Questionhi william, i am 15 getting ready to get a job and begin a restoration on a 1977 firebird 400. all quarter panels have rust near the wheel wells at the bottom, the shifter system is trash and it is not delivering fuel to the engine. in addition, the interior is cracked, ripped, torn and old. i know it will take a lot of time and effort and i am wondering where to get started. ANY help is apreciated.
AnswerYear One, the restoration parts company, has a book in their literature section called how to repair and restore bodywork. Buy it. There are many companies that have truckloads of parts for 2nd generation F-bodies, but year one has the best stuff. You also pay the most for their parts, so you need to figure out what you are building- a nice driver, or a 100 point show car. On your first body job, I wouldn't get too carried away in the money department. Anyhow, Start by getting it running and driving again- the shifter probably has worn spots in the rods or shift arms, you can try to adjust it by putting the shifter into neutral, then sticking a Phillips screwdriver that fits EXACTLY into the alignment hole, all the way through to the other side of the shifter. now, loosen up the bolts on the rods, and let the rods basically set where they want. That is how you adjust the shifter. If you notice that any of the rod ties has excessive play, the rod and shift arm need removed, and the hole in the arm drilled out and a bushing installed. I've done this with car door hinge bushings, and it was very successful. If this all sounds a bit Greek, it will make perfect sense once you are under the car. I don't know the proper names of the parts, but I know what it takes to fix it. Anyhow, put in a new fuel pump, check the lines all the way to the tank. It won't start unless you pour some fuel down the carb first. If you dump some fuel down it, and it starts for a second and dies, it's definitely downstream of the carb. Also check for a plugged fuel filter, it's located where the fuel like goes into the front of the carb. It's a really small filter, about the size of your thumb, and its housing is bolted directly to the carb itself. I recommend removing this filter, and putting in a quality in line filter. Once you have the car road worthy, start the body- don't go crazy and rip the car all down- start with the easiest looking panel to fix, then fix it until it's in primer. Expect to spend several days per panel. Use the knowledge you gain from the first panel, and move to the next worst panel. This keeps you from getting in over your head, and if you need a break, you can still drive the car. If you rip it all apart and get overwhelmed, you will never finish it, and you will lose any value the car has. Avoid disassembling the entire car, keep the nose on. Don't take the doors all apart, it's incredibly difficult to re-align all the parts that hold the glass. Don't take out the dash. Keep it simple, do a paint job- not a restoration. Quarters are a big job, don't cut them both off at the same time, don't have the car jacked up at weird angles when you install the quarters- it will tweak the body, and the doors and trunk lid won't align. You can set the car on jack stands, but have it on 4 stands, as close to level as you can reasonably make it. Follow these tips, and you will actually have a car that gets finished- not just sets in a garage in pieces for years on end. Bill
