Firebird
Projects
Lot#2
This section is a place for individuals to showcase their projects. Be it
converting a regular
car to full race trim, a restoration, or a restification you'll find
them all here.
If you have a project in process you'd like to have
featured here goto the GALLERY
FAQ
for details on how to do it.
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This '75 Firebird is owned by Cole Borman. Cole writes: "The 75 is totally original with the 250 ci straight six with 100 hp. It has very little rust and needs a nose and valance. I am in the process of restoring the interior then comes the motor and trans. I saw an ad in the local car finder called The Carolina Trader that said 75 Firebird 250 6 cyl need trans work $300 OBO. I went and looked at it and saw that it would be a good original builder. It had a set of Corvette Rally rims on it and she wanted $200 for the car and $100 for the rims. My dad has a 70 Vette Roadster Convertible so he wanted them. Did I mention that I am only 13. I am almost 14, my birthday is on the 31st of this month. I have bought several parts for the interior and it is turning out nicely. I plan on doing all the interior work myself. Anyways so my dad gave the woman $300 and we put it on the trailer. Her dad bought the car new and then he gave it to her. So I have all the owner manuals and paper work. Then I had to give my dad the $200 so it would be mine. I am also getting a '73 Trans Am that we traded an old rustey van for. It is all original except for the front clip which is a 75 trans am clip. Anyways here are the three pics of the 75 and I have about 30 so if you want any more let me know. I love your web page." Thanks, Cole Recently Cole sent me this update along with the new pic (first in the series): "Hey this is Cole Borman. I own one of the '75 firebirds in the projects lot. I know Brian that has the other rougher '75 firebird in the lot thats about the same as mine 'cept he's got the V8. I gotta give him credit, that thing was a mess. Anywho, I'm almost 16, long time since I first found yer site, and I just really started workin' on the firebird. I been planning for a while but I'm jumpin' in now. I couldn't find a good nose, valance and bumper for it. I really wanted a '70 - '73 so I got a front end off a '76 firebird. Its fine with me, i.e. CHEAP, $50 for the whole thing. Anywho other than that I've been collecting parts and stuff. And doing body work. Put a new drivers front fender on it. I am all for factory restos and all that but, I just can't live with the 250 six... I gotta have something that has the sound of a V8. Not sure what kinda engine I am goin to go for, what ever is the biggest and the cheapest I guess. I'll prob make it look like it is original, like a 455 or a 400 or something. If I can get a SBC cheap I may go with one of those, that way I won't have to change the trans but I really want a big poncho. I'll prob get either a Formula hood or a T/A, I know I want the fender flares and stuff off a T/A. I am going to keep the original engine and hood and all that just in case. With having a '61 T-Bird for a daily driver and a '53 and '54 Chevy and a '66 Galaxie and two ratty '31 fords I am spread a little thin! Well here is an already out of date pic of the firebird (first in the series). It is really starting to look like a car! I'll shoot some better pics by the end of the week." |
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This '79 Trans Am was rescued by Jamie
Swimm and is currently undergoing a restoration. Jamie writes: "Here are a few pictures of my '79 Special Edition T/A. I traded a rusted out '71 Firebird Esprit and $500 cash for this car. It was, at one time, in a bad flood and then left to dry in the sun. All of the interior will have to be replaced with the exception of some small trim pieces. Someone had also tried to repaint it with some very bad paint as it has cracked and checked everywhere. This car is being rebuilt on an EXTREME budget, so if anyone has any donor parts or very cheap parts, I would be truly grateful. I will send you more pictures as it progresses. Pictures #1 & #2 are of what it looked like the first day i saw the car (not shown). The rest are of what I have torn it down to so far this past weekend. If you look real close in #2, you can see the gold steering wheel. Also, the ring around the fuel gauge is missing and under it was the original gold plating. The shifter button is also gold as well as the window crank hole insert emblems. I have also found remnants of the original gold stripes. Right now, the only things that have been done since the pics is the removal of the sub-frame and rear axle and gas tank everything that can be unbolted has been taken off. I have started on some body work, but it is slow going.. I will keep you posted as things progress. You have an OUTSTANDING web site. It was one of the first I had found when I started looking for info on these cars. My first firebird was a '71 esprit that I hauled all the way from South Carolina but it was too rusty to do much with. It had excellent interior parts, so I ended up trading it to the guy I got my '79 SE from." |
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Ryan Henry rescued this Firebird from a
sure trip to the junkyard and is slowly putting it back on the road. Ryan writes: "Attached are pictures of my pride and joy. Although she may not look like much it is my first car and I will have it forever. I bought the '68 bird when I was 16 with hard earned paper route money. It came with a pretty beat 350 (pontiac of course) with a two barrel. Originally a powerglide car someone had swapped in a TH400 two years before I bought it. At 16 I had only 1 engine rebuild under my belt, and that was a 2.0 ford out of a pinto in autoshop! I built the motor on earnings from paper routes and small jobs. I live in California so it had to pass smog and I was building it on a budget. The block went thru all the machine work, including bore to .030, align hone, decking etc. The stock crank was ground .010 under and the heads were decked and had hardned valve seats installed. The stock rods were reconditioned with new hardware and then attached to new cast pistons with moly rings (I was on a budget, remember). A Comp Cams 268 cam with .454 lift bumps the valves thru Erson lifters, stock push rods and Crane lifters. On top an Edelbrock performer intake handles the air and fuel from the 600 cfm performer carb. Headers dump the fumes out two and a quarter stainless exhuast and through two chamber flows out the stock location. After I finished the engine I did the suspension with energy suspnsion rubber all around and between the body and subframe, the front coils are stock with KYB