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1969 Firebird Convertible

272K views 722 replies 56 participants last post by  Birdman68 
#1 ·
I was bidding on a car last night. I did not think that I would win. From what I can tell from the photos and talking to the owner, it needs the following in body parts:
Quarter panels
Tail panel
Rear bumper
Complete Trunk pan
Complete Floor pan
Fenders
Possibly a firewall
Front valance panel
Door skins
New convertible top

The owner says it runs but it will not stop. (Brakes are bad). The convertible top works. The gauges and speedometer work, headlights work, radio has no sound.

The next morning, I got an email telling me that I won! What am I going to tell my wife? Should I send flowers? I will have to get the car shipped to me.

I hired Get-Ur-Dun Trucking Company to deliver the Firebird. The driver, who was president and CEO of the company, loved the car. He said he has hauled other cars in worst shape.

Four sets of neighbors came out of their houses to see the one-ton pickup with a long trailer parked in front of my house. All of the men neighbors loved the car. All of the women neighbors hated the car. One man wanted to buy my car on the spot. Another one wanted to buy one like it but his wife told him that he could not. He wants to help me work on the car. The six-year-old neighbor twins were fascinated with the manual window handles. They never had seen a car that did not have electric windows.

The driver was an interesting character. It is a shame he lives in another state. He talked about splurging that night and getting a hotel with a shower because he slept in his truck for two days. He had many stories. One of his previous customers refused to pay him because he did not like the used car he bought sight unseen. Another one only viewed one side of the car on Ebay. Later, when his car arrived, he found out it was wrecked on the other side. We talked maybe for two hours and drank some homemade beer on the patio with a few of the men neighbors. My wife was inside with the women neighbors. She kept staring at us through the kitchen window and talking on the phone. I think she called everyone she knew to tell them about our new car. Later, I found out she hid her jewels and money in the house because she thought I was going to ask the driver to spend the night at our house. He got a call from the dispatcher, his wife, and left to pick up a car on the other side of Houston.

The convertible top flew off during transit. It was old and dry rotted. You need a screwdriver to open the trunk. It needs many body panels replaced because of rust. The engine runs good and the transmission works. The points and plugs are new, the oil was new and the radiator coolant was green. There is no telling the last time the engine was started before the tune up. The engine was pressure washed possibly to hide an oil leak. I drove it 200 feet and the wheels did not fall off.
 

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#78 ·
Post 3 of 3:
Passenger A pillar Repair Part 2 and Passenger Rocker Replacement
I seem to use a lot of zirconium flap disks since buying this car. I try to start with the 4.5” disks to flatten the welds down. Then I switch to the 2” disk for more precise grinding.



The “A” pillar patch metal that folds around the rocker is not straight. The red box shows the crooked metal.

I used a compass to scribe a straight line using the rocker as the reference. I used cut off wheel to cut the metal straight. Photo of the cut made with the wheel and after paint.



 
#79 ·
Real nice work and pics. I can't wait to start making that kind of progress. Your pics will make for some great reference material. I think I'm going to go for full rocker replacement while my floor pan is out. Right now I'm sidelined. Lifting a subframe to move it with the suspension still attached isn't such a great idea... At least the tires and wheels weren't still on. Getting old sux.
 
#80 ·
Thanks Sarget Hawk United States Marine Corps,

Before I started this project, I studied other build projects on this website to learn how to install all of these parts. I know that I can never return the favor to all the people before me. All I can do is continue the tradition and post my photos for future people that are rebuilding their cars. I hope they can learn from my mistakes and realize that rebuilding a car is not an unsurmountable task.

I am also getting old. It's hard to crawl around under the car. I hate laying on metal shavings. Especially those curly ones from drilling a hole.

Po Boy's Rotissirie:




 
#81 ·
Nice job on the A-pillar replacement. That was a scary moment for me on my '69. How is the fit on the tail light panel to the quarters coming along? curious... looking great!:beers:
 
#82 ·
The quarters and tail light panel need a lot more work. The usual problem at the corner where the two pieces overlap does not line up very well. The quarters are wavy in some areas. I still need to install a lot more parts before I get serious about the outside panels. I have a long way to go. Thanks for asking.

