New Member

Hey, guys.

I just finished a Factory Five MKIII (Cobra Replica) last June and talked my wife into letting me do another project.  I purchased a 1978 Firebird a month ago, and I would like to do a light resto-mod/pro-touring arrangement with it.

I have looked at several of the Reader's Rides here and have to say that you guys have done a great job on your cars.

I owned a 1978 Trans Am back in high school which is why I chose to do this as my second project.  I'll post some photos of my car soon for you guys to see, but I just wanted to introduce myself first.

I haven't done anything with a Pontiac in years.  I can't do a full off restoration on this car, and frankly don't know if it is even resonable to do so on a 305 ci car with nothing special.  That's why I thought a light resto would be cool.

At first glance, if I could come close to the car that 18 year old FiReBiRD07 did, I would be geeked.

The first thing that I have in mind is a suspension upgrade with 17" or 18" wheels.  I have been looking at both the Detroit Speed and Hotchkins kits.

Has anyone got opinions on either that would help me out?

David  
David Bass II
Fuquay Varina, NC

David, check out Pro-Touring F-body.com. They have a bunch of stuff that looks a lot like the old Herb Adams stuff. Order one of their catalogs, it is worth it just for the great info section on how the suspension works and how to modify it.
The nice thing about a base Firebird is you don't have to pay top $$$ for it and you aren't paying for the better suspension of a TA when you are going to change it all anyway. Though I'm a Pontiac purist myself (swapped out a 454 Chevy for a smog-dog 1975 Pontiac 350 in my Formula!), I can see the point of building a Chevy powered car as a resto-mod. It will be cheaper, lighter and have better weight distribution than a traditional Pontiac V8, but you'll have to look at another "me too!" SBC every time you open the hood. But, Hey!, opinions are like belly buttons, we've all got one, what matters most is your opinion, do it the way you want it and have fun!
Steve  
A little help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

Hey David,
   Ive been on the site for the last couple months and still to this day i agree completely with steve on just about everything he says. If you do plan on swapping the motor a sbc is a good idea just cause of the fact that one you can build them to be a race motor... two you will never have a problem getting parts... except with the cashier at your local kragen telling you they dont have it when they do ;-)....and the actual engine swap if your doing it yourself is fairly easy... did it myself for my
76 firebird... anyways take steves advice on the mag and check out alot of there suspension
stuff and remember thanks to the internet now days you can always ask around or just google
something that you dont know... the 18inch sounds good and just out of curosity are you going
to be using smaller tires in the front? anyways if you go sbc keep in mind theres a million
things you can do from there that are awesome... chevys got tunnel rams... blowers... all
kinds of good performance heads... and much much more... being a pontiac purist myself sometimes
you gotta keep in mind what your budget is though... as for me in the future i hope to purchase
a 79 Trans Am And Go Full Blown Pontiac Everything... But As For Now... Just Gonna Hot Rod
My Baby