1968 Firebird Restoration how much does it cost? complete tear down and inspection
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- čas přidán 31. 03. 2022
- Ever wonder how much It might cost to restore your first generation Firebird? We plan to show every step of the process and list out all the parts and costs involved minus labor of course because we are a DIY channel and labor isn’t included. We have a 1968 Firebird that will getting every nut and bolt removed and every system inspected and refurbished as needed. In addition to that it will be done in a two car garage proving that you could do the same. This is the beginning of a multiple episode rebuild you don’t want to miss.
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#Pontiac #Firebird #restoration - Auta a dopravní prostředky
I wish I found ya when I started my 68. Pretty much done now but I don't think we are ever done. 😆 Thank you
So very wise words, there always seems to be something that’ll need a little tweakign
Jeff you got alot work a head of you it will look great when it is done
Well thanks!! good news is this car is all done. This was the beginning of the great pumpkin.
Love your work Bro!
Appreciate it!
Watching and waiting , waiting and watching.
Keep them coming!
Plenty heading your way. I scored the entire list of sheet metal. Only thing I don’t have yet was the trunk lid.
@@VinylVillageGarage NICE!!!
We’ll done first “episode“! Can’t wait to see the rest of the process. (FYI: Just finished my ‘69 a few months ago, so this is like watching a time-machine-video!).
Congrats on your bird. Thanks for saving another one. I am looking forward to the metal work it’s my favorite part of the build.
Awesome Job!! Can't wait till the next video!! Save those Birds!!
Made a trip yesterday and picked up a huge pile of body panels. So game on for sheet metal repair!
I'm really looking forward to this restoration! It's really satisfying to watch Birds get fresh metal and paint, just a satisfying thing to experience.
Right on, me too. I hate to see any bird get left for the scrap pile. This one isn’t to bad off compared to what I normally work on. Hopefully a quick
Recovery
This is going to be so much fun watching this build. I can't wait for the next videos
Thanks, I hope it goes well and helps other bird builders. I just picked up all the Sheet metal yesterday, I will be cutting and welding….. a lot on this one. Appreciate the feedback.
@@VinylVillageGarageyour gto judge looks absolutely fucking stunning, I’m 21 looking to build one of these Firebirds as my first classic I’m very happy to have found your video it’s been very very helpful, perhaps if you could help point me in the right direction for parts
@@khalibhyatt2081 nice i got my first Firebird at 18 and I didn’t know much about cars then, I did my best and it only helped me get where I am today. As for parts I use Ames a lot but there are several places of you have any issues on any let me know I might have it or can help you get it
I’m enjoying watching this build, as I’ve looked at this car in our driveway and garage my whole
Childhood and a large portion of adult life!
That’s great! I suppose it did sit for sometime before it came to VVG. Now this phoenix will fly again and be something that just about anyone would love to have in their garage. I am having fun putting it back together and thankful for the opportunity to do so.
In the process of doing my 68 convertible. This will be extremely helpful. Looking forward to more videos!
Congrats on the convertible,
Thanks for doing your part in saving another bird from the scrap pile. Glad to help and if there is any part you would like to see more detail let me know. Good luck on your build.
Its always fun finding old damage on a car and trying to figure out or guess what happened. Great video, cant wait to see more.
I think I solved the floor board mystery, notice how it has a manifold on the driver side and header on the passenger? I Remember the owner telling me a story how they couldn’t get the drivers side header to go up into place years ago, I am willing to bet that they beat the floor up in the process trying years ago.
these vids will help me alot i just got a 68 firebird that was my uncles and I seen it sit in his garage for years. it sat in his garage for 20 years. i have asked him if I can have the car for along time and one day he told me i can have. i flew to my buddies house in housten. and we drove his truck up to ohio and tow it back down to el paso where i live now. we got her running in one day and the next day i was able to get her to move on her own. not bad for sitting 20 years. my next step is to start fixing all the rust spots from the roads in ohio.
That’s awesome, it will have some fun challenges with metal repair if it spent some time in Ohio on the roads but it’s all totally repairable and parts available too. Thanks for sharing, wish you could post pictures on here would love to see it.
I just got mine and it is in rough shape and thank you for putting this info out there I definitely will be needing all the help I can get 👍
Very welcome, good luck on your 1969 bird. Thanks for rescuing another one
Great video, looks like a solid build! I've owned my 68 hardtop drag car for 47 years, and my 68 convertible for 25 years. I do all my own work and enjoy your show.
