Everyone that decides to redo one knows most of the time you never get your money back . You do it for the love of the car and the memories. Great looking car. I'd do without lunch ever day just to be able to drive it to work on Friday's
First gen Firebirds have been in my blood since i was really little and the neighbors at the bottom of the cul de sac brought home a teal one with wide tires and red pin stripe sidewalls. The neighbor girl from another house walked me past it while it was idling. I could feel.the combustion pulses all through my body. I remember the heat coming off of it. Beautiful car.
@@VinylVillageGarage You have gotten me pumped up to get working on my 66 Chevelle. I am retiring soon so I can devote a lot to working on it. The car needs a lot of work but I know that I can do it because I do have one thing going for me. Lots of patience. Thank you for your in depth videos on how to do things. You are really helping a lot of DIY guys out there,
What a fantastic job you've done on the great pumpkin. It's hard to imagine how you can be so talented in so many ways and yet remain so down to earth and humble. My hat's off to you. Thank you so much for taking us along on the journey. I looked forward to every new episode and I'm eagerly waiting for the next one.
Jon @ VVG Fantastic journey you , took us all on ! I enjoyed every minute of your videos on refurbishing the Great Pumpkin and more so completing just as Halloween is just around the corner . 800 hours × $100.00 = $80,000.00 BRAVO JON ! 👏 LL KOOL RAY 😎 FRISCO (GOT TO SAVE THEM BIRDS) That , last touch the surfer foot was something I , had on my 1968 Pontiac Firebird now that took me , back down memory lane thanks Jon.....Most definitely enjoyed hanging out in your garage !
Great job, keep bringing those old Pontiacs back to life. You're lucky if resto shops charge $40-$50 bucks an hour. Here on Long Island N.Y. some shops are $125-$165 !
Sir, you have done a fabulous job. Bringing that vehicle back to life. I had a 68 and it just got so overwhelming thought. I was going to get around to it and never did and now I kick myself when I see how fabulous your 69 turned out enjoyed. Happy cruisif you come to Kansas, look me up.
I can barely replace a tire. There's no way I would be skilled enough to do a full restoration of this by myself. But you did a beautiful job, congratulations!
Having the car restoration documented in these videos to me puts the car’s value way up there. This was a great journey. The car looks amazing. Can’t wait for the one. 👍
Turned out very nice. My 72 will have white interior as well. Going to borrow that AC mod as well. Thats actually how I found your channel. 70-72, Z28's didnt have air. My car is far from original, but want to keep the firewall stock for this reason. I was actually searching for this mod and found your vids. Keep up the great work!
Heck yeah! I like the factory look with subtle mods. It takes up more time but really think it’s worth the effort. Good luck with your swap. Thanks for finding us.
Great job! Back in 1971, I bought a 68 400 Auto in Verdoro Green with the Ivy Gold interior and I put a rear spoiler on it...There was a guy running around town that had a Autumn Bronze 68 400 that had Cragars on it with Mickey Thompson wides on the back with air shocks...very rare color.
Amazing job all around. You're helping me to do my 67 Camaro. Every new chunk of Rot I need to deal with I watch your corresponding video a couple times and then go to town. I think I would be messing up without this great template. Great for us non body guys, who are just working guys and have to do it ourselves.
Can't wait to see this beauty in real life. I'm about 15k in my 67 between QA-1 suspension, 700r4 transmission and new rear end gears, but it's been worth it because it's been wonderful to drive. I'm still learning as I go so everything you do here helps.
Great work!! Not only in the way the car turned out but the fact you can stay focused on one project to the end. And within the time it took for one person. My hat is off to you. Thanks.
Thanks for showing us the restoration. Can't wait to see the new project!! Got really cold here (Wichita), I put my cars under their covers for the winter.
I was born in whicita, didn’t live there long enough to remember winter. I have put three of my cars up for winter, unfortunately it’s just around the corner
I have a 1968 convertible Firebird that I've done a lot to. Been thinking about selling it, but I like it so much its hard to do that. Its my dream car.
Beautiful! How many full restorations have you done? As mentioned by another $40-$50 per hour shop charges were charged 25 years ago. Minimum now is $125 an hour! I'm surprised it only cost you $25K in parts with today's costs. If one took the original car to a reputable shop for complete restoration expect to pay close to $80,000-$100,000....EASY!! Hell a good paint job is $12,000!!
Yeah. I got an education on shop rates. Lol. I have never paid nor had clue what shops charged always did it myself. The guy who owned this car was quoted over 100k so that was on par.
Mindblowingly well done. You are unbelievably talented in so many aspects. You should be extremely proud of the job youve done. Congrats, and thanks for taking us along!!!
