[RAJ7395]

Did the 1969 TA come with resonators or where they replaced with sections of pipe??? The YO catalog lists these repacement pipe sections as being used in 1969 400 firebirds and TA's but I can't find any proof.

[RAJ7395]

Did the 1969 TA come with resonators or where they replaced with sections of pipe??? The YO catalog lists these repacement pipe sections as being used in 1969 400 firebirds and TA's but I can't find any proof.

[chas-3]

Wow. I can't believe nobody replied to this. The 1969 400 cars (at least) with dual exhaust, came with two small resonators placed inline prior to the tubes that go over the axle. Then of course you have the single muffler (dual inlet, dual outlet).

Anyone know where to get an OEM style muffler for the 1969 Firebird?

[steveK]

Chas, try Classic Industries. The have the dual inlet/outlet muffler as well as the resonators. Only problem on the resonators is they enter in the center not L-R on each side but exit properly L or R. On the muffler, the cost is $65 I believe and it is aluminized as well.

[JKGTO]

Did all the 69 dual exhaust cars get resonaters? On GTO's only the automatic trans cars got resonaters.

[steveK]

All 69 FB had the resonators and mufflers. i like th esound of just the muffler so I have that on the convertible but the TA has just the resonators. Both sound great.

[steveK]

All 69 FB with duals had the resonators and mufflers. i like th esound of just the muffler so I have that on the convertible but the TA has just the resonators. Both sound great.

[RAJ7395]

My 1969 TA has the dual resonators and the single dual inlet dual outlet mufflers. I bought a concourse quality kit from Gardner Exhaust Systems 5 years ago.

When reading the Year One catalog, they list the resonator pipe part number H02 for $16.95 and say that it is "only correct for 1969 Ram Air III cars."
I cannot find any proof that this statement is true. According the the build sheets, the RAIII cars had resonators and a muffler. Is Year One intentionally misrepresenting this item in order to sell it???

[steveK]

I think it is a mistake as 400's and 350's had them too. I looked at it in the assy manual as well as the maint manual which show them together. Nice detailing work on the undercarrage you did. I did mine in the POR 15 chassis top coat. Looks pretty good and came out uniform. What did you use? Looks like you spent a lot of time cleaning the under body too. -S

[dave bolduc]

i also bought the gardner exhaust for my 69 convt
350, standard headers and two resonators with the muffler mounted verticle in front of the punpkin. Im ready to change my exhaust installed just last sept and am looking for someone interested.. reply

[RAJ7395]

Thanks for the compliment Steve!
I sand blasted the entire underside of the car until it was bare metal and shot it with POR-15 chasis coat black. I wasn't real happy with it so I shot over it with GM recon black. I agree with you and think the back half turn out pretty good but I'm still beating my head against the wall on the front. The car was from New Mexico so it was %100 rust free when I bought it. Therefore, I didn't have to replace the trunk, floorboards, rockers, etc. The penalty is that I'm now dealing with trying to straighten and pound out the dented floor pans.

As for the the rest of the car, the engine, tranny, brakes, steering, and suspension are complete except for a good cleaning and the ever present touchups where I knicked the paint of the fastners while installing them and the always present touchup. The rest of the shell is done and ready for paint as are the hood, doors, and fenders. I still have to round up a solid rust free 69 trunk lid, clean up the cowl, and work on the NOS front fenders before saving up big money for the final paint job.

Needless to say I'm still in process. What a pain in the a$$ but I love it!! Have a good one!!

[steveK]

RAJ, looks really nice!! I was hoping to take mine to the E-town HPP show but looks like I have problems with the pressure plate. So I'll take the 69 FB conv. instead. I guess you should not trust 30+ year NOS parts wwhen it comes to trans parts as it is binding and slipping all over. I ordered the BW setup from PY but will not get it done by showtime. Let me know when you go for paint. My TA came out geat and I'll send you some shots later.

[RAJ7395]

Yipes! I wish you the best of luck getting your tranny back up and running and look forward to seeing pictures of your TA. Got any tips on what to do/not to do to prepare for paint?? I heard that the stripe kits aren't very helpfull.

[steveK]

I had a major problem with the stencil/stripe kit from PY which comes from Pheonix Graphics. Cost me a lot of headaches and money. Over $2250 spent undoing the glue and mess the kit left. The width of the stripes were of varying widths from the rear deck to behind the rear window panel. The stencil came off in little peices so Pheonix wants you to send back the whole kit to check it out. There was nothing left to send back so I'm out 225 for the kit and 2K for the undoing. The car had to be wet sanded as the stencils glue leached out into the paint so the lines were not sharp but ragged. The shop redid it all using 3M pinstripe as a stripe guide and the assy manual for placement. That worked great so it only took the 1/2 day to apply it. 1/2 day to reshoot and finish. So instead of saving time it cost me 2.5 days in effort and 2G's extra. I'll fill you in on the other stuff later if you need info. Just wrap the car well in the engine bay, trunk, and interior etc. as the dust gets everywhere.

[This message was edited by steveK on May 02, 2003 at 09:12 AM.]

[steveK]

Here is a pic of my TA after I finished final assembly.
http://www.ricksclassicgarage.com/pr...AmFinsihed.jpg
I got to drive it for the first time since it had spun the #4 Bearing in 1971 while racing as I was told. I drove it to the shop that did the paint so the boys who worked on it could see the finished product. Not too bad for a 33+ car!

[RAJ7395]

Sweet!!!

[chas-3]

Steve,
Thanks for the Classic Industries lead. Also, it's been a while since we exchanged 69 T/A info. Good to see your car finished. It looks really nice!

I gotta tell you folks I tried the muffler only on my 69 T/A and I thought it sounded horrible - maybe it was the brand of muffler? Once I got the resonators on it, that nice low rumble came back which I really like.

[steveK]

Chas, no problem on the muffler. I just used the resonators on my TA as I liked the sound. On my 69 convertible I used just the rear muffler and the sound was nice there as well. When you idling, the car has a nice low rumble! Thanks for the compliment on the TA. Sometime I'll post the original shots i recieved prior to purchase. It was a total wreck...the body was cut up like a jigsaw puzzle!

[firebird69racer]

Steve nice pic. I noticed you have hood pins could you take some close up pics of them and how and were you located them, as I'am going to be using them on my repo TA hood. you can send them to my e-mail at [email protected] .Also could you tell me the size of the smaller stripe and the spacing between it and the larger one.
thank you

[steveK]

I'll take a look at the hood pin placement tonight. The 69 Accessory manual had hood pins as an option for the 69 bird/TA. They used Mr. Gasket which are available from Classic Industries. Stripe placement, I will get for you from my TA assy manual.