Project Tomahawk: 1967 Pontiac Firebird 400 - Page 4 - Lateral-g Forums

atomicjoe23 · #31 06-12-2007, 11:23 AM

Interior Changes:

Decided to go with Classic Instrument gages vs. Autometer. . .either the All American series or the Silver series. I've also decided to use Ferrari F430 round air vents vs. the stock round Pontiac units. . .now I just have to find a Ferrari F430 in an exotic car salvage yard that some unfortunate soul crashed!!!

atomicjoe23 · #32 10-31-2007, 04:05 PM

Been gone a long time now. . .been busy moving into a new house and getting a new job. . .and all the extraneous stuff that comes with that. . .so I haven't had a whole lot of spare time lately. . .plus I'm currently away from home in Washington state for work (at least the weather has been nice so far!!!)

Decided to do a quick update though. . .decided to change the colors (I'm sticking with the same design but different colors I think). . .I'm gonna go with the main body color being the color of the Lamborghini Reventon and the stripe/graphic color probably being a dark bronze color. . .the wheels may end up being either body color or the bronze graphic color. . .I'll have to see how it ends up looking with those colors though.

Later,

JohnC · #33 12-12-2008, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atomicjoe23

I've also finally decided on two exterior components that were giving me a lot of problems. . .the exterior mirrors and the door handles. Initially I was going to have the door handles shaved, but I found out that most tracks won't allow you to run with door poppers because of latching issues. . .so I decided I would go with some flush mounted door handles from a modern vehicle but I was having trouble finding some that I liked. . .I know a lot of people use the C5 Vette's but I don't like how they look on a muscle car. . .the round lines just aren't right. . .so I've decided to go with the C6 Vette handles. . .I will probably have to get some donor doors from a salvage yard and cut the whole area out and graft them onto the Tomahawk's doors (same for the striker and probably the whole area on the C6's B-pillar as well) to get them to work, but I like the C6 handles more than anything else I've looked at.

I'm right there with you on the idea, but have you looked into how they work? They are an electric membrane switch connected to the computer and transmitter sensor. Sounds very complicated, but I'm all ears on how you plan to work it out....I'm still brainstorming on it.

arrowem · #34 12-23-2008, 10:31 AM

Hi, I got a quick question. How hard is it to get the 69 Camaro lower valance (the one with lights) on to a first gen bird?
Thanks, Jason

atomicjoe23 · #35 02-28-2009, 01:03 AM

Arrowmen. . .I don't know yet. . .

All. . .sorry about the lack of updates. . .just wanted to say that plans are still in place to do all the work to this car, but the time line has changed. . .a divorce and a relocation have put things back quite a bit, but on the plus side these changes have also led to a change of careers and I have decided to give up work for a while and am in my 3rd quarter of welding school. . .I would say that now 99%-100% of the work will be done completely by myself. . .cutting down on expensive labor costs. . .there is one more potential move in December of this year and after that work should start on the car in the spring of '10. . .I will update as soon as I can. . .relocation has kept me from being able to work on the car, but I have not forgotten or given up on it!!! and am even more prepared now with my new welding and technical design (AutoCAD, SolidEdge, SolidWorks) education to make things happen and do this for a living!!!

atomicjoe23 · #36 01-29-2010, 01:45 AM

OK. . .I'm still around. . .I still have the 'Bird. . .and I still plan to follow through on the plans. . .

I just finished my Welding ATA and I'm finishing my Technical Design ATA this summer. . .I think I finally found another job (and as a machinist. . YEAH!!!) so I will be able to move the Firebird to my location (where we should have a nice, new heated garage waiting for it) and be able to finally start work on it. . .

. . .I'm hoping to start on it by this fall.

70rs · #37 01-29-2010, 02:00 AM

Wow, it had been a while. A LONG while. Glad to hear you are getting back on track again.

atomicjoe23 · #38 01-29-2010, 03:25 AM

Yeah. . .tell me about it. . .

between a divorce, leaving a job, going back to school, and now trying to find work in the current economy I'm just glad I still have the bird. . .

. . .but I'm much better equipped to work on it now than I was before. I have completed an ATA in Wedling Technology (MIG, TIG, stick, OFW, plasma cutting, etc.) and am about to complete an ATA in Technical Design (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, SolidEdge, Mechanical Drafting, etc.). . .plus I've managed to pick up a new Millermatic 211 MIG machine. . .plus I designed/built a single seat, tube frame, off-road race buggy with dual, uneqaul length front A-arm and semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension (17" travel front/15.5" travel rear) in the mean time as part of an extra curricular school activity. . .also know how to run a lathe & mill now too!

Things are on the upswing after a bit of a low spot! and I still have my 'Bird (managed to aquire a '49 Jeep Willy's too while I was at it. . .if you wanna see the build thread just email or PM and I'll send you the thread link. . .)

Can't wait to work on the 'Bird. . .it's gonna be a long, involved process cause I'm not gonna cut any corners on this build!

Chicken Louie · #39 01-29-2010, 11:13 PM

I found the thread and love the renderings!

atomicjoe23 · #40 05-24-2012, 11:59 PM

OK. . .this has been a long time coming, but my Firebird is now in my garage. . .the garage at the house where I actually live.

I have another project ('49 Jeep Willy's pickup truck) that I have to finish before I can start on the Firebird, but at least the car is at the same place as me instead of 1200+ miles away!