1967 Firebird Convertible - Project "LEGACY" - Page 6 - Lateral-g Forums

Firebird-Geek · #51 08-16-2012, 05:02 PM

I know how important the floor is for structure for these unibody cars... so to get even a bit more penetrationinto the rails and rockers (which are WAY thicker than the floor) I would use a drill and slightly drill into them so as to get deeper penetration! Might be overkill, but makes me feel better.

Then I just turned up the HEAT!! welding them as hot as I could to get as flat of a plug weld as I could.

Firebird-Geek · #52 08-16-2012, 05:11 PM

BIG IMPROVEMENT!! nice NEW metal! With both the full trunk and full main floor, I now have a solid base. Still have to add the convertible bracing but that will be a bit later.

firebirddady69 · #53 08-16-2012, 06:28 PM

nice work

Steve68 · #54 08-17-2012, 06:38 AM

nice work, and shop,

Firebird-Geek · #55 10-08-2012, 05:16 PM

Well it has been a year and a half since I started this project. (But have owned the car for over 12 years). WOW, has it been a lesson learner! Before finding sites like this and doing HUNDREDS of hours of research and studying, I would have never imagined being this DEEP into a project. The information and knowledge on sites such as this one and others has given me the GUTS and confidence to bite off WAY more than I ever imagined!

When I first started visiting these sites and reading all the members AWESOME builds, the more I seen it was quite prevalent to give the cars/builds names. It does make it easier to recognize the thread/build and also shows how some of the cars have an EXTREME amount of heart and soul into their creation.

At first I didn't feel a need or want to give my project a name. But the more time I spend out in garage working on my car, planning, designing, and implementing... the more I wanted to personalize this journey.

I must admit, I totally underestimated the amount of dedication it takes to turn one of these 45 year old neglected beauties into something even BETTER than when it rolled out of GM's production plant back in 1967. To date, I have around 400 hours into the car and HUNDREDS more to go. I am doing all the work myself, and will only be outsourcing the paint, and upholstery. This allows me to spend a bit more on quality parts and build it "right" the first time. OCD would almost describe this project so far, for I have spend HOURS and HOURS going over even the smallest detail of my build. I truly am trying to build the best car my abilities and checkbook can produce!

Anyway, I know it means more when the project name means something to the owner. So after much thought... I would like to introduce: project LEGACY.

After what will amount to hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of work, planning and dreaming, I hope to build a car my whole family will enjoy for a LONG time! In-fact there is NO plans on ever selling this car. I hope to someday pass it along to my kids, whom may even pass it on to theirs to enjoy. It will not be just another 1967 Firebird convertible... but a reminder of all the blood, sweat and tears that went into its construction and vision!

Firebird-Geek · #56 10-09-2012, 03:48 PM

Progress has been a bit slow lately... "life" has gotten in the way. My wife has had some medical issues that needed to be priority #1, and a host of other things have popped up. When you build these cars by yourself, one MAJOR issues is that when you are not working on the car... NOBODY is working on the car.

Anyway, I have been working on completing the mini-tubbing on the car. I did a few modifications to build more strength into the rear of the car (since this is an issue with convertibles.) I will show more on this soon.

But I did get one of my major pieces recently... Thanks to Roger and the guys over at Speedtech I am the proud owner of one of their Torque Arm systems w/ complete 9" rear-end! The quality and craftsmanship of their components is amazing... only thing better is their customer service!

**geberhard** · #57 10-09-2012, 03:54 PM

Jarrod the torque arm looks pimp!!! Looking forward to see how it works out on the vert! Gui

captainofiron · #58 10-10-2012, 02:01 PM

amazing

Firebird-Geek · #59 05-10-2013, 04:57 PM

So on to the convertible floor braces... these were a bit of a PITA! the initial fitment showed that I would be using LOTS of screws to suck them up and get them to contour to the floor.

I used a Trans-Jack to hold the main brace into place so I could mark it off and drill out the holes so I could weld from inside the car. When plug welding, I like to weld to the THICK metal of the floor brace, rather then to the thin metal of the floor.

Epoxy primed the inside of the braces...

Using the Trans-Jack to hold brace in place to mark floor...

Used screws to SUCK the brace up to contour the floor... it actually turned out to look JUST like the original that I still had in the shop for reference.

Used the original floor to take some measurements... but also used some measurements off of the front firewall to make sure braces were squared up with the car.

Here you can see all the screws holding the floor in place... it has some welds already done.

NOTE: make sure you use either the original cross brace or whatever brace you will be using to make sure it will bolt up BEFORE you weld in the left/right rear brace. Here I am using Speedtech's Torque Arm brace to make sure everything is OK before I mark off the location for the left/right rear braces.

Marked off for the left brace... drilled holes to plug weld from the top.

Firebird-Geek · #60 05-10-2013, 05:00 PM

Not a fan of having to weld upside down... but was very pleased how my welds turned out where the left/right braces meet up with the main brace. I used LOTS of HEAT!

All finished... I will clean up the welds when I go over the entire floor before I epoxy coat it then truck bed line it.

It was quite amazing to see how much strength these braces put into the floor. (You could really tell when you would stand inside the car... there was NO give anymore.) I can not believe some of the photos out there where people leave these off during a restoration... they are a MAJOR structural piece for the convertibles.