SkinnyG's V8 Pontiac Firefly

berkeley you, Crackers!

MulletTruck wrote: Darn, I was figuring on yours being the same weight of mine. But then again yours is not quite finished.

I don't have 400lbs of "left to do." I threw the seats in, added the metal for the tunnel, and left a few tools in as "extras." Once the seats are in, she's done. Part 1 of tranny tunnel mostly done (still welding).

Using PIR Rules (Price Is Right), 759NRNG won.

I wasn't aware I was hosting a game show...... I just don't want to be voted off the island. Part 2 began with a template (as did Part 1, not shown), then shaped using a multitude of bends on my Sheet Metal Brake.

I thought I could cut down the original console, but I'd have to cut it down WAY too much. I may just make a spacer for the shifter and do no console at all.

Gotta hook up the e-brake, do the shifter, then tackle the seats.

So fast with the progress!

This year's challenge?

Not challenge legal.

Wha!..wha!...what did I win Drew!!?!?!?!!!! I'd like to thank my parents, coach , pastor Andy....uh did I forget anyone? I can't berkin' believe it! Seriously Skinny G this is turning into a (if somehow could be arranged, funding no object) throwdown against project Binky IMHO. Neutral site say somewhere in Florida , best two out three.

Bad Obsession does WAY better videos than me.

.... and I'm dying for their next one.

I was alluding to a tarmac thrashing (kinda tough logistically)....though their vids are quite entertaining, the fact remains your skills rival what'shisname. And yes I'm jonesin' bad for episode 16?

AngryCorvair wrote: berkeley you, Crackers!

LOL, I just opened the last page to find this. My pre-coffee self was very confused.

Also, YAY ME!

My goal was to have this done my the end of the summer; before school starts. Methinks it ain't going to happen. It's Sept. 1st tomorrow. I modified the top of the trans tunnel to mount the flat-bottomed Chevy Sprint shifter. This shifter runs the cable inside the passenger compartment for a bit, so I had to fabricate a way to get the cable to the tranny.

Then make a lever on the tranny. Then try to figure out what lever ratio I needed to make Park and Low on the shifter the same as that on the trans, all the while feeding a shifter cable through nowhere. And then, horror of all horrors, I cut the damn cable sheath too short. Here's the stupid bracket, with modifications. There's always modifications.

I have a plan up my sleeve, but that's it for today. This took all day. I can't find the e-brake cables for the Firebird axle. I have the cables for the Firefly, but that only solves one end. I will go to my school shop and see if I have them tucked away somewhere.

As long as its two steps forward and one step back its still progress!

I bought new e-brake cables from the Firebird. Actually - they look like the will fit p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y! This is a delight! Just have to fab a little adapter for the lever, and boom!

Speedo route through the floor.

Had some evolution on the shifter cable. I had to make the end of the sheathing pivot, because the shifter moves linear, but the arm on the transmission moves in an arc, and there wasn't enough slop to make that happen, so I modified the bracket for the fourth time, and it all works now!

I'm so happy, I took the trans tunnel out and primered it!

Also primered the underside of the floor, so I could splash some paint on the underside in the morning.

I'm so glad I bought new e-brake cables. Because I found mine in a box with the seat belts.

Machined the DOT-required 7/16"-20 bung for the seat belts. Will weld them in now, and then figure out seat mounts.

I lathed up some seat belt bolt bungs in 7/16UNF, welded them to large washers I made from 2" flat stock using a hole saw, and welded them to the backside of the transmission tunnel. I had bead-rolled a raised area just for this, but got so excited about it, I had forgot to weld these in before installing the driveshaft tunnel.

The outboard bungs were welded to gussets I put in the cage.

I also spent a long time figuring out the e-brake situation. I cut the back off the original lever, channeled it to fit a piece of 1/4" rod I threaded. This fit through the original cable connector, though I had to spread the middle a bit to fit the 1/4" rod. This should allow enough adjustment for the cables. Not exactly the way the Firefly did it, but it's done. Looks like you might have to remove the driveshaft to adjust the e-brake. Like that's the only hardship in servicing this car.

The ends of the Firebird cables were cut shorter, and I machined some ferrules/swedges/stops/??? that are secured with a REALLY tight set screw to the cable. Hoping to get primer done tonight.

With a coat of primer drying on the passenger compartment floor, I butchered one of the seats. The previous owner had attempted to adapt Suzuki Swift GTi (or equivalent) seats to the original seat rails. Since I no longer had the original anything to attach them to, and since my floor was arguably higher than before (to cover frame rails, and to clear dual exhaust, for example), I chopped the seat bottom down as low as I thought I could get away with. Passenger seat is next.

