Author Topic: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.  (Read 51103 times)

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Offline Greenbird76

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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

Offline eroc022

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2011, 12:58:02 PM »
now thats a different color and I like it! looks great... not too many esprits getting restored, mostly chopped for t/as  great job!
Eroc
Fixing the car that Restore A Muscle Car jacked up....

Offline 4SPEED

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2011, 01:01:24 PM »
She looks good Ron.   and welcome to 78ta 
77 W72 TransAM  (SOLD)
79 TransAM 4SPEED

Offline Greenbird76

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2011, 01:38:02 PM »
Glad to see you here 4speed

Offline Serpiko

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2011, 01:52:19 PM »
great looking car!
"Maybe I am a dinosaur, but I am a Tyrannosaurus Rex baby", -Lemmy

Offline CT Bird Fan

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2011, 01:57:13 PM »
Wow, beautiful Esprit Ron! Like Eroc said, so many get chopped up or cloned that it is rare to see such a nice example anymore.

My hat off to you for keeping it original, I love the color combo!! And it's always nice to see another CT resident on the forum! 8)
Gone but not forgotten - 1979 Formula, 1980 Esprit.

Being birdless sucks!

Offline RRR76TA

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2011, 03:29:18 PM »
Welcome to 78ta  , nice ride

Offline dewcrazzy

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2011, 04:56:02 PM »
Sweet looking car, love the color combo.

Offline RainMan

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2011, 07:00:33 PM »
Very impressive !  You sure do nice work . I love the color and I really like the black and white interiors. Thanks for sharing your rebuild with us

Offline 78&89TA

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2011, 07:51:07 PM »
Very nice !! , a nice different color :)
Jim
1978 T/A
1989 GTA

Offline Tin Indians Rule

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2011, 09:00:13 PM »
I chose the same interior combo for my car. Yours looks great. Lots of hard work that turned out very well.I was a little unsure about seeing the green with white/black interior but it looks really great. Congratulations on a well done Espirit.
What's she wearing now? Come on!
1976 Black 455 4 speed (current project)
1976 White 400 Auto (original)
F-body stuff stashed everywhere.
Always buying/selling/trading  just ask!

Offline Squirrel

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #11 on: September 30, 2011, 09:28:34 PM »
green is my favorite color on cars and yours looks awesome and great detail and effort in restoring it.   ever thought of putting a spoiler on it. 
1978 Chesterfield Brown TA
1977 Camaro 4 speed with t tops
1977 Mustang Cobra II

Offline crazyd_wv

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #12 on: September 30, 2011, 09:45:34 PM »
Looks good man.
David
1980 Firebird Yellowbird 
Just rolled over 35,000 miles
Numbers matching
301 & TH350 Trans

Offline Mongo

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #13 on: September 30, 2011, 09:50:25 PM »
Very nice ride.  I love the under car shots. I remember doing mine. Lotta work there.
"What we're dealing with here is a complete lack of respect for the law."

Offline Greenbird76

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Re: My 1976 Firebird Esprit. Metalime Green with deluxe white/ black interior.
« Reply #14 on: September 30, 2011, 10:10:04 PM »
Thanks guys.  I appreciate all the great comments.  As far as the spoiler, I did alot of thinking on the ssubject and I dicided to go without one.  You dont see many of them around without a spoiler let alone a 76.  I love the look of the tail panel and lights on the car with out a spoiler.  The funny thing is I have 3 spoilers I took of parts cars over the years! Check out these pics-


« Last Edit: September 30, 2011, 10:22:08 PM by Greenbird76 »