Home built 67 Firebird

[n77nxc]

Great looking wheel! Looking forward to pics with the tires mounted.

[Empty1]

I enjoyed reading through your journey as I identified with several aspects. For one, after many years of "thinking about" restoring, I'm finally at a point where I can dedicate time and resources towards it. In addition, I also live in Vancouver, Washington and can certainly appreciate your comments about escaping the rain for drier and warmer climates.
The welding was also impressive as you hadn't had any previous experience, but jumped in with the realization that this would save money in the long run. I'd like to think I could take the same approach, maybe even rent the equipment.
I in the process of locating an early 70's 2nd generation firebird to restore and hope I have half as much success as you had with your '67.

[WSSix]

Welcome to the website, Empty. Be sure to make a post in the into section telling us about yourself.

Car looks great, Tu. I really like your wheel choice. Good luck with it.

[rickpaw]

Originally Posted by Empty1

I enjoyed reading through your journey as I identified with several aspects. For one, after many years of "thinking about" restoring, I'm finally at a point where I can dedicate time and resources towards it. In addition, I also live in Vancouver, Washington and can certainly appreciate your comments about escaping the rain for drier and warmer climates.
The welding was also impressive as you hadn't had any previous experience, but jumped in with the realization that this would save money in the long run. I'd like to think I could take the same approach, maybe even rent the equipment.
I in the process of locating an early 70's 2nd generation firebird to restore and hope I have half as much success as you had with your '67.

Thanks for you kind words.

Originally Posted by WSSix

Welcome to the website, Empty. Be sure to make a post in the into section telling us about yourself.

Car looks great, Tu. I really like your wheel choice. Good luck with it.

Thanks. Dropped the wheels off at Discount Tires and they mounted a short valve stem to check caliper clearance, as the valve stem is located behind the spokes. I ended up ordering flush mount valve stems, as the regular stems won't clear the calipers.

Anyone here has any experience with flush mount valve stem?

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by rickpaw

Thanks for you kind words.



Thanks. Dropped the wheels off at Discount Tires and they mounted a short valve stem to check caliper clearance, as the valve stem is located behind the spokes. I ended up ordering flush mount valve stems, as the regular stems won't clear the calipers.

Anyone here has any experience with flush mount valve stem?

I found out the hard way with my old 66 Cutlass. Maiden voyage had 2 flat tires in a block of driving. Luckily no damage and short stems fixed mine. I have never used the flush mounts but they look like a PITA.

[rickpaw]

My wheels saga continues. After 2 hrs at Discount Tire yesterday waiting for them to mount/balance tires (promised 1 hr wait), they called me into the shop and said the tire mounting machine put a couple of scuff marks on the rim of one of the wheels. They offered to have it refinish or send it back to Budnik but it will take at least a week. They ended up refunded the cost of one tire in lieu of refinishing the wheel.

Got the wheels mounted on the car, and this morning 2 of the tires were flat. Aired them up to 32 psi, and 2 hrs later they were down to 15 psi. Back to DT again. Suck part is I'm out of town to Austin for most of the week, so it won't get taken care off until I get back.

[geberhard]

Tu, figured out what the leak was? Flush valve steams? Looking forward to the pics of the new shoes on the bird.

[heyhiitsmevlad]

good luck with the valve stem issue man. Enjoyed reading about your build, i like it, its clean.

[rickpaw]

Well, my saga with the wheels/tires came to an end. Got the wheels/tires back from DT. They dunked the wheels in water to test for leaks, not sure how clean the water was but the wheels were covered in water spots/stains. I spent about 1 hr trying to clean the stains off the 2 wheels while trying not to mess up the brushed finish. Got most of it off, but some are stained on and visible. Called up DT and gave the manager an earful, he blamed Budnik. I called him out for being careless.

I coated the wheels with opti-coat. Probably just have them refinished down the road.

Some pics





Next up, brake upgrade. C6 Z51 brakes enroute from Tobin @ Kore3.

[n77nxc]

Dude! Those look great! What backspacing did you go with? Also, what tire sizes are your running. Car looks awesome....