69 Firebird 400 Restoration Thread...

[Scumback Speakers]

So as some of you know, I'm selling off some old vintage gear to get my old Firebird 400 restored. I got the suspension upgraded, and a new exhaust system installed, so I took it for an early morning ride. I had breakfast Sunday with some of the local Pontiac fanatics. One of the guys has a 69 Trans Am with the Ram Air V motor. That's one of 200 motors built, 303 CID, way too much horsepower with tunnel ram Pontiac racing heads and two 4BBL carbs.

Well, he parked his ride next to mine on Sunday. Ever had a $500k car park next to you?

Yeah, me neither. Here are some pics of my public humbling.

The owner says that TA doesn't even come alive until it hits 3500 RPM, but it revs way higher than mine, to say the least.

Mine is at the club tech/mechanic shop getting carb linkage fixes, etc. I'll post updates as it comes along. For now, enjoy these.

 

[Geeze]

Jeez, no peeks under the hood? Would have loved to see the motor.

Enjoy your '69!

Russ

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Jeez, no peaks under the hood? Would have loved to see the motor.

Enjoy your '69!

Russ

Russ, I wouldn't do that to you guys! I had to dig them up from a text message and convert them. In his shop before installation, obviously.

http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/69bird/rav5idle.mov

 

[Geeze]

AAAHHHHH, that's better!

Thank you!

Russ

 

[LRT#1]

What carbs are those?
What lif and duration cam is in it?
What's the compression at?
Is it ported and polished?

Man I miss having a shop. Haven't gotten to do a project in 3 years and miss it. My last project rig was an 83 Toyota 4x4 with a small block 327 chev. Man that was a fun offroad rig.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

What carbs are those?
What lif and duration cam is in it?
What's the compression at?
Is it ported and polished?

Sorry I don't know all the details on that stuff, but from what I know of this guy I'm sure the heads are ported/polished and tweaked for maximum airflow. Those tunnel port heads are extremely rare to say the least, not to mention the block, intake, carbs, etc.

I'll be seeing him soon, probably next week to test out a Ram Air Induction setup on my car that he has at his place. He's quite the Pontiac fanatic, he has 3 or 4. http://www.classicalpontiac.com/members/59/4.html

 

[Adieu]

I'd rather have an SG Special 400...



Lol I really expected you were talking about some oddball 80s shredder guitar

 

[Scumback Speakers]

I'd rather have an SG Special 400...

View attachment 56709

Lol I really expected you were talking about some oddball 80s shredder guitar

LOL, no a Pontiac Firebird 400 car...sorry. But don't get me started posting pics of my SG's.

 

[Kinkless Tetrode]

What carbs are those?
.

Probably Rochester being GM. Maybe Carters but Carters were more a Mopar thing. However, in a dual carb set up, Carter AFBs would be a good choice as Rochesters are spread bore. I can't tell from the photo.

 

[paul-e-mann]

So as some of you know, I'm selling off some old vintage gear to get my old Firebird 400 restored. I got the suspension upgraded, and a new exhaust system installed, so I took it for an early morning ride. I had breakfast Sunday with some of the local Pontiac fanatics. One of the guys has a 69 Trans Am with the Ram Air V motor. That's one of 200 motors built, 303 CID, way too much horsepower with tunnel ram Pontiac racing heads and two 4BBL carbs.

Well, he parked his ride next to mine on Sunday. Ever had a $500k car park next to you?

Yeah, me neither. Here are some pics of my public humbling.

The owner says that TA doesn't even come alive until it hits 3500 RPM, but it revs way higher than mine, to say the least.

Mine is at the club tech/mechanic shop getting carb linkage fixes, etc. I'll post updates as it comes along. For now, enjoy these.

Yours is the one with the red roof? Is that a stock paint job or something you dreamed up?

 

[Bloodrock]

Love old cars. I’ve been in the car biz over 20 years. I miss the Pontiac brand. My dream car is a 70-73 bird. One day I will have one! Good luck on the resto.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Probably Rochester being GM. Maybe Carters but Carters were more a Mopar thing. However, in a dual carb set up, Carter AFBs would be a good choice as Rochesters are spread bore. I can't tell from the photo.

The owner just told me they are Pontiac Super Duty AFB carbs. Makes sense, they'd need the CFM to satisfy that motor.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Yours is the one with the red roof? Is that a stock paint job or something you dreamed up?

Previous owner did the paint job. It's 9 years old and starting to bubble in a few places. Time to get it redone. I'm thinking of the TA paint job with red stripes. Something like this, but with red stripes and no Trans Am logos.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Love old cars. I’ve been in the car biz over 20 years. I miss the Pontiac brand. My dream car is a 70-73 bird. One day I will have one! Good luck on the resto.

First car I bought on my own was a 69 Firebird with an OHC six. When that died I put in a 1970 Chevy BB 402 / 375 hp from a Camaro SS. Then that car got fun.

This one is a numbers matching 400/330hp, factory AC, automatic TH400 (shift kit), and all new deluxe red interior with the Trans Am rally gauge package. It's worth a stupid amount of money on the NADA site for value. Just getting it freshened up to make it right and be able to enjoy it. As you can imagine with a one year only 50 year old car, there are quite a few unique and specific parts you have to get that are not GM/Camaro interchangeable.

I guess it's like my guitar/amp/speaker fetish...gotta be unique! LOL

 

[Scumback Speakers]

Well, yesterday was a milestone. The accelerator pedal, linkage, cable all got sorted and I got to go Wide Open Throttle (WOT) for the first time in the Firebird. I wondered where all those ponies went to that I didn't have before!

And right in the middle of the test drive I snapped the speedometer cable! Figures, right? I guess that 50 year old cable didn't like moving that fast. LOL

So a new custom heavy duty cable is being made, waiting on a few various trim parts for the dash, and this beast should be good to go after it's final tune up. I got this car in October 2015 for around $19k, I've put about $6k into it so far chasing down demons and killing them, now it's just about time for paint.

Whew.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

As of today the carburetor, idle, choke settings and exhaust are dialed in. This is about 600 rpm at idle in a Pontiac 400/330hp motor. No headers, regular exhaust manifolds, 2 1/4" pipe, Dyno Max mufflers.

http://www.scumbackspeakers.com/69bird/69idle.mov

 

[stringbender11]

Really coming along nicely!

 

[GuitarIV]

Holy shite man that is one sexy mofo of a car!

 

[BftGibson]

Cool stuff... promised my wife any car she wants when she is healed & can drive again. She is a 1977 Trans Am fan..now she is into a 1976..very slowly i am encouraging her backwards in years !! At least got her into big blocks now,,prob end up SD-455 of some sort !! will be priceless !!

 

[Trident]