Wow 2 68 birds! Plus you have had them that many years. Thanks for keeping two birds alive and it sounds like you stills drive and enjoy them too even better. Thanks for checking us out. I am looking forward to seeing this bird back on the road where it belongs
you sir are a good commentator i like watching you work on the beautiful birds. i like brians utube channel to. anyway look forward to seeing you rebuild her and make her great again
Wow thanks, I appreciate the feedback I really just make this up as I go and I feel good about it. Nice to hear its working. I am looking forward to a trip out west to fix that rusty roof too.
Just subbed to your channel, Finally a channel that does thorough restorations on Firebirds. Love the content thus far.
Wow thanks. I love my birds and see myself adding loads more of progress and how too videos. Appreciate the sub.
Enjoyed your video. Very helpful.
Thanks, glad to help. I have a lot more bird footage heading your way.
That sure looks like it came apart easier than mine is. Can't wait to see more.
I have about 15 hours invested at this point. It wasn’t too bad.
Thanks for doing this, and looking forward to the next episode. I have a 68, purchased 15 years ago, and parked in the barn. Going to be my retirement project, so will be starting on my bird restore adventure soon. Very little if any rust, but of course haven't torn it down like you did yet so will be some surprises I'm sure.
Great retirement project! I hope to keep building birds thru my retirement years. Hopefully not too many surprise for you. every car I have built all them have had a couple surprises, good news just about anything you might need is available. Good luck and thanks for saving another bird
I found that same glove box decal on my 68 when I began sanding it for paint. I was somehow able to save it despite being previously painted over
That’s ultra cool you reduced your glove box sticker. I hope to do the same.
You will make it better John!!👍🏽
Yes. It’s getting more gooder every day.
I really enjoy how you take on these projets. You’re work ethic, knowledge, and skill, is much like my own. Great approach to the restauration on a DIY budget. I have always done all my own work too. It would have been great to these videos back in the day , but I did my resto back in the early 90’s. I hope you cover the the seat restauration also. My car has the same , deluxe parchment interior. I can only find deluxe interior with comfort weave. I often wonder how many cars were built with the non comfort weave deluxe interior.
Wow thank you! Yes redoing the seats is on the list. That is a good question where do a get a non comfort weave upholstery. I will have to dig into that one
Thanks!
Welcome. I am very close to being done with the metal work on the body shell and will adding up parts to see where we are on the spendo-meter
super cool
Thanks!
Sure got lucky on the window channels, good episode and great content
I am very surprised too. I figured they would have been toast, I am not complaining at all.
Awesome
Thank you! This is going to be a fun project and an amazing car. Autumn bronze, deluxe parchment interior and white top.
I have owned too many first gen firebirds to count. Bought my first one when I was 12- for $300. Fixed/ sold/ bought more until I ended up with a 1969 RAIII 4spd firebird as my High Scholl driver in the 80's. I miss them- a little. Having a father that raced probably the most successful '68 Firebird race car ever (Hard Times) I was "infected" with them from birth.
That’s really cool. I would really love to have a ram air bird in my collection, the prices are a bit much for me today. I can only imagine how little you paid back in the day compared to now.
@@VinylVillageGarage The Ram Air cars were cool but the motors didnt like 80's pump gas. I pulled it and built a 463 with 96 heads 041 cam etc. and it was a low 13-high 12 street car on pump gas. Fun- but didnt handle for chit and was always outta shape!
Not bad at all. Definitely in better shape than the last
Yes sir. I really like the color combination on this car, I feel it will be a real eye catcher when done!
Autumn bronze is neat color not as rare as I thought originally but looking forward to seeing in the sun
The tear down process is what I need, my bird has a bunch of bondo and was wanting to see the removal of the fender’s and front grill pcs I have a 69 so it didn’t come put together when I bought it. But all the pieces are there
1969 is a totally different monster to dissemble the front bumper, not to bad just time consuming. Best advice I’d yours is in pieces get the 1969 Firebird assembly manual it shed a lot of light on how it goes.
wow your good that's the same interior that i have in my 1968 i have replaced everything! my car i bought 35 years ago has Benn rebuilt once when i first bought it then i completely took apart again and replaced the floors the trunk quarters door skins etcetera lol a complete rust bucket!! great video i have never stopped to add it all up i have been doing it for 5 years almost done buying panels and parts as i would go built the engine 35 years ago 400 didn't even need to be board for $4,000.00 would probably be to day at least 10,000.00 it dynode out at 475 hp i have only maybe 2,000.00 miles on it will drive it more this time very soon! Love your videos they are awesome! God bless you brother. Oh ya those seat braces and body frame mount are a riot to take apart lol i just put side floor pans and reused the seat mounts and frame brace mount rebuilt he seat mounts what a job lol.
