1971 Firebird build thread

[ccm399]

So I picked this bad bot up today....



Oh yeah!!!!!!

I also found this on craigslist:




It's in great shape except one flaw:



It had been stored standing on end so the endura plastic (rubber?) cracked from the weight. Shouldn't be too tough to fix (I hope). For $150 I thought it was worth a gamble.

Chris

[aronhk_md]

Chris,

I believe they just started making the whole rear sheetmetal replacement. I know they now have the rear curved bottom pan...called the Valence. Check on the performanceyears.com tech board....under 70-73 birds. Also, make sure thats not a 73 nose, as they are different mounts. Theres info on that same forum about that as well. Truthfully if you are going the pro-touring route you might want to consider the fiberglass nose. Takes a bit of prep, but drops weight................and really the nice thing is the long term durability of the paint.

The stock endura noses are a PAIN. Even properly prepped professionally, the nose on my #'s matching 72 trans am cracked from the temp in the garage changing from 40 degrees in the daytime to below freezing at night, and I'm not the only one who has had that happen.

[NOT A TA]

The grills are 73 and if they fit that bumper correctly then the bumpers a 73. It can be used but there aren't any repro grills or chrome bezels available yet that I know of. The most noticable difference appearance wise is that the nose sticks out farther. I believe they changed it for 73 to meet new impact regulations. You can see the difference in the pic below of the white 73 and my 70 behind.

[aronhk_md]

The mounting brackets are completely different on the 73.....it wont bolt up to an earlier one.....there are threads on this over at PY.

[ccm399]

Thanks for the info guys (been a while since I could get online). I have not had time to look into what year nose it is for sure. I am sure the grills are 73's for sure based on the larger grid spacing. As for the nose I am not sure the "fit"....the shape of the grill does not really match up to the opening in the grill.

Thanks for the advice on the fiberglass. I was told that going that route was worse because the fiberglass noses are thin and crack prone. By prep work are you meaning adding material to the fiberglass to increase the thickness/strength? I might just go that route after all....those anvil carbon fiber noses sure are cool..... I guess I was hoping modern painting techniques could overcome the endura nose issues. Guess not though.

I will probably end up repairing the crack on selling it off to help offset the costs of a new nose.

[Ron Fox]

Chris, Classic Industries carries many of the 70's Firebird parts. Look at Year One also.

Thanks for the pics. It's cool to see a Bird in progress.

[Ron Fox]

Nice Bird John

[ccm399]

Originally Posted by Ron Fox

Chris, Classic Industries carries many of the 70's Firebird parts. Look at Year One also.

Thanks for the pics. It's cool to see a Bird in progress.

Thanks Ron....I wish I could spend more time on her! Slow and steady though I guess.

I have the classic industries Firebird catalog on my Laptop! I have looked at year one too. Classic seems to have the best parts coverage of the companies I have found so far. I'm going to go checkout Performance Years right now!

Chris

[ccm399]

Originally Posted by NOT A TA

The grills are 73 and if they fit that bumper correctly then the bumpers a 73. It can be used but there aren't any repro grills or chrome bezels available yet that I know of. The most noticable difference appearance wise is that the nose sticks out farther. I believe they changed it for 73 to meet new impact regulations. You can see the difference in the pic below of the white 73 and my 70 behind.

Thank you so much for posting that picture! I have been searching high and low to see the exact difference between the 70-72 and the 73, but all I could find was straight on shots. The pic you posted helped a ton.

So as you you mentioned the grills are for sure 1973 inserts....in a 70-72 nose. They are in there angled and the guy made some "custom" mounts for them.

So now I have to decide if I want to repair this nose and keep it (and risk paint issues). Or repair the damage and try to recover my costs or just try to sell it and recover my cost without repairing it.

Which of course brings up the next issue....VFN or Anvil? The anvil is big $$$ but REALLY nice (they had one in the booth at GG Columbus). I always liked the VFN doors and front clip I had on my race car but I would guess I will need to add some material to the nose to make it strong enough for street use.

Chris

[OLDFLM]

You already know what gets my vote my friend! Not only does Anvils stuff look incredible IT FITS!!! Fit and finish are amazing! FWIW We didn't even clear my tail panel... just put it on the car it was so nice right out of the box!