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That is one sweet looking bird.
I just want good pics before it leaves the nest. One of them ol' boys whipped the throttle a little once in neutral, probably checking the tach out lol. Man, did it sound um... just nasty!
Scotty I was shooting at it the whole time they were trying to drive off... couldn't stop em, sorry bud.
Well, I waited a long time to get these and the lighting could be better... but here they are. I had to shoot around people fussing over it just before customer pickup. This is the junk at work part. Those are still 2002 Grand Prix trunk hinges (modified) holding the hood up. We ended up using lift struts for lambo door conversions, for their short but powerful stroke. Wheel travel now enters the area where the stock hinge was located. The car is only four feet tall. Generally speaking, this was a nightmare build. It sure has a nightmare appearance! But its solid, and rest assured the customer will keep the tach in the wild range. The souped-up LS7 / T56 is silly fast in this oversized go-kart for sure, but no cage all car.
Its a plain '73 350 Firebird on a Roadster Shop frame with fully fabbed floor (the whole thing is a unibody now, sheetmetal still unbolts but not the frame. Frame rails are inside rockers now) by a guy who is on his own doing lowrider stuffs now. Note the fancy fabbed wheelwells, firewall, cowl filler, bumper to core sup't filler. Plus the outrageous, plus-sized, and functional shaker hood scoop with it's own complex fabricated panels made by a guy who is a street rodder and Jeeper at heart. I'm the only Pontiac lover for miles around and I did whut I could for it.
As you might be able to tell, it hasn't had the show-worthy detail job it needs since completion. You can tweak a build like this until doomsday but at some point you gotta cut it loose. Let me see if I can list what I did to it, in case you want to ask about something you see.
Tore down interior, filler on at least one door- both quarters- both fenders- hood- flares and spoilers, donated parts and finished metal work on hood hinges, finished / re-did metal work on modified hood n fenders- split bumper- exhaust tip- tail panel area, underhood filler panels, installed door latch poppers- seals- handles- moldings- hidden release- windows, made covers at hood hinges on wheelwells (fiberglass from scratch, never bondoed or painted just spray painted lol). Sanding in preparation for and between clear coats on the hood, and sand / buff hood and shaker. Plus whatever I forgot or just helped with. I am responsible for the fit of everything but the one back hood corner you see sticking up will go down but was out of my control when taking pics. Whew! But... thats nothing next to what the others did. I also have another bucket-load of the process but these are my official "done" pics.
I've said it before and I will say it again, that thing is freakin sweet. You did an amazing job. I dare ask how much that thing would sell for after watching Barrett Jackson all weekend especially after the 77 Trans Am went for a half million
Ohara I think we may have built it for half that, nuf sed. Took a couple years and there were related and unrelated hurdles along the way. You should hear it go through the gears though. That can be done a half mile away if you're behind it, lol. It has a modded vette sound and the tach wraps up like a tetherball man. Wicked as it looks! I was driving my GTP back from lunch one day and saw this tiny little dark lump car coming at me... couldn't make it out until I was right up on it... it was this thing. Its like a Stealth Am lol.
Back to the grind of regular work stuffs. I'm told this got away from a lube tech and ate shop wall. I fix.
Might as well whore some T-bird pics up here, too. This one just went home, too. It was a full resto-mod and it has rack n pinion, discs, OD, etc. And I have unearthed more ride pics from the shop to share sometime. Patience.
I didn't put the white one together but I tore it down and fixed the body. Heres one I fixed the body on and put together after paint. From a couple years ago. Both are 61-3 Thunderbirds with 390s.
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All I can say is you do some incredible work. The price on the Trans am seems about right considering the attention to detail and modifications that you can see have been done, I can only imagine what can't be seen in the pics.
Ohara, thanks.There is a lot not seen in the pics. One day I will assemble an online album on the whole build, at least what I took pics of. Several of my pet projects have thousands of pics but on that Firebird the grand total is 655. So far. She bombed a photo just today. Been driven a couple weeks now and its back for a planned visit after that shakedown. Damn it looks juicy and oh that sound. Unmistakeable.
Anyhow, I'm back on this thread to drop a crash fix on ya. Plain stuff. My friend had a wreck and chose our shop for the insurance fix. I'll take it. Tore it down today. You guys can check it out, its not very bad but its silly how the bumper brackets are welded to the frame on these. I have done this exact same repair so many times I can't remember... dozens of them. If the frame horns are too smashed they get cut off and replaced with bolt-ons. I've had to section a new rail end on a couple too. As usual, the tow hook did a number on the rail so it points down now. Core support was knocked over maybe 3/4". Blah blah pics- and yeah how about that gag me color on the 66 Chevy stuff?
Eric, Dixie cups because frequent airbrush and for gun cleaning. And for sipping reducer on occasion.
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