Sounds like you have had a lot of fun with your car. 35 years wow. I have owned mine for 25 years. Good job on saving another bird
@@VinylVillageGarage I hope I can find one I restored a 1975 fierbird before this and that same year got in a 7 car wreck bringing to work to show my friends and got totaled!! So I found the 1968 complete rust bucket with no engine for $1,000.00 I will try to find something been building race cars with my uncle at 8 years old beer boy and tool boy lol to building 600 hp motors at 15 years old and driving them not racing my uncle was a killer driver supper stock late model short track dirt and asphalt for 25 years best times of my life so I'm like you got to be building something fast lol
That’s unfortunate smashing up a 75 bird. Hope you find another one. I found one in a cow pasture 455/4spd red all there need restored but the lady would never sell it to me. This was 15 years ago drove by there 5 years ago gone so it ended up somewhere, wish it was mine
@@VinylVillageGarage man that would have been awesome wow I hope I can somehow find something like that soon I should be done this summer and I have to stay busy keep moving iam glad your showing all of your skills and knowledge I couldn't do it I get going and my brain has to stay on task and I don't know anything about fierbirds like you do but I know all the people who watch your Chanel appreciate you! You know your stuff.
The French fry 😂😂
I kept it. It’s on my toolbox.
$30,000 excluding labor. Sort of an educated guess because that's what I put into my 65 GTO
I think you are pretty close on that estimate too.
The build sheet we found under the rear seat of my 68 Verdero green convertible was for a Solar red hardtop! I've always wondered if my build sheet has ever turned up in somebody else's restoration.
Weird. Makes you wonder if someone swapped seats or assembly line Shenanigans, This was the first build sheet I ever found that was legible.
Great video I love it great work and showing people all the troubled areas when dissecting these car in parts you looking at $40k and $60k $20k is too little
Thanks buddy, started to build frame rail jig last night. I will get you a picture of my air hammer bit too.
@@VinylVillageGarage thanks I have too see that jig
Weather permitting it might be done today. It’s only 30 degrees and a chance of snow and rain
This th most honest estimate iv seen of all th channels n hack on CZcams 20g is dead on full floor is 1g trunk pan 500 qtr skins 300 ea shipped 2g in other panels rockers maybe 5g totlal floors n skins misc pay pay urself 10g labor n lost time if you hav a regular job 4 to 6 months time whoever says 40 to 60 g is insane shop prices they take all th fun out of this car collecting blown out ovr valuation n monetizing this hobby at least this guy here is th one of a COUPLE restoration guys iv seen on any channel or in past experience
Thanks, these car aren’t cheap to build I am going to hit 20-25k on this one at this rate.
That is parts and materials only no labor. At a shop you need to factor in parts markup and labor easily hit 80-100k for the same job.
Do you have any videos on repairing the holes on a subframe? The diameter of mine are rusted out a little. I’ve seen patch panels, but wouldn’t know how to align them
Not yet but the car I am doing now they need done so I will get on that.
Steve Magnante tore a back seat apart just to find that sheet from the manufacturer. Lots of info on the build of that vehicle
Steve is awesome! Love what he does. wish we had junkyards around here that haven’t been picked clean I would love to look for some treasures.
it's much easier to get the wiper arms off when you lift them up first. then you can access the release lever.
Yes and use both hands helps too. Thanks!
Sadly I’m selling my numbers matching fully restored 47,000 original miles 68 Firebird 350HO convertible. It’s an eye popping beauty but I’m even older than that and it’s time.
That is a nice car hopefully you find a great home for it.
What's the front lower valance look like and the corner pieces???
I have sand blasted them. No body filler and Passenger side great, drivers side a little crusty it has some holes in it that need repair.
My front fender at the seam where the corners go on have some not so good body work and wondered how those ones are??
I am certain the passenger fender is original and the drivers side was replaced years ago. The fitment of the filler panels was still good, both side market lenses are destroyed from rust and collision damage
I received a new trunk lid (AMD 850-3567) and it has a small ding on the edge above the tail light. Some angles its hard to see and other angles its really noticeable. Do u send panles back for small dings or does the person painting the car fix the minor dings? The ding looks like it was hit on the edge and caused a raised aera on the surface of the lid.
