1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby chevyart » Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:52 pm

nice work so far. out of curiosity, are you planning any sort of sub-frame connecto this underside. if so, could you maybe red line in a pic of your proposed method to do this. you have such a nice clear pic of the underside of your car. if not doing this, what would be your plan be to do the connectors.thanks art
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:18 pm

chevyart wrote:nice work so far. out of curiosity, are you planning any sort of sub-frame connecto this underside. if so, could you maybe red line in a pic of your proposed method to do this. you have such a nice clear pic of the underside of your car. if not doing this, what would be your plan be to do the connectors.thanks art


One of the guys on the Facebook page "Monza Madness" made these from 1 x 3 steel. They are bolt in and you cannot really see them when the car is on the ground.

I am thinking of building a set like these.

leek_connectors1.jpg
leek_connectors2.jpg


I do have a set of the old S&W Racecar ones but they intrude into the car so I don't really want to use those.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Fri Oct 27, 2017 9:54 pm

If I turn up missing or dead, it was my wife. LOL

Bought this 1977 Starfire this evening. Pretty solid quarters, fenders, doors, and three of four floor pans. Interior has some usable parts I needed plus a Formula steering wheel. He needs the column but I pressed him on it and he said i could have the wheel. Score.

starfire.jpg

The no title part sucks but that is also what kept the price low.

This car may become a template for parts to be made too. We'll see how solid it is once I get it home next week.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Thu Nov 02, 2017 10:11 pm

Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time.

A new guy posted on one of the H-body pages a coupe spoiler for sale. Two of my buddies tagged me on it immediately and I bought a moment later. He had it posted on eBay with a "Buy It Now" option for $250. I have been hunting for one of these for about 2-years and have not seen one for sale at a reasonable price in that time. Actually, I have ONLY seen one for sale and no way was I going to pay $1,000 for it!

Spoiler.jpg

I found out he was in the process of parting out a 1978 Sunbird Formula coupe and he also had the valance. Boom. Another score! I have one for the hatchback that I was able to save but these are NEVER seen for sale so I had to buy it.

valance.jpg

The original plan was to build my red car into a Formula clone. Now I have the parts to do that. Who cares that this is a 76 and the Formula arrived in 77? Who cares that they didn't have vinyl tops or formal windows? My rough sketch looks cool! :D

clone.jpg

I need to get back into the garage to keep rolling on Project Phoenix! I did manage to do a bit of sanding today but it was the first time I touched the car in a couple of weeks. The wife has me working on some other projects so my pace has been slowed. The weather is starting to get crappy too which isn't helping. Maybe the next project should be to build my shed/garage addition so I can get the furnace in there.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby knitch237 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:27 pm

Nice find on the NOS gas cap, but they are made of urethane just like the tail panel. My original gas cap broke into pieces while the car was parked in the garage... just like the tail panel!
Troy

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1987 Camaro IROC-Z 305 TPI, 5 spd
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:31 pm

knitch237 wrote:Nice find on the NOS gas cap, but they are made of urethane just like the tail panel. My original gas cap broke into pieces while the car was parked in the garage... just like the tail panel!

I don't know what they made those tail panels out of but they all fell apart!

I have a fiberglass one now. :th:
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby chevyart » Sat Nov 04, 2017 8:25 am

i have to tip my hat to you for bringing that nice car back. lots of work, but worth it in the long run i know you will have a beautiful car when finished. looking for ward to watching your build good luck art
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:20 pm

chevyart wrote:i have to tip my hat to you for bringing that nice car back. lots of work, but worth it in the long run i know you will have a beautiful car when finished. looking for ward to watching your build good luck art


Thank you! I need to get back on it. Wife has me rebuilding her brother's house since he passed a few months ago. Should be done with that project by the end of the year.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:42 am

OMG... It's been a month since my last post. Damn, I need to get back to work on the car.

Still working on rehabbing the house. All rooms are painted, trimmed, and carpeted. Bathroom tile is almost done. Then just need to install the vanity, toilet, fixtures, and a bit of trim. Last is the kitchen but it just needs cleaned, painted, some trim, and the back splash added. Hope to be done with it by the end of the year so I can get back on the Formula!!
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby 283vega » Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:56 am

You are moving along at lightening fast speed compared to most of us. Life can get in the way. In the last 3 years I bought a new house built a huge garage, added on to the new house, and fixed up the old house to sell. With that all behind me I need to finish the inside of the garage so I can have a place to work in climate controlled comfort. The vega has had no attention other than getting it running to move to the new house. See your doing just fine :th:
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:11 pm

283vega wrote:You are moving along at lightening fast speed compared to most of us. Life can get in the way. In the last 3 years I bought a new house built a huge garage, added on to the new house, and fixed up the old house to sell. With that all behind me I need to finish the inside of the garage so I can have a place to work in climate controlled comfort. The vega has had no attention other than getting it running to move to the new house. See your doing just fine :th:

LOL Thanks! :lol:
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:32 pm

Can't work out there because it's too damn cold so I figured I'd buy some stuff.

Ordered the AJE tubular a-arms. Bought the adjustable uppers and stock spring lowers. They had a 20% off sale so I saved about $150 vs buying them from Summit.

Also ordered UMI adjustable rear lower control arms and adjustable panhard bar in black. I had them in red but since the car will be red I figured they'd clash so black seems like a better option. I'll use the red ones on the other car...........eventually. .

umi.jpg
uni2.jpg


Also picked up some new bump stops. Not a bad score for $11 delivered.

bumps.jpg


Hope to get back out there soon.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:22 am

I am still in hibernation. Zero degree temps last weekend, then 60 degrees thursday, and now Snowpocalypse. Ohio weather...

I have been spending money though! Shhh... Don't tell the wife.

I was in the right place at the right time and scored an Overkill K-member. Justin Kill rarely has time to make these but he had two available and I snagged one. The box felt empty when it arrived. It is incredibly light. The fit was PERFECT! I thought I'd have to tweak it a bit but it dropped right into place.

k1.jpg
K-member.jpg


Also ordered my AJE A-arms. I ordered them direct from AJE because they had a Christmas sale. Saved about $150 vs buying them from Summit. There is a bit of welding slag on them so I may take the die grinder to them to clean them up a bit. They'll need to be re-powder coated so I'm not sure yet. They are set up with the S-10 ball joints and corrected for camber. I bought the fixed lowers and adjustable uppers so I should have good options for alignment.

a1.jpg


Hopefully I will get back out there to work on the car soon!
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RobR » Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:57 am

Very nice! I also snagged a K-member and was surprised how light it is.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby waybad » Sun Jan 14, 2018 8:12 pm

excellent!!!!
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