1967 Firebird Convertible - Project "LEGACY"

[Firebird-Geek]

So on to the convertible floor braces... these were a bit of a PITA! the initial fitment showed that I would be using LOTS of screws to suck them up and get them to contour to the floor.

I used a Trans-Jack to hold the main brace into place so I could mark it off and drill out the holes so I could weld from inside the car. When plug welding, I like to weld to the THICK metal of the floor brace, rather then to the thin metal of the floor.




Epoxy primed the inside of the braces...


Using the Trans-Jack to hold brace in place to mark floor...


Used screws to SUCK the brace up to contour the floor... it actually turned out to look JUST like the original that I still had in the shop for reference.


Used the original floor to take some measurements... but also used some measurements off of the front firewall to make sure braces were squared up with the car.


Here you can see all the screws holding the floor in place... it has some welds already done.



NOTE: make sure you use either the original cross brace or whatever brace you will be using to make sure it will bolt up BEFORE you weld in the left/right rear brace. Here I am using Speedtech's Torque Arm brace to make sure everything is OK before I mark off the location for the left/right rear braces.


Marked off for the left brace... drilled holes to plug weld from the top.

[Firebird-Geek]

Not a fan of having to weld upside down... but was very pleased how my welds turned out where the left/right braces meet up with the main brace. I used LOTS of HEAT!



All finished... I will clean up the welds when I go over the entire floor before I epoxy coat it then truck bed line it.


It was quite amazing to see how much strength these braces put into the floor. (You could really tell when you would stand inside the car... there was NO give anymore.) I can not believe some of the photos out there where people leave these off during a restoration... they are a MAJOR structural piece for the convertibles.

[WSSix]

Looking good, Jarrod!

[zingercustoms]

Yeah, lots of hard work but looks great...doing it right. Love the birds...

[Firebird-Geek]

Originally Posted by zingercustoms

Yeah, lots of hard work but looks great...doing it right. Love the birds...

Love what you guys are doing with the 69 you are building... I am following the thread!

[Firebird-Geek]

Next up... Mini-tubs.

I know they say it usually takes about 40-50 hours to mini-tub a Camaro/Firebird... honestly, I probably have closer to 100 due to wanting to build in more strength into this area.

ISSUE: Convertibles put MUCH more stress into this area than coupes do. This is due to lack of having a roof, the convertibles use the rear seat brace to compensate (plus thicker rockers and extra bracing.) On the sides of the rear seat brace (where it attaches to the inner wheelhouse) there is actually a few layers of steel used here to build up the strength so as to reduce body flex.






Being that I will be running a WAY larger set of rear tires, cutting the frame down for the mini-tubs and adding MUCH more horsepower than the car had originally, I wanted to OVERBUILD this area to compensate. I know some people put in roll cages to handle some of the body flex, but I am building this with my family in mind, and didn't want to deal with the cage being in the way of using the rear seat. So my plan is to BEEF UP this area.
Stay tuned for the PLAN.

[Firebird-Geek]

Here is where I am starting...


I didn't take as great of pictures on the passenger side (where I started)... so you will see more when I show the drivers side installation.






Will be installing the DSE (Detroit Speed and Engineering) min-tubs...