1971 Firebird Build ("The Other Woman", a.k.a. Project "T.O.W.")

[qnitro]

Awesome Video, I think I was actually on that road before.. I flew into Dallas to pic up a 911 Carerra S from Park Place Porsche‎.. and were on that road..

Originally Posted by carbuff

So before I write up the details, I'll give you all what you want.



That was Eric driving and me in the passenger seat. It's hard to hold a cell phone steady I discovered while riding...

Now for the details. First, for Dave and Rob, you'll be happy to know that we replaced the factory parking brake cable setup with a Lokar setup. So that big C-clip that was hanging under the torque arm is gone. One less thing for me to catch on a speed bump.

While I was out of town last weekend, and then sick with a cold/allergies last week, Eric wrapped up most of the little things we had left to do (including the shaker filter above), the brake cable kit, installing the replacement hood struts, adjusting the ride height / suspension alignment, replaced the thermostat (that may not have been necessary in hindsight, but we know it's ok now), re-installing the DSE wiper kit, charging the AC, and the other small things on our punch list.

So yesterday I went to the shop, armed with a new ECU setup after a bunch of research, and we set to work. We put the new air cleaner on, adjusted the ride height one more time with me sitting in the car, and did another bolt-check. So we fired it up and backed it out of the garage with my laptop connected, and started looking at the gauges. The first thing we noticed is that it had a lean stumble when I hit the throttle. I did some adjusting in the acceleration enrichment tables, and that made it much better. Then we started adjusting the idle, as it was hunting quite a bit. We opened up the throttle blades a bit, richened up the mixture, and again, big improvement. We did a few more tweaks, and finally decided it was ready to drive.

Eric locked up the shop, and off we went. I'm definitely still getting used to it, but there is a lot of power available underfoot. I'm certain that I never had it fully WOT, but we both got on it a bit. The clutch is very touchy, but I'm getting better with it. The steering is TIGHT! And the ride feels great so far. We drove on and off the highway, so we were up to speed, and some speeding up and slowing down, and everything seems good so far.

After I drove for a while, I pulled over and told Eric to drive it back. He can't just work on it, he deserves some of the fun too. I think he liked it. When we got back, he got out and his hands were shaking. I take that as a sign of approval.

We're mostly done with the car at this point. The one big task remaining is to build a front spoiler, which Eric is working on now. I need to order a set of harnesses for the inside, which will be on the way this week. We should probably finish up our list soon, so I expect to bring her home and start driving her more. Just in time for the Texas summer... At least the AC seems to work pretty well!

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by qnitro

Awesome Video, I think I was actually on that road before.. I flew into Dallas to pic up a 911 Carerra S from Park Place Porsche‎.. and were on that road..

Actually, that was shot here in Austin. Highway 183 feeder road, just in case that's what you were thinking...

[carbuff]

Eric sent me a pretty cool shot of her last night outside of his shop. It's a little dark, but you can see the front spoiler which he built.



Here are a few more before it was painted. I was a little worried about how it was going to look in the silver, but it turned out great!





And the big belly pan he made which attaches to the subframe crossmember and the spoiler:



I'll get more pictures this weekend showing it painted.

[FETorino]

Originally Posted by carbuff

Eric sent me a pretty cool shot of her last night outside of his shop. It's a little dark, but you can see the front spoiler which he built.



.

Love that 2nd gen early TA body style. If you could just pick a BBQ spot.

[68LS1]

Originally Posted by FETorino

Love that 2nd gen early TA body style. If you could just pick a BBQ spot.

Looking good Bryan

Did I hear something about a BBQ in Austin

Salt Lick was quite good, but they struggled to keep up with drinks for the 320 Aussies there

[Rick D]

Originally Posted by carbuff

Eric sent me a pretty cool shot of her last night outside of his shop. It's a little dark, but you can see the front spoiler which he built.

That's the money shot right there! this turned out fantastic Bryan! Great job to you and Eric!

[Flash68]

Ok I will quit with the 315 comments (Rob will continue anyway) because that spoiler and bellypan look KILLER. Those are great finishing touches.

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by Flash68

Ok I will quit with the 315 comments

(Rob will continue anyway)

Those are great finishing touches.

I agree! This was design two, the first one didn't work out as well as we hoped, but I'm happy with this! At some point, assuming that I do enough events to warrant it, we have plans to add an actual splitter, and possibly some canards on the sides. As it is though, I'm worried about how long it will take to scrap this one up. I want to drive to work, and my office is in a hilly area with simply no good way to get in. I told Eric that I hope he made a template for this thing...

[gerno]

Looking good. If you aren't having issues getting out of the driveway at Eric's shop then I think you should be ok in 90% of Austin. I haven't run into any huge issues with my car but did have to raise mine a little for more suspension travel. Mines lower but then again it has no front spoiler yet.

Have you scheduled your first tack day yet? It's only 102 this week, perfect time to test out the cooling system....