1971 Firebird

[BlackTopKing]

yeah this is turning out great- love the year its a fav of mine so i am excited to see the TA front on actually!

[usp55]

Another small update. Everything got 2 layers of SPI epoxy. Its just nice to see it in white. Picked up a harbor freight HVLP and was happy with how it turned out.

[mc73nova]

That is looking great. Glad to see you're still going at it strong!

[BonzoHansen]

Nice

[Kat]

Looks awesome so far.. I'd love to do a car like that again.. From nothing to something.

[usp55]

just trying to stay busy with the car, hopefully lots of updates coming soon. interior got a layer of RAAMmat and tomorrow ill see if i can get the next layer of Ensolite on.

Still dealing with a broken water pump bolt so i moved on to something else today.

[mc73nova]

Is that vehicle specific or did you have to cut it yourself?

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by mc73nova

Is that vehicle specific or did you have to cut it yourself?

There is no way that is vehicle specific, as that isnt how vibration dampner was intended to be installed. Rarely does anyone install it as intended, they go way overboard like shown here

[usp55]

no its cut to fit from 14x14 sheets. i guess you can call it overboard but its certainly not hurting anything by using it all over, with the exhaust close to my floor its nice to know im not gonna have to worry about the heat. I tend to follow all the builds on nastyz28 and pro-touring.com so no its not how the factory would have done it with a few small pieces here and there but it seems to work for them.
Also I have ridden in my neighbors 71 Chevelle fully restored about 2 years ago to factory specs. It was loud and had to ton of rattles but after he did the same thing i just did it was night and day. Car sounds solid when you close the doors, exhaust sounds like its actually coming from the rear of the car, and no more rattles. more importantly he can drive an hour to the beach and not have a hot cabin and a carpet thats hot to the touch.

[usp55]

exhaust cut and clamped down this morning. pypes 2.5" with x-pipe with their violator mufflers. when its running ill take it to a shop and have it welded up. polished tips out back also.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by usp55

I tend to follow all the builds on nastyz28 and pro-touring.com so no its not how the factory would have done it with a few small pieces here and there but it seems to work for them.

It is just unnecessary weight is all, but if you are not concerned about it I guess it doesnt matter. You can get the same effect by only using smaller pieces inn the right spots and not spend as much money.

Also the "Dynamat" is only a vibration dampner, for large flat areas of metal. On top of that should go a lighter sound absorbing covering that covers everything

[usp55]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

It is just unnecessary weight is all, but if you are not concerned about it I guess it doesnt matter. You can get the same effect by only using smaller pieces inn the right spots and not spend as much money.

Also the "Dynamat" is only a vibration dampner, for large flat areas of metal. On top of that should go a lighter sound absorbing covering that covers everything

well im no drag racer so weight is no concern. This is just the heat/vibration damper layer and on top of this will go a lighter closed cell foam (Ensolite) for sound that covers everything. maybe tomorrow i will get a chance to get that on.

[usp55]

more baby steps today - got the rest of the parts in spi epoxy, blasted and sprayed the pedals, and mocked them up so i didn't lose the holes while laying down the Ensolite. Should be able to finish the cabin off with the mat tomorrow.




Thanks for following - helps keep me motivated

[BonzoHansen]

it's coming out great. You're doing good, it is so much harder to put a car together than to take it apart!

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by usp55

laying down the Ensolite. Should be able to finish the

How thick is that stuff? How much do you get of it per what ever you buy?

[usp55]

i talked with Rick over there at raamaudio and he has restored several cars of this era so he sent me what he though would be just enough to get the job done and so far he has been spot on.
maybe an 1/8th of an inch thick.
http://www.raamaudio.com/products/Ensolite-IUO.html

[usp55]

I opened up the motor and i wasn’t happy with what i found, marks on the inside of the timing cover bad lifters so going to rebuild it. Could go stock or might beef it up, we’ll see.




Just to keep busy i cleaned and painted the dash. That SEM landau black is amazing. The dash insert was that ****** fake wood so i just covered it up. Looks 10x better in person. Polished the scratches off the plastic lens too.


Mocking up some parts to make space in the garage and i haven’t had the doors, trunk lid, or spoiler on the car for over a year so it’s just nice to have it looking like a car again.

[Kat]

Yet again, awesome work.

[usp55]

Found an extra can of dye from doing the dash so I scrubbed the rear seats nice and good and let them have it. Little supprised at how well they turned out. One of these days I'll have an update worth reading about.

[sweetbmxrider]

I liked them better before

[usp55]

Sneak peek of what the 4hr round trip trek in tonights monsoon yielded. Door panels repaired and painted and it's nice to see how similar the seats and door panel are being that they are 30years apart.

[usp55]

Interior is coming along. 1971 brackets on 4th gen seats. The carpet from rockauto fit like a glove and fixed up the steering column.

[sweetbmxrider]

Wow, the 4th gen seats look awesome in there. Real good match to the rear seat too, nice!

[dugeman]

Amazing what results that you can get from cleaning, painting and some hard work ! the car is really turning out great.

[BonzoHansen]

Looks great. Yeah, 4th gen camaro seats look right at home in 2nd gens.