Panel damage during shipping has to be typically noted and returned at the time of receiving. Still worth asking, I would. If it goes to a paint shop I would point it out so that it doesn’t slip by without repair. Most painters/body shop can and do typically fix blemishes and dents prior to paint, for a charge of course. To be honest most panels even is shipped perfectly need a little body work prior to paint it’s almost a bit expected.
I guess I would like to see if you "dip" or media blast it. Since it is so far apart I assume you will remove engine and powdercoat sub frames? If not, why not?
I will be having this one blasted, debating dipping the body but the amount of metal i plan to replace didn’t make dipping cost effective this time. I used to blast them myself in the garage , you can see the MARCO blaster in the corner “for sale” btw but it makes a huge mess so I plan to let someone else this time. The sub frame will get the same treatment too. Lots to do so little time but have fun doing it!
It was informative but I was expecting to get a total cost to restore the car. However, it was worth the time.
Thanks, I see how that could be a bit misleading sorry about that. My plan is to keep a running total and at the end i have that number. I hope to have that soon
Thanks Red great mature humor..km
Nowhere entertainment and weird like music?.(kinda Michelle Myers shit going on there)nice footy....acracked 68 wheel...NO waY! LOVE TO SEE YOUR STEERING WHEEL RESTO
The footy pedal is a must to keep on this one. It’s a touch of his original car and it just looks nostalgic and cool. I am going to try a new epoxy this time i have a few wheels crack again in the past.
Waiting for final summary. How much? How long? How many hours?
Very soon. Almost done with the entire build
I had to do ten times that much.. Not for the faint hearted.
No its not. but totally worth it when done if it was easy it would not have as
Much personal value.
Thought glove box lid said this was a Sprint 6 car, What happened to OHC6 engine? Why is there a Pontiac 350 in there?
This car is a factory 350 2bbl. Unfortunately it’s not a numbers matching. I keep it as a 350 car but did
Swap it out to a 4bbl
I spent 10 hours in the garage today pulling apart my 69 Camaro to re-wire it, then went inside to watch other people work on cars. I think I may have a problem. To be honest I was kind of hoping the firewall and under the cowl would be rusty because mine has some rust down there and I am not sure how to tackle it. My dad was the original owner of the car and gave it to me in 1997. The car was "restored" about that same time, the paint still looks nice but when I was pulling the dash out I found a fair bit of rust in the cowl area and on the firewall. Sadly the shop that did the paint used spray foam to fill in the dash rust holes so I got my work cut out for me.
Spray foam bad!! It happens a lot unfortunately. This car will need the toe boards and torque boxes done. I am super happy this car didn’t need the cowl repaired normally they are rotted like yours. It can be fixed and the history of your car Sounds like it worth it.
@@VinylVillageGarage It is not terrible, it has been about the same for the past 25-30 years at least and I never noticed till I ripped the dash apart. I am torn on how much to do right now, the car will never be driven in rainy weather. I havent found any replacement panels so it looks like I am going to have to remove the windshield and patch with sheet metal if I want to fix it.
The entire cowl panel and dash is available but to replace it as an assembly is a large job. You might be better off like you said make pieces and replace.
Who do you use for sheet metal?
Jegs or summit depending on who has the best deal on shipping at the time. I try to buy AMD when I can but for the part all
Brands have pro and cons so sometimes I buy what’s available
Im going to guess about 10,000$
Based on my 79 trans-am 10th and the parts i need. A lot of that is in the interior parts.
Interior parts would nickel and dime you and add up real quick.
I have 67 convertible looking for some help with top thanks in advance
which part, adjusting, cylinders, pump? I have some videos on that stuff and plan to do a replacement top video as well
Gotta say I'm worried if you buy all the metal for your project, there will be nothing left for my Bird!! 😝😦😬😰
Lol, I don’t want to stop your progress. Good news i picked it all up yesterday so they had plenty in stock at AMD still. Can’t blame me.
What is the cost difference of doing it yourself vs taking it to a body shop and having them do it? My car needs everything you did to your car.
Quite a bit I suspect. Never paid anyone to do this kind of work. This car was quoted $108k to do what I am doing, that seems astronomical to me but what I understand not to far from the norm
im currently restoring a firebird with/for my dad. hes got a 69 firebird and its been a headache trying to get any of the metal to work. the original body was so bad we had to start from the ground up.
