1967 Firebird 400 Convertible, numbers-matching

Pontiac Firebird 1967 Description

1967 FIREBIRD 400 CONVERTIBLE

Up for sale is a numbers-matching, 967 Firebird 400 convertible with power top and power windows…I bought it a few years ago because the 67 Firebirds are the perfect car to restore.

I’ve been running low on time and have been wanting to do a lot of non-stock things to it. As luck would have it, found a restored one that has everything done to it that I would have done to this one….now it’s time to let this one go.

This is the perfect one to restore as it came from the factory a 400 convertible, ed paint, hite top, ff-white (parchment) interior, ower top and power windows. It also comes with a lot of original documentation like PHS papers, rotectoPlate, anuals, tc. Either keep chipping away at it like I’ve been doing or do a full frame-off restoration.

To me, he 67 and 68 Firebirds are the ones to have….the front ends look better than Camaros of the same years or the 69 Firebird. And, he 67 is the only year with front Quarter Windows. Also, t that time, ontiac was more focused on performance details than Chevy. From what I’ve read, he Firebirds had the engine is set a little further back for better weight distribution, he BOP rear end (Buick Oldsmobile Pontiac) came factory with C-Clips eliminated, he 400’s came from the factory with a traction bar, nd the spring rates were a little better sorted. It all makes for a nicely balanced car that rides well and stays flat in the Sweepers.

Additionally, he price of Camaros has already run up. At the moment, he buy-in for a Firebird is easier. Lately, he Hot Rod industry eye is moving towards Firebirds. Hot Rod and Popular Hot Rodding both had 1st Gen Firebird cover stories last year.

The power windows are pretty rare too. I’ve only ever seen power windows on two muscle cars…not just Firebirds, ut ANY muscle cars. Maybe the Vette’s had them...but not the ones I’ve seen. It’s pretty handy driving down the highway and wanting to roll the windows up or down rather than leaning across the car into the backseat, r pulling over.

You’ll spend the same money restoring a non-convertible, on-400, on-numbers matching car without original documentation. But at the end of the day, t will never be worth as much as a numbers matching 400 convertible…power windows, ower top with protectoplate !! It’s a little more to buy-in, osts the same to restore, ut worth a lot more once you’re done. A lot has already been done. Absolutely worth the investment. Get in while the getting is good !

…plus all those days in between, t’s a Convertible…which means your wife or girlfriend will LOVE it !!

Guys always Thumbs-Up the car when I see them…a red convertible muscle car…who wouldn’t like that ! It’s the girls’ opinions that’ve made me laugh!

Female Friends #1

“What do you think of the car?”

“Riding in it makes me horny!” lol

Female Friend #2

“What do you think of the car?”

“What she (Friend #1) said!”

Female Friend #3

“What do you think of, iding in the car?”

“Duuuuhhhhh…SEX !!”

Female Friend #4

(After laughing about the 3 previous conversations…)

“What does the car make you think of?”

“Those other friends had it wrong…it doesn’t make me think of sex at all. It makes me think of making love !”

(30 minutes later)

“…you know what I said about making love, nd all...yeah…scratch that…they were right…SEX !”

One thing I like about my friends….they’re nothing if not TO THE POINT ! lol You can decide if you want to share that part of the ad with your own Significant Other or not. But, aving polled 4 female-friends, hey all came back with similar responses…you decide. (…maybe “poll” isn’t the most opportune choice of words, till, he survey stands…lol)

To give a little history on my time with the car, bought it a number of years ago with the intention of cruising around and chipping away at restoration…worked perfectly, ight up until I ended up with too many projects and not enough time…sadly, his beauty ended up in storage for a few years. A few months back, found a restored 68 Convertible that’s everything I wanted to do to this car. So, short while ago, pulled this one out of storage with the intention of giving it a once-over from being stored, nd letting it go.

