WIW 70 Formula
 

Original and complete minus engine & transmission. Free of rust and dents, but in need of full resto after sitting in AZ sun. Carousel red, parchment?, 4-speed, non a/c.

Probably anywhere between $500 & 5000........Depends on how bad you want it/ what it really needs & what you intend to make it into...
You could easily drop 20-30K restoring it.....likely cheaper to find a decent original or one that's already done.

That is pretty much the condition I found mine in and I paid $2800 for it in 2008. If you want to see what it will cost to do the car, you can view my thread since I posted the cost somewhere near the end.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=605832

What's the build date on it? Does it have the 12 bolt in it? Posi? Gears?

I might be interested in it if you want to flip it.

IIRC, 02B. Was told the original "10 bolt" is in it. I thought they all had 12 bolt in 70.

Did you check the VIN? (maybe it's just an Esprit with a hood)

Norwood build SHOULD have W66 on Cowl Tag.

ALL 1970 Formula 400's came with 12 bolts......

I've looked through your thread, thank you for including the link. General condition of the car I'm referring to seems a little better, but not significantly so...hard to tell from photos. Your car certainly turned out terrific...I'd be thrilled with that outcome.

BTWL: VIN and trim tag indicate Formula, Van Nuys, standard sandalwood interior, carousel red (U & L)

Car has decor trim group and all is there except wheel moldings and rocker trim. Also 14 inch rally 2s, rally steering wheel, rally gauges, console...will order my own PHS

Told you that 70 Bird bug was gonna get you, Jeff... :)

Sounds like a cool car!

You were correct, Keith.

Since correct engine, transmission, rear end are all MIA, am thinking 1 of none RA4 type of build...using a cleverly disguised IA II aluminum block & e-heads, 5-speed...otherwise stock appearing inside and out. I drive my cars, and this would be fun.

That's what I was thinking but with a real WW coded block in there, M-20 & 3:73 12 bolt. Really need to have an April-June build date on the cowl to be convincing - that's when the IV TA's were built.

It's on my "future project list" to build something like that, too. It's a long list, though, so not sure I'll ever get there :)

The car you found sounds like a perfect candidate.

Most likely I'll have to edit my signature tomorrow.

I intend to follow through with the basic plan I described below. Won't start until after my TA is finished though...maybe 3-4 months.

Is that paint code 65 or 75? Looks like Cardinal Red in the picture.

Nice score - keep us posted!

Thanks. It's code 65...you can see Carousel Red under the hood, on the fender lips, door jambs, interior, etc.

Excellent! Nice grab!

...and so the fun begins!

That is a great find and a perfect set up and color. No AC, Gauges, Formula wheel, 4 speed, that is all business. The Judge color is over the top. This is one not matching numbers is less of a big deal because the car is just so cool regardless. Nice!

X2. Great find, Jeff!

Thanks, can’t wait to get started on this one. I should have it in my garage next week. I'll be able to disassemble (and document) at a leisurely pace because the body shop won't be ready for it until my TA is done--2-3 months hopefully.

Interesting tid bit…Jim Mattison called me after I sent in the PHS order and asked if the car is really two-tone consisting of, get this, a Palomino Copper lower and Carousel Red upper. Given what the trim tag says and all the Carousel Red that’s visible on the lower body, he chalked it up to a mistake on the factory invoice. Thank goodness...how ugly would that color combination be?

Jeff, was it an M20 or M21 car?

What does the cowl tag say?

It's an M20 car, Keith.

The trim tag say's 65-65, see attached.

Early car... does it have a pot metal tail panel?

Someone neatly cut away two sections where the vents should be at the rear of the hood.

Does anyone have this sectioned-out area, or a trashed hood with a good vent area section available?

...Keith, I'll check on the tail panel when I get the car this week.

There is a guy locally who told me he has been fixing formula hoods by cutting the vent sections out of steel hoods and grafting them into the formula hoods. I have not seen the finished product. Has anyone else done that?

THAT SUCKS! Legit 70 hood too! Don't get rid of that hood - get another and graft that section in.

Yep. Just one of those things I knew I was going to have to deal with when i decided to buy the car. I'm hoping someone has something in their stash I could use to perform the transplant. I'd also consider a complete hood.

Just so you can see what it will look like.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...highlight=1971

Thanks for posting the link. It's a great lookimg car. Considering what I'll have into mine by the time it's done, that was a great deal!

I'll be picking up the car today and dropping it off at my friend's shop. We'll pull the motor & transmission tomorrow and then hauled to my garage to dismantle.

No luck so far finding a donor Formula hood for the vent transplant. I can't believe there aren't junk hoods laying around...I might pick up a good Formula hood to keep on hand in case the grafting idea doesn't work out.

I'm glad to read another carousel red formula is being saved!

For a while I felt quite unique, and people would legitimately quiz me because they thought I was just in error stating my car was carousel red.

:D

Picked up the car today. I'm going to attempt to get it started tomorrow--it will be easier to sell the motor ('70 400 out of a big car) if I know it's running, and if I'm lucky, I'll get to do a couple burnouts before it comes out.

do you have a WT engine for it already?
for all intensive purposed a full car L78 is the same as a Firebird L78 - other than the stamping...
plus all the engine parts are probably date coded for each other...

there was a '70 L78/mt distributor on ebay last week.
I nearly bought it, but after the seller seemed UNUSUALLY skiddish about a Canadian buyer, I didn't up my initial proxy bid and lost out.

Keep posting - and I'll come back more frequently than I have for the last couple years!!

