Then I did the outer skin patch. This one was a challenge...multiple break lines, several different curves to deal with, and the original was far to rotten to make a full template...had to guesstimate and now will have to hang the fender on the car and make the door gap to fender adjustment and shave off / fit / finish it off.


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all of the above. where are you located?
Car is currently stored in California. I need to find someone that is dedicated to doing quality work. I'm good with transporting it to where ever as long as the work is done properly. I've seen some really sketchy fab work done on high dollar show cars. You're work looks to be top notch.

Hot metal moves. You seem to have a good grasp of that.

What are you tack welding with? MIG? Do you also have a TIG setup? MillerMatics? Where are you located?

The shop I had it at before used a lot of Baleigh metal shaping machinery.

This is the project and where it's at for the most part. I have a CF hood and deck lid. Will need some custom work in regards to deck lid hinges and other little custom stuff along with panels to close up the firewall, floor and trunk but panel fab is my priority right now to button up the main body. The custom hinge stuff and other little custom fun stuff can be done once the main body has all the panel pieces tacked in on proto.66 Nova.jpg
 
Car is currently stored in California. I need to find someone that is dedicated to doing quality work. I'm good with transporting it to where ever as long as the work is done properly. I've seen some really sketchy fab work done on high dollar show cars. You're work looks to be top notch.

Hot metal moves. You seem to have a good grasp of that.

What are you tack welding with? MIG? Do you also have a TIG setup? MillerMatics? Where are you located?

The shop I had it at before used a lot of Baleigh metal shaping machinery.

This is the project and where it's at for the most part. I have a CF hood and deck lid. Will need some custom work in regards to deck lid hinges and other little custom stuff along with panels to close up the firewall, floor and trunk but panel fab is my priority right now to button up the main body. The custom hinge stuff and other little custom fun stuff can be done once the main body has all the panel pieces tacked in on proto.View attachment 13588
yea, for thin sheet metal I use mig, have a miller and lincoln migs, and Have a Lincoln tig. Tig mostly for roll cages / frame chassis work.
Im honestly still learning - I just love metal work. My grandfather owned cottage grove autobody, and I spent many, many days on a stool watching him work as a youngster. I so badly wish I could turn back time and do more then watch, and pick that mans brain. My firebird was intended to be a project car we did together, but he passed last year, so never got to do it together.

And yea....there's a lot of really shitty metal work out there, with piss poor welds, random trashed added in, and everything in between. A friend of mine had built a log truck hot rod....and every time he pulls up to my BIL spot I'm flipping amazed it hasn't come apart, as the frame is a puzzle of horrible and some missing welds. Some of it they never even finished welding, its literally tiny tacks on plates covering over cuts and other plate puzzle pieces to hodgepodge the frame. He keeps wanting to take us on rides and both my BIL and me are like...nah we good we aint riding in that death trap. I'm not sure when we could tackle the nova, but next summer maybe? I've got to get my firebird metal work done, and we got a 36 coupe and a 31 t bucket at my brothers place we are about to start, so got a few projects we gotta handle first.

Are you going for a show car? Fun driver? The wheel tucks on that look pretty mean you got rubbing issues at all? On my firebird one my big debates is the back half...My bird is one of like 1200 made, and it's all original, so my gut and Father in law are both like restore it and its a 6 figure car, buy one that's not rare, and chop it up. The other part of me wants to make a full frame, with a 4 link, and shave 6 inches of the rear axels and put the meanest widest tires on it so from the rear you seed pumpkin then tire, and from the side view, they still tuck under the standard wheel opening. I also debated if I did a full frame and put the body on that, I could custom do a lot of the panels and make it a one off car, and then it also would have the strength to swap the roof out for a ttop roof. mines a 70 though and they never came with a ttop that year, so the purists and the value overall would go down...

Either way, every panel on the firebird needs help....

decisions decisions!
 
Depends on what you're going for. If you plan on keeping the car then cut it up to your hearts content but if you think you may sell it one day then your FIL and your gut are correct. Restore it to original and look for one that doesn't have the originality to contend with if you want to customize it to your performance specs.

Honestly, your Firebird is very similar to the T/A frames so suspension geometry is pretty much identical. If performance is what you're after I don't think you need to weld up a new frame. I use to hang with a woman named Mary Pozzi who had a '73 Camaro RS that she converted into a monster autocross/open course race car with suspension parts from Hotchkis. No need to modify the suspension or frame. She was able to pull a G on the skidpad with a set of Michelin Pilot Sports. Might be one way of you getting the performance you want on your original FB without cutting into it and killing the resale value.

Someone offered me a numbers matching '69 Camaro for the Nova in its present state and I almost did it but after close inspection I noticed the car had been framed meaning the chassis was bent straight. I could tell be the way the roofline was. It looked like it had T-boned into a pole on the driver side.