B pillar repair (Passenger and Driver) Post 1
There are no replacement patches for a convertible. The coupe patches will not fit. Therefore, the metal has to be fabricated.
The following describes one way of repairing the rusted area below the rear window area. A different way of fixing this problem can be found on tjgimp posts in the body shop section titled “Nothing special 68” page 11. His method might be easier than the way I did it. I am sure there are many more posts. Most of the others deal with only a small section of rust. Tim’s and this post deal with the entire bottom section rotted out. If you have a coupe, buy the patch piece.
I repaired the driver b pillar several weeks ago. I did not post any photos because the repair consisted of a lot of trial and error. After a while, the frustration was getting the best of me and I did not care to show off my mistakes. So, the camera was shoved into a corner.
The B pillar was rusted completely away.






One thing I hate about a sandblaster is that it makes a bad rusted piece of metal look worse after it is sandblasted.


How not to repair the b pillar:
First trial and error: My first attempt at the repair was to weld the rusted holes shut with a mig welder. My neighbor must have used a pound of wire but he was able to close the holes. The result was very rough and uneven metal. The panel was now a mesh of thick and thin metal that was not very strong. I decided the repair was unacceptable. We cut the welded metal out. I was able to crush the welded metal with my hand.




Second trial and error: My first attempt failed because I was trying to avoid dealing with the round curves and bends in the sheet metal. This area had to be removed because it was too weak. The second attempt was to copy the bends and curves in the metal simply by beating on a flat sheet metal with a body working hammer. I learned the hard way that I am not a metal sculptor. Sorry, no photos of this attempt fixing the metal.
Third trial and error: The third time was successful. The passenger side was also made using this method. I documented the passenger side. The next photo is the inside panel that needed to be repaired. The bottom section was cut off because it was rusty and most of it had rotted away. The upper portion was left so that I had an example of how the metal was supposed to look when I form the metal.




The first step was t build the bottom flange. Bend a piece of sheet metal at a 90 degree angle.

Cut the bent metal to follow the bottom of the curve.




 
#83 ·
B pillar repair (Passenger and Driver) Post 2
I cut another piece of metal that also follows the curve and weld it to the first piece at an angle. This second piece will make the curved part of the patch. Notice I did not weld is at the ends. The welded part is where the curve is going to be formed.



Now start bending the metal with a body working hammer. The only tools I used were two hammers, one with a sharp point and the other with a chisel point, a bench vise, and anvil.

Eventually, the metal will be bent to follow the curve of the original panel.


Now weld the ends shut. This is the finished item.



Cut the original metal along the line. The patch will be butt welded to the good metal. With all the metal forming, the patch moved a little toward the rear of the car. This will be trimmed up later.


Weld in the patch


Next week I will continue to repair the rest of the rusted metal in this area.
 
#85 ·
Nice job on the patch! Isn't that stuff fun? I love patchwork. It's just gratification of making your own parts is what gives me satisfaction. I can see you have got some fabbing skills too. nice work!:beers:
 
#86 ·
That is a great patch. I've been trying to fit my wheelhouses so I've been paying attention to that section you repaired. Here is a pic from screaminperformance.net.



I'm not sure if you're done, but I figured that I'd mention that it looks like your repair hangs over the rocker a little. I'm thinking you might have a problem fitting the wheel house down the road. It might prevent the wheel house from sitting flush against the welding flanges on the rocker. Just my 2 cents. Looks great.
 
#87 ·
Thanks for the encourgement. The patch does hang over a little. I plan to grind it to match the profile of the new wheel house.

That fellow at Screaming Performance makes this kind of work look easy. I am sure this is not the first time he has fixed this area. Like so many other posts, his repair did not have to deal with the curve in the metal. I am not sure what the little "square bump" he made actually does. I am sure it exists in the orginal panel. Mine was so rusted, I do not have an example to fabricate one.

I have three more patches to make. Two areas are shown below. The other is the diagonal convertible brace that is welded to the floor pan.

 
#89 ·
Brandon, thanks for the offer. I read you post too late to set up a time last weekend. I would like to see your car and maybe take some measurements and photos of a convertible that is not so rotten.
B pillar repair Passenger Side Part 2 Post 1:
The next area that needed to be repaired is the lower doorjamb area.

I cut off the piece that I wanted to fabricate. I used original as a form. I bent the metal for the new piece.


