Restoring my 1995 Bird..
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what did you use to paint down in the valleys around the t-top whether stripping? it looks a LOT better than the bare stock look
car is looking amazing man, can't wait to see it all come together. your definately going to have a beautiful car that will actually be VERY enjoyable to drive
car is looking amazing man, can't wait to see it all come together. your definately going to have a beautiful car that will actually be VERY enjoyable to drive
(side note).. I DID install the roll bar first.. LMAO! It was a nightmare trying to work the carpet around that thing.. So, I took it out and decided to do some "reverse engineering".. LOL
First things first this morning.. I installed my 4 AWG distribution block as an access point, for my "grounding" needs. It will be out of view, under the drivers seat.
Next, I installed the headliner and sun visors..
Also installed the sail panels, dome light and seat belts..
Finally, I "re-installed" the roll bar.. As it sits in there right now, it's "loose and unbolted" in there at the moment..
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I really can't wait to see this thing all done. Looks SO awesome sp far man. I need to do the fatmat trick on my daily. Where did you get the sound deadning foam stuff at?
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(Synthetic Carpet Fiber Carpet Padding ~ NOT THE FOAM PADDING)
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OK.. I got another day off today (but it's my wife's birthday). I probably won't get much accomplished today but I did find a few BEFORE and AFTER shots that I found interesting..
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Thanks for the compliment! I went with the MS roll bar.. I did take the time to weigh it before installation. It weighed 78 pounds. I remember one of the guys telling me that the same moly bar for my car weighs about 65 pounds. So, I saved several hundreds of dollars for roughly 15 pounds. LMAO, I've lost 15 pounds since I've gotten back on my training / diet schedule.. hehe. In addition to removing the rear seat mounts and rear seats, I also removed my t-top trunk mounts, spare tire and factory jack.. So that helps off-set some of the extra weight. I would venture to say that I have only added at most, maybe 75 pounds of "extra weight" to the entire car. Very acceptable for a restored street car. Although the car will be an "aggressive street car" it will most definitely NOT be race car or gutted out daily driver.
Last edited by officermartinez; 05-09-2009 at 01:29 PM.
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Edge Racing 4L60E 3000RPM Converter (w/ anti-ballooning plate) - $565
New windows (minus the rear window) $438
Custom Upholstered Dash - $400
Moroso Cold Air Intake System - $180
New GM MAF $228
BBK 52mm Throttle Body 1994-97 LT1 - $305
PowerForce+Plus harmonic race damper LT1- $175
MSD LT1 Pro Billet Optispark Distributor - $289
GM Performance Parts LT4 Hot Cam Hydraulic Roller Cam - $150
MAC Headers w/ Y Pipe (ceramic coated by Performance Coating Specialties) - $675
SLP Loudmouth I Exhaust - $490
Random Technology RACE High-Flow Catalytic Converter - $259
Comp Cams Magnum 1.6:1 Roller Rockers - $190
Comp Cams LT1 Hydraulic Roller Lifters - $190
SLP Line Lock kit - $140
Wolfe Racecraft Full 6-point roll bar - $625 + $200 custom powder coated
Cold Fusion 200HP Wet Nitrous Kit, 20 lbs bottle, warmer, progressive controller, misc parts - $1,485
Racetronix Fuel Pump Performance Bundle - $230
UMI Performance 3-Point Subframe Connectors - $300
UMI Performance Engine/Strut Bay Brace - $95
Corvette ZR1 Rims (2) 17x9.5" + (2) 17x11" custom powder coated - $1,400
Sumitomo Tires (2) 275 40ZR 17's + (2) 315 35ZR 17's - $675
TransGo 4L60E Shift Kit - $130
Beefed up rebuilt 4L60E - $1700
MSD 8.5mm Black Super Conductor Spark Plug Wires - $110
Vortech Aluminum Intake Elbow custom powder coated - $125
BMI Custom Powder Coated Aluminum Radiator Shroud - $200
LT1 Block .030 over, TRW forged pistons + powder coating - $ Ughhhhh
(4) new slotted / cross drilled rotors and brake pads - $509
(4) brake calipers and front spindles + powder coating - $270
(2) door handles + powder coating - $60
(2) new rear hatch shocks - $68
Misc fel-pro gaskets - $ Can't remember
New interior carpet - $200
Fatmat (200 sq ft) $200
6LE front air splitter - $284
Rear Axle Bump Stops - $78
Replacement Rear Sway Bars - $26
Used (like new) center console - $150
Used (like new) misc interior panels - $200
Both front seats, headliner, sunvisors and door panels upholstered - $725
Roll bar mountable speaker dual speaker pods + powder coating - $225
Used T/A rear hatch, T/A front / rear bumper cover, side skirts, hood - $750
Paint and body work - $5500
Pavlock Perf. tinted rear tail lights, blinker lights and 3rd brake light - $275
KeeAudio double din bezel - $125 (give or take a few $$)
Cleaned / Dipped gas tank and radiator - $170
New window motors and new head light motors - $280
Used upper dash pad - $85
*** I'm sure there is more that I forgot to write down but you can get an idea about my general restoration costs so far.. Kind of depressing when I look at this list.. lmao!
