[JUDGE3]

Thanks HWYSTR455 really appreciate your input especially the electrical info.

iv'e been on "coronacation" giving me the chance to really get things done. i'm in hard core get it done mode. like you, its been to long since iv'e got to drive a Pontiac with power.

doubt I do it because of $ but I may call in the pros for final paint just to git' er done.

[JUDGE3]

low profile X mat installed. do the doors later after paint.

i'm on a coronacation roll...….

[JUDGE3]

Fun to replicate a photo when the chance presents itself.

blue pics are October 2015 as purchased. black are today. same U haul style trailer.

the weather is supposed to be clear tomorrow, the plan is, although the car is insured, I bought it out of state so I have to have the vin to title inspected up at the tag office and then officially tag/register the car. then head to the exhaust shop I've done business with since 1980 and get that all installed.

same car but quite the different configuration and minus all the rust.

yeha! fun times!

[JUDGE3]

2 1/2", H-pipe, 14" dynomax ultra flows, dual open 1 1/4" pypes splitter tips.

cannot believe how good this system sounds! the dynomax ultra flows are now my go to muffler as well, after being a flowmaster 40 guy on my last 3 cars.

Like others I was expecting them to be way to loud and to deep a tone. ear to ear grin when I fired it up. I believe their quieter than 40's yet have this what I'll call
-for me- that "perfect" tone! picking the right muffler/exhaust is as important as picking the right cam, ha.

a few here talked great about the dynomax ultra flows and then reading thru my collector/now valuable Jim Hand engine book and he rated them at the very top, that pushed me over the edge on em. their perfect and happen to flow a lot to boot.

And did what Pontiac shoulda done, put the splitters on instead of the straight pipe. heck, the 64 GTO had splitters. its a Pontiac thing. anyway I love em. for me the key to making em look right for a 70-73 car is don't expose to much of the tips. it looks like more but there's only one inch down past the quarter panel. and seeing the hot steam come outta the 4 open pipes in winter just looks cool. side benefit is dumping the exhaust straight at the pavement for a quieter effect. that i'm digging it is an understatement!

drove the car home from the muffler shop for its first lengthy drive. around 15 miles. drove great and rock solid. mercy I'm ready to git er done. yeha

[JUDGE3]

Did what I said I wouldn't do. put the necessary ingredients on and drove the car off and on all summer. 269 miles worth lol. glad I did, its been a blast and the car drives/rides great and I needed to feel the pontiac power. even in this primered condition it got a lot of attention. purged my need to burn a lot of rubber to. glad I did this actually, gives the suspension/nuts and bolts a "pre-load" to settle prior to final fitment. nice brief break in on the new drivetrain also.

I have completed all the shimming and adjustment portions on the body everywhere. now I'll be able to record the exact shims/shim quantity etc when I dis-assemble for paint. just finalized that today.

next is to weld wire as needed to get the gaps nice all around. goal is done by this time next year. I didn't realize the fun of the new gauges means the miles on the car are all mine. like a new car again.

don't laugh to hard viewers, i'm going on 60 now, found this picture of me circa 1982 age 21 with my 1980 Trans Am I bought brand new. I lifted weights back then. thats a 442 behind me that my good friend still owns to this day. I remember when he got it and promptly outran me in my 67 Gto. the 442 is a 455 car. ran real good still does. but he hasn't beat me in any pontiac since!

fun stuff

[HWYSTR455]

Oh I get that, being able to drive a little before it's 100% done! At that point with the tribute project, and it's like a kid at xmas! And true too about having a fresh odometer, and knowing the 'start' point!

I bought my 'bird in Feb '81, and am looking forward to get back on that project! Your thread here is helping me mentally prepare!


.

[firebirdcrazy1959]

wow,i have to do the same on my 77 with the torque pockets and frame rails.Where did you get the front frame rails that connects to the torque pocket?can only find the rear half not that front part?I have the torque pockets just need to get the rails.

[cnc]

Originally Posted by JUDGE3

low profile X mat installed. do the doors later after paint.

i'm on a coronacation roll...….

Did u buy the 5sheet kit????
Looks good

[JUDGE3]

Originally Posted by firebirdcrazy1959

wow,i have to do the same on my 77 with the torque pockets and frame rails.Where did you get the front frame rails that connects to the torque pocket?can only find the rear half not that front part?I have the torque pockets just need to get the rails.

I bought full frame rails so I could cut them where I choose. through rock auto was cheapest and pretty sure they were goodmark. if you look, you will find its cheaper to buy the full rails than any repair pieces.

I didn't care about cosmetic perfection under the car, just excellent structure strength and rust proofing. no museum car for me I love driving and racing em. point is, you can splice in a repair section to not even show if you wanted to go to the trouble. I overlapped mine at least 3" over the good solid rust free portion of the original rail. then plug welded double what factory did, then edge welded the entire section also.

to do it the way I did you will need to first re-weld/install the new floorboard piece above the torque box. you can fab one or what I did was buy 2 separate floor pieces and cut what I needed. I just wanted a nice match there. the repop floor pieces make it a better and easier fitment for welding in the new torque box.

be careful when removing the torque box and floor section from the rocker panel. the first side I did I went a little crazy with the air chisel and bent the rocker panel on the inboard side denting it outboard. well, you can't get in there and pound that out. I had to cut the inboard dented area out and fab and weld a new flat piece in. no biggi, but I hate creating rework. and air saw or sawzall would have and did work better on the other side.

