1969 Firebird Project - SR71

[tones2SS]

Very nice Josh!

[Over Actor]

Hey Josh do you have any more good exterior pics? Im about to get pretty hot and heavy into my 69 bird and its been hard to find some good clean exterior shots of 69's to get some ideas from.
I like the t/a spoiler and extractors along with the 400 hood. great choice and very clean car!

[Josh69]

Originally Posted by Over Actor

Hey Josh do you have any more good exterior pics? Im about to get pretty hot and heavy into my 69 bird and its been hard to find some good clean exterior shots of 69's to get some ideas from.
I like the t/a spoiler and extractors along with the 400 hood. great choice and very clean car!

These last few pretty much complete what I have for exterior pics. If there is something specific you need to see for your project, just send me a PM and I'll try to take one for you. In case anyone is wondering, the hood pins are the billet ones from Hoodpins.net, one of the site sponsors. I've heard there are two versions of the Goodmark hood, a '67 style catch and a '69 style catch. I honestly don't know if that is a fact or not. What I found was that on my hood, the secondary catch prevented the primary catch from latching. I ground this down just far enough to allow it to work. The secondary catch still works, but I was unsure if it would hold at high speed in the event of a problem. So the pins were my fail safe...and I thought they fit my theme well.

[Over Actor]

Thanks josh. I like the lines of the classics but some of the modern twists, Your pics are clear in focus and of a great looking car. So if I want to make a new chin spoiler ect I can sketch them or photoshop them in and see what it looks like.

Matter of fact thanks to your car and your attention to detail and blacking out the front bumper ect my wife said she actually likes hat. Shes been hounding me to make my bird a camaro lol. thanks again

[Josh69]

Cool, I'm glad you like the painted nose. I've had a few '69 Camaro's and while I still love them, I felt the Firebird could compete if it was done right. I see too many mediocre Firebirds at the car shows and it bothered me enough to do something about it. At first my friends thought the T/A rear spoiler was too much, but once I got the nose on there it balanced it out nicely.

I have an aluminum splitter for the front spoiler as well, just haven't decided if it's the right look for the car. I was planning on using some Nascar style spoiler supports from the lower valance to the splitter.

The front spoiler is a Camaro part and I used the Camaro mounting kit and support rods behind it. The only thing I had to do was Dremel out a couple of notches in the top of the plastic to clear a couple of small humps in the bottom of the valance. It even used some of the existing holes, most notably the center hole which was nice for lining it up. I've gotten quite a few compliments on the front spoiler from other bird owners. If you didn't know better, it looks factory.

[Over Actor]

Its well rounded. The front spoiler and the t/a spoiler even in out. The 69's unlike the previous 2 years just look like they are lacking in the front. Your lip levels it out perfect. The factory nose hangs out alittle too far pastthe chin so to say.

I havent decided a solid direction in my build I like to road course race and drag race a bit. I have a grand national drivetrain Im thinking about dropping in. who knows. Might drop in a motor I scored from a 69 judge.

Thanks again for answering my question and for the pics.

[Ron Fox]

The front spoiler looks nice Josh. I will probably add one to my '69. Is it flat black?

[Josh69]

Originally Posted by Ron Fox

The front spoiler looks nice Josh. I will probably add one to my '69. Is it flat black?

It the natural plastic finish, made from ABS plastic I think. It's stiff enough to hold it's shape, but I think it would deflect enough on a slight impact to keep from shattering. They make carbon fiber versions as well, but alot more coin. I think this part from OER is like $40.

[Josh69]

Originally Posted by Over Actor

Its well rounded. The front spoiler and the t/a spoiler even in out. The 69's unlike the previous 2 years just look like they are lacking in the front. Your lip levels it out perfect. The factory nose hangs out alittle too far pastthe chin so to say.

I havent decided a solid direction in my build I like to road course race and drag race a bit. I have a grand national drivetrain Im thinking about dropping in. who knows. Might drop in a motor I scored from a 69 judge.

Thanks again for answering my question and for the pics.

Thanks, and you are welcome. I also think the spoiler plays a big role in keeping the front from looking too expansive. It visually stops the eye at a point ahead of the wheels, essentially shortening the nose. Otherwise, it's a long, long beak hanging out there which contributes to an oddball look when combined with the chrome bumper.

I had the splitter fabbed up to help take some visual weight off the back, but now that it's pretty much done, I like it as is. If the day came and I still have the car, I would minitub it and put some black powdercoated Fiske FM10's on there and then do the splitter. I think that would give it a meaner, more track oriented look.

Sounds like you have a tough decision on the motor. They did put the 3.8T in the T/A Anniversary cars, and Pontiac has offered other Turbo's in the 2nd Gens. I think you could get away with it from that point of view. Any early GTO motor is a good starting point too. I'll be watching your build!

[68400BIRD]

Just finished reading the entire post. Lots of time and thought were put into this car. Now I just need to steal a few ideas. Great looking car.