Looking over the previous owners’ paperwork, noticed that the engine and transmission had been rebuilt maybe 12k ish miles ago. But the engine had a ticking sound I wanted to investigate…pulling the engine and checking it out, urns out a Pushrod and Rocker Arm had gone bad…in the interest of fixing those, he one thing that I was trying to avoid, appened…the Snowball Effect… (which reminds me of a joke… but, ’ll get to that later :).

The Snowball Effect

If I’m going to replace a Rocker Arm, ight as just replace them all…and since they’re all getting swapped out, ight as well make them Roller Tip Rockers.

And, f I’m going to replace a Pushrod, ight as well replace the Lifter as they wear together…and if I’m going to replace one, ight as well replace the set.

And, ince I’m already neck deep in it with Rockers, ushrods, nd Lifters, ight as well throw a hotter cam at it too…what the hell…it’s only a little more…might as well make it a Roller Cam so I don’t have to worry about flat tappets and the whole “no zinc in the oil” thing ! Of course, ith that extra valve acceleration, ome new Valve Springs, etainers and Locks would be nice.

And, ince the engine is freshened up, nd it runs good, ight as well make it look good and throw some fresh paint on it…Tornado Red looks good !!

….and on and on and on…story of my life…the Snowball Effect…lol

At this point, have to pass it along…the out-of-storage Once-Over turned in to about $6000 worth of engine and paint upgrades…and I still haven’t had time to do the once-over…lol As much as I like the car, t’s time to let it go.

Below is everything I can think of, egarding the car…what’s been done, hat I’ve done, nd even what I would do if I were to keep it…

Best of luck bidding…it’s a blast to drive !

EXTERIOR

• Paint – I just had the car painted in Tornado Red paint. The original color on the car was Regimental or maybe Imperial Red, f memory serves. It’s noted in the PHS documentation. The fresh paint is so glossy, t looks like fingernail polish. To give you an idea, ook closely at the pictures and see the shine on it…these pictures were actually taken when the car was dirty ! lol If Ebay doesn’t de-resolution the pictures, hey’re really high quality. Try zooming in on the Right-Rear picture, hen zoom in close on the trunk lock…you can see the spots where I touched the trunk and took some of the dust away. I forgot to wash it before snapping those photos. Suffice to say, he paint is REALLY glossy !

• It DOES attract attention! Even today when I was shooting them, young lady at the hiking trail where I photographed the car came over and said “Heyyyy, ice car!!”, nd tried to talk me in to taking her for a ride. She was too shy to be in the pictures, hough. J

• Top – The top is in excellent shape and works great. The first thing I did, hen I got the car, as have the top completely redone by a guy that normally does Ferraris and Porsches…as in…the material, he frame, he pump, he lines, he pistons, he latches, he chrome header across top of the windshield, he weather stripping…basically, verything but the switch! Think the price of a small used car…not cheap, ut works great !

• Weather Stripping - I also threw in new door weather stripping when doing the paint. The top and window weather stripping were done when the top was installed.

ENGINE

• Engine rebuild, rank polished, alve job, ardened valve seats…by a previous owner. I’m thinking this was 12k ish miles ago, o no worries about running unleaded fuel.

• Comp Cam XE276HR roller cam conversion kit, ncluding Retainers, ocks, alve Springs, ushrods, ifters, ouble Roller Timing Chain all packaged together as a set. (The cam number above is from memory…I’ll verify the exact part number in an update if the XE276HR isn’t exactly correct. Basically, t’s Comp Cam’s packaged Roller Cam conversion kit .)

• Comp Cams Roller tip Rockers.

• BBC 7/16-20 Rocker studs instead of the necked down Pontiac studs…the Pontiac studs and oil splash shields will be included in the boxes of parts.

• An Edelbrock carb and Edelbrock manifold.

• MSD Digital 6A ignition. It needs to have the wires wrapped in loom to finish the job, nd make it look nice.

• MSD coil.

• MSD billet distributor.

• Transmission rebuilt, 000~2500 rpm stall, y a previous owner.

• Heater core replaced by a previous owner.

• Optima Yellow Top battery.

INTERIOR

• I believe the interior is all original (except door panels)…in parchment white. The seats are in surprisingly good condition for almost 50 years old.

