[68Indian]

Just wondering if anyone has installed Hotchkis coils and leafs on there birds? If so I would love to see a good picture of the stance on the car. Also wondering what size tire/wheel combo to use.

Thanks

Justin

[68FB400]

I have Hotchkis 2" drops for Pontiac on the front. I like the height & ride. The rear leafs were new and came with the car when I got it. Cheap 5 leafs that raised it up about 1 1/2" - 2". Haven't been able to try the Hotchkis 2" drop in the rear.

Wheels are 17x7 front w/235-45's & 17x8 rear w/255-45's.

[Tom-Brandl]

Wow, that´s a nice one! Can you post some extra pics? Or do you have any website where to look at for a few additional pics of your superb looking Bird?

Thumbs up!

[dragula81]

I just received a new set of Hotchkiss 2" drop front coils yesterday for my '69 Bird. I'll be putting them on this week sometime. I have relatively new stock leafs on the back which "squatted" to begin with as they did new back in '69. I put on airshocks to bring the rear up some so after I install the new front coils, I only have to let a little air out of the rear shocks to level it out.

Below is a pic of the way that it looks now. You can see that it is rather tall. I'll get some new pics after I install the new drop coils.

[Firebob]

Hey Drag, Is that a full size stinger scoop or the mini version? I think the full sized ones are like 3 feet long. Looks like yours fits pretty nice on the hood. Did it come all the way out to the edge of the ironing board hump? Did you glass it on?

Robert

[dragula81]

Hey Robert,
It's a fiberglass replica of a '67 Vette Big Block hood scoop. Click the link below and you'll see all of the details of how I mounted it:

http://www.kytle.net/69Hood.html

[drewhelm1974]

This car didn't have any influence on that hoodscoop choice did it?

http://firstgenfirebird.org/show/closeup.mv?CarID=642

I installed that same scoop 4 years ago. I did it a little differently and you did a much better job of documenting the process. Turned out great! The only thing I don't like about it is that it's not functional. It's open front and rear and the hood wasn't cut. I ended up closing in the back of the scoop with sheetmetal from the hood and cutting the opening in the hood to match the underside of the scoop. I actually found a guy locally to reproduce it as a bolt on glass hood, but he disappeared.

Drew

[dragula81]

Originally Posted by drewhelm1974

This car didn't have any influence on that hoodscoop choice did it?
Drew

Hey Drew,
Yea, yours is the reason that I went that route. I was looking at three different styles of scoops. The Vette BB, the Mustang Mach, and some aftermarket one that looked pretty good. I really liked the Mustang scoop but I just couldn't bring myself to bolt a Ford based product onto my Firebird.
I think I was talking (via PM's) to you about yours once earlier this year. I really like the way it looks.
I read your thread before about mass-producing these hoods. Did that fall through?

[68Indian]

Thanks 68FB400 and Dragula81, they are both great looking birds. What size of tires and wheels are you guys running?

Right now I have the old leafs on the back and I have a new set I purchased a while back, but I am trying to decide how the stock leafs will sit compared to the Hotchkis leafs.

Or maybe my old springs sit just right worn in a bit.

[dragula81]

The stock leafs sit low in the rear from the factory since that was the "style" back then. I have an original '69 Bird sales brochure and every car in it, squats in the rear. The guy that I bought my Bird from had replaced the stock leafs on the back in '97 or so and I had to add air shocks to it to raise it up some. I just didn't like that look.

My car has 17X8's all the way around with about 4-3/8" backspacing. I don't recall the tire size.

[68FB400]

Wheel/tire size is in my last post.
Back space on front was 4.0 and 4.75 on rear
-Wayne

[Big Injun]

Here is Jim Wangers' Firebird with a complete Hotchkis suspension. The front springs are the "big block" springs. Wheels are American Racing Torq-Thrust IIs; 16x8 w/ 4.75 back spacing. Front tires are 225/50x16 and rear are 255/50x16.

[68Indian]

Thanks for all of the info and pics on the cars, I think I will definately go with the whole Hotchkis setup.