My bad, I just rehashed over your RAIV posts...

too cool.

I think I might still be unique after finishing my car regardless of the transmission installed...
(right now I have a 100% correct '70 M13, in addition to a '69(?) M20, and the original (as purchased) '72 M22)

Your car should also be unique - maybe we'll be fortunate enough to be unique in the same parking lot at some point ;)

The previous owner told me the car hadn't been started since 2007, but that he was sure it would run. He was right. We changed the battery, checked the oil, put some new fuel in the tank, turned the key, and she started right up! My friend and I took turns driving the car up and down the street. I got to do my burnout. I then parked it in his shop and we proceeded to pull the motor and transmission. No real surprises along the way. I spent a lot of time under the car and am very pleased with the condition of the floors. I noticed rust through on the bottom of the quarters that is more extensive than I originally thought, but I didn't find any real surprises. Front valence and core support in awesome shape.

if you're doing a full drivetrain swap might you consider selling your four speed to another '70 Formula owner?
(assuming it's a nice '70 M20; please PM me if you would consider it)

I've been meaning to go to Arizona... I need an AZ In N Out burger shirt to finish my collection ;)
CA - check
NV - check
UT - check
AZ - haven't been there yet (and buying online is cheating)

To my surprise, the partial vin stamp on the M20 confirms that it's original to the car. And my drive yesterday confirms that it works quite well. Although my plans do not involve using it, I'd feel bad letting it go...and it would make a nice spare for my TA...that said, everything has a price ;) send me a PM if you want to make me an offer.

I'd be willing to pick up a shirt for your collection...just give me your size and I'll send one your way...

I more or less guessed this.

As it might not be a surprise to some here, my all time favorite car is the '70 Formula;
In my dealings, one in particular, I picked up information relative to what went on in the past;
This one '70 Formula that I was paramount in the sale of, the owner related to me getting his car's engine rebuild in the very early 1980's, and having some headache in the insistance of rebuilding his car's original motor - it seems to have been common practice to swap engines for a correct one when something went awry - assuming that the machine shop had a rebuild core on hand...
Transmissions on the other hand seem to generally only get "misplaced" from their original car when someone grenades it, or it get's "upgraded";
EG:
M13 -> M20/M21/M22
M20 -> M21/M22
M21 -> M22

This is understandable.
The oly way that I would pay a bit extra, or go out of my way to buy an M20, is if it was from a '70 Firebird...

I did buy last fall a hodge-podge M20, that I believe is a 1969 unit - but it has had one or two of the ears welded, and I believe the tail housing was swapped... but it leaks a little, and although it looks good, I would feel best rebuiling it (might even buy a supercase and an upgraded midplate) ~ so I do have one, but I'm not totally inseperable from it (I have no doubt, considering the price I got it at, that I would be able to recoup my $$ as-is).

If at some point you reconsider, keep me in mind. :)

Nahh, thanks for the offer - I kinda have to physically pick one up for it to be legit in my books ;)

The car is now in my garage. For some reason, the scope of the project seemed a lot less daunting when the car was sitting in the previous owner's yard.

I'm going to start with the interior because I want it to be mostly correct, and I suspect that some of the things I'll need to do this will take time to find.

Not sure at this point whether it would be best to let Just Dashes do the complete door panels, or only the armrests and go with new door panels.

Keith, I confirmed that the tail light panel is not pot metal.

It would probably seem a lot less daunting if you didn't have two other projects going, too :)

Pssst : They're also in Texas now too!

oh crap....

Yes indeed! And if the cars were't enough, we had a hot water heater failure that ruined the wood floors in our home. We had to move out while they were being redone and so we decided to have some remodeling done as well. To give you an idea of how much this project has snowballed, I spent Friday afternoon with my wife picking out new hardware for the 40 or so doors in the house. We found a rental down the street, but it's going on three months now living out of suitcases. I'll take a car project over this one any day of the week :)

Oh wow!!! - I'm sorry to read about this!!

I spent a couple hours on the car this weekend removing the interior. The floors and trunk need absolutely no work. The steering wheel, gauges, switches, heater ducts, a pillar trim, and headrests look to be in great shape, seats are solid but need rebuild/recover. Will need just about everything else though.

Well, we moved back into our house last Friday and everything is about back in it's place now.

Haven't done much with the Formula except to chip away at disassembly and plan the build. At this point, I've committed to the aluminum IA II engine I mentioned previously, and also a complete subframe & suspension setup from DSE.

Still chipping away. Front sheet metal looks great except for some deterioration of the inner structure/bracing of the passenger fender, just the lower section in front of the door. It should be easy enough to repair, but I saw a set of perfect rust-free '70 fenders at a swap meet this morning, and I just couldn't help myself.

It appears the RH side lower quarter has been repaired previously--discovered nicely done & hidden lap seam about an inch above the horizontal crease that goes from the tail panel to the wheel well. It looks like an original panel was used for the repair, but since it's rusted through on the bottom, I'll have the whole thing re-done the right way...guess I'll have to look for a quarter section. I'm hesitant about using a reproduction skin because the lower section doesn't appear to have the same contour and I'm not sure if it can be worked so that it looks correct (and match the other side).

In any case, does anyone have a lead on an OE quarter section or NOS piece? I know something like this will be pricy but I've budged for these types of surprises.

The formula is now fully disassembled, but still a roller. It will be leaving my garage tomorrow to begin the odyssey of what has snowballed into a pro-touring type of build.

And so we begin! First step will be a trip to the frame shop to make sure everything's in order before the fun starts.