I'm going for an open course pro touring track car so race car with creature comforts like A/C and full interior. Engine goals are aluminum LS3 w/LS7 L92 heads and dry sump pan from a C6 'Vette making around 600hp. It's also been plumbed for Turbo with a split intercooler that sits underneath the headlights. It also has a T-56 'Vette transaxle with tube. Car has been tubbed along with custom QA-1 front and rear adjustable shock absorbers for short travel. LCA's are 'Vette cast aluminum with custom UCA's.
 
Been a crazy few weeks - My sister was in ICU for a while due to viral encephalitis (Swelling of the brain) and was in pretty rough shape. Shes thru this section of the woods, but the prognosis is this will be a lifelong battle / might have brain injury. Shes had a tough go - was born very premature, and has already had 2 brain surgeries.

Garden is luckily just vegging right now. Ideally I would have already flipped, but things stayed in smaller pots then I wanted, didnt get clones pulled on schedule, and ya. Lifes been weird. But, we are getting back on track.

Clones were pulled yesterday - and given a bath in between with some insecticidal soap. Once they root, the room will be flipped.



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Here's the main cycle -

10 plants- 10 gallon pots. Soil is like 4 or 5 runs now, down to earth brand, mixed in EWC. They got a bunch of clay pellets mixed in this time as well leftover from the RDWC setup. lightly top dressed with nutri rich pellets. Need to go pick up some Bio live from Down to earth before flipping and get that top dressed as well.

They have been getting tied down and trained as well, especially the ogs and mod mac moonshine, they are way too aggressive in flower to let go all ape shit untrained.

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Then the rejects in the corner lol.

JK not rejects- just not slotted for this run as most these were new acquires.

Grape Ape - Kyle kushmans cut
Grape Gas # 1 and #2 - Cannaessentials cuts
Zoap -
Obama Kush
Pinesoil - Bodhi cut.

Also have the deathstar over there as she's pissed again at me lol. She got to watered, needs to be uppotted and left alone for a bit. Also a gorilla glue and a cherry pie x mod mac moonshine that didn't make it into this cycle - although with the delays - Im debating grabbing a few more 10s and sticking them in as well...


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Then I did the outer skin patch. This one was a challenge...multiple break lines, several different curves to deal with, and the original was far to rotten to make a full template...had to guesstimate and now will have to hang the fender on the car and make the door gap to fender adjustment and shave off / fit / finish it off.


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Nice metal work there Jeff.
 
whose ready for another photo dump! I know I am!

Heres the Fire Og cut - fully seeded with the cherry pie x mod mac moonshine - rounded out week 12. This gal is fading hard in her 3-gallon pot - next run going up to 10s as they all fading pretty hard. reeks of gas and puppy breath.


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Puppy breath cologne next in the offing?
 
some other fun stuff happening - 31 is done, and the 36 is coming together. Frame is nearly done, body has been chopped and channeled, 327 and 4 speed going in this oneView attachment 165401View attachment 15088
Nice are these going to be rat rods or full restorations?
I sure wish I would have spent more time with the tin guy at the race shop I worked at in high school. I would go in right at the end of the day to clean up roll up the TIG welding stuff. Shop made midget and sprint car chassis. The original owner dabbled in Indy Car stuff back then but just dabbled. I kind of taught myself how to weld in that place. There was a corner with a welding setup for making rear hubs and I would find scraps and go back in there and weld up stuff. Sometimes I would get the tungsten in the weld puddle and that would be the end of my welding class for the day. I screwed that poor guy so many times. Come in the next day and have to go grind the tungsten first thing. Later I went to get certified for structural steel but all I really wanted to do was use the equipment and the teacher was actually cool with it. I must have welded 2 or 3 pound of aluminum to some intake manifolds back then.
I should have spent more time watch the tin guy at that shop that was where the real art is at. You seem to be good at the trade Jeff. Not many know the trade anymore.
 
Nice are these going to be rat rods or full restorations?
I sure wish I would have spent more time with the tin guy at the race shop I worked at in high school. I would go in right at the end of the day to clean up roll up the TIG welding stuff. Shop made midget and sprint car chassis. The original owner dabbled in Indy Car stuff back then but just dabbled. I kind of taught myself how to weld in that place. There was a corner with a welding setup for making rear hubs and I would find scraps and go back in there and weld up stuff. Sometimes I would get the tungsten in the weld puddle and that would be the end of my welding class for the day. I screwed that poor guy so many times. Come in the next day and have to go grind the tungsten first thing. Later I went to get certified for structural steel but all I really wanted to do was use the equipment and the teacher was actually cool with it. I must have welded 2 or 3 pound of aluminum to some intake manifolds back then.
I should have spent more time watch the tin guy at that shop that was where the real art is at. You seem to be good at the trade Jeff. Not many know the trade anymore.

Those will both be rat rods. the 31 is done - took it to the sweet home Oregon cruise so Shes already had her debut. It is about ready to move along. the 36 is the new project, although the hard parts already done - frame / chop / channel. Both are custom frames outta square tubing, everything just hand built and then put the body on. After the 36, going to prob start working on a fubared 32 3 window cab that some very...unskilled....didnt even practice out back type welds. it needs everything redone, so when we start that Ill post photos of the progress as well.

