1969 Firebird Project - SR71

[Josh69]

The easy choice for the transmission was a Tremec TKO600. I went with a .64 OD. Hindsight being 20/20, I would either have chosen some 4:11's or a .82 OD to make 5th gear more useful at 55mph. I think if the car ever gets EFI, that would help when cruising under 2K. A double pumper probably wasn't the wisest choice for economy. I suppose doing 55mph in this thing wasn't the main idea and once I get a wideband O2 in there, my tune should improve as well.

I got the entire kit from Keisler since my car was an automatic. What nobody knew, is that the pedal set the catalogs sell only fits a Camaro pedal bracket...the part under the steering column. I had to pull the Firebird bracket out and weld on some tubing to get the correct width for the pedal bushings to ride in. Ah...the joys of a Firebird restoration.

I don't have too many pics of the transmission, so here are some of my buddy Sean and I getting it ready for lift off and into the patiently awaiting engine bay.

[Josh69]

The electrical portion was what I feared most. And that may explain why I am still using the original fuse block and interior harness, as well as the front light harness. A SPO's attempt at a one wire alternator and jimmy rigged wipers left the original engine harness in a pretty serious mess. Exacerbated by the awfully dreadful OEM buss fuse connection for distributing power...I had no choice but to dive in. Out came the manuals and wiring diagrams. I was installing an MSD ignition and an HEI distributor so a few more changes were in order. I ended up using a Jeg's distribution block with all new fusible links and tossing the majority of the stock harness. I installed a trunk mounted battery along with a remote solenoid since the headers made accessing the starter impossible and I wanted to use my bump starter for initially setting the valve lash. Someday if I still have the car and am feeling the need for self induced torture, I may convert the whole car to the new Isis multiplex system, that seems nifty...albeit confusing. But what the heck, I built a car in my garage...what could be worse?

I also chose to run a set of Spaghetti Engineering's Digitails. Man are they cool...I've got them set on sequential, it freaks people out. I mostly wanted the minivans to not rearend me on my way to the office. I shuddered at the thought of using 40 year old incandescent bulbs and engineering in today's traffic...especially at Sun up and Sun down. There is a LOT of wires for those babies though, and most of it is still in the trunk....

[Josh69]

Interior

For the interior, I decided to keep the original Parchment color as a tribute to the original. It went against my original design for the car, but in my mind's eye, I knew it would be incredible once finished. I had Arizen Racing stitch up the front buckets in OEM vinyl but chose the stitching from a 2002 T/A...since they had the right pleating for the look I was going after. Along with the fronts, Arizen made a rear seat cover to match using my original vinyl as a pattern since my car had a fold down rear seat, which differed from the Camaro's. With the new seats, the original standard interior door panels would not suffice, especially since their pattern was much different than the seats. I chose to convert the car to the Deluxe interior for the more modern formed door panels. That also meant all new door mechanisms. It was worth it, they work perfectly with the seats.

When the seats arrived, HOLY DISCO BATMAN! I didn't realize how pearlescent they would be. But they are quite stunning and with the rest of the interior in, I wouldn't trade them for anything. They seem to attract quite the crowd.

I also put down 3-4 layers of Raammat throughout (like dynomat, but without the molestation). Scraping the original liner off the roof is no fun, no fun at all. But I wanted the car to be cool and quiet so it was worth it. Also, my dear friend Sean to whom I owe much gratitude for his assistance is an audiophile. His ambition and my wallet are not on speaking terms...but in the near term the sound deadening was a necessity.

[Josh69]

The headliner wasn't fun, but I employed a trick I read about on the internet and stretched it in place and clipped it all the way around with some of those black binder style paper clips I repurposed from my office...ssshhhh. I simply removed some, spread the glue, clipped them back on and so on around the perimeter until it dried. Returned the clips to work, nobody was the wiser.

I employed all new weatherstripping throughout, and I must disclose that I'd rather rot in prison than try to align the door windows again...and I may very well be on my way there if the secretary notices the glue on her paper clips.

I chose a Budnik GTO steering wheel for obvious reason. If they aren't obvious, please go back to a Camaro thread before the 'others' find you out. In case you haven't noticed, the answer is yes, I've begun drinking....since it's Friday night and my nieces are playing hungry hungry hippo and I do believe they intend to harm me.

