The life and times of UPO 69, my 1968 Pontiac Firebird.

His was in a dark heavy metallic green, running a full steel flipfront, Chevy 383, tunnel ram, twin double-pumpers, ridiculously high stall converter that used to make it impossible in traffic :D and it used to run 11's at Santa Pod in the early 80's, where we used to spend most weekends. Oh, and I remember it used to overheat quite a lot :D

That sounds like a monster, a fast one at that.

Can't say mine suffers from any overheating though, fortunately. Nice big alloy racing radiator keeps it relatively cool, helped by a big ol' mechanical fan and shroud.
 
Put a few more detail parts on today. Suspect I'll be getting packages like this for a while yet.

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Must say, I'm very impressed by the quality of these reproduction parts. Refreshing not to have to "adjust" new parts to fit, especially given my previous experience with some shoddy replacement components.

The first thing to fit was a new rear-view mirror.

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The old had suffered after 44 years and gone cloudy:

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... and the view with the new one fitted. A vast improvement:

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Next up was the passenger side seatbelt assembly. The Pontiac's MOT is coming up at the end of next month so everything needs to be in order. The spool on this belt was playing up and wouldn't retract cleanly.

A complete new belt and retractor was the easiest way of getting the part I needed and meant that I'd have a few spare bits if need be.

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The retractor is only fixed with a single bolt so it didn't take long to change it over.

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Voila, one fully working seatbelt. Magic!

I also had a pair of fender braces to fit. These mount between the inner wings and radiator support structure, with the aim of reinforcing the front end and reducing any twisting or flex.

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These were missing when I bought the car, which always puzzled me somewhat. When I came to fit them, however, it rapidly became clear why.

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You can see that in the bottom-left corner of the picture my car has an external oil filter assembly fitted, which currently isn't connected. This interfered with where the fender brace would sit, so presumably the previous owner mounted it without checking it would clear the braces.

No matter. Simply remove the offending article!

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I've no use for the external filter yet as I don't have a suitable adaptor for the oil pump housing. I will reinstate it when I get around to fitting an oil cooler as well, though.

That out of the way, the braces simply bolted into place.

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I was quite pleased to find that they feel remarkably well located, as you can rock the car up and down by grabbing hold of them.

At a later date I'd like to upgrade to Precision Coachwork's fender braces as they're a tidier solution and more neatly finished: http://www.ridetech.com/store/1967-69-camaro-stainless-steel-fender-brace.html

Lastly, I picked this up off eBay last week and it arrived about ten minutes ago - hence the quick and shonky picture.

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It's a 750cfm "Quadrajet", the kind of carburettor that the car would have had when it was new. They can support quite heavily tuned engines so I've also picked up a book to help me tweak it to suit the Pontiac. I'm hoping that it'll be a much better match than the current Edelbrock carburettor and will deliver more power, improved economy and a smoother throttle response.

I've ordered a new Malpassi Filter King external fuel filter and pressure regulator assembly as well, to replace my temporary inline filter and regulator setup. Should help tidy up the engine bay no end and will be a safer and more precise way of metering the fuel flow.

Hopefully I'll be able to fit the Quadrajet and get the Firebird running with it straight away, as it's just come off a 454ci Chevrolet motor.

At least that's the idea...
 
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This is such an epic car.

I was talking to InvaderGIR the other day about how I'd love '68 Fastback bare shell and build it from the ground up.

But then I saw how much Mustangs had appreciated, and quickly put the idea to bed. Even for a non runner rusted to oblivion you're looking at 8-10k easily :eek:

Dude, I know you lurk somewhere in the South East, would love to come and see this at some point in the not too distant future, possible? :)

Will bring the SLR ofcourse.
 
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I'm impressed with the "GM Restoration Parts", I assume this is due to the huge classics market in the US?

Yea. This is effectively a Camaro underneath as well, so there is a lot of aftermarket and OEM support for it.

This is such an epic car.

I was talking to InvaderGIR the other day about how I'd love '68 Fastback bare shell and build it from the ground up.

But then I saw how much Mustangs had appreciated, and quickly put the idea to bed. Even for a non runner rusted to oblivion you're looking at 8-10k easily :eek:

Dude, I know you lurk somewhere in the South East, would love to come and see this at some point in the not too distant future, possible? :)

Will bring the SLR of course.

That's one reason why I went for a Firebird - they're on the up now, following the other period muscle cars, rather than commanding a mental price already.

You can still get a really nice period car if you deviate from the usual choices though, so it's worth looking around. You can even find one of the prime choices for good money if you dig hard enough. Takes time though.

I'd be more than happy to meet up, hopefully there'll be something on soon to take it to anyway. I've just a few more things to do before it hits the show circuit in earnest.
 
This weekend's task list:

- Fit rear Hotchkis strut brace.
- Adjust steering box again.
- Fit new transmission filter and sump gasket, change trans fluid.
- Check security of indicator switch assembly fix.
- Fit new fuel pressure regulator and filter.
- Fix dash illumination. An MOT item now so it needs to work properly, seems I've a dead short in the main cluster.
- Maybe get the wheels balanced.
- Fit rubber stops for bonnet and boot lid.

Think that's about it for now. Maybe some light de-rusting and painting too. :)
 
Hnnnggghh. I'd LOVE to have some American muscle someday. While it's not of the same period, I'd dearly love to own a Buick GNX. If I was to go older, I'd adore having a 1st gen Pontiac GTO (dem stacked headlights), or '71 Trans-Am/Firebird.

But for now, I think I'll stick with my cheap Jap turbo'ed shoebox :p
 
Yea. This is effectively a Camaro underneath as well, so there is a lot of aftermarket and OEM support for it.



That's one reason why I went for a Firebird - they're on the up now, following the other period muscle cars, rather than commanding a mental price already.

You can still get a really nice period car if you deviate from the usual choices though, so it's worth looking around. You can even find one of the prime choices for good money if you dig hard enough. Takes time though.

I'd be more than happy to meet up, hopefully there'll be something on soon to take it to anyway. I've just a few more things to do before it hits the show circuit in earnest.
Indeed, the fastback has always been a 'thing' for me...shall look around at what else takes my fancy though. A Camero would be nice.

Meeting up would be cool, drop me an email whenever! I wanted to ask you where's best to look for such projects? Any particular magazines or websites? :)
 
Meeting up would be cool, drop me an email whenever! I wanted to ask you where's best to look for such projects? Any particular magazines or websites? :)

Will do. Best magazine to get is Classic American, loads of good cars at sensible prices. Maybe Custom Car and American Car World. The ads in the last two can be out of date or very limited, however.

eBay's a good place to look too.

Forum-wise, head over to Rods and Sods. Lots of interesting cars on there.

There are car/marque-specific forums/websites in the UK for most things too, which have classified pages - the Mustang Owners Club GB, Classic Corvette Club UK, Mopar Muscle Association UK, Pontiac Owners Club UK and so on. Useful when you've narrowed down what you want.
 
Thanks mate, appreciate it :) - Was thinking about this car the other day actually. Whilst we have the weather I'm actually asking if I can do a photoshoot of it!

Dammit Lewis get your act together! :D
 
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SO CLOSE.

Failed on:

- Complete lack of a horn
- Rear numberplate lamp missing
- Headlight adjustment

Being refitted and tweaked as we speak, due a retest tomorrow hopefully.

Not bad considering the potential nightmare it could have been.

... and yes, I did know about the missing horn (and the others issues, to be honest). I'd got the wiring working up to the relay in the nose but didn't have the time to refit or test it. Just thought we'd get it in and see what else might need doing. :)
 
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