Soldato
...I sold my M5, as many of you know.
But this took its place.
That's a bit more like it.
Unfortunately the weather has been utterly abysmal, so I haven't had a chance to take any decent pictures - but I thought I'd put up the few I managed to take inbetween downpours.
I still can't quite believe it's parked outside, at the moment. I picked it up last Saturday but because of work I couldn't really look at it until yesterday.
It is a 1968 Pontiac Firebird and, as far as I can tell, originally it was a 350 V8 engined car.
Spec-wise, well, I'll tell you as much as I know.
It's now a 400ci 6.6 litre V8, bored 30 thou over (so it's even bigger), with Keith Black pistons, H-Beam rods, Edelbrock alloy heads, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Comp Cams roller rockers and a nasty, aggressive, XR276HR Comp cam punching the valves open. There's an obligatory set of Mickey Thompson rocker covers. Gases exit via Dougs (they're not Dougs, they're mine) hot-coated headers into a custom exhaust system. Fuel is liberally poured down its throat by a Barry Grant Speed Demon 750 carb. Ignition's handled by a Summit electronic distributor with integrated coil. I think the fuel pump's a Carter item. A big Moroso sump and a nice alloy rad with integrated trans cooler keeps things cool. There's also an external oil filter assembly but it's not plumbed in yet, as the engine's just finished running in.
Backing that up is a new Turbo 400 transmission with a shift kit and 2400RPM stall convertor, and a chunky Hurst shifter.
At the back it's got an 8.5" 10 bolt GM axle with an Eaton posi, Moser shafts and a C-clip eliminator kit. The previous keeper tells me that the powertrain's set up to handle about 650BHP.
The most interesting bit? Someone's tried to make it competent at going around corners. It's fitted with Hotchkis suspension all round with lowered springs, uprated dampers, front and rear anti roll bars, uprated bushes, a fast ratio performance steering box, Moog joints and bushings, assisted front hydraulic disc brakes and big Crager steel wheels. They're 10x17 at the back, with sticky Mickey Thompson tyres.
Other than that, it's pretty standard. 
It's all pretty much new - so it still needs setting up, tightening, some trim fitting and that kind of thing, as well as some cosmetic detailing. It'll keep me busy for a long while, at least. The interior, a lot of which is new, has been hurridly thrown back together so just needs going through and refitting properly.
Things that need doing at the moment? Well, barring a service, I need to get the rear diff reshimmed up at Hauser Racing as there's a bit of a whine when you back off. The whole axle is new barring the ring and pinion and the previous owner reinstalled it without shimming it properly. D'oh! Strange oversight to make.
I'm thinking that I'll also need to get a vacuum canister because there's there's virtually no brake assistance at idle - although oddly it still stops pretty well. I'm not going to get ahead of myself though because it's not set up or tuned properly yet, so I'll wait until I've had a chance to fettle the fuelling and ignition. I get the feeling it's idling too low so it's probably not generating enough vacuum. Easily fixed.
Here's a few more pics:
It's going to be quite a learning experience, I can tell you that.
But this took its place.
That's a bit more like it.
Unfortunately the weather has been utterly abysmal, so I haven't had a chance to take any decent pictures - but I thought I'd put up the few I managed to take inbetween downpours.
I still can't quite believe it's parked outside, at the moment. I picked it up last Saturday but because of work I couldn't really look at it until yesterday.
It is a 1968 Pontiac Firebird and, as far as I can tell, originally it was a 350 V8 engined car.
Spec-wise, well, I'll tell you as much as I know.
It's now a 400ci 6.6 litre V8, bored 30 thou over (so it's even bigger), with Keith Black pistons, H-Beam rods, Edelbrock alloy heads, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Comp Cams roller rockers and a nasty, aggressive, XR276HR Comp cam punching the valves open. There's an obligatory set of Mickey Thompson rocker covers. Gases exit via Dougs (they're not Dougs, they're mine) hot-coated headers into a custom exhaust system. Fuel is liberally poured down its throat by a Barry Grant Speed Demon 750 carb. Ignition's handled by a Summit electronic distributor with integrated coil. I think the fuel pump's a Carter item. A big Moroso sump and a nice alloy rad with integrated trans cooler keeps things cool. There's also an external oil filter assembly but it's not plumbed in yet, as the engine's just finished running in.
Backing that up is a new Turbo 400 transmission with a shift kit and 2400RPM stall convertor, and a chunky Hurst shifter.
At the back it's got an 8.5" 10 bolt GM axle with an Eaton posi, Moser shafts and a C-clip eliminator kit. The previous keeper tells me that the powertrain's set up to handle about 650BHP.
The most interesting bit? Someone's tried to make it competent at going around corners. It's fitted with Hotchkis suspension all round with lowered springs, uprated dampers, front and rear anti roll bars, uprated bushes, a fast ratio performance steering box, Moog joints and bushings, assisted front hydraulic disc brakes and big Crager steel wheels. They're 10x17 at the back, with sticky Mickey Thompson tyres.
Other than that, it's pretty standard.
It's all pretty much new - so it still needs setting up, tightening, some trim fitting and that kind of thing, as well as some cosmetic detailing. It'll keep me busy for a long while, at least. The interior, a lot of which is new, has been hurridly thrown back together so just needs going through and refitting properly.
Things that need doing at the moment? Well, barring a service, I need to get the rear diff reshimmed up at Hauser Racing as there's a bit of a whine when you back off. The whole axle is new barring the ring and pinion and the previous owner reinstalled it without shimming it properly. D'oh! Strange oversight to make.
I'm thinking that I'll also need to get a vacuum canister because there's there's virtually no brake assistance at idle - although oddly it still stops pretty well. I'm not going to get ahead of myself though because it's not set up or tuned properly yet, so I'll wait until I've had a chance to fettle the fuelling and ignition. I get the feeling it's idling too low so it's probably not generating enough vacuum. Easily fixed.
Here's a few more pics:
It's going to be quite a learning experience, I can tell you that.
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