1967 Firebird "Bad Bird" Project

[fryer1979]

Ok, so I figured I would post this up here in the Alternate Tinkerings sections since it is the beginning of a new project for me. I have wanted a '67 F-body since I was a young kid, but never had one...even though I did have a pretty gnarly '68 RS Camaro shortly after high school. The story on this 'Bird is it was at a local recycling yard about to meet the crusher when the crusher broke down. When I found out about her, she was litterally sitting in front of the crusher, next in line to meet her doom once the machine was repaired. I got in touch with the owner of the yard (while I was at a car show of all things) and told him not to crush it, that I wanted it regardless of the condition. The show I was at was on a Saturday, and I was at the yard gate Monday morning when they opened. I was hoping to get a picture of her sitting in front of the crusher for the photo album, but they had already pulled her to safety for me.

I know she is rough, but her body is basically straight and that is what matters most to me. I have no insterest in letting her disappear into the crowd of stock restos, and pro touring resto-mods.....I am building a 50's and 60's style straight axle drag racer! And because I started with this old worn down hulk, no one can get in their feelings about me cutting up a pristene classic.....she doesn't eve have most of her floor! She will stand tall, she will have Poncho power, and she will shake the ground she rolls over! My buddy from my car club has a '67 Cougar that he wants to build the same way, so it is going to be a little friendly competition kind of thing...of course we will be working on each others cars as well. Our goal is to finish these cars the way a gearhead in the 60's may have done their race car. The goal is to have both cars on the road next spring, we'll see how this goes. Gonna be slow starting out due to the current show season and that our club is very active with the running and driving cars we have now. But we will be pounding out some real work once the shows start winding down. Man I'm so stoked!!!!!

When I first saw her, I couldn't stop shaking like a kid on Christmas morning:



Bringing her out of her tucked away safe corner to load on our trailer.





Off the trailer and sitting on a Dana 60 rear that we found in a friend's yard. The rear end is only held in place by a handful of rachet straps...

[fryer1979]

And finally at home where she belongs in my shop. Once I get some more time I'll take a few more pictures of the interior and such so you all can see what I really am starting with. Like I said, she will be slow at first, but progress will pick up....especially since I have a really good friend (in the shop right next to me) who is just as stoked as I am.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Really cool story! I'm surprised they didn't already punch holes through the doors to load it.

Yours is still in better shape than mine. I'm going to need a full floor, inner and outer rockers, and full rear quaters.

[NONHOG]

Excellent year. Want one!

[Dieselwrencher]

Man, awesome find! That is pure luck to save it from the crusher! I'm glad you're going to save it, that is too nice of a shell to crush! A gasser is a great idea. It'll be different for sure!

[67ChevyRedneck]

I did a google image search and these were all I could find, the blue one is definitely one, but I'm not sure about the other one.

[Dieselwrencher]

The green one isn't. You can see the LH lower control arm in the pic.

[Car'n'Guitars]

I'm in, that's got a really clean body on it compared to a lot of other cars.

[fryer1979]

Thanks for the interest guys. Yeah she isn't in too bad of shape really, considering what I have seen a lot of others have had to start with. I looked around for a while and couldn't find any pictures of Firebirds done how I vision my own, but I did see quite a few other cars that I did like. I saved a couple pics from the net just to give an example of the style I am trying to achieve. Again, i know these aren't firebirds, they are just a good example of my style. I don't want to be too nose high, but a straight axle is a must for my build. And I want it to have a very late 60's early 70's vibe to it...I haven't decided for sure on altering the wheelbase or not yet...

[fryer1979]

Ok, so actually back to the car itself. I took a few more pictures of the inside so anyone following along can have the best idea of what I'm starting with here. Again, this is probably going to be a bit of a slow build as spare cash allows, and it certainly isn't going to be a high dollar show car either. A lot of the parts are going to be coming from junkyards or other random sources we can get our hands on. They will be safe of course, but the goal is to build something cool, unusual, and an absolute blast to drive without spending a life savings. I guess we shall see how it all turns out.







While I was working on my Chevy pickup last week, I did take some time to clean all of the junk out of the 'bird to see what the remaining floors looked like. Not too bad I say. I have a lot of cleaning up to do as the rear floor pans were cut out with a torch, and done very slopy at that. Lots of work, but far from impossible.

[Narxoleptic Customs]

Good job saving the car. Keep us posted, no matter how slow...
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[fryer1979]

Thanks, and will do. I want to document as much of this build as I can since it will be so different from anything I have done before, so there should be plenty to share as we progress with the build. Right now I am just really focused on trying to get my 65 pickup squared away a lot more than she is. Once I am done with that I should be in a much better spot to devote some serious time to "Bad Bird".

[vin63]

Very cool...that's just my kind of Pontiac project. Subscribed.

[Beetle]

I am wondering, are you going for a gasser type look? I like what you have so far, you don't see too many birds, always the Camaros. Keep it up!

[fryer1979]

Originally Posted by Beetle

I am wondering, are you going for a gasser type look? I like what you have so far, you don't see too many birds, always the Camaros. Keep it up!

Kind of a gasser theme, but more of an "altered wheelbase Batch-Match" car to represent what the big three did on the strip on the mid 60's. I'm just not sure how "altered" the wheel base is going to be just yet. It will for sure have a straight axle front end though, no question or doubt there. It truely will be a unique car, then to have a similarly built '67 Cougar next to it.....they will draw a crowd for sure.

[fryer1979]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention: my buddy and I figured out the perfect donor for a straight axle front end. Theoretically it should work, and the junkyards are full of them. Here in a couple weeks after I get paid again we are going to go scrounge the local Pick 'n Pull yards to see what we can find. If anyone is interested, and things go like we hope, I'll let y'all know what we have come up with. These things are going to be crazy!

[LEEVON]

You know, I already have my opinions about the majority of Californians, but what kind of a**hole takes that car to the scrapper?!!!

You're in the minority of good ones. This is going to be a cool build!

[fryer1979]

Thanks man. There are a handful of us out here, you just have to know the right corners of the state to look.