Notice there a fold in the metal close to where the C clamp is located. This fold starts out very pronounced at the bottom and slowly disappears as it goes up. I did not know how to replicate this using only one piece of metal. So the replacement piece consisted of two pieces that had to be welded together. An important note; this method will not create a perfect replacement. The inside radius of the bends in the original piece becomes the outside radius of the new piece. You will get close but you will need to tweak the metal to make it match perfectly.


The original piece follows the contour of the quarter panel. The new piece needs to have the same curve.




The two replacement pieces are welded together and then trimmed to fit the original doorjamb. Then the patch was welded to the doorjamb.






The doorjamb was removed to get to the rotted metal behind it.
 
#90 ·
B pillar repair Passenger Side Part 2 Post 2:
The rotted metal was cut out that was behind the doorjamb. I cut where the metal was flat so that I did not have to recreate any more curves. I cut a flat piece of metal and welded it to the b pillar. I am sure this is not like the original. I had a few photos of other cars but no measurements. Later, I can add the little square that is shown on the photos.








A photo of the piece that is located in the interior of the body. The B pillar support brace bolts on to it.


I cut out a piece to follow the outside of the metal that is rotten.




Then just weld it in. There is a second piece made that is bent at an angle the will be ultimately welded to the rocker.




 
#91 ·
B pillar repair Passenger Side Part 2 Post 3:
The doorjamb piece was installed on the car. The vertical row of spot welds was used to realign the piece. The quarter panel was reinstalled to make sure the doorjamb was correct.




Weld the B pillar support brace back in place.



 
#92 ·
Thank you to the person who gave this post the stars.

Mini Tubing a Convertible Part 1:
I was hesitant to widen the rear wheelhouses on my car for the following reasons:
1. It’s a convertible. The car does not have a roof; wider tires might cause the unibody to flex.
2. I am not planning to take it to the drag races.
3. It would be easier to install the stock size wheelhouses.
4. Cutting the car might decrease the value.
5. I will have to change the rear suspension.
6. I will have to shorten the rear axle.
7. Trunk area will decrease.
8. Convertible top has less room to fold up when it is lowered.
9. Convertible mechanism arms will have to be modified.


I decided to go ahead and mini tub the car for the following reasons:

1. It’s a convertible. Not many soft tops have the wide wheelhouses. I was planning to stiffen the unibody anyway.
2. I like street cars with wide tires.
3. I am going to have to replace the wheelhouses anyway. So now is the best time to make them bigger.
4. It is a Firebird, not a high dollar Camaro.
5. One of my leaf spring is broken. I plan upgrade the rear suspension anyway.
6. My old 10 bolt open differential axle is too weak. I need a bigger one.
7. I am not planning to carry any luggage.
8. It is hot and rainy in Houston, Texas. Convertible tops are up most of the time.
9. I think that I will be able to modify the convertible mechanism arms.


I bought a couple of Dynacorn wide wheelhouses. They are a one-piece unit. This means the inner and outer pieces are welded together. They are 2.25” wider than the stock size. The total width is 15.25 inches. They do not come with a template or instructions like the DSE tubs. I do not know how to install the wheelhouses as a one-piece unit. So, I drilled out the welds and separated them.















I read a few internet links that describe how to install the wheelhouses. TCI has a pdf file and so does the magazine Camaro Performers.
http://www.totalcostinvolved.com/pdf/install/mchev/67-69_Camaro_4-Link_with_Mini_Tub_Sheet_Metal.pdf
http://www.camaroperformers.com/camaro-tech/paint-and-body/camp-0906-1969-chevy-camaro-convertible-wheelwell/viewall.html
 
#93 ·
Mini Tubing a Convertible Part 2:
One of the first steps described in the above references state that I should take careful measurements of the quarter panel wheel lip to the frame rail. My original frame rails were intact. The outer wheelhouse had rusted away from the quarter panel.





I knew the quarter panels were bad but they looked ok from the outside. When I looked up inside of the quarter panel, it did not look so good. The previous repair consisted of some sheet metal riveted to the quarter panel. (Does this sound familiar Brandon?) The outside was smoothed over with Bondo. In addition, the wheel lip had completely rusted away. It was recreated with Bondo and duct tape. I do not think that the Bondo wheel lip would be a good reference point.

The second step is to tack weld some brackets to the convertible top bracket. This has to be done before the wheelhouse is cut off. The temporary brackets make sure the convertible braces do not move when the wheelhouse is cut out. I only have a photo of the brackets after the wheelhouses were removed.


