interior pieces and what not, started cleaning everything up, etc...... I'll post up some pics of the interior later on tonight of where its at right now.

67rstbkt · #8 05-05-2010, 01:24 PM

[QUOTE=68firebird;286005]It went pretty well for me, second side was easier because I used more drills and stepped up more gradually than the first side, other than a drill bit getting caught up here and there it went ok. I think it was more of a pain to cut the old holes off, plus that was the scary part, no turning back after you've cut those bad boys out, LOL. what kind of problems were you having?
QUOTE]

I guess I did not use a very good drill bit to make my pilot hole, because it slipped a little. I was able to get it going in correctly, it just took longer than I thought it would. I'm using Global west upper control arms, so I did not need to cut out the stock holes on mine...

68firebird · #9 05-06-2010, 06:02 AM

Last night I was able to hang the centerlink, tie rods and sleeves and the steering arms. NOW I have to wait to order brakes, definitely in a holding pattern on the front suspension until then.

I'll focus my attention on the interior for a bit until the brakes come in. 4 years ago this was pretty much how I left it, time to get back at it. I had swapped the aqua colored seats for black ones with some guy I work with. I think I'm gonna use the stock back seat, but use better seats for the front, recaros or something like that. I have been changing the whole interior over from that aqua color to black. all panels have been primed and painted with the GM interior paint, I had started putting the new carpet on the door panels.

68firebird · #10 05-06-2010, 06:28 PM

Well, I changed my mind with what brakes I'm going with. I was gonna get a complete kit, new spindles, single piston calipers, 11 inch rotors, etc..., but I've decided to go with LS1 brakes off a camaro. I figure it'll be easier to replace pads or rotors in the future this way, as well as it'll stop better with 2 piston calipers. I bought a used set of complete calipers tonight for a good price. so I guess you can say that its an official move at this point, LOL. can't get the pic bigger with it pixelating too much.

and this is the kit that I'll be buying to do the install.

So I've already blasted, primed and painted the drivers side spindle, I'll do the passengers side tomorrow, and I've looked into a machine shop to turn the hubs a bit so the LS1 rotors will fit over it.