That’s awesome! A cool family project. The aftermarket panels just aren’t the same as original but in some cases it all you get to work with. Thanks for doing your part to Save another bird. If I can help feel free to ask
@@VinylVillageGarage it was.. more of an agreement. Haha he helped pay for tech school and in return I restored his car. I'm 28 now with some good body shop experience so I've got some good know-how and such but yeah. These panels are quite the pita.
I'd love it if you could come help finish this project haha but we are in Massachusetts.
Currently we have a skeletal structure of the car. Full floors, unisides, firewall, cowl, luggage tray? If you will. Where the rear speakers go. Dry fitting quarters and tail panel have gone horribly.. tail panel to quarters fits awful. Granted. It's just been for dry fit. My dad wants to epoxy the car before we weld any more panels on.
I found that the oer brand quarter skins aren’t close at all to original dimensions, OER full quarters are a little better, but for good fitment with least amount of hassle AMD full quarters have fit best for me.
Massachusetts it’s out of the question, next week I am flying to Arizona to help a fellow bird builder/friend install a roof panel on his 1967 bird. I wish I could just help people assemble their projects for a living, that would be my dream job. Sounds like your dad is getting a nice return on his investment for sure
@@VinylVillageGarage I do not believe they are oer. I can't remember but maybe dinacorn? From ames.
Haha yeah I wouldn't really expect someone to willingly fly out of the way to fit a couple of panels on a car. Nor would I actually ask someone to do something like that.
Roof skin we have is also kind of questionable. But then again I have everything to fit so it could be that too. That would be quite the dream job. I'd love to do stuff like that too. But that would not be an easy way to pay the bills haha
Is this car still being worked on? I don’t see any other vids.
Yup still working on it but very close to being done. Here is the entire play list for this car. Every video for this car is on it.
czcams.com/play/PL_fkAuewyUUIEOXnKPAEZtpfQ1DKJswpZ.html&si=l-0vo0HMyVh5Oze-
Thanks. I did a frame off on my 1968 Firebird. I wanted to see yours. Thanks.
@belladane9182 very cool thanks for saving another bird
How much? Learned my 68's are worse than my boat.
As of right now I am at $16,795 at this rate i might hit 22-25k into it.
cost is what ur connection are and how good u can restore parts the question is can u do it all from ground up or do u have to send it out to have dun. like my 68 chevy pu right now i have 1400 in it with a stroke 454 and a 02xx 400r turbo which is good to 800 hp stock stage one shift kit 12 bolt possi rebuilt front and back suspension twin electric fans serpentine belt dash is finished with full factory gages new glove box heater core nobs bezels and lense even put chrome vents only cost 250 to do the dash if i got new gauge cluster would cost 1000 bucks but i restored mine and was able to do the dash the whole dash for 250 even put a new cig lighter with light pulled a split bench that looked new black leather out of a land rover for 25 bucks so they are very nice better then they sell at lmc trucks for 2000 bucks then picked up some vinyl too do the door panels which cost 15 bucks i will sew them to look good still thinking on a pattern to do not sure to keep it stock look or go all out on them will have to buy the door arm rests felt and guides all the metal is good glass is real good. all ready tested the rig out had to wrap the headers and put a heat shield on it the only bugs i ran into nice solid truck now drives very good lots of power runs smooth been offered 12,000 for the rig the way it sits before i did the dash still needs final paint job . so the cost is in the builder
I do 95% myself in the garage so that will keep labor cost down. I hope to retain as many parts as
Possible to also keep the total expenses to a minimum
Wow...Rotate thru rust worrior..isn't it cheaper to get a rust free body...?
The rust battle is fun to me, I really like the sheet metal part of the build. It’s my favorite step in the resto process
And the cause of the smoking engine is...? Either the orange paint or a fat carburetor
The Chevy orange paint for sure. It causes valve seal failure I am certain of it.
So understand you are not going to place a dollar value for the labor hours. Are you going to tabulate the hours?
Yup i am keeping track of total hours spent and will share that too
Damn...at this point, you may as well abandon the project...too much to replace for a run of the mill 350 to justify. Just sayin'.
This car might be hard for some to justify restoring being just a factory 350 car. But this car has a long history with the owner and holds a very high value with him. I will say it might be one of the nicest 350 cars when done.
Wow you called a 1968 firebird a 2nd gen car! Lmao 2nd year not 2nd gen.
Lol. Memory must be slipping in my old age 😉