I had to come up with Plan B since I have no reference points. The B pillar was braced by the jig. I knew it was in the correct position. Part of the wheel house is welded to the B pillar arch. The B pillar locates the front part of the wheelhouse. The rear part of the wheelhouse has one reference point. It is the distance between the lip of the wheelhouse to the convertible quarter panel inner bracket.



 
#94 ·
Mini Tubing a Convertible Part 3:
The most important reference point is the new quarter panel. Most people only see the outside of a car. If the quarter panel does not look good, it does not matter how the wheelhouse looks. So the outer wheelhouse quarter panel and tail panel were installed on the car. The driver’s side wheelhouse did not fit into the quarter panel’s wheel lip. I cut some 2x4 blocks and use C clamps to pull the two together. The blocks distribute the forces over a wide area so that the quarter panel does not distort. I also used vice grips on the flat pieces where the chrome or stainless wheel lip molding goes.
















After all the work outer wheelhouse is in position. I marked it’s location.


Transfer the marks to the outside of the wheelhouse.







Now the outer wheelhouse is in position and it can be used as a reference to locate the inner wheelhouse.
 
#95 ·
Cut Trunk Pan and Frame Rail For Mini Tubs.

I have read that some people believe that the frame rails do not need to be cut for Dynacorn wide wheel tubs. This is not true. You will cut the trunk pan and loose the shock absorber mounting point. The frame rails have to be cut and boxed.

The convertible has and extra bracket welded to the wheel tub that is not used on the coupe. Also, the convertible back seat brace is very different from the coupe. Other than that, minitubbing a convertible is very similar.

I tried to make a template to help me make the cut. I was not successful. The templates I tried to make were not a flat piece of cardboard. They had to bend around the curves of the wheel house and go up and down on the curves of the trunk pan. The template would have to be three dimensional. I think a template can easily be made after the wheel house is installed.

One of the previous photos showed part of the trunk hinge bracket removed. I left the upper part of the bracket where the torsional bars mount.




The convertible mechanism bracket was also removed. I broke the spot welds where I previously welded the two extra brackets and drilled out the spot welds on the B pillar. The spot welds give reference points so that the bracket can be later installed in the exact posistion it was removed.





The convertible rocker has a flange that is next to the floor pan. It has to be cut off.



I ended up just cutting a little at a time until the inner wheelhouse fit. The trunk bracket was my nemesis during the whole ordeal. It blocks the inner wheelhouse from fitting until the hole is completely cut. The photo below shows the bracket and the next cut I will make.




Eventully I cut the frame rail and trunk pan enough so that the wheelhouse fits. I bolted the inner and outer wheelhouses together.










 
#97 ·
Mini Tubing a Convertible Patching Frame Rail Part 4:
I cut the trunk pan a little at a time. Shown below is the first cut. I was surprised to find that the interior of the metal of the trunk pan was not painted. I thought the pan was dipped into the EDP paint at the factory. The paint must have been sprayed. Inside the hole, the metal was bare and a little rusted. I bought a can of self-etching primer and sprayed into the hole. Maybe it did some good.


The amount of metal removed looks to be the same for both the DSE and Dynacorn tubs.


I cut some bar angles to reinforce the hole cut into the frame rail. Two pieces of angle steel were used because the frame rail starts to slope downward as it progresses to the rear of the car. The angle pieces were drilled with holes. The pieces were plug welded to the frame rail and to each other. They extend well past the actual hole.


I cut a piece of flat steel to fit on the bottom of the frame rail. It also extends past the hole. Not shown but this piece was welded to the angle steel installed previously. Now I have made a channel beam. I cut two pieces of metal to join the sides of the frame rail. At this point, I have made an open-ended box.

Two pieces of 3/16 inch steel plate were used to cover the frame rail hole. They had to be bent to follow the curve of the wheelhouse. I heated them with a torch and bent them with a hammer. The round pipe was used as a form.