shocks and a 1" sway bar. The rear is relatively stock save for KYBs and rebuilt leafs. The wheels were on the car when I got it and I have spent countless hours getting them to shine like they do. The body pretty much looks like it did the day I bought it. The first motor shot is from right before I pulled the engine, the second is after it passed smog (before it was exempt), the air cleaner is off my buddies '78 buick that he was going to donate to charity, and the last is the most current with a chrome Pontiac air cleaner and a K&N. The car shots are from the day I brought it home, and then the other two are recent and are what it looks like currently. I have had the car almost five years now, but have driven it daily for about four. The body work will get done the christmas break (I am a student at San Jose State University) and hopefully paint will happen in the spring or summer when the weather warms up. Anyway, I am sending you this info BECUASE I am very proud of my car and what it has taught me. You can pick and choose from the info at will to post. I would like it though if you could put in a thank you to all my freinds who have laid a hand on this car, including James, Art, Nick, Ben, Kurt and everyone else (they know who they are). Thank you very much. ." -Ryan Henry |
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Mike Fisher is trying to complete the
restoration on this great looking '67 Firebird. Mike writes: "Just wanted to send a quick note and some photos of my project. My name is Mike Fisher and I'm from Chicago, Illinois. This one has spent the last 20 years sitting in many different garages. The last ten in ones belonging to personal friends. No one has completed it yet but I am determined. The original 400 motor was removed by the first of several with good intentions and is long gone. It was replaced with a 428, which was rebuilt about 8 years ago and never made it back into the car. Another item I will make right. I will update you as things progress." Enjoy your site and keep up the good work, Mike |
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Quite often when you visit a car show
and you move from one car to the next in complete awe of the condition of each car you
don't always stop to consider that most of them did not start out looking that way. Jac
Camp recently bought this tired bird and proves to us all that sometimes you have to start
from the beginning. Jac writes: "I bought this 1978 Trans Am Last week for $350. I saw the ad online somewhere and decided to check it out. It has a 400 small block in it that had just been rebuilt and a 400 Turbo Tranny, that also has just recently been rebuilt. The exterior is in great shape except for a few rust spots and a crunched nose. I considered this a steal considering I even drove it home. The interior is shot but definitely repairable. Although I have been a big fan of TA's all my life and always dreamed about restoring one back to it's original glory.....the plan for this one is to prep it up for racing.....the interior is last on my list to restore but the body will be fast......it only needs a nose, sanding some rust off the hood and a good paintjob and it will be presentable. Other than that it is almost ready for the track. I'll send in some more updates when they are available." Jac Camp Florida
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1970 to 1973 Firebirds are my personal favorite so I'm always happy to see
someone trying to restore one. Susan Castalvecchi has rescued this one and
is trying to restore some life into it. Susan writes: "I have a 1972 project bird. We have started working on the body of the car. It is in running condition but can use some body and interior work. We picked it up for $900.00, and it ran!!! It is a 400 automatic. I like the grill and wheels with the honeycomb shape. The back wheels belong to my 1971, we have the back wheels for the '72 but they need new tires. We also purchased a 1971 smashed Bird. A tree fell on it. It is has a Ram Air Hood like mine, we got this one for parts. You can see some of it in the 1972 pics." Susan also owns a 1971 Formula that can be seen at '71 Firebirds Lot#2 and a 1999 Firebird that can be seen at the 1999 Firebirds Lot#1. |
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James Gentry owns this nearly finished 1983 Trans Am. James writes: "Here are some pics of my trans am. The engine was just rebuilt about 20,000 miles ago. The car has a total of 920,817 miles on it. It has a custom exhaust, B & M shifter, Shift improver kit, and an Edelbrock dress up kit. It needs a little bondo, primer and paint, but other than that I absolutely love this car!! P.S. The muscle car lives!!" |
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Morten Espensen from Denmark brings us the Galleries' first project outside
the U.S. Morten writes: "Hello... I have looked a lot on you homepage "The Premier Firebird Trans Am Gallery" over the last 2 years, and I think it is a great job you are doing keeping it up and running. Now I think it is about time that I give my contribution to the homepage, so here you have some information and pictures of my '81 Trans Am. The second car that I own, my '81 Trans Am that I imported from Canada in 2000. I am the 3rd owner of this Trans Am, and the previous owner installed a Chevy Big Block 402 cui engine, and probaly removed the A/C, cruise, and everything else from the engine room, to make space for the new engine. When I opened the container in April 2001, and saw the car for the first time, it was a dream come true, I finally got the car I had dreamed of since I saw "Smokie and the Bandit II" as a kid. BUT, when I brought the car home, and started looking at it, I noticed that it was not in a condition to use, at least not in a country like Denmark. The bottom of the car was completely rusted away underneath the carpet, so now I have made a project out of it. I hope that in a few years or so, it will be out and running, bigger, better and faster than ever." Morten "Simbul" Espensen Morten also owns a red 1981 Trans Am that can be seen at International Firebirds Lot#5. |
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Chuck Larsen is the proud new owner of this '67 Firebird and he can't wait
to begin the restoration on it with his son. Chuck writes: "This is my new '67 Firebird project. Its an OHC sprint six. My son and I found it in North Omaha. Mice have eaten through the headliner and there was a wasp nest under the hood. Its been sitting for 15 years. It belongs to Chuck Larsen (chuck@takehope.com) in Blair Nebraska. My son JD and I are looking forward to restoring it completely stock if possible." |
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