70 Firebird "The 14 Car" Performance Therapy project

Uhhh....I wish you were my neighbor so I could come help out!

Rad_Capz wrote: [URL=http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/001_zps75f169c7.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s240.photobucket.com/user/NOTATA/media/The%2014%20Car%20Performance%20Therapy/005_zps815a6460.jpg.html][/URL]

In a photo album somewhere I have pictures of the restoration I did to my '70 Formula 400 about 35 years ago. Other than being on cinder blocks instead of wood structure, it looked almost identical to your pictures.

bravenrace wrote: In a photo album somewhere I have pictures of the restoration I did to my '70 Formula 400 about 35 years ago. Other than being on cinder blocks instead of wood structure, it looked almost identical to your pictures.

Cool! 70 Formys seem to have almost disappeared. Maybe because they were quicker out of the box than comparably equipped TA's due to the lighter weight and got used for drag cars or whatever. Perhaps many were cloned into TA's? Dunno but I don't see many show up anywhere.

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After getting the other side of tank in primer we got to work on the front fenders. I sandblasted the insides of them and Jeff stripped the outsides with sanders and did some hammer & dolly work before skim coating a couple spots. After a little post blasting prep work on the insides we were ready to get the insides in primer. It was sooo nice to work with rust free fenders!

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Rad_Capz wrote:

The width of those tires is damn sexy. WOW.

Rad_Capz, not only is it a great project, but I will say, you really take some great pictures.

bump for subscribe.

Always loved this car. Hurts a little to see it under the knife, but I'm sure the finished product will be hot.

IMO, keep it red, and keep the shiny side pipes.

gamby wrote: The width of those tires is damn sexy. WOW.

My favorite pic showing the tires.

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Gasoline wrote: Rad_Capz, not only is it a great project, but I will say, you really take some great pictures.

Thanks! But unfortunately I had the good camera out in the backyard to take pics while sandblasting the front fenders. Just as I finished blasting a rainstorm was moving in and I rushed to put everything away. By the time I got everything inside it was really pouring FL style. About 15 minutes later I remembered the camera was sitting on the patio table. You guessed it, a day later it still doesn't work so I can't even get the blasting pics.

Pic today with the old backup camera. Resolution not nearly as good as the Nikon.

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DILYSI Dave wrote: bump for subscribe. Always loved this car. Hurts a little to see it under the knife, but I'm sure the finished product will be hot. IMO, keep it red, and keep the shiny side pipes.

Thanks! It'll be the same color red but the only NOS sidepipes I've been able to find are black and I doubt chroming them or coating them will be in the budget but we'll see.

I really like where this project is going. I makes me want to get the MGA that i have had since i was 18 finished. I am 42 now so it is probably about time.

In reply to Rad_Capz:

What's wrong with the current side pipes?

bravenrace wrote: In reply to Rad_Capz: What's wrong with the current side pipes?

The old pipes had faux headers. Only one tube of what appears to be headers is actually used and was connected to the stock exhaust manifolds. They were fine with the original 350 2V but when I put the 400 in they really limited the engine. The single pipe was very small for a mildly built 400 and only allowed it to pump enough exhaust for 265 RWHP on the dyno. The new full header pipes should uncork it.

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cdowd wrote: I really like where this project is going. I makes me want to get the MGA that i have had since i was 18 finished. I am 42 now so it is probably about time.

A real MGA? My god man, DO EEET!

With no rust repair work needed on either fender bodywork on the outside of the fenders is now roughed in and they're in primer. We'll wait to do finish bodywork till the car is partially reassembled so we can check door/fender gaps etc. and do final blocking.

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I decided to smooth the subframe so all seams and joints are now fully welded and I'm in the process of grinding all the welds.

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In reply to Rad_Capz:

I gave away a set of Hooker chrome side pipes for my Formula back in the day. That and 3 tri-power setups.

Looking good, BTW.

While you're in bodywork - shaved side markers and keyholes? The door handles look good in body color, but I think those other things could be shaved and keep everything looking cleaner without looking crazy custom.

DILYSI Dave wrote: While you're in bodywork - shaved side markers and keyholes? The door handles look good in body color, but I think those other things could be shaved and keep everything looking cleaner without looking crazy custom.

The car's slowly become more of a track car with plates and if I wreck it at a track day, LSR, or whatever I want the safety crews to get me out quickly and easily so no shaved handles.

While I'd like the look of shaved door locks I don't want additional wiring, weight, or headaches. I'm not a gadget guy either so there's no big benefit there for me and if I had money for an electric lock kit I'd spend it on performance stuff.

I debated about the side markers but without shaved handles and locks it would look a little "funny" in my opinion.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to Rad_Capz: I gave away a set of Hooker chrome side pipes for my Formula back in the day. That and 3 tri-power setups.

I searched for years for a good set in chrome but couldn't find any. When the black set came up I jumped on them and kept looking for chrome but none have come up that I've seen.. I think I'm going to try to get a set of spiral mufflers instead of the hooker slide in ones. Bet you're kickin yourself about those tri power setups!

In reply to Rad_Capz:

I was kind of shocked that they don't make those side pipes anymore. Recently they seem to have become more popular.
Yeah, I'm kicking myself for a lot of things I did and didn't do back in the day! Like not keeping my LS6 Chevelle!
I don't even know how I came to have the tri-power setups, but I seemed to collect stuff like that back then without even trying. They didn't fit under the hood of my Formula, so they were no good to me and I got rid of them when they seemed to be just taking up space.

These are the mufflers I'm considering for the sidepipes instead of the Hooker slip in ones that came with them. http://www.spiralturbobaffles.com/ The Hookers are kinda restrictive as you can see in the pic below.

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The side pipes are simple enough that it seems you / someone could fabricate what you want. That may be why Hooker no longer does them - simple enough piece that there's no point. Fabbing it yourself from tube would also allow you to easily use those spiral mufflers rather than cut out the hooker stuff.

I think Hooker stopped making them for 2nd gen Firebirds because demand just faded away as the cars got to the bottom of the depreciation cycle. They stocked the Camaro version for a while longer and then stopped those also.

I dunno about how simple it would be to make nice looking ones. I got a price several years ago from a fab shop that does some really nice work. They quoted 1500.00 to 2000.00 without mufflers. At that time I'd just spent several years savings to get safety equipment so it wasn't in the budget.

I thought about trying to make them myself but while I can turn the dials on a hot metal glue gun and stick pieces of metal together I dunno if I'd be up to making a slick looking set of custom headers. I did consider buying some 18 wheeler style truck stacks for sidepipes and attempting to fab up headers to those, then I came to my senses. I couldn't use the original chrome pipes because they do not have removable mufflers in them and the design is too restrictive for me to consider making full headers to mate to them. Plus I have waaaay too many other projects I'd rather do than try to fab my own headers for this car.

So here's the weekend update.

I have 2 front valance panels. This one is going to remain stock and be a backup in case the modified one doesn't work out the way I want. It had some rust hidden under old bodywork so I welded in some patch panels and then sandblasted it along with some other parts. Next they all got some prep work & primer.

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Idea -

Use a flat collector like this -

to bring the 4 together under the car, and then use the space between the outlets of some shorty headers and the now single inlet to your side pipes for a more effective muffler - something like a Dynomax race bullet.

Of course, getting the black ones Jet Hot coated may be cheaper than all that.