[7t4mula]

Was happy to see that things looked pretty decent. I did have some light scoring on bearings, due to some wearing of pushrods against guide plates. I had planned to replace all bearings and piston rings anyway.

The .040 over TRW forged alum. pistons and SD455 rods all looked very good. Decided to stay with that combination, along with the Crane Blazer camshaft that was in excellent condition.

[7t4mula]

Been a busy week, but thought I’d post a few more pictures here….

Mounting panels, fitting gaps and pinning each is one of Jeff’s special methods to get things back in place perfectly after paint. It works fantastic!

Nice little dent puller to straighten out dings, to limit final filler skin coat to as little as possible. Will be blocking and sanding soon!

[7t4mula]

Having a little bit of trouble with the website lately, as I’m sure a lot of you have been. I’ll give this another shot.

Pretty cool seeing the front quarters, core support, and nose going back on. It’s been decades since they’ve been there!

[Gator67]

Originally Posted by 7t4mula

The new Willwood, six piston front calipers and four piston rear calipers really looked amazing on there! I thought I was going to get shiny zinc coated rotors according to the catalog, but I actually really liked the look of these black ones!

The black will come off the rotors once you start driving it.

Your car is turning out great! The period color looks perfect. I love pro-touring style cars...my '70 Formula (Detroit Speed, Baer, etc.) is an absolute blast to drive. Also finishing up a '79 TA with my son, on this one we went with Ridetech & Wildwood like you did. I have a friend up the road here who's done a half dozen or so pro-touring style second gen birds with similar set-ups and all have turned out great...(in fact, several just left this morning for the Bandit Run).

[7t4mula]

Thanks Gator, that’s great that we’ve got so many common factors on the pro-touring builds! I too have seen so many great projects like this, both Firebird and Camaro!

This 1-3/8 diameter muscle bar from Ride Tech looks very stout, should be a great improvement up front in handling from the old original. Interesting that bushing kit they have, has a fabric embedded in the material to reduce friction there!

[7t4mula]

Was pretty cool to see the rear spoiler from my ‘73 car go in there! Fit nicely and not too badly nicked up.

He was also using paint sticks for getting even panel gaps, good tip!

[7t4mula]

He used a heavy coat of rubberized filler to restore the nose, kind of daunting when you first see it caked on there!

[7t4mula]

Lots of block- sanding going on and even my wife and grandson got to visit and check it out!

[7t4mula]

Get a little dusty at times, that’s a given!!

In the meantime, back at the ranch, I was beginning to polish some of the trim work that was salvageable. Headlight and parking lamp surrounds were great! Lenses definitely were toast!

The new RingBros hood hinges came in, super excited about how nice they looked!

[7t4mula]

Lots of primer going down, and great to see this progress. Jeff was really pouring the coals to this project and at the same time being diligent about doing it right. It’s all about attention to detail to get final paint looking flawless!

[7t4mula]

I was entertaining the idea of having painted pearl white stripes on the hood, and continuing over the roof and
deck lid.. after laying it out with tape, just didn’t look right. Save that for the 69 Trans Ams!

Underside of hood looks awesome after cleanup and paint!

[7t4mula]

He used a laser level to get a perfect position and alignment of the Formula 400 emblem on the passenger fender. That panel must’ve been replaced in a collision repair years ago, was way off.

Really liked the look of the smoothed firewall, and the body was looking really nice and clean, even in just primer!

[kingbuzzo]

good progress

[jhein]

Originally Posted by 7t4mula

I was entertaining the idea of having painted pearl white stripes on the hood, and continuing over the roof and
deck lid.. after laying it out with tape, just didn’t look right. Save that for the 69 Trans Ams!

Underside of hood looks awesome after cleanup and paint!

Good call on the stripes. I've never liked that look on a Formula.

[7t4mula]

Thanks guys! Yes, I agree, the more I thought about the stripes. These first pictures of the hood in finish paint totally firmed up my decision to stay with the solid color!
The Donnybrook green with four coats of clear just looks so deep! The scoops contours are incredible!

[7t4mula]

A few more pictures of the nose and other miscellaneous panels after clear. You can really see the luster of the metallic on the close-up of the nose! It’s even better once you get it out in the sun!

[7t4mula]

When I ducked in the booth to see the body and fenders, I was really taken back by how the base coat looked, before any clear… it was quite matte looking, kinda cool in its own way!

I was laid down perfect though, not a single spot missed or showing any issues. I was so happy!

[jhein]

Love the color. Beautiful.

[7t4mula]

Originally Posted by jhein

Love the color. Beautiful.

Thanks, we sure love it too! Glad we stumbled on I through a suggestion from my painter!

[7t4mula]

More pics of the body and fenders after clear coat. Crazy how smooth this is, even before wet sanding and buffing!