Congratulations!!!   doesnt it feel great to start it up, and move it.. Good for you!!!!

Looks real nice, a lot of us like white cars on here.

A friend is in the middle of a resto on a 68 as well, 350 4 speed car, red with black vinyl top. Came out of a barn near Keswick. Paid $500 and drove it on the trailer.

Carl Stevenson wrote:

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That's a fine looking car Jeff, and should be a mighty fine engine to boot!

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Thanks Carl.  I like the stock look and I like a good sleeper.  I haven't gone more than half throttle on it yet and it is one scary beast.    The torque just keeps coming on.  I can't wait till spring to take it to Luskville to see what it will do on the track.

69Laurentian wrote:

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Looks great. Did you tell us about the Firebird before? I don't remember any details (then again I just turned 40..)

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Not sure, I know I posted pics of the 65 CS and the 77 GP SJ.  The 68 Firebird is a BC car, brought to Ontario in the late 90's.  As the story goes, the original owner in BC kept it garaged.  The car was sold after he passed away and was bought by a man in Alexandria Ontario.  When I bought it he was selling off quite an impressive classic car collection, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and I think he was also selling the family farm and home although we didn't discuss that but the real estate for sale signs spoke for themselves.  This was at the time when the dot.com stock bubble burst.  His wife cried as we signed the papers on the car that he was going to restore for her.  It was not a happy day for either of us, in fact I told him that I didn't want to buy the car until he'd had a chance to speak with his wife.  He said she knew it had to be sold along with everything else and that's all there was to it.  I felt badly for a long time after buying it.

It's originally a 350 2bbl car with 2 speed auto (now performance built TH350), peg leg rear end with highway gears.  A previous owner installed the 400 hood.  GM documents indicate it was well optioned for a 350 car.  PS, PB, tilt, deluxe interior and steering wheel, shoulder belts & headrests (still options in 68), rear defog, tinted glass all around, Cordova roof, Rallye II's (but I replaced the 14x6 with 15x7).  It's had partial replacement of the rear quarters at some point in it's life and it's had a repaint in enamel but it could use another paint job. 

1965CS wrote:

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Very nice!   No shortage of hp there I bet.  Be sure to post more pics

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Thanks, appreciate the thumbs up!  Yup, good hp, but gobs and gobs of torque.  On the dyno it made 473 lb/ft at 3,100 rpm and peaked at 493 at only 3,600, 388 hp at 4,500 and there's more to be had with some tuning.  Iron heads, relatively mild cam, nice manners at idle, just a bit of a lope, plenty of vacuum & 9.1 to 1 so easily runs pump gas.  I know there are lots of engines out there with aluminum heads or big rumpity rump cams than can easily make more than that but this is plenty for me in this small car.  Here's a few more pics.


-- Edited by apairofponchos at 21:46, 2008-10-04

No, the car was born with a 350 2bbl engine so no #18 heads.  If this had been a 350 H.O. car, I think I would have gone totally stock resto.  The first generation 350 HO Firebirds are indeed a pretty rare find and often underappreciated for their performance.

The 455 HO came from Truman Fields, a nostalgia Pontiac drag racer who has campaigned his 68 Ram Air Firebird "Hard Times" since he bought it new.  Here's a link to some info on him and a pic of his car.  http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/shootout/hppp_0608_pontiac_pavement_pounders_shootout/truman_fields.html

Traction is not as bad as I thought it would be if you ease into it off the line. Traction bars help.   From a rolling start anything more than 1/3 to 1/2 throttle will light them up. Very easy to do smoky burnouts  Drag radials next spring before heading to the track to see what it will do in the quarter mile.