My name is Ron and I have been restoring my car for the past 2 years. I have been a back yard mechanic since I was 16. I bought the car for $2800 in 09 and did so because the car was not missing much and came from the factory with this unusual color combo according to the VIN plate. It also had a near mint white vinyl interior that is original. I have owned a variety of other 2nd gens, but did not get fully back into the hobby until about the time I bought this car. What I did, however was collect a lot of parts over the years. This made this resto so much easier. Everthing mechanical has been refurbished or replaced. New brakes, lines, TRW front springs and Eaton rears, new shocks, stripped and refurbished 1 3/16 front sway bar and 5/8 rear bar from a 80 Formula- mounted them with new bushings from Energy, new fuel tank, new e brake cables, 700r4 conversion including having drive shaft cut and rebalanced, rebuilt 410 posi, new alternater, water pump, powere steering lines, fuel pump, Edlebrock performer EPS manifold, rebuilt Edlebrock 600cfm carb, new suspension bushings front and rear, new front end except cnter link, Stripped floor inside and out- patched a few small holes, new Energy body bushings, rebuilt seat tracks, The list is too extensive right now for me to think of! The rally IIs were stripped and repainted and the trim rings and center caps are original. I also did extensive body work to the rear of the car- welded in donor tail valence, new tail panel, donor trunk extensions, donor qter extensions and 21 inches of donor frame rail on each side. In additon, i patched the trunk in afew places and resealed it. Of course, I broke about 300 spot welds removing the old rusted pieces from the 76 and removeing the rust free pieces from 2 donor Firebirds. I started my resto at the rear of the car because this was in the worst shape, and move forward. The last bit of rot on the car is on the radiator support and I will patch that this winter if I can't find a deal on a solid one. The car right now has a sbc in it pushing about 300 hp. Not my choice, old ownner put it in. I have a 77 400 pontiac with pink rods, ram air IV cam, 6x heads, bored 40 over, edlebrock performer rpm intake- about 350hp. It has been in storage for over 12 years and needs a good cleaning and rebuild.
Eventually I will repaint the car the original Metalime Green.
the way the interior looked when I bought the car
During the surgery to the rear end.
picture of donor frame rail installed and repainted
stripped and welded in patch panels to trunk pan, Everthing was butt welded with a MIG. finished trunk with spatter paint from Eastwood. Aqua + black
Rossette welded in new tail panel from AMES
New gas tank ready for mounting. Refurbished original sending unit and lines. Added anti squeak pads
Sand blasted 5 rally IIs. Repainted using eastwoods paint and dupli color clear laquer wheel paint. Came out well
More of my body work under car
New tank mounted using original straps that I stripped and repainted
Sway bar, rear end, rear brakes, brake lines, new shackles bushings and springs- all mounted back into car. I spent hours stripping and repainting that 410 posi rear!
everthing was claeaned and stripped and repainted. No bolt was left unturned The suspension stops are in great original shape.
Here are some pictures of her today. I have her posted on a few other boards also including a full build post on AGTA.
I have hundreds of pictures and will post more in the future