1971 Firebird build thread

[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!

[ccm399]

I don't doubt that! The stuff they had on display at the Columbus GG show was simply amazing. I think you might be a little biased though....

Chris

[aronhk_md]

Here's a build to get you drooling......its over on PT.

http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70621

[ccm399]

Originally Posted by aronhk_md

Here's a build to get you drooling......its over on PT.

http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70621

Good stuff...

I have been keeping an eye on that one, glad to see he has been updating it again! I would love to actually have time to work on mine.... Hopefully I can bulk up the funds while I am buried at work so when I do have time to work on it I can actually afford too.

Chris

[ccm399]

So I scored a Torque Tube out of an '09 vette off eBay I am going to pick it up Friday. Now all I need to find is a differential and I'll be able to start drawing the chassis!

Speaking of a Corvette rear end....do any of you guys happen to know the dimension from the mounting flange to the center of the rear axles? How about how far below the input centerline the rear axles are? Those dimensions would be most helpful!

I'll post up some pics when I get it all home.

I am currently trying to decide if I should invest in a new Compressor or continue to buy parts for the chassis/driveline. Right now I cannot do both. My though is if I get the compressor I can get that purchase out of the way early in the project then just go full steam ahead after that. I am looking at the Ingersol Rand SS5L5. The reviews all seem really good and it is probably all the compressor I will ever need. It is only single stage though... but 18.1 CFM @90 PSI is really good. Oh, it would be about $850 out the door. The 80 gallon 5 HP 2-Stage would be like $1075 out the door and it has slightly less CFM output that the other compressor.

What do you guys think?

Chris

[aronhk_md]

Chris....whichever way you go I often see great deals on compressors on craigslist. Good 2 stage units in the $500-750 range. You can tell if a compressor has been cared for.

[ccm399]

Originally Posted by aronhk_md

Chris....whichever way you go I often see great deals on compressors on craigslist. Good 2 stage units in the $500-750 range. You can tell if a compressor has been cared for.

Yeah that is a great point. We kind of started out that way and one thing lead to another and the next thing you know were are looking at spending $850 on a new compressor. For instance there is a used 5HP 60 GAL Speedaire compressor on CL for $600, the thing looks BRAND NEW so I was like well $600 is a little higher than I would like to spend but it seems like a great deal. So then we found the IR compressor at TSC for $799 that puts out 2 more CFM @ 90psi. So then we were like well for $200 more we get 2 more CFM and a new machine. So the snow ball is rolling at full force!

Thanks for the advice.

Chris