Firebird Projects
Lot#1

                      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.

This 1975 Trans Am recently came out of storage and is on track to return to the road. Owner Bill Kelly writes:      "I have been a Trans am nut since I got my first 1974. It was  white with blue trim and bird on the hood. It had a 455 H.O. and a 4-speed that would melt the rear Goodrich tires off. Also had a 1973 silver Formula 455 S.D. that came with functional ram air scoop and rear spoiler!   I have managed to keep my last and favorite 1975 red T/A through 19 years of marriage and raising 3 great kids!!   I have had it since 1983  and only last year pulled it out from under it"s car cover and from behind the garage to restore it!!! It has lots of rust and I am in the process of cutting in both rear quarter panels... I hope you find this story worth printing, it is all true, and your site is all about the passion I have for the ultimate All American Muscle car!!"   Sincerely, Bill Kelly, Denver Colorado!

This is a very rare '68 RA1 Firebird undergoing a restoration. The owner is Geoff Swavely from Sydney Australia.

This 1973 Firebird Esprit is owned by Ken Carothers and is undergoing a restoration. The white vinyl top was removed. Ken also removed the window trim, which had been glued to the car with silicone. Major rust was discovered around both the front and rear windows.          The blue Firebird in the background is an '81 Esprit that is serving daily driver duty during the resto. Its got a Buick 231 V-6 engine but Ken upgraded the suspensions with components from a '74 Trans Am, KYB shocks, and sub-frame connectors.           Back to the '73 the interior has been removed except for the dash and steering column. All glass has also been removed. The original 350c.i. 2bbl engine. TH350, and 2.73 rear end have been left in the car for now. A 455 mill and a Formula hood will be installed later. A 3.23 disc rear end will also be installed donated from the '79 Trans Am parts car sitting in front of it. Updates on Ken's car will be posted as I get them.

This cool '67 Firebird belongs to Dave Maryo. According to Dave this is his favorite project car and he's owned it for ten years. He's restored lots of other Firebirds and now its finally time to do this one. Sounds like its been a long time coming and I'm guessing it'll be worth the wait.

Sean Riley recently sent me this picture of his '79 Trans Am. After four years Seans decided to take it off the road and replace some parts of it. Sean writes:      "We have had the car for about 4 years. After we bought the car from my wife's sister i drove it back and forth to work for the last 2 years. Its been in my wife's family since 1980. That we know of theirs not much "special" about the car but it has more sentimental value than anything, plus, it's a sharp car. we just took it off the road to get new floor boards, carpet and interior work done . we're also giving her a slick paint job. The olds 403 runs pretty strong but were planing on a rebuild when the wallet fills back up again." I think there's a lot more "average" (for lack of a better word) Firebirds out there than "special" ones. I'd like to thank Sean and others like him that invest time and money to keep these cars on the road. In my book any Firebird is worth rebuilding.

This 1968 Firebird project is owned by Hutch from Nokesville, Virginia. It currently does not have an engine or transmission yet! I'll bet he's just dying to bolt in something big between those fenders! Stay tuned to find out what it'll be.....(more info to come)

Although its a little hard to tell the Firebird in the pics is a 1972 Formula undergoing a very thorough restoration. The owner is Will Baker. The story Will sent me was a little too long to include on this page so I have put the meat and potatoes of it here. To read the full story you can click here.      "The car was originally a 400-4bbl (of course) with TH400 auto and 3.08 open rearend. Options included hideaway wipers, deluxe interior, AC, power brakes, power steering, deluxe exterior trim, rally guages, and not much else. It even had the plain-jane 14x7 wheels with "dog-dish" hubcaps. I hesitate to call what I'm doing to it a "restoration" as I'm veering significantly away from stock. The goal is to maintain a stock look, while really beefing up the performance. To that end I've had a set of 15x8 and 15x10 steel wheels fabricated that will retain those original hubcaps & trim rings. I upgraded to '79 TA swaybars (1-1/4" in front and 3/4" rear), '79 TA WS6 rear leaf springs, Vette Brakes & Products (VB&P) two-piece aluminum hubbed brake rotors (clamped by Performance Friction Carbon Metallic brake pads), VB&P upper tubular control arms, boxed stock lower control arms, HO Racing front springs cut 3/4 coil, PST "Polygraphite" control arm, swaybar, and body mount bushings, Global West tubular subframe connectors, and Global West "Del-a-Lum" rear leaf spring shackles & front spring eye mount bushings. Finishing off the suspension are Koni adjustable gas shocks at all four corners.       The engine & drivetrain consist of the original '72 400 block crank and rods, fully blueprinted and balanced, bored +.030, and 0" decked. The rods were weight matched, beam polished, shot-peened and honed for oversized lightweight (shh! Don't tell anyone) Big Block Chevy wristpins that were fitted into simlarly honed oversized, dished TRW forged pistons. The cam is a Comp Cams custom grind (232 @ .050 duration, .521 lift with 1.65 Harland Sharp roller rockers, 112 degree lobe separation, intake centerline at 111 degrees. Should produce performance similar to a RA-IV cam and I'm also using Rhoads lifters so that I can run the A/C). I'll probably change this cam to something a bit more mild in the next year depending on how it runs. All engine bolts are ARP, including the polished stainless ones on the outside of it. I also ground all the identifying markings off the Edelbrock intake manifold and painted it engine color. I purchased a Ram Air aircleaner and all the necessary pieces to convert the car to the factory Ram Air system. I'm also using a set of '70 #13 heads that I ported myself. They breath into HO Racing Tri-Y headers and a Flowmaster 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust system modified for a Dr. Gas X-style crossover. The carb is an 800 cfm Q-jet modified for my engine and fuel delivery will be handled by the stock 3/8" fuel lines and a Mallory Comp 140 electric pump, filter, & pressure regulator. The pressure regulator will be mounted where the stock fuel pump would go, allowing me to use the stainless-steel replacement stock carb inlet line and keep the "stock at first glance" theme going. Even the alternator is the original unit, but rebuilt with a 105 amp kit. Ignition will be handled by a custom-curved HEI and a Crane HI-6 capacitive discharge box with rev limiter. The tranny is a TH400 out of a station wagon with the extra big clutch pack (5 composite, 5 steel discs). It's been converted to full manual operation (but retaining stock console shifter), is driven by a Coan 2800-3000 stall converter, and is cooled by a Derale tranny cooler with built in 500 CFM electric thermostatically controlled fan. The rearend consists of the original 10-bolt housing with new axles, an Eaton clutch-type posi unit and 3.23 (for now) GM gears. I may switch to 3.73 after I've gotten some long road trips I want to take out of the way - it all depends on the performance I can wring out of it with the 3.23s.      The interior will be restored to stock, with the addition of a Kenwood 400 watt stereo system including 6-disc trunk mounted CD changer. No holes will be cut in the stock interior for speakers or anything else and it will all (except the tape deck and EQ) be hidden from view (unless you look in the trunk). I've covered all of the interior sheetmetal surfaces with Dynamat for extra sound-deadening and will install a baffle-board directly behind the rear seat to mount a 10-inch free-air subwoofer and also fully isolate the passenger compartment from the trunk. I'm also adding a factory 8K tach to the rally gauge instrument cluster. "

