[thefirebirdm@n]

I also decided to clean up and paint the subframe because why not!! And of course there were upgrades. I removed the stock upper and lower control arms and replaced them with DSE Tubular uppers and lowers. I replaced the springs (coil overs are probably going to replace them very soon) and also sent off the gear box to a guy I had found that rebuilds them to have it updated to the more responsive specs you would get for a 78-79 Trans Am. I don't remember the exact number changes off the top of my head.

I kept the steering linkage stock but upgraded the clamps to something more modern. I also removed the stock front calipers and replaced them with Wilwood Dual Piston D-52 calipers which were basically a bolt on and upgraded the size of the rotors. I will probably re-visit the rotors. At the time there was a lot of guidance available to upgrade rotors from 11" to 12". One option was to buy 12" rotors for a later model car which would have come with metric lugs. I had found references to pressing the metric logs out, drilling the lug holes slightly larger and installing standard SAE lugs. That's the route I took. I bought and used a drill press for the work but like I said, given I could have introduced stress cracking I may re-visit this before putting the car back on the road.

[thefirebirdm@n]

Continuing the front clip overhaul:

- replaced the brake booster and master cylinder with a complete new kit from Inline Tube.
- removed and refurbished the wiper motor
- sandblasted the inner fenders and other various small brackets that hold the front sheet metal together and had them powdercoated in a low gloss black
- removed and refurbished the steering shaft assy with a new rag joint and fresh paint. This was interesting because the steering shaft in 73 has two plastic pins in it that act as the sheer joint for a collision. After taking the shaft apart I had to fashion replacement plastic pins when I put it back together.

[thefirebirdm@n]

More pictures of the steering shaft and gear box.

[thefirebirdm@n]

After getting the engine back from Barney, we installed in back into the now completely restored sub-frame and then installed the sub-frame back under the car.

Rather than bolting the front clip back on right away this is where I got the bright idea to restore the entire underside of the car. I had already bought all new stainless brake and fuel lines from Inline Tube, new clips etc... and could not in good conscience install them on a dirty car.

This would lead to the decision that has led to the car sitting for the last 10 years. Well the long delay was really waiting for the right help but that comes later in the thread.

You'll notice I am now running Tribal Tubes Tri-Y headers on the 455. The gentleman who made them and sold them sold me a pair for both my Trans Am and my 69 GTO (another thread waiting for me to author it) and I know there was some controversy and grief with this person and his business during the ensuing years but I had no problem with him. I ordered my two sets of headers, paid for them and they were wasn't much delay in getting them.

I should also point out at this point I am running the aluminum pulley set sold by RAR. I love the way they look, they're lighter and they'll never need paint or rust. This car was also missing the steel tube that protects the starter wire so I bought one off ebay, blasted it and had it powedercoated and installed it.

Next, I suspect this will raise some eyebrows but the goal for cleaning up the underside of the car was not just to clean it up. I also want to paint it or coat it so it would never need anything more than maybe a light cleaning, pressure-washing etc... ever again in the future. I decided to use bedliner.

One of the long time members of our local chapter of the POCI has helped me with the car off an on. In fact he is the key person helping me with the bodywork we are doing to the car right now (I leave in about 10mins to go put another 2-3 hours into as soon as I finish this post) and he was/is a big fan of DIY bedliner and has used in lots of applications. I was impressed with his results and I liked the concept so I made the decision. Its certainly a more permanent decision that under-coating but it will create a nearly impervious barrier for the underside of the car.

The prep is to strip the part to bare metal and then primer and then spray the bedliner over that. The underside of the car will should never rust again and I don't have to worry about exposure to any other fluids that might splash up on it. As of today, all but the back section of the underside of the car has already been covered and TBH I think it looks great too.