Last edited by officermartinez; 06-27-2009 at 05:32 PM.
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I purchased a speaker box and it REALLY sounded awesome. It's only (2) 10" Toby woofers but you seriously have to hear it, to believe it. I thought I would be able to "squeeze" them into the empty rear seating area but it was a no go. Sooooo, I will see what I can do. The wife wasn't happy at all that I dropped almost $600 on this Toby speaker box.
I dropped it into place on top of the flat portion of the trunk. I temporarily installed my drivers seat and saw that the top portion of the speaker box is about 1 - 2 inches higher than my rear spoiler (when looking through my rear view mirror). This is NOT where I had planned on placing the box.. This is gonna set me back a bit as it would force me to "re-design" the back seat area. For now, I'm not gonna worry about it and will move on to completing the interior install.. On a really cool note, for those of us who have roll bars in our cars, I found a company on eBay who makes speaker pods that are light weight aluminum (intended for marine use). They mount on a wake board bar on a boat. However, I noticed that the diameter of mount was the exact diameter of the tubing on my roll bar.. WOOHOO! I can basically mount speakers ANYWHERE in my car around my roll bar. I purchased two pods and each pod will hold (2) 6.5" speakers.. so that's (4) 6.5" speakers. I sent the pods to TOP KOAT Powdercoating and had em matched to my roll bar.. Here they are (polished aluminum ~ uncoated) :
After powder coating:
If I can line these pods up pretty much behind my ears (centered on the backside of my head), I will have the perfect left / right audio seperation (stereo) sound that I want. It also means that I won't have to buy high power amplifiers just to hear my music. I KNOW my car will be LOUD. Headers, SLP Loudmouth 1 exhaust, 5" exhaust tips.. Ughhhhhh, yep, it's gonna be LOUD. So, this makes a great way to hear my music OVER my car without cranking the heck out of my volume on my car stereo.
Oh, here is the speaker box.. I went down to a local high end speaker company, the Toby Speaker Company (on Montgomery St. here in Fort Worth, Texas) and spoke with them on custom building me a "modded" box setup based on their Ranger Bandpass designed box. You can't even see the two little 10" woofers but the sound is absolutely phenominal..
I dropped it into place on top of the flat portion of the trunk. I temporarily installed my drivers seat and saw that the top portion of the speaker box is about 1 - 2 inches higher than my rear spoiler (when looking through my rear view mirror). This is NOT where I had planned on placing the box.. This is gonna set me back a bit as it would force me to "re-design" the back seat area. For now, I'm not gonna worry about it and will move on to completing the interior install.. On a really cool note, for those of us who have roll bars in our cars, I found a company on eBay who makes speaker pods that are light weight aluminum (intended for marine use). They mount on a wake board bar on a boat. However, I noticed that the diameter of mount was the exact diameter of the tubing on my roll bar.. WOOHOO! I can basically mount speakers ANYWHERE in my car around my roll bar. I purchased two pods and each pod will hold (2) 6.5" speakers.. so that's (4) 6.5" speakers. I sent the pods to TOP KOAT Powdercoating and had em matched to my roll bar.. Here they are (polished aluminum ~ uncoated) :
After powder coating:
If I can line these pods up pretty much behind my ears (centered on the backside of my head), I will have the perfect left / right audio seperation (stereo) sound that I want. It also means that I won't have to buy high power amplifiers just to hear my music. I KNOW my car will be LOUD. Headers, SLP Loudmouth 1 exhaust, 5" exhaust tips.. Ughhhhhh, yep, it's gonna be LOUD. So, this makes a great way to hear my music OVER my car without cranking the heck out of my volume on my car stereo.
Oh, here is the speaker box.. I went down to a local high end speaker company, the Toby Speaker Company (on Montgomery St. here in Fort Worth, Texas) and spoke with them on custom building me a "modded" box setup based on their Ranger Bandpass designed box. You can't even see the two little 10" woofers but the sound is absolutely phenominal..
#59
Hmmmmm.. I wonder if photobucket is back up? Can you see them now? Here are two more pics for ya.. I spent today, working on my roof (t-top area). Those cinder blocks caused a lot of damage so I think I have corrected everything now. I drove over to Kennedale, Texas to pick up my T-Top bar from TopKoat powdercoating and it is now installed on my car. It came out GREAT! I am very happy with the over all results of my efforts.. (sorry if the photo's kinda suck.. I didn't have enough lighting):