The pics on the left depict a 1973 Firebird Esprit going through a very thorough restoration. Peter Abraham is the owner who is leading the venture. I'm happy to say the pics on the left and the information below have been updated. Peter sent me the new info recently and heres what he had to say about it:      "Well, this will be my first update since I first sent you the information about my project Firebird.  As you may recall, my project is a complete restification of a 1973 Pontiac Firebird Esprit.   I am not really a numbers correct car guy, but rather a Hot Rodder type, and I am building the car the way I wish Pontiac built the car to begin with.  With that in mind here are some highlights of what I have completed. The entire car was bead blasted to the bare metal, the frame, differential, and front-end components removed, and the underside was stripped of all the undercoating.   I welded closed all of the mystery holes in the firewall, and deleted the A/C holes in the firewall.  I am using a Vintage Air Unit that mounts behind the glove box for heat only. The entire car and all panels were then sprayed with a metal etching epoxy primer.  I used PPG’s DP90.  This product sprays well, and is VERY tough. Once all of the bodywork was completed, the undercarriage, and firewall were sprayed with PPG’s acrylic enamel, with a flattening agent to knock down the gloss.  The frame, and all front-end components were sandblasted, and powdercoated.  The differential was sandblasted and painted to match the firewall. I have installed new front and rear windows, all suspension components were rebuilt, and every nut and bolt has been replaced, or re-plated. I built a fresh differential for the car.  It is a 10 bolt with an Eaton Posi with a 400-pound spring pack, a U.S. Gear 3.90 ring and pinion, with Moser Axles.  Rear Leaf springs are stock with the addition of Cal-Tracs for traction control.The transmission is a TH350 that my dad built, with an 11- inch Hughes torque converter. The engine is a 1969 Pontiac 400 bored 0.030” over, with a 0.010” under crank.  Completely blueprinted and balanced by my dad as well.  I selected an UltraDyne Cam that will work well with the 10.25 static compression given by the #13 RA 3 cylinder heads.  1.6 ratio rocker arms, high volume oil pump, stainless steel valves, home porting, an Edelbrock Torker intake, with a Holley 750 carb round out the power production side of things. It is difficult to detail everything here, so I guess I need to update more often!"   Thanks for the forum Jimmy! Peter Abraham – Tucson Arizona

Bob Hamm bought this Formula for his daughter, Mallory and is now working hard to restore it. Bob writes:      "This car is my daughter Mallory Hamm's 16th Birthday present. It is a '72 Formula 350 with #16 heads that have been heavily worked. All fresh pistons, a performer RPM manifold, MSD ignition and a Holley 650cfm dual feed double pumper with mechanical secondarys. The tranny is a turbo 350 with a 2500 stall and heavy duty transmission clutches and shift module. Headers are flow tech as she wants the headers to tuck up so the car can be lowered. Mallory enjoyed a great career as a junior dragster driver and plans on taking this car down the track on occasion. Clay smith ground the cam and new valves and roller rockers make the little 350 produce 385 HP and 405 pounds feet of torque." Bob Hamm Bob also owns a 1974 Formula that can be seen at 1974 Firebirds Lot #2 and a 1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am that can be seen at Anniversary Firebirds Lot #4.