Thought I should start a build thread now that I have committed to swapping this thing. Here she is, my dream car.

Before anyone gets upset thinking im breaking up a numbers matching car, the 400 is long gone, and I bought it with a leaky 326 Pontiac.

Its a 1968 Firebird 400
326 Pontiac
TKO 600
Wilwood Everything
Black Interior
Rough Paint

 

Heres the engine thats going in.

Its a 1998 LS1, with stock ugly perimeter bolt heads.It has a cam in it, a Thunder Racing Trak Cam (231/234 .640/.590 112 LSA). Dual springs, TS Pushrods etc... Everything else is stock, and no idea on mileage. I plan on either using the heads off of my Junkyard 06 4.8L or pulling another set if i can find 243's. I dont plan on a boosted application for now, so the LS1 should be fine. I may switch to a gen 4 truck engine in the future if i get bit by the bug.

 

Great looking car. looking forward to updates!

Andrew

 

Recently swapped out a very bent axle, and found some GM seat belts for the back so i can put the car seat back there.

 

First gen Firebirds are cool. Please carry on.

 

Got lucky and found a set of 799/243 heads in the junkyard, on an 08 Van with 80k Miles. It was bucket day at the yard, so they were 25% off. Not a bad score for $60/pair.




Had to remove a couple broken bolts, the gen IV motors seem to have better bolts.


Then I found out why the van was junked, it had a broken valve spring. Looks like it nicked the piston, but i took the heads anyways for the price. The Valve doesn't look bent, i might just run with it, im not sure yet.

 

Also, I had some parts show up.

ICT Adaptor Plates
OER Frame Stands
Stock Mounts (may go energy eventually, this is all the store had for now and im impatient)
GM Head Gaskets
Fel-pro Intake gaskets
Long Tube Headers

 

If the valve is not bent, I bet the valve guide is fine.

Andrew

 

When I was a teenager back in the mid-80s a neighbor had a Firebird 400. As I recall it still had a 400, but it wasn't the original. Such gorgeous cars!

Would it be blasphemy to paint the LS1 Pontiac blue? I realize there's no need to paint an aluminum block, but it's such a cool color, particularly with the black car.

 

Thats reassuring, the valve sure feels fine in the seat. I may just lap them for good measure.

Yeah i was considering this, just trying to decide what parts to paint what colors. I was planning on doing the intake and valve covers in wrinkle to hide dirt. I just didn't know if i wanted to paint an Aluminum block, or show it off.

 

Pulled the old 600lb monster out. Set it next to an Iron 4.8L for size reference. Should be a nice weight savings going to an Aluminum LS1.

 

Great looking setup there! I'm running a SBE LS1 with 799 heads on top too, though I'm only running a stock LS2 cam so it's definitely got some room to grow with a cam upgrade. What are you running for an oil pan? I'm curious because when I was doing the swap it really only came down to two options, notched LS1 pan or a Holley 302-2 or -3. I'm running the Holley mounts and 302-3 and it fit in there perfectly. I made my own crossmember and used some of the el cheapo eBay shorty headers.

 

I was planning on running the 302-3. Have not ordered it yet with the slim hope I can make the Fbody pan work. I have the ebay long tubes. I was going to drop it in with the f body pan for mock up for now.

 

Mounted the engine to start mocking things up and checking fitment.

.

 

Test fitting the headers.



They get pretty close to the steering, but do not touch. Also there is only one plug wire that looks like it will be a pain.

 

This looks great! I'm about to start a swap of my own into my 1967 Firebird. I'm dropping a Thompson Motorsports 408 (Stroked 6.0) into it with a TKO 600. My 302-3 pan arrived a few days ago. I'm trying to decide which motor mount plates to use and which headers. There are "eBay" long tubes referenced...what exactly are those? Do you mind sharing which motor mount plates you used?

 

eBay long tubes are no-brand long tube headers bought off ebay for a bunch less than brand-name headers. Quality can be anywhere. Some get lucky and they fit and run correctly. Others..... ????

 

Started working on this again since the outside temp is tolerable. Cleaned and lapped the valves, and installed some head studs.

 

I'd just use the Holley swap kit, since you have the Holley oil pan already. It'll take the guess work out of figuring what works and what doesn't.

 

The plates are ICT, with stock 350 mounts and Camaro frame stands. The headers are the generic swap headers you can find all over ebay for ~$200.