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#61
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Have the sub-frame and suspension pieces Chrome Plated
razzle dazzle bling bling |
#62
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Quote:
actually, the plan is to forego bling altogether. I'm not a car show kind of guy. Just want a really well done Carousel Red Formula that I can blast around in…a factory looking car is perfectly fine with me as long as it's reliable and capable of shortening the trip up to Colorado for skiing with the Mrs…
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#63
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Reminded me of the time in the 80s when me, my GF and buddies piled into my '67 Firebird 400 (with suspension that was pretty "aggressive" in those days, and Gatorback tires), and headed for the mountains of WV to go skiing at Snowshoe. Awesome roads in that part of the world. But they had snow on them that day... so not such a great car choice - it was pretty helpless! BTW, love that Fitz & Van image of the CR bird.
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keith k 70 Trans Am RA III / T400 / Lucerne Blue / Bright Blue 70 Trans Am RA III / M20 / Lucerne Blue / Sandalwood 70 Formula RA III / M21 / Lucerne Blue / Bright Blue |
#64
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The frame shop owner worked on my car as a side project, and he's finally finished. Didn't require a ton of work. Gaps were good to begin with and are now even better.
So far, I know we'll be replacing the tail panel, inner tail panel, patching the lower LH quarter, and replacing a section of the RH quarter just above the crease from the wheel to the tail panel (I have an original used quarter section for this). The trunk, drops, and everything else looks good. Next week she'll be headed to the media blaster for stripping--so we'll see what other issues are lurking. Given the lack of rust, I'm hopeful the work will be minimal and that we'll just have to deal with typical dings that have accumulated over the last 4 decades. Most of the engine parts are in. The pile includes a new Allpontic aluminum block and a 4.5" forged crank--yes, I committed to 535ci. The heads and intake also turned out great. I had to start making decisions about how faithful I'm going to be with the build sheet, and for that matter, '70 specific parts. I know I'll need to make changes in the interest of functionality and cost, but I'd like the car to maintain a '70 identity, and even more important, I don't want it to turn out looking cheesy or a hodgepodge.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#65
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Well, 4 months have passed and not much new to report. However, I just moved the car to another shop and now things are back on track. Hope to make steady progress from here on out.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#66
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As I mentioned earlier, the car is virtually rust free. Unfortunately, there was some very old collision damage to both quarters that wasn't repaired correctly, at least not to today's standards for these cars. We decided it would be best to replace both quarters (along with tail panel) rather than trying to save the originals. The new full quarters (and tail panel) look so good it's kind of a no brainer.
Anyway, the tubs turned out great, and Randy has moved onto the Quadra Link installation. There's a ton of cutting and welding involved--much more than both of us expected--but the outcome should be well worth it in the end. This part of the project should be finished next week, and then it's off to the blaster again. I still feel a bit of angst about cutting up a cool Formula to do this sort of build (never mind the expense), but I will enjoy the heck out of this car once it's done.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#67
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The majority of the cutting, welding, grinding, etc. for the rear suspension is done. Just a few pieces left. Although things will be tidied up and finished underneath the car, I asked Randy not to take it too far beyond how it would have looked had it been built at the factory with these parts.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#68
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Did you find a build sheet on top of the gas tank?
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#69
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I did not find a build sheet.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#70
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Randy spent some time fitting the front sheet metal. Rather than repairing (grafting in the vent sections) of my 70 hood, I decided to use a really nice 71 hood I picked up locally last year. I'm pretty happy with how the gaps are looking at this point.
To prevent twisting of the body from the torque the 535 we need to install a roll bar…I really didn't want to have to do it, but it's better to be safe than sorry. The plan is to make it as unobtrusive as practically possible.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#71
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Things are moving right along. Bumper is stripped and fits well with the hood and fenders, which fit well with the doors.
Valence is in great shape. Will be using the Firebird and Formula 400 fender emblems so Randy had to drill some new holes in the replacement RH fender That's the only work that fender needed besides filling body side moulding holes.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea Last edited by Gator67; 12-09-2014 at 11:10 PM. |
#72
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Progress slowed over the holiday, but it's full steam ahead now.
The hood, bumper, valence, fender and door gaps look great at this point. I'm particularly happy that the hood is straight and free of cracks. About ready to be disassembled so the car can go back to the media blaster. The car has been on Randy's jig for months now. It will go back on when it comes back from media blasting so that quarters, tail panel, subframe and connectors are dead nuts perfect. The car is being built to drive and the last thing I want is a weird vibration. We'll also need to mock up the engine to make sure everything fits under the formula hood. The engine will sit back an inch (due to the DSE subframe), and although the FI unit is shorter than a q-jet, we're planning on using a slightly taller intake (looks like short Super Victor)...I'm not sure how this is all going to work out. Test fitted the quarters…they look really good. Randy welded in the 4-point roll bar yesterday--I seriously considered going with a completely blind set-up that Albert mentioned, but I'm sticking to the cap I set on the jack I'm willing to dump into this deal. I may still add short diagonal pieces from the main hoop to the subframe connectors (behind the front seat) for added rigidity. It's not like my wife will ever let my kids get in the back seat so easy access is moot at this point.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea Last edited by Gator67; 01-28-2015 at 05:28 PM. |
#73
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#74
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Those are some amazing shots.
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#75
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In epoxy now. Randy reassembled the front clip again so he could begin body work. The car is straight as can be already without any filler. I can't imagine how good it's going to look when he's done. He also started to fit the quarters and tail section. Nice pieces.
We'll be out of garage space when this car is finished so we decided to list our house and look for another or build. Of course, we had to paint the exterior first and get some landscaping done to spruce things up. Talk about a snowballing project! It would be much easier to sell one of the cars…anyone want a 70 TA?
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#76
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truly amazing stuff
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72 Bird |
#77
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X2!!!
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Mike/Illinois |
#78
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Quote:
Your Formula's coming along nicely - going to be a killer car!
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keith k 70 Trans Am RA III / T400 / Lucerne Blue / Bright Blue 70 Trans Am RA III / M20 / Lucerne Blue / Sandalwood 70 Formula RA III / M21 / Lucerne Blue / Bright Blue |
#79
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Last couple days have been spent trying to get all the gaps right in the tail. I don't plan to install a spoiler, so gaps have to be spot on, especially the trunk lid/quarter lips to the upper part of the outer tail panel/tail lights. We're almost there I think.
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"If the best Mustang is the Camaro, the best Camaro is actually the Firebird" David Zenlea |
#80
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Damn. I'm not sure what else to say...
Looks so good. You're a busy man. Yeah, why don't you just go ahead and sell your house and build a new one right in the middle of this chaos. I love a guy that likes to stay busy. I look forward to watching your progress. |
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