• It needs a Passenger Door arm rest. Classic Industries sells new ones, ut the plan was to find an original one to match the rest of the interior. There are arm rests included, ut I don’t think they are correct to the car.

• Original AM radio. There is a wood-grained panel that surrounds the radio that’s included in the parts…it just needs to be glued to the dash. I had originally planned on repainting the dash, o thought it’d be easier to leave it off until it’s painted.

• The front seats have the original GM seat belts. There aren’t rear seat belts…not sure if that was factory or not.

SUSPENSION

The suspension was rebuilt and front springs replaced according to the receipts that came with the car.…this explains why the car tracks really well, tays flat around Sweepers, as a very balanced smooth feel to it, nd just drives nice.

DOCUMENTATION

• The PHS (Pontiac Historical Society) documentation to show originality.

• Original Protectoplate and Owner Protection Plan manual.

• Convertible manual.

• Firebird Owner’s Manual.

• Firebird Production quantities.

• Passenger Car Specifications copy.

• Copy of the 1967 Press Release Announcement on Firebirds.

• Pontiac Historical Society documentation like build sheets, tc.

EXTRA PARTS

• What I believe is the original manifold and carb (didn’t look to see if it has the mythical 25hp tab still on it or not).

• Original air cleaner.

• The little chrome hash marks that are supposed to be on the side of the car, ehind the doors (the previous owner took them off thinking it looks better).

• A handful of Firebird emblems.

• A couple misc. engine-looking brackets.

• What looks like an original kick-down switch.

• Misc. small metal hardlines.

• Brake rebuild parts, tc. Basically, hat you see in the pictures.

• A lot of the original parts that came out of the engine when I did the Comp Cams Roller Cam conversion.

MORE SNOWBALL

If I were to keep the car, he things below are what I wanted to do. The only problem is that knowing me it would turn in to another Snowball Effect…and take away from the originality of the car.

A good Once Over – The car’s been stored for a while. I’d flush and swap out all the fluids to make sure everything was fresh. As well, lean up the carb and dial it in with the new cam. I don’t know these Edelbrock carbs well, ut my cars with Holleys always had it a bit rough after sitting…always seemed to run a bit lean until they were cleaned up inside.

Frame rail stiffeners – The car I bought to take this one’s place already has these installed. They do compromise clearance a bit, ut it’s worth the extra stiffness.

Gauges – I like having a full complement of gauges. That said, ome to think of it, he fuel gauge is there, ut doesn’t read correctly.

Dial It All In – With the roller cam and rockers installed, aybe partially because it’s been in storage for a little while, t seems like the car would run crisper with a carb clean-up and some timing curve tuning. For some reason, his cam seems to like more base timing and less vacuum advance. Dialing these in isn’t my forte, ut writing this, can already tell I’d end up throwing a set of aluminum heads, eaders and fuel injection at it before dialing it in.

Big aluminum radiator – These older GM’s were notorious for running warm. This car has always “seemed” a bit warm, ut without a water temp gauge, could never really tell. It’s never been a problem, ut with the extra power, eems the right thing to do.

Transmission Shift Points – Another “dialing it in” exercise. According to the Comp Cams torque curve on their website, his cam peaks about 500 rpm higher than the stock cam. A little tuning on the shift points would get to use more of the power that’s already there.

Body Chrome – The previous owner took the little chrome pieces off the car. It looks good as it is, ut another personal-preference thing. I’d put them back on as red and chrome look good together. The chrome hash marks and some emblems are included with the car. See the pictures of parts.

Transmission – I probably should have put this at the top, ut from the beginning I REALLY wanted to do a 3.90 or 4.10 rear end with a 4L80E ! It’d REALLY wake this car up from the current TH400 and 3.08 gear, eep a nice cruise, e easy to dial in shift points, nd be the perfect excuse to upgrade to a disc rear end.

See….Snowball Effect, ll over again!

Best of luck bidding !!