[JUDGE3]

I did fab my own trunk floor pieces above the rear repair rail portions. my trunk floor was in great shape but still had to go thru the floor to do it. the underneath shape of the trunk it was to hard to try and get to the inboard spot welds.

If your car is on a rotisserie these repairs would almost be fun. but (i'm whining again) on your back at my age fighting weld spatter and grinding really really sucked lol. but its worth it. feel real good about it when done.

[JUDGE3]

Originally Posted by cnc

Did u buy the 5sheet kit????
Looks good

I used eastwood pn# 15841 its a 9 piece 18" x 31" box. I bought 2 box's and have 5 left in the second box. but thats good because I will use it on the doors and a few small areas and possible the rear deck shelf. its good stuff.

I have read where some of the thicker expensive stuff creates a fitment issue come carpet time and such. this stuff far exceeds factory tar paper anyway.

get the wide roll of metal tape from home depot. much cheaper and no need to buy the brand name mat specific stuff for twice the price.

its the first time iv'e used this stuff, be ready for a workout installing it with the roller you will need. pictures make it look like you simply lay it in there and form it like wrapping a lovely baked potato. nope. it takes a lotta effort! ya need the extra for screwin up a cut here and there.

I drove the car with just this in it, felt around above the mufflers and tranny tunnel. well worth it, works great. and as far as the added weight......I saved that by cutting out the crazy heavy, hinge wearing out, inner door sidebeams that all my other cars never had anyway. I loved cutting those things out. 21 lbs each. i weighed em.

[JUDGE3]

I went ahead and welded on these repair washers you can get for the front subframe. mine really didn't need em but in my overkill ways I wanted to beef em up while i'm in there. rear ones were perfect did nothing to those. front ones carry the load so just did the front.

mercy, it all started with the front subframe. shudder.

[JUDGE3]

So when removing the door sidebeam, there's a vertical support that runs from the top of the sidebeam to the horizontal long upper skin support. after removing the sidebeam, this takes away some of the support.

to overcome that, I installed the skin, then used loctite high density expanding foam full length of the horizontal support between the support and skin. worked great and firmed it up better than it was from the factory. lighter/solid door.

after the loctite drys, easy to trim off all the excess. sticky stuff, its never gonna shrink or rot off.

just yakkin, saving the doors turned out to be one of the most enjoyable restoration points.

[firebirdcrazy1959]

Originally Posted by JUDGE3

I bought full frame rails so I could cut them where I choose. through rock auto was cheapest and pretty sure they were goodmark. if you look, you will find its cheaper to buy the full rails than any repair pieces.

I didn't care about cosmetic perfection under the car, just excellent structure strength and rust proofing. no museum car for me I love driving and racing em. point is, you can splice in a repair section to not even show if you wanted to go to the trouble. I overlapped mine at least 3" over the good solid rust free portion of the original rail. then plug welded double what factory did, then edge welded the entire section also.

to do it the way I did you will need to first re-weld/install the new floorboard piece above the torque box. you can fab one or what I did was buy 2 separate floor pieces and cut what I needed. I just wanted a nice match there. the repop floor pieces make it a better and easier fitment for welding in the new torque box.

be careful when removing the torque box and floor section from the rocker panel. the first side I did I went a little crazy with the air chisel and bent the rocker panel on the inboard side denting it outboard. well, you can't get in there and pound that out. I had to cut the inboard dented area out and fab and weld a new flat piece in. no biggi, but I hate creating rework. and air saw or sawzall would have and did work better on the other side.

i can only find 70-73 full frames,wondering the difference between 73 to 77?

[JUDGE3]

I would triple check with the 77-78 section guys to be certain, but you stated you have the rear repair sections located, I would think the rears would have been the only difference due to 70-73 rears connecting to a steel rear inner tail panel. seems the fronts would be the same. you may be stuck with buying repair sections for 77-78. wish I had info for you there but I have no knowledge of the 77-78 rails. but the replacement of the rails or repairs are so common you will find what you need.

please post what you find out, i'm curious about that as I would like to own a 77-78 eventually (wanted a 78 instead of the new 301 1980 I bought new but I was 18 and dad had to co-sign and didn't approve of the 400 engine because he could see I loved making power improvements!)

I'm just guessing but I bet the 70-73 rails are the same for them, possibly just minor mod somewhere?

[firebirdcrazy1959]

my first bird was a 70,then had a 71,and about 6 other year birds.my 77 is a numbers matching 400-4spd car,red body, white interior.sat for 19 years,was restored and then parked under pine trees with a cover.but 19 years is a long time for metal to sit...
might have to buy full ones and cut what i need.did the floors last summer,and i just bought the rear under seat section,the full one not each side.i bought the torque pockets this summer..need to do the trunk also...

[cnc]

What is metal tape from HD for butt joints ...

[JUDGE3]

Originally Posted by cnc

What is metal tape from HD for butt joints ...

metal tape. the thin metal tape used in the hvac industry to seal up splices etc. you want to use it at all the xmat areas (or any brand) where they butt up together to completely seal up any gaps. self adhesive. google it.

hears a welding tip iv'e not seen anyone mention....the metal tape works great for holding a panel or bracket whatever in place while you get the first couple tac welds in place. metal. won't burn. handy when a clamp etc isn't possible.

[cnc]

Appreciate the help...

[cnc]

Just ordered the xmat u suggested.....won’t get it till the borders open sent to friends in Michigan for the free shipping
Have u put carpet in the car yet????