The first steel plate slips inside the new steel in the frame rail. The curve of the 3/16 plate touches the bar angle inside the frame rail. This is where I made a mistake. I previously welded the bottom flat piece to the angle piece. The weld bead interfered with the steel plate. I had to grind down the weld in the area where the curved plate buts up against the angle steel. The inner steel plate was welded to what I call the open-ended box and to the edges of the frame rail. This inner plate boxes in the hole. Not shown but a second piece of 3/16 steel was welded on top of the first one. The second pieces was ground down to match the thickness of the frame rail metal and to follow the contours of the wheelhouse. I think my welder was set too hot. This method is different from other posts. I hope that boxing the inside of the frame rail and adding the second curved plate will strengthen the cut. There are no visible patches on the outside.


A little 16-gauge triangle piece was welded above the frame rail. The other bigger hole to the left has an inner piece of metal. The patch was cut to match the big hole. Also, the patch had a few holes drilled into it so that the inner metal could be welded to the patch.



 
#98 ·
Mini Tubing a Convertible Adding trunk flanges Part 5:
When I cut the trunk pan, I did not leave any extra metal for a flange that fastens to the wheelhouse. They are necessary because this is the main area where the wheelhouse is welded to the trunk pan. I cut a strip of 18-gauge steel. I bent it to match the contours of the wheelhouse. I tried to get it as close to the wheelhouse as possible. Notice that it sticks up above the floor pan. It sticks up because I did not want to accidently weld the wheelhouse to the floor.




The strip of steel was spot welded to the floor pan and the wheelhouse was removed.




I finished welding the strip and ground it down flush with the floor pan.


The flange at the rear of the wheelhouse was created the same way. This method gave me tight seams. The imperfections and waviness of the cuts were eliminated because the weld bead filled in the holes.


 
#100 ·
Mini Tubing a Convertible: Modifying the Wheelhouse Brackets Part 6:
The convertible mechanism bracket that was removed previously has to be modified to fit the wider wheelhouses. The trunk hinge bracket also has to be altered. All of the write-ups that I have read just gloss over these modifications. To me, these modifications were just as difficult as cutting the frame rail.
The convertible bracket consists of two pieces that are welded together. I was gentle when separating the pieces. I did not want to have to deal with bent brackets that will not allow the convertible top to operate in the future. Notice the two holes where the captive nuts are located. I think the factory used an oxygen acetylene torch to enlarge the holes.


The rusty bracket was cut along the red line. The rest of the bracket was ground down where the green marks illustrate.


The bracket was put back on the car to determine if I had ground down the bracket enough to fit the wheelhouse. The extra temporary brackets help locate the convertible bracket in its correct location. I used the broken spot welds on the temporary brackets as a reference.





After a lot of trial and error, the bracket was ground down enough to fit tightly against the wheelhouse. The flange that was cut off was welded back on the bracket. In addition, the two brackets were joined back together.





The modified bracket was welded back on the car.
 
#101 ·
Mini Tubing a Convertible: Modifying the Wheelhouse Brackets Part 7:
The trunk bracket has to be modified.




I just cut the top off and punched new holes at the top. When I took this bracket off the old wheelhouse, I had to drill a spot weld that was on the edge of the bracket. Now the bracket has a ragged edge. I used a piece of copper bar to fix the ragged edge with weld. The copper bar gave me a straight edge since the weld would not stick to the copper. After grinding down the weld and making a second pass the bracket looks a lot better.







The outer wheelhouse was welded to the car. The inner and outer wheelhouses were welded to the B pillar. And the outer wheelhouse was welded to the trunk pan flanges.






This car is gona be Bad to the Bone! (If I ever finish it)





 
#102 ·
Patrick, I just found this thread and read alot of the posts and few of the pics(I have alot blocked at work so I'm a little in the dark, i plan on looking at this thread when I have time at home. now with all that I am really impressed to see the amount of time you took to detail this online here for us that are unaware how muck work goes into sheet metal repairs - alot have no idea of what it takes or why so much $$ to do body repairs. I grew up in Chicago's suburbs and rust is horrible and we throw salt down to aid the auto industry in the need for replacement cars. your posts about your wifeand fishing was quite good and humorus. I too am building a 69 Bird and had my bodyman mintube and flare the rear wheel wells it got stuck in bodyjail until he gave up on it. It will be a TA clone with tires and LS power plant, I had another setback - the city gave me a permit and now I have been all over a 30x30 shop, had a contracter do concrete and framing, roofing - my son and i are doing insulation, sheetrock, tape and bed and the painting just started -I cant wait to pull a car in (and on a lift!!) start working in my new shop. keep up the good work!! and thank you for showing all of us what it takes
 
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