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___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the web site for the custom pro-touring Firebird with a 2001 Trans Am drivetrain and interior! This modified pro-touring Firebird was designed to have the capabilities and luxuries of a late model high performance car with the classic muscle look. As the car is being built and put together, this web site will be updated regularly. (Update 07/10/08)
Short video clip (click on "run activeX" if it doesn't show- give it a few moments to download) of the engine running on carb cleaner. Pretty amzing that it started up the very first try after cutting every single wire of the '01 wiring harness to relocate the fuses and computers in the trunk. Minor wiring work remains to be done. The aftermarket double-bipass radiator, '01 a/c condensor, and aftermarket transmission cooler has been installed. The '01 transmission cooling lines were rebent and used. The fuel tank, lines and pump, and brake lines all need to be installed. Interior, side mirrors, and some painting still needs to be done as well as dozens of other little stuff you don't ever think of! (Update 04/19/08) With the winter completely snowing in the shop, not much got done for awhile. The plan is to order a tank, radiator, lines and other parts to get the engine running July 4th weekend. Some wiring is left also. Once we know all of the wiring is OK, interior pieces will have a final bolt down. Certainly getting close! (Update 01/02/08) Pretty much all of the wiring is complete. Just need to hook the rest of the '01 engine harness up and extend the AC switch to the front. Spent time getting the wiring tucked up underneath the dash for the kick panels and covers to fit. The passenger side looks like a mess, but the tranny computer that controls the paddle shifters will be nicely hidden under the seat. More pictures of the wiring on the Interior page. We're ready for the carpet once the car starts and runs fine. The door panels have been done, seats are on their way to being done (picture soon), and then other interior pieces can get finished. The next big step is to order a custom tank to fit underneath the car, radiator and hoses, driveshaft, and plumbing to get the car rolling. If there's no electrical bugs (none come up so far!) everything else can get done... interior, finish some painting on spoilers and wheel flares, engine compartment, wipers, exhaust and I'm sure 100 other little things that always pop up. Getting real exciting though! We're close! Also figured out a trick and easy way to get to the battery incase it goes dead since the door handles are shaved. Saved a lot of time too.
(Update 09/06/07) Nearly all of the wiring is complete. The wiring for the engine still needs to be done, but the hard stuff like moving the fuse boxes, PCM, stock '01 amp, etc. located to the trunk is done. The only problem with the wiring was the trunk popper, which was the only thing that was not modified! It was nothing short of badass seeing the lights on the dash light up for the first time and have power windows, locks, everything working! Sequential tail lights were also wired (video clip of tail light given below... still working on converting the .MOV file to a .WMV file). Both door panels have been beautifully upholstered! Still used the '01 arm rests, door handle, and the covering behind the handle. The panels turned out better than we imagined it would! The '01 seats are being torn apart and will have the same blue ultra-suede in the seats with fresh leather. The filler piece between the dash and windshield is coming together fine. More pictures have been added to the Interior and Body Mods pages.
Sequential tail lights video clip (might need to right-click and save as if you don't have Quicktime plug-in)
(Update 06/22/07) Some text has been added on other pages to explain a few things... Earlier this week the huge blue cowhide came in and will be used for the two-tone interior. A picture of a door panel should be up after several weeks. The new game plan is to get the wet sanding, buffing, and the rest of the wiring harness finished by Labor Day weekend. In the meantime, the interior will be worked on and gas tank measurements will be figured out and ordered. Chrome pieces will also be sent off for a new coat. Brake lines will also be plumbed. Hopefully Labor Day weekend will be when the bird gets fired up for the first time in exactly 3 years! New wheels might also be ordered. Either better fitting Torque Thrusts, new Nitrous II wheels, or the Year One snowflakes! Not sure yet. (Update 06/02/07) More pictures can be found on the Interior, Paint, and Suspension pages. There isn't exactly a lot to update... just the fact that custom work is a pain in the butt! A few examples of that would be making door panels using parts from the '01 TA panels. With the '01 TA seats bolted in the car (which took most of a weekend for the two seats), we knew exactly where the arm rest needed to go, which was up another 1.5" and we also found out that there was interference issues with the pocket below the '01 arm rest and the seats. Don't forget about the weather stripping... good thing we trial-fitted it because the door panel sits on top of the weather stripping on the rear side. Clearance with the console and door panel whiling moving all the way forward or back may cause problems. A lot of wet sanded has also been done since the last update. There's more to do, but I believe we'll concentrate more on the wiring so that a lot of the interior can be finished by 4th of July weekend. A few pieces have been sent off for chrome. We've also got a badass braking system that will go on the car soon (more on that later!). We'll also be taking measurements for a fuel tank and mufflers underneath. Other than wiring, interior, prep work for getting the car to start, braking, and running lines it should be nearly done! We've come a long way, but the end is getting closer! (Update 02/15/07) The modified '01 wiring harness is nearly complete with it snaked back through the dash. A lot of effort was put into extending the harness and having the fuse boxes in the trunk. The dash and '01 steering column had its final bolt-down. More pictures can be found on the "Interior" page.
