[keith k]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Just in case anyone ever see's -or has seen in the past- a heavy option loaded 68 400 Automatic Convertible in Triple Turquoise , please let me know where it resides these days.

I passed on the car (too much $$$) in the late 80's when Big John Akes owned it briefly in High Point, NC.
It was all original down to the paint and the top. 60,000'ish miles.
It had about every option available, power everything, deluxe interior, even Bird Glass.
Looking back with better vision now - it was probably a PMD Brass Exec car.
Bound to still be alive somewhere

I couldn't afford it now either, just always wondered about it.

I'm almost certain I saw that car at a POCI convention in NC (Greensboro?) in around 1986 or 1987. One of the coolest first gens I've ever seen, thus my still remembering it. Great color combo. I'm sure I have a picture of it in a shoebox in a closet somewhere...

Would be cool to hear where it is these days.

[Greg Reid]

Triple turquoise...does that mean that the convertible top was turquoise also?

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Cool Keith
Yes that would have been the same car.
Greensboro is my hometown, the convention motto was "Come out to the Sticks in 86"

He had it, and a 68 RamAir1 4spd Bronze/Parchment/White BirdVert there.
High Point was just the next town over from GSO, where John lived.

He bought that Turquoise Vert for cheap somewhere - non running - turned out it just needed a new timing chain gear set.
Ran like New again.

In 1987
He wanted 12,500 for the Turq car (ungodly in 1987)
The Bronze Vert was fresh restored and he wanted 10,500 for it.
I thought he had the prices backwards, he said no they were correct.
I had 8k to spend on a dream car (that would buy a helluva car back then) , but that wouldn't do the trick on that car.

By the following weekend both cars had sold.
I have seen the Bronze car a few times afterwards, but never the Turq car.

He wheeled and dealed as a hobby, was VicePres of a Utility Company
Flipped super nice ultra rare muscle cars like coins in a fountain.
He kept the pair of BirdVerts longer than anything else, was real proud of that pair.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Triple turquoise...does that mean that the convertible top was turquoise also?

Yes
well ... pontiac probably called the interior and top color something else besides turquoise - but everything was color keyed and went together like a centerfold model in a string bikini.
Prettiest car i have ever seen
It was the Bo Derek/Raquel Welch/Marilyn Monroe of Firebirds
and it was Loaded like a Cadillac

[edit] AND Soft-Ray Bird Glass !! blending in with all the Turquoise
it was F'ing Killerrrrrrrrrrr

[Greg Reid]

Ok, you convinced me!...lol
Sounds awesome. Never seen a turquoise/aqua top on one of these.

[Gator67]

We just gave the '68 a minor refresh, so I thought I'd give you all an update. I can't believe it's been five years (again)!

Last fall I noticed some coolant seepage, which I thought was a water pump gasket, but it turned out the timing cover had cracked. I replaced it with another '68 8 bolt cover...it actually took a while to find a decent replacement.

While she was down, I took the opportunity to improve the cooling system. Was running a factory water pump, which I found had the shorter cast iron vanes, and there was a big gap with the divider plate (like over .25"). The car also had a Northern aluminum radiator with 2 pusher fans attached, factory clutch & fan, and 160 degree thermostat.

Now running a rebuilt water pump with the tall vanes, clearanced divider plate (didn't have to do much with the tall vanes), new Cold Case radiator, Robertshaw high flow 180 degree thermostat, and a Hayden 2731 clutch so that the factory fan sits a little further in the shroud (.6" or so). Car runs cool, but it's only been in the .70s here...will have to wait until summer for a more challenging test.

I also had to replace the factory fuel line which had been seeping for a while. It turns out there are two version of the line, one of which doesn't fit without a lot of work. The version that fit well had an old tag on it that said SL-68. The other version has what looks like newer part numbers.

Anyways, she's up and running and we're back to enjoying her again. In fact, we took her out today for a nice Sunday drive! The two kids up front, with mom and dad in the back. Good times!

[Gator67]

We had our first 100 degree days this past week, so I drove the car around to test the cooling system. I drove on the highway and in city traffic with the AC blasting and the car stayed in the 180-190 range the whole time, cooler than the previous set up for sure.

We did have a fuel pump failure a few weeks ago, a Delphi MF0154 with less than 100 miles. The car just died while idling in the garage. A couple pieces on the end of the arm inside the pump just broke off, I posted pictures of it in the Street section for those of you who might be interested. Looks like all the new repop pumps are the same, so I replaced it with an NOS AC Delco 40607. Based on the condition of the box, it's pretty old, so hopefully it holds up. Trying to maintain factory appearance, otherwise would have just gone ahead and installed a RobbMc pump. Though, I will go this route if the old 40607 doesn't hold up.