The 79 Firebird Esprit slow build thread

[87kawzl]

This car has been in my life for a long time, a buddy's step mom had it new, my buddy got it off of her, raped it for a few years and sold it to my brother who did throw some parts on it, installed new sealant front and rear windshields and for some reason blew up the interior. He also installed my poncho 400 that I built when I was in high school working at a machine shop back in 87, there are probably less than 200 miles on that motor and it was built to RA IV specs for a GTO.

There she sat in my mom's driveway for years. Years are sketchy but by the pic dates, I bought it off him in ~2009, patched the floor in 2010 and worked on it in 2011 to try to get it on the road, which I did for a day or two. I think 10 years sitting in a warehouse is too long and will be bringing it home to spend some time on.

Only driven twice, to hell and back, a 49,000 mile trip apparently.

When I got it:


Some rust reformer was smeared on the surface rust that was visible (my old 04' SRT4 in background, I miss that pocket rocket)

My 30 over, big cam 400 injun engine



The "interior" LOL

What she identifies as:


Bad ass

 

[87kawzl]

Pa rust repair....not bad, partial drivers pan and a couple of small patches on pass side, just surface on the rear pan.

 

[87kawzl]

Some dynomat then lined the entire floor with 1/4" ceramic fiber paper that has excellent thermal properties to keep the heat out. I wrapped the sections of paper in pallet wrap plastic then aluminum foil to keep any moisture from hitting the steel floor. It works great and was done to my mustang too.


Pics show a new rad, brakes, rotors installed at that time. Brother had new belts and hoses when he put the engine in. 2010 work according to dates on pics.

 

[87kawzl]

Interior came together in 2011. New carpet, headliner, scrub and screw everything together. I found some of the failure prone door handles in brown back then and I think they are installed now. Shows some wear but it's all original otherwise.



I had a pretty good idea that all the parts were there because I saw the complete car before my brother blew it apart. I bought some new parts back then like screw kits and sill plates and such. I do remember that the heat of the summer nearly killed me when I was doing that work. Looks better than when I got it though

 

[ZLrider]

Don't know how I missed this one. Always liked the 2nd gen cars. I own a 71 SS. My neighbor has a car with the flying boot heel nose like yours, but I really never liked that look. Nobody really did. The 79-81 Z28 was a way cooler car and many TA fans bought one of those instead. Prob due to the reintroduced and fully functioning cowl induction hood which was a lot like the early TAs. If I was going to put a bunch of effort into restoring a TA, I'd want something 1978 or earlier. Now you can change that nose to an earlier one, but they are quite pricey when you find one and the car will never be worth very much.

My old man had 2 71s and I had a 76. The old man's cars were scary fast, my 76 was just a babe magnet, but it sure sounded fast.....LOL

 

[87kawzl]

It's going to be a budget build. A buddy gave me a TH350 trans with shift kit and stall converter. I've got a swap meet Edelbrock manifold, headers, 2 1/2 flowmasters and new 2 1/2" tailpipes a friend gave me, a good 750 carb that needs gone through. Already bought energy suspension body bushings and subframe connectors. I will need to do something about the gears. It should hustle pretty good once I find time to build it.

 

[ZLrider]

Well I hope you can paint or else your budget is likely going to be in the mid 5 figure range. Damned body supplies are sky high these days. Cool to see another one of these old cars getting rescued from the crusher.

 

[87kawzl]

I'm a long ways away from paint but I will be able to at least prep it or run with the cleared over primer sealer.

 

[87kawzl]

Firebird is ready to get the front clip pulled. Just couldn't bring myself to house the ZL in a shed. I will put it in the basement when things get busy.

Wife is happy she still has a parking spot, 3 car garage with a single 9' wide door

Pic was before the big cleanup.

 

[R. J.]

You Northern guys have basements. Here in FL for the most part don't have that luxray. I know of two guys here in FL that do. The ones basement is 120 feet long. He has a gun range in it.

 

[87kawzl]

I have a club membership to keep things quiet around here, even though there are enough hills and property to practice the amenities are worth the cost.

First step is to pull the front clip (also going in the basement) the motor/trans then the subframe to fix the body mount points. Then it's clean/paint and reassemble with some speed parts.

 

[R. J.]

What year is your Mustang?

 

[87kawzl]

The mustang is a 66. Started the teardown. A captive bolt was spinning at bumper to fender, took the headlight out and a trim ring screw was stripped. Drilled it out and proceeded to drop the old replacement bulb (3 others are oem) then broke out the sawzall and cut the bolt. The rest came off with not much drama. Just that 1 inner fender has cancer and a giant hole, the cancer spread to the lip of the outer fender but overall they are pretty solid.

Tons of new parts were installed during the motor swap which helps me with the "why am I going through this when it won't even be worth much when done".

 

[R. J.]

Is your BIRD a PA car.

 

[87kawzl]

All it's life. 50k miles and was ziebart undercoated when new. I know all the previous owners.

 

[R. J.]

That's good. My Brother Paul that owned his Body Shop he used to ziebart cars and trucks. He operated his shop from 1968 through 2019. He passed in 2021. His son Paul operates it part time.

 

[87kawzl]

Bumper brackets needed some persuasion to get off, love me the air hammer the few times I need it. Core support is off. The rubber mounts were gonzo and passenger side has a small crack that needs welded. Other than that no real rust damage. I probably will order the pass inner fender drop off the core support if it doesn't clean up well.

 

[R. J.]

Coming along nicely.

 

[alex-germany]

Wow, an topic, where i have to say.

Since 2016, i have a firebird too. It's a 1980 Formula from california. When i bought it, it was in a good condition, but i have to change the worn out things like targa seals, carpet, seat upholstery, bushings from chassis and subframe, dampers and springs, silencers and rear ends. All engine seals where leak and the transmission was worn out to. The quadrajet and the cruise control i have rebuild. Rust i had only on the left quarter panel and the trunk lid, but i had to paint the rear end from the middle of the car. The wheels i have made powder coated

 

[R. J.]

Nice FORMULA. My friend Sue from High School bought a new 1978 with a 455. My Brother painted it in 2018.