I am super glad the algorithm sent you our way. A few years back this car would have been considered a parts car to most people. I love finding them like this or worse and bring them back to life. That’s what we are all about.

I really appreciate the binge watching, helps promote the channel so a huge thank you!!

Thanks, might have done this a time or two. So very true, i don’t like rust so it’s got to go!

Thanks, I have had three 1968 birds I looked at this year for a new project that where oddly enough originally painted autumn bronze and I intend on putting this one back that way. Very nice color.

Keeping it fun is part of the process.

Thanks Brian, might have done this a time or two. Learned a lot of it the hard way so if i can save you a little frustration is the goal. Even if you learn how not to do it, lol 😂

Thank you!! Hoping it helps give some in sight to commonly needed repairs on these old birds BTW i was born in Wichita

Wichita, that's where we live.....lol!

It’s been a few years since I have been there, nearly 30 i believe. I don’t remember much but I am sure it’s changed immensely

Awesome! Glad to hear it worked well for you. Your car is looking good making great progress on it

Perfect timing then, that is great news! If you have any questions on your progress let me know if I can help. Best wishes on your car. Thanks for the feed back and glad to help.

Oh yeah let the fun begin

Luis said he was going to Carlisle, that’s cool you got to meet him. He has a nice collection of firebirds. It seems we are both rebuilding 1968 birds at the same time. I suppose at some point I will visit his place and check out his projects too

I actually have a plasma cutter, you bring up a good point it’s cheaper then buying cut off wheels, might be time to bust it back out.

@@VinylVillageGarage Its also much more fun, both to use and to watch! Who doesn't love wielding the power of Hephaestus vs a rusty floor panel? Nobody, that's who.

Lol. So very true and brilliantly said.

Lol, so very true. I bet it has something to do with raising the roof or you could even call it a drop top.

Appreciate that. I try to keep it sweat and simple and not go to deep into all the details. I will be heading west to Arizona this Wednesday so we will have a change of scenery, but still bird content.

Might have to keep it, better mpg that way

That makes driving with flip flops kinda tuff. Though I think Fred and Barney did it bare foot.

I am sure that had no shoes too.

Appreciate that! I love my old cars been playing with them for over 25 years and now I get to share it with you and anyone else interested

@@VinylVillageGarage I wanna come over and help!

Do you live in Indy? If so stop by. FYI I am at the airport now heading to Arizona for a little project with a friend so stay tuned for this adventure

My reference points are written with marker in various spots. I use my bubble level and make multiple checks as i reassemble. I do use the plumb bob a lot especially for the rear frame rail install. Then used masking tape for on the shop floor for keeping tabs of location. This time I plan to use my frame rail jig to expedite the process. Previous cars I spent an exuberant amount of time measuring then measuring again because I wanted to make sure I was on track. Only to find out the majority of the time I was typically within 1/8”. With the exception of one car. It was a convertible and a total mess got it straightened out. Cutting and moving bracing remeasuring over and over. It’s now my favorite build to date my Transmaroado. It did work out in the end. The inner rockers do have the seat belt mounts attached and they are even the correct SAE thread. No worries there

Yeah i wish you could share pictures too. I would enjoy looking at what you are building. The frame rails can be replaced by themselves, but the norm is if the rails are rusty so is everything it’s attached to. It just depends on the condition of the rest of the body.

@VinylVillageGarage the body and outer panels even truck is solid. Even the passenger side on the front floor. I think something happened over the years as the inner rocker panel is pushed up in the front and the floor is rotten, and the floor actually it pushed from a bad repair in the past. I couldn't figure out why when I set the engine in, I couldn't get full open throttle. Then I realized the floor was pushed up ward like 3 inches. Pulled carpet back and found the floor was bad, and it has 2 layers of steel beating into a shape that stopped the pedal to move to full range. The trunk is amazing. But them frame rails you trimmed around there badly shot.

Thanks for finding the channel, bunch of stuff out there. Check out this video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iZ9la7Kl3tilfo0.htmlsi=VRgFYDtc4sGN-J4d

there are several opinions on this. how i have done them, if it’s a coupe with good rocker panels, roof, and firewall and they don’t need repairs, I use no weld in bracing, with that said instead i use multiple measurements to keep it square during reassembly. now a convertible whole different story. secure door opening front to back and windshield frame to the 1/4 panel and inside of the door opening side to side above the rear seat area. I don’t use a lot of bracing because we would have to assume the car is good to begin with, let’s be honest 50 years of rust and collision damage messed these cars up and welding new parts in a twisted car does no good either. instead a lot of measurements and reassemble a new car maybe even better then factory

I suppose I like my method, i actually own a very nice Miller plasma cutter that I have used very rarely. I think the why might be that when cutting areas like the torque boxes where there is multiple layers with a space between the reciprocating saw will get them all in one pass and the other is if I was preparing for a butt weld if I cut it with the cut off wheel no more prep needed if I used the plasma cutter the edge of the metal needs removed still before welding. I guess I feel I am faster or more efficient with the current technique. I guess if I was more familiar with using the plasma cutter I might like it more.

I don’t typically on a coupe if just doing the inner only. Now if replacing the entire rocker I will tie the door jamb opening front to rear and keep the door in place for gap references. Now a convertible totally different monster. If you skip the bracing you must rely on lots of continuous measurements side to side and keep it in check. The reason I skip on bracing sometimes it’s only good if the car was right to begin with and 50 years of rot an collision damage it typically isn’t and you still have to potentially cut the bracing up to get the car back into shape anyway so what was the point. Now there are several opinions on this brace or not to brace thing this is just how I have done it and had great success

I have a Eastwood brand MIG 175 i purchased from the Eastwood company. Had it for almost 15 years and absolutely love it. It runs on 220v. The one i have was discontinued and was replaced with the MIG 180 I think. It will run flux core or with shielding gas. Go to the Eastwood web site and look up mig welder. It was about $500 bucks and worth it.

Congrats on your first Firebird too

@@VinylVillageGarage thank you. where do you get all your parts (floor panels rocker panels fenders etc.) i’ve been looking at classic industries, firebird central, and npd but i don’t know a whole lot about these places.

I get my body panels from a friend that runs a body shop i can save on shipping that way. He can get AMD brand stuff which I do prefer Before that I used to buy my sheet metal from JEGS they have all the brands and used to bundle on shipping not sure if they still do. It seems anymore shipping is the majority of the cost. There is many different manufacturer brands and I have had good and not so good experience with them all but normally AMD has a better track record, normally in stock and Jegs sells AMD brand just they normally cost more.

All of those places sell the same thing. AMD, oer, goodmark, dynacorn, and several more they stamp the panels then all those and several more places sell all the brands. Classic industries is mostly OER. What I am saying is you can check around for the best package price with shipping and buy in bulk is my recommendation so you can save on shipping if possible

No bracing but lots of measurements and keeping body level and remove only one piece at a time. I replaced damaged rocker panels before removing the floor pan as well. Had no issues at all during assembly. This car is just about finished check my latest video for end results.

I won’t disagree with you. there are many hazards with cut sheet metal.