PAYMENT TERMS

$500 deposit within 48 hours of end of auction. Full payment within 5 business days from end of auction. If payment is not made, reserve the right to cancel the sale…deposit not refundable. The car is in Southern California. Buyer to arrange shipping from Long Beach, A. Car will only ship after all payments have cleared. It's also for sale locally...I reserve the right to end the auction early if I have a local interested Buyer.

JOKE TIME

Ok, he joke…

So…this guy get a sales job at one of those Mega Stores that sells everything…from aftershave to zucchini…EVERYTHING.

It’s his first day, irst thing in the morning, nd the Sales Manager is giving him some advice, Ok, understand it’s your first day, nd it’s a big store, o it can be a little overwhelming….just remember…it doesn’t matter how small a thing you sell them, ust sell, ell, ell….it’s ALL about turning people over…talk to as many people as you can, nd just keep selling…”

The New Guy responds, Okay.”

The day goes by, he Sales Manager notices the New Guy talking to a Customer…seems to be doing alright.

A little later, he Manager notices the New Guy again….seems like he’s talking to the same person as last time.

And again, little later, he Manger sees him talking to what looks like the same person, nd starts wondering, …is that the same guy he’s been talking to all day?”

At the end of the day, he Sales Manager walks up to the New Guy and asks, So, ow’d ya do? How many people did you talk to? How many Customers did you have?”

The New Guy, xhausted from his day, ighs “just one.”

Exasperated, he Sales Manager yells, What?!?! Just one?!?! The WHOLE DAY ?!?!” “…you had the whole day and only talked to ONE GUY?!?!?!”

The New Guy, bsolutely exhausted, tands there and says, …yeah, hat’s all I could manage…one guy.”

The Sales Manager regains a bit of composure, till hot under the collar, nd asks, Well, id you at least sell him SOMETHING ?!?!?!”

“Yeah…” the New Guy says, …yeah, did…”

“Well ?!?!?!” the Sales Manager demands….still a bit hot under the collar.

“Well…” the new Guy responds, …I sold him some hooks.”

“That’s it ?!?! You sold him some hooks!!!”

“Yeah, ome hooks….” Responded the New Guy. “And some bait, oo…I told him he’s gonna need some bait for those hooks.”

“GREAT…so ALL DAY LONG, ou talked to ONE GUY, nd sold him some bait and some hooks…” responded the Sales Manager, learly not overly impressed.

“Yeah…some hooks, ome bait, nd some fishing line and poles…you know, o go with the hooks and bait…“, aid the New Guy.

“…oh, nd some nets and a tackle box to carry it all around…,” finished the New Guy.

Finally coming around a little, he Sales Manager relaxed a bit, Ok, ine, ou got a few things off the shelf…”

…when the new Guy interrupted, ot finished with his story, …and some camping gear.”

Relaxing a bit, he Sales Manager consoled him, Ok, k, ou sold him some hooks, ait, ishing line, oles, ets, tackle box and some camping gear…you got some things off the shelf. You really should have talked to more people, ut not bad for a first day..”

“…yeah…and a boat and trailer.” Interrupts the New Guy.

“…and a boat and trailer?”, sks the Sales Manager, ow getting a little impressed… “So you only talked to one guy, ut managed to sell him hooks, ait, ishing line, oles, ets and a tackle box and some camping gear and a boat and trailer? Okay….that’s actually pretty good for a first day.”

“Thanks…” the New Guy continues, …and a new truck, oo. …told him he was going to need a new truck to pull the boat and all that gear, o we got him one of those too…”

At this point, he Sales Manager is clearly impressed…a little dumb-founded even. He’s got a new Guy that’s outsold his most experienced sales people, nd on his first day…he just HAS to know. So the Sales manager asks, So, ou had this guy come in, alked to him all day long, nd in the process sold him some hooks, ait, ishing line and poles, ome nets, tackle box, amping gear, boat, trailer and a new truck….what the hell did you SAY to the guy !!”

“Well,” the New Guy says, when he came in, asked him what brought him in to the store, oday. He told me his wife was on her period….so I told him “…wife’s on her period? Might as well go fishing !”