And yea- it's a dying art for sure. I'm in my mid 30s and most the guy's I'm friends with that do em are in the 70s now. And the restos - that's getting to be a fuckin rich man's game. The firebird is an actual resto.... I'm in that for 3x what both those hot rods costed to get finished will be, and likely will have another 2-3 years in the firebird before its done. When I first bought it and I was looking for metal dipping, I took it into the local shop here that's somewhat famous (Graveyard carz and metalworks classics) and they both kinda laughed at the firebird and said they wouldn't touch it for a customer unless they wrote a 6 figure check out. And honestly - Firebirds aren't the hardest to restore as damn near everything is reproduced, and very little has to be actually fabricated. They had a 72 trans am they are building as a pro touring style car - and granted, its fucking sexy, and could likely sell for 150k, they told me at that point the customer was into for 1200 hours already (and its not done) dont even want to know the shop rate there either lol. I honestly think this could be the last generation of the hobby. At the sweet home cruise they do a burnout pit...and this year a corvette plowed into the crowd...more and more tracks are shutting down, and more and more towns are banning the cruises. The Springfield cruise here has been running for decades, and this year was cancelled. Hell, at this point I wouldn't be surprised to see the outright banning of the old stuff, as the environmentalists, hippies, and regulators seem to think these cars are the problem and not corporation emissions. I better stop there before I get going on a political rant lol
 
Nice are these going to be rat rods or full restorations?
I sure wish I would have spent more time with the tin guy at the race shop I worked at in high school. I would go in right at the end of the day to clean up roll up the TIG welding stuff. Shop made midget and sprint car chassis. The original owner dabbled in Indy Car stuff back then but just dabbled. I kind of taught myself how to weld in that place. There was a corner with a welding setup for making rear hubs and I would find scraps and go back in there and weld up stuff. Sometimes I would get the tungsten in the weld puddle and that would be the end of my welding class for the day. I screwed that poor guy so many times. Come in the next day and have to go grind the tungsten first thing. Later I went to get certified for structural steel but all I really wanted to do was use the equipment and the teacher was actually cool with it. I must have welded 2 or 3 pound of aluminum to some intake manifolds back then.
I should have spent more time watch the tin guy at that shop that was where the real art is at. You seem to be good at the trade Jeff. Not many know the trade anymore.
And as far as time spent learning - I think that a lot. My grandfather owned and ran an autobody shop for years....We were supposed to do this together, and I so wish I could turn back time and spent time doing instead of just sitting on the stool watching and playing. Everything I do now, I wonder, is that how grandpa would say the right way was? And I know I could spend 1000 hours on the sander, and I still won't be able to get the quality he could have gotten. Experience and knowledge.... there's no replacement for it, and sadly, its fading away from the culture.
 
And as far as time spent learning - I think that a lot. My grandfather owned and ran an autobody shop for years....We were supposed to do this together, and I so wish I could turn back time and spent time doing instead of just sitting on the stool watching and playing. Everything I do now, I wonder, is that how grandpa would say the right way was? And I know I could spend 1000 hours on the sander, and I still won't be able to get the quality he could have gotten. Experience and knowledge.... there's no replacement for it, and sadly, its fading away from the culture.
i have watch Grave yard a few times kind of hard to get thru a whole episode because the shop owner seems kind of like a freak. Is it a TV show thing or what?
 
i have watch Grave yard a few times kind of hard to get thru a whole episode because the shop owner seems kind of like a freak. Is it a TV show thing or what?

I didn't meet the guy whose on the show- I think hes a tv personality but honestly don't know...the guys I talked to were all just wrenching on stuff when I got there. Their shop is just down the street from me and quite often I see them driving a finished car with a camera car following them around.
 
Mac dragon - seeded up by cherry pie mod mac moonshine. even seeded- shes a beautiful gal.


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18 plants total in there - to be seeded by my male selection of the blackberry moonshine bx1
Blackberry moonshine bx1 - which will be f2s.
Modified macberry moonshine - which will be making a new version of haole moonshine with the parents genders swapped. V1 = Bms bx1 female x male mmm. Version 2 - to be created - mmm female x bms bx1 male
Haole Moonshine 3 - so a new version of a Blackberry moonshine bx
Haole moonshine 13 - another new version of a bms bx
Mac dragon 10 - new creation
Black velvet
chem 91
fire og
Triangle Kush
Cherry pie
Cherry pie x mod mac moonshine 3 -
zoap
Gogi og "Pinesoul"
gorilla glue
Obama Kush
deathstar
Grape Ape - Kyle kushman breeder cut
Grape Gas - Compound genetics - cannaessentials selection

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Do you have seeds of the Chem Dog or Triangle Kush or just live genetics?
 
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