I can actually fit beautifully, with the seat lowered - and even fit my helmet under the cage tubes :) Once the seat bottom is stripped, hack any protrusions from the seat bottom.

Weld some 2x1/8" flat bar as mounting tabs. These run full length to give the butchered seat bottom some rigidity. The seats will now be fixed - no sliders.

Cut down the outer side of the hinge thingie so it's flush too.

Hack the foam down so nothing hangs below (I actually cut it flatter after this pic was taken).

Ready to bolt in after the red paint goes over last night's primer.

Heck!

Looking good. Making the stock stuff work is really impressive to me, as is taking the time to make the e-brake work. Not sure about inspections where you are, but here in MN that type of stuff is really frequently overlooked (and not necessary for road use); even on some pretty nice builds.

editors note: I am personally guilty of this- the e-brake never worked on my last car and it always drove me insane.

Making the stock stuff work is WAY cheaper than throwing a Summit catalog at it.

Inspections here are not a required part of vehicle ownership, but a police officer can order an inspection, and in my particular area, it is very unlikely that anybody would be willing to inspect something as Frankensteinian as this. It was hell getting my Locost Super 7 inspected.

I have a friend who owns a shop that does inspections, and while he loves the project, he is very clear: "just don't bring it here for an inspection."

Well that was odd. And not entirely unexpected. The cheap-as-sin eBay coilover I bought had plastic top hats. Ok, maybe China knows what they're doing. Except they both broke, before the car even moves under it's own power. So, my 12-year-old son helped me fabricate new ones out of steel. Plasma cut out of 3x1/8" flat. Lathed a hole in the center. Welded a locating ring out of 2-1/2" exhaust tubing, sandblasted, etch primed, and painted. Then all put back together.

I also fixed the excessively-in rear bumper. I though the energy absorbers had absorbed too much energy, but I couldn't figure out the simple fix I was overlooking. In the end, I just welded a longer stud to the end of the mounting stud, and stacked a wack of cut-from-the-sidewall-of-my-wife's-summer-tires washers. Now it sits perfect! Hoping for a maiden voyage today.....

I made a rubber seal for the e-brake lever, since I neglected to re-make it like the Firefly was originally. This should limit some of the stank from beneath the car. I happen to have a big rig inner tube. Good thick rubber.

Cut with tin snips, and used a leather punch for the holes.

Installed, with the shortened Firebird e-brake cables. Works AWESOME!

I was not happy with the driveshaft I had shortened to fit. I believe the shaft was from a 1978 Chevy Impala we parted out at the school. Or it may have been from the '88 Firebird, assuming 700R4 and TH350 yolks are interchangeable. I don't remember. Fact is - I made it too short, and it was fiendishly rusty (which makes me think it was the Impala). Apparently I had another driveshaft in my garden shed. Either the one from the Firebird, or perhaps an S10 Blazer we cut up. I can't remember. I set the car on jack stands, and measured the required length for the driveshaft to be 31-5/16". Measure twice and cut once. First, remove the u-joint. GM likes to use some kind of plastic epoxy or something instead of clips. The easy way to deal with this is heat it up, and the plastic pukes out the holes.

MARK the alignment of the yolk to the tube. This is pretty critical (although easy enough to deal with if you forget). Cut the end of the driveshaft off around an inch in from the weld. There is a stub inside that you don't want to cut through. Really only enough to hold in the lathe.

I chucked the stub into the lathe, and referenced the inside of the yolk, since that's where the replacement's C-clip references. Once it was +/-0.0005", I center-drilled a bit to support it with live center.

Then start cutting the weld down, keeping a note of where the center of the weld bead is. I marked the cut with sharpie so it was easier to consistently see what I was cutting to. Once you begin to break through the weld, you'll know.

A light smack of a hammer and it comes apart easy.

Align the yolk to the tube (you did mark the alignment, right?).

Some driveshafts I've been able to just tap them together with a hammer. This one had to be pressed together.

Once they are home, it's weld time.

I decided to TIG this driveshaft. And then when it's cooled down, install the new U-Joint.

Which was the last push to end the summer with. Back to work tomorrow, and any progress will slow to probably weekends only. But.... It moves! https://www.youtube.com/embed/XSBJh4zREgs The maiden voyage to the end of the street was uneventful. Definitely needs the brakes bled more thoroughly. Springs seem really stiff. Tappet noise maybe? (EDIT: Neither tappet noise nor rod knock: plastic shield hitting flexplate - Yay!  Cheap and easy fix!)