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1968 Pontiac Firebird Convertible Print E-mail
This car has been brought to us after the owner has owned this car for many years. He has had much work done in the years past but has always been a band aid approach. We opened the hood and found a Chevrolet small block engine residing underneath. A new Pontiac engine and a full restoration with the right upgrades will be undertaken.
  Here is the front shot of this Chevy equipped Firebird
  The rear view of the Firebird as we received it.
  Someone did a very bad job of cutting out the trunk floor, the rear seat floor and the shock absorber upper mounts.
  The front interior view shows a threadbare interior with an aftermarket shifter.
  The firewall is stripped.
  The interior is stripped revealing some floor rust.
  Here we are making patches for the subframe mounting holes. It is typical for the mounts to be elongated after almost 40 years.
  Here is the subframe after being sand blasted and powdercoated.
  Global West suspension has been assembled and installed along with Wilwood disc brakes. Coilover shocks add a nice touch, especially when it comes time to adjust ride stance.
  Another view of the Global West suspension with Wilwood brakes
  Solid subframe bushings will definitely stiffen up the handling
  Front view. Now the factory Rallye wheels no longer fit due to larger hubs and studs.
  Once the paint comes off, the bondo has been found and chipped away, the true sins are found. Massive rust and dents were buried under pounds of bondo.
  Left rear quarter panel has rust and dents in the lower section, especially in the corner
  Someone tried to rebuild the flare and did a bad job of it. That work later rusted
   A poor patch job that changed the body line and was not contoured correctly with the metal. Bondo was used to change the contours. This was not body work. It was sculpturing.
  A forward view of the right rear quarter panel.
  Here is just some of the thick bondo chips that came off.
  Now that all the bondo has been removed from the rear body panel, you can see just how bent the rear was
  This is the dash panel. We have found over 1/2" thick bondo. This is not good.
  Now we are down to the rust. It is really bad and will require replacement of the upper dash panel and upper cowl panel.
  Here is a piece of the bondo that was residing in the dash panel.
  Rear body panel has been removed exposing the frame rails
  Since there was so much rust in the cowl and dash panel, we had to fabricate a panel to bridge the gap.
  Windshield is test fitted to make sure the contours are flush so there is not any issues when it comes time to install.
  Now that we have the contours done, we finish up the body work to it
  The firewall had numerous holes. They were welded up, sanded and the factory seam was seam sealed
  The right side cowl inside and out has been patched.
  The hinge pillar also required patching
  A closer view of the firewall finished out.
  The floors were falling apart literally at the seams. The bracing is also very weak
  Once we removed the quarter panel, we found all sorts of nasties.
  This is the inner rocker and forward spring perch. Very bad shape.
  The right spring perch is not perching any more
  The right quarter removed
  The rear seat area floor removed
  This is the driver side toe board where it meets the firewall
  The rest of the floor has been cut out. The inner rockers were cleaned up and patched where needed. We welded in 1/8" square tubing inside the inner rockers to help keep the structure square and to provide additional reinforcement.
  Since the reproduction floor does not extend fully to the firewall, we have had to fabricate the floor reinforcement and toe board to have something to attach the floor to. These parts are completely fabricated by us.
  More toe board rust along with reinforcement rust.
  Here are our custom made reinforcement and toe board panels
  The Goodmark one piece floorpan is being installed now that all the rotted bracing and attachments have been patched
  The outer door skin is being test fitted to the repaired shell
  The tail panel, quarters, floors and wheel houses are all being fitted prior to welding so we can ensure correct gaps
  The rear seat brace is also being checked for fitment
  The wheelhouses are welded together and the inner quarter has been repaired. We applied undercoating to protect and sound deaden while the quarter is still off
  The floor is being welded in.
  The trunk floor will be next.
  Trunk floor has been welded in and body work done to make the spot welds disappear.
  Tail panel is being test fitted. We have a lot of fitment issues to resolve. This is typical when utilizing reproduction parts.
  Right rear quarter required flanges to be added with some trimming on both panels where they meet.
  Left rear quarter also requires a lot of reworking to get the panels to meet.
  Left rear quarter has been welded and now is being leaded at the seams
  Right rear quarter is now being welded
  
  
  
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