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Words: Tommy Parry
Considering the price of this era of Pontiac Firebird right now, David couldn’t ignore the chance to pick one up. This one had been off the road for nearly two decades, but it was still basically complete: the perfect foundation for a budget build. With plans to make it a fun but cost-friendly daily driver, he spent a few days getting the factory 305 running, then started looking around for ways to make it a bit faster.
He picked up the car sight unseen, and though it looked fine from the photos, some closer inspection revealed a bit of corrosion. Both quarter panels had new skins installed at different points due to various fender benders, so he had to determine whether it was worth saving them. What wasn’t debatable was the level of rusting in the trunk - a failed weatherstrip had left it in need of reskinning. Fortunately, that was about the extent of the rust.
To try and relieve himself from some of his rust-related frustration, he went out and bought a very pretty set of 17” reproduction Snowflake wheels from OER. That cosmetic bump helped him soldier on through the next issues. The carb wasn't happy with the altitude, and the 305 was leaking oil with high revs, so he decided to pull the old lump out.
With the motor removed, he pulled the subframe and spent a Benjamin to have it sandblasted. The welds on the subframe were as horrible as expected, so he ran new beads over every seam. David then rebuilt the control arms with Energy Suspension bushings, Moog lower ball joints and Proforged 0.5" taller upper ball joints. Though this Firebird was never intended for dedicated track work, it needed to have an incisive front end to meet his exacting standards.
Unfortunately, sharpening the front wasn’t without headache. The lower control arm mounting holes were quite worn out, so he built some reinforcements out of 1/8" plate. The other problem he ran into was the mismatched upper control arms. It’s likely the driver's side arm was replaced after one of the numerous fender benders with an early version piece, so the Energy Suspension bushing shell was too small for one of the bushing mounts. Whether this next step was clever or risky is still uncertain, but David centered the housing in the arm and welded it in place. Let’s hope this style of ingenuity helps him forward in future pinches like this.
The current plan is to fit the Firebird with better suspension, squeeze his dusty T56 in down the line and upgrade to a junkyard 5.3-liter V8. The combination of a clean body, a stout motor and retrofitted suspension ought to provide all he needs from a modest muscle car.
While the parts list might not stun many, the realistic aims with this Firebird build should inspire plenty of young wrenchers to try and get a classic car running once again. With a little understanding, patience and creativity, that derelict machine sitting on the edge of the orange grove can become something special.
To keep tabs on David’s build, you can visit his build thread here.
