[Fastpace]

2 things to start with:
1. Yes it still has a Pontiac Motor
2. I tend to go into a lot of detail, if you don't like to read just scroll the pictures and make up your own story

Will start with a couple shots of the cars current state and then break down the build details.

[Fastpace]

History
In late 1971, my grandparents took my dad to 3 different dealers to look at new cars they had selected for him to choose from for his first car. These included a 442, a 340 Challenger, and a base Firebird. My dad had spent his childhood working on the family farm, and in appreciation for his help he was presented with these options. He of course chose the Buccaneer Red, White vinyl top, white interior, and 350/350 Firebird which was soon to become (in)famously known as Betsy

He daily drove the car through high school and college, working on it over the weekends with friends. Always hearing other family members talk about the cars they wished they had held onto, he had committed in his head that he would never sell the car.

In 1973, he t-boned a lady who ran a red light destroying the front end of the car. The repair was completed by the dealership which he talked into replacing all the sheet metal with new Trans Am bodywork.

Around 1976, after he graduated college he got other cars to daily drive (one of the early ones being a Pinto, talk about a downgrade), and parked the Firebird with exception to few cruises and drives.

After few years of sitting in the garage with a few starts here and there to keep things up plus growing family and career he decided to put the car into longer term storage in my Grandfathers old chicken house around 1989. Not exactly the most ideal conditions, but being in Northern Arkansas and a closed in building kept it from the major environmental elements. Late 90s, a new steel shop was built and the chicken house was torn down, so the car got a nicer home until around 2003 when we decided to pick it up and start a father/sons project to restore it.

You’ll notice in some of the pictures the old Hurst fender flares, some subtle pinstriping, some classic slot mag wheels, and the car sitting a lower than factory.

[Fastpace]

The Plan
To start the build off, his goal was to build something with a bit of modern amenities while still keeping the original feel and image of the car. With that in mind, the body work was left as original design, paint to return to Bucaneer Red but to use a white stripe similar to the 1972 SCCA TA, keep a Pontiac engine, and to keep as much original interior as possible.



Few images during the disassembly around 2008. Everything was saved and has either been reused on the car or is sitting on the shelf today.

[Fastpace]

Body and Paint
The body was media blasted, and to the shock of the body shop contained almost zero rust. You’ll see there are some sanding marks on the drivers door, these were from repair in 1973 after a girl at school backed into the door.

The only real changes to the body was to smooth the firewall from the factory AC box with the intention to go to Vintage Air for a sleeker look and opening up the hole for a future T56 installation.














Having been around this car 30+ years at the time, and disassembling/reassembling it to various different levels, and being very detail oriented my dad drove the shop crazy adjusting colors and gloss levels on the paint in various areas. His intention was to get it as close to his version of original as possible.
The primary paint job has 4 base and 5 or 6 coats of clear, but it took them 26 different spray outs to finally get the shade just right.

[Fastpace]

Suspension and Driveline
We went through a couple thoughts and iterations for suspension and driveline, but in the end the build is roughly:
Ridetech 4-link Coilover with front tubular control arms and sway bars
Wilwood brakes 13” 6 piston front and 12” 4 piston rear
Moser 12 bolt with 3.73s and 31 spline TruTrac
T56 transmission with McLeod RST Twin disc and QuickTime belhousing

[Fastpace]

Engine
Powering the project was to be his real pride and joy. Growing up, I bet the most common phrase I heard from my dad was “Yeah, but nothing sounds as good as a Pontiac”. So one thing was a definite, the car would be remaining Poncho powered.
However, he wanted to have a bit of a blend of what he wanted to build the motor in the 70s with available technologies today, so a custom built aluminum head fuel injected 468 cu. in. 10.2:1 solid roller Pontiac was born.
Specs:
400 block casting 481988 machined stock bore with 4 bolt mains
4.25” stroke forged crank
Edelbrock Performer Aluminum heads, custom ported by my brother flowing ~330 cfm@0.700
Edelbrock Super Victor Intake
March serpentine pulleys
Canton oil pan
ACCEL Throttle body
Dougs 1-7/8” full length headers
FAST Ez-EFI fuel injection
MSD Ignition

[Fastpace]

Assembly and Accessories

The big parts like paint and engine are the fun parts where major progress can be seen over relatively short time. However, what really sets a car apart is the details. We’ve done a lot of small things to help keep things clean looking, but also serviceable during the assembly.
Some of those items include:
- Computers hidden under passenger seat
- Shortening and regrouping harnesses with braided wire loom and heat shrinking ends
- Removing screen printed writing on universal hoses
- Shrink hose clamps
- Tucked AC lines into inner fender
- Custom brackets for coil and MAP sensor to mount under scoop
- Paint selection for near cast aluminum appearance but improve ease to clean
-

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Current State
The car is currently running with most all the electrical completed and checked. It’s still pending brake lines, interior install, power steering, some updates on the radiator mount, modifications to the drop base, and a few other odds and ends. Hopefully, he’ll be able to get enough wrapped up here shortly to be able to take it out for a maiden voyage with targets to hit some car shows this season.

It’s been a 15+ year project with many ups and downs throughout, but I must say it’s quite nice when you go to hit that key and get to listen to this:

Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05vVoRXKJJE

[R 70 Judge]

Absolutely beautiful build!

[napster]

Very cool build.

Reminds me of the build of my '73. One thing you have done is something I couldn't do because of cost. I wanted to put in a Detroit Speed rear coil over conversion. Is the Ride Tech coil over system affordable?

Thanks,

Jim

PS - I checked the Ridetech site and got the answer. Leaf Springs Stay on the '73. I was surprised, the Ridetech conversion is more expensive than DSE. Really like what you are doing with the '72. Enjoy it.

[Fastpace]

Originally Posted by napster

Very cool build.

Reminds me of the build of my '73. One thing you have done is something I couldn't do because of cost. I wanted to put in a Detroit Speed rear coil over conversion. Is the Ride Tech coil over system affordable?

Thanks,

Jim

PS - I checked the Ridetech site and got the answer. Leaf Springs Stay on the '73. I was surprised, the Ridetech conversion is more expensive than DSE. Really like what you are doing with the '72. Enjoy it.

I think we bought the Ridetech system around 2013, not sure if DSE had anything at that time. The design of the system on his car is slightly different that what Ridetech sells now, and I'm quite sure it was A LOT cheaper.

[NOT A TA]

Looks great! Thanks for sharing it with us!

[Stuart]

Gorgeous car. I wouldn't have done a thing different.
Your shop's not too shabby either.

[Fastpace]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Gorgeous car. I wouldn't have done a thing different.
Your shop's not too shabby either.

The shop led to about a 2 year delay in the Firebird build while the shop was being built and setup. It does make it a lot nicer to have plenty of room to be working on the car and have multiple work areas.

[keith k]

Very cool build!

[jhein]

What cam is in there?

[Formulabruce]

Looks sweet, and sounds Knarly! Grats on a sweet build!

[Fastpace]

Originally Posted by jhein

What cam is in there?

I believe he had it spec'd by Butler, it's a solid roller.

297/303 .589/.590 112 LSA

[Fastpace]

He sent me a bunch more old pictures last night to share.

My dad in uncle and my grandparents house, shortly after they bought the car.


Couple pictures of him at the dragstrip around 1972



When he wrecked it in 1973, after a lady ran a red light. It took out all the front sheet metal, so when the dealer fixed it they replaced with all Trans Am parts.





Few pictures in the 70s after the repair




Not sure when he had this ugly thing on it, but thankfully it didn't last


My brother sitting on top of the car in 1984

[Mr_GTO]

Awesome!