(Update 01/22/07) The heavily modified '01 TA wiring harness will be done and put in the '71 in a week or two, with the dash and steering column bolted in for the last time. We'll make sure the gages and everything works fine first. Haha! The big bulky fuse boxes will be the the trunk behind panels, so a lot of hard work has been done to get the engine compartment looking clean. From there everything else falls into place easier. The interior will then be the next big project, but more pictures will be coming before then. Summer is looking good for a sweet ride! The tires and wheels are still for sale, just drop me an email. (Update 11/08/06) I'm selling the Torque Thrust IIs and Goodyear F1 AQCD tires. The front wheels are 17x8" with a backspacing of 3.75" and the rear wheels are 17x9.5" with a backspacing of 3.5". The centers are chromed and the outer ring is polished aluminum. The front tires are 245/40/ZR17 and the rears are 315/35/ZR17. Everything is brand new. Email me if you are interested. Hopefully soon we can get back to working on the bird! (Updated 09/06/06) Overall we're pretty happy with the front end alignment. Adjustments are still needed, but we're just real happy we didn't hit any big snags. The upper and lower A-arms were replaced with Global West arms. The stance is not at all what we want. We didn't adjust the height of the adjustable springs, so the front is high and the rear is low (will have 1" rake). It turned out that we missed on the wheel backspacing, so all new wheels may be ordered or buy two new front wheel (if anyone is looking for a set of Torque Thrust IIs, let me know, haha). The paint still needs to be wet sanded and buffed. It's looking great so far! Getting real exciting!!
(Updated 07/22/06) It's been awhile since we've worked on the car, but we're in the process of opening our own shop and moving everything into it. Once we're all settled in, the Firebird is going to be worked on until it's done! This fall or early winter she'll be laying 315 wide rubber!
(Updated 04/29/06) She's on the ground! The front is actually only 2 inches off the ground, but we think the aftermarket lower A-arms is the reason why. The QA1 shocks and springs are set to be as low as they can go.
____________________________________________________________________________________________ A 1971 Firebird 350 was the choice for the classic muscle car; mostly because I am a Pontiac guy. The innards were gutted from a 2001 Trans Am, which included the drive train, computer, wiring harnesses and interior. Other significant modifications done to the Firebird g-machine include a custom tail, coil-overs and 315 wide tires.
Why was this combination chosen? Well, the 2001 Trans Am has the fuel injected LS1 (small block Chevy) which is highly under tuned stock and has excellent fuel economy. The LS1 also has an aluminum block and heads and a composite plenum, which saves a lot of weight up front. Because of the horsepower (future plans of supercharging) and wide tires, a lot of stress will be put on the rear axles, so a Ford 9" rear end with 4.11 gears will be used. To help with the traction, a torque arm has been added as well as rear coil-overs (adjustable QA1 shocks). The four-wheel disc brakes utilize 12.5" drilled and slotted rotors, four-piston calipers and stainless steel brake lines. The interior from the 2001 Trans Am will be used for the 1971 Firebird. The dash, console, leather seats and inner door panels will give this car a look of a late model car. Another late model modification was done by flushing the windshield and back window to the car. Other large and small modifications to the Firebird are listed throughout the rest of the web page. As the car is being worked on, the web site will be updated. Enjoy! |
