We have had to work on several things to fix up our Formula Firebird. It had been sitting for years not running, so it inevitably needed some powertrain and interior work. Here is the car's rebuild in a series of bullet points:
For the engine, we chose to rebuild the number's matching pontiac 350 engine. It was taken to the local machine shop to have the cylinder walls bored out .040 over. The original crankshaft, rods, and main caps were reused. Higher compression cylinder heads were used to increase power. The goal for the 350 was to make it similarly powered to a Pontiac 350 HP motor from the late 60's. It will have over 300 HP and over 300 TQ.
The transmission was rebuilt by a local transmission shop. The transmission now shifts harder because of the way it was rebuilt and the internals that were used. It will be able to handle the engine's power which is very important. It is the original transmission that came with the car.
The suspension was rebuilt using a kit from a distributor out of Chicago. The car was lowered and was upgraded with a sport-feeling suspension. The lowered suspension with the 18 inch Ridler wheels give the car an aggressive stance.
The interior was upgraded with new carpet, new door panels, and other various modifications that gave the interior a nicer, yet sportier look and feel. Project Limekist came factory with black interior, which was rarer than the common green on green look of the 70's.