For safety's sake, I picked up a pair of Corbeau's new 3 point retractable harnesses. I couldn't have harness slots in my seats and not use them. It has rendered my backseat a tight fit...but since I'm married, why not. The fold down seat still works and the harnesses easily unclip behind the front seats to allow stowing things, or small passengers if necessary. That leaves the front passengers with lap belts only, but hey, if it was good enough for 1969, it should be good enough for the cops.

[70rs]

Very cool car. And story too. I got to read about your whole build and laugh too. Thanks for posting. Watch out for the hippos.....
(and you are right, ambition and wallets do not make good friends too often lol!!)

[Josh69]

I'm glad you are enjoying it and I hope the other members are too. I've always felt that my ambition was only ever matched by my lack of funds. Until tomorrow.....

[Ron Fox]

Nice project Josh. I am glad to see another '69 Bird in the House.

I am curious on why you did not install the mini tubes.

Did your TKO600 fit right in or did you have to modify anything?

Thanks.

[Josh69]

Ron, in hindsight I wish I would have done the minitubs to start with. I initially was just planning to finish the bodywork and do a quick paintjob and interior, and drive it. So the first thing we did was the outer wheelhouses and the quarters. It wasn't until about 6 months into the bodywork phaze that I decided to go this route. I wish I had done it at the time, but I was trying to be budget concious, at least initially. Also, for some reason I was convinced that an 18x10 was good enough. In person they look great, but in pics they do tend to look a bit skinny. Especially after seeing all the tubbed cars online. However, in person alot of people think it is tubbed due to the dish on the rims. Standing over it gives a much different perspective than the low wide angle camera shots do.

Another thing I considered is that I want to learn to weld myself someday, and figured that would be a good place to start with assistance of course. Maybe by then my budget would allow a 4-link as well.

The TKO went right in. The crossmember worked perfectly and that was my only real concern, I'm not sure if it's a Firebird specific part or not, but everything lined up well using Kieslers Firebird kit. I found a nice original bellhousing and used that since the dial-out was ideal and with my attempt at budget awareness, I couldn't justify a blow-proof bellhousing with the hp level and intended usage. The pedals will be an issue if you are converting an automatic as I mentioned earlier. I would recommend finding a used set from someplace like Frank's Pontiac Parts. If you already have pedals you are in good shape.

Since I was also using a Chevrolet style 12 bolt and pinion yoke, I measured for the driveshaft after the install rather than having them ship me the standard Camaro shaft. I was the first customer to do that, so we weren't sure how close it would be. It turns out the Camaro shaft will work just fine. The measurement is the same.

[Josh69]

Here are some pics of the completed car taken in my driveway this fall. I drove it work several times a week during the summer and I couldn't be happier with it's performance. It tracks straight, handles like it's on rails and is surprisingly compliant over bumps. I expected a much firmer ride. It's still firm, but I would categorize it more like an RX-7 R1, rather than a grain truck. It's alot better than my wife's lifted Rubicon was.

I'm averaging around 10mpg on E85 even with OD. That's not too bad though considering they say one uses about 25-30% more fuel by volume due to gasolines higher efficiency. It's also hard to not punch it whenever possible! I chose to run it since it's 105 octane and is readily available and cheap here in MN. As I said earlier, a good wideband O2 would help with the tune. I haven't dyno'd it yet either because I wanted to get it closer before spending my time and money there. Edelbrock is coming out with some new D port aluminum heads that would allow me to use my existing headers this winter. If I chose to go that route, my SCR would be low enough to run pump gas and would enable a conversion to EFI. FAST's new EZ EFI would be perfect. I already have a nice throttle cable bracket and lokar adj thottle cable, etc. Their system would let me re-use all of that and my air cleaner, etc. If I don't sell the car, I'll likely consider that when I can afford it. E85 is a good psyche out fuel though...when I idle through a cruise in, everyone assumes it's race gas. It has a unique smell to it so I field alot of questions on that subject.

[DOOM]

Josh........... !!!!!!!!! Beautiful man