Incredible series. It is hard to believe you got her all done in a year....with awesome results. Makes me feel like a slacker as my project hits 7-years in November. 🙄 Looking forward to the next series. We need MORE Ed in the next one. 😃
Been watching this build since the beginning, if not for your skill this is not possible for the money an effort 👏! 😅 My 68 bird project is still in metal work. Boosts my motivation for the finish 💪 Congrats!
Absolutely beautiful you my brother you have done a fantastic job....now for the cost of the build it's a great price (WHY) ? Here I why? I have seen over and over again people Will put their car in a ( professional )shop and never get it done. This fast and this good quality work We both know what it takes. So to me, you hit a home run And believe me, this build. Have open and continue opening doors for you.
Thanks brother. This journey has already been very rewarding and I am not talking about money but the friends i have made and cars I have seen and the opportunities that have come from sharing my passion for these cars is priceless
@mattwill63 the video of him driving the car with no headlights was before the car was done! Should probably know what you’re talking about before commenting it makes you look less foolish! Just saying!
I just finished a 1970 oldsmobilecutlasssupreme and did the frame on restoration by my self 12 months over three summers Basically during the summer because the car was out side 24.000.00 the front seat and back seats were done by a upholstery i installed them.
Great job. Most people have no idea how much labor is involved in a restoration like this. If you had to pay for labor, restoring a pedestrian Firebird like this wouldn't be worth it. With a 4 barrel carb, and high rise manifold and some 3;55 gears, you'd have a mid 14 second car. Not bad at all.
Incredible series. Incredible restoration! Absolutely. . Much appreciation: I learned a lot & you give me inspiration to work on my own '68 Firebird once I get some other projects around the house finished. SOON!! 😅 Cute footage insert around time stamp 4:36. (From episode "First Drive ...Restoration") Thought you could slip that one in without being noticed, eh?😊 (No Headlights gave it away) . Well Done, Sir. Well Done !!
Thanks. I just can’t bring myself to drill holes into the new wheel wells to install the molding not to mention it will cover up how clean and correct the openings metal work is.
800 hours! How many of those were just on paint prep? Great job. Wanted to thank you for sharing retoration costs and time involved. Should help a lot anyone concidering a restoration. As an additional follow up video tp this series, you might want to break down your costs and time per the various stages of the build. This would assist those concidering a restoration as they may want to farm out a particular stage vs doing themselves.
Thanks for all of the videos. Is there a video that I missed that shows the initial cost of the car? Just curious if thats included in the total. Thanks again.
Drove a totally mint Blue 68 Firebird with a really crazy 455 in it for a lot of years. Total eye candy people stopper. It was fun back in the day when you could afford to fill the gas tank every day. and go out cruzin with your buds. Not anymore. Prices for older cars are beyond stupid because of greed and not worth it.
The vinyl looks good but they're always rusted underneath because the factory doesn't paint the roof; mine was basically primer on my 1970 Camaro. Very nice car.
I don’t typically go vinyl top but it was owners request and when I took this car apart very minimal rust under the top. The only areas was the window channel where all these cars rust. This car still had the factory top on the car too. And the paint under was, well actually painted and in decent shape.
Looks great, love the way you did the video lol-new view! Now I have a couple of questions. What would you value this car at now that’s it’s complete? Some range. Second, did you see the tribute 69 trans am that sold at Mecum Indy? Was it yours?
Hard to tell what it’s worth, I like to think if at auction sell in the area of $45k. Which is more then the average condition bird sells for. I don’t feel this car is average. Nope not my car at auction it’s put up for the winter. That one is definitely not for sale.
Absolutely fantastic, Jon! I thoroughly loved the series! Nice video work on the time lapse, that took some planning. Are you still planning to record the delivery?
A few years ago, I/we restored a 1967 400 4 speed Firebird that had never been titled or street driven. $31K to retore it correctly. Appraised at $30k.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with that spoiler being added to the car. They were available from the factory in 1968! It looks great and I like how you put the PONTIAC emblems on the spoiler, a unique touch. I also like the Autumn Bronze color on the dash and steering wheel. Really looks good, another unique touch. I like adding minor things to make a car unique. As a mechanic, I probably would have rebuilt the '68 - 350 engine and added high compression heads, but I agree, it did have issues. The 455 would have made it a serious Hot Rod! Great build Jon! Keep up the good work! Don't listen to the nay- sayers!
That is being generous on the hourly rate... here in Cali it is considered specialized service to restore classics and depending on the reputation of the shop hourly rates start at $75 hr and go up from there. Most reputable shops are $90-100 hr.
You added aftermarket air conditioning but worried about having old fashion T3 headlights to score better at car shows? LOL Just put some nice Sylvania halogen headlights in and have the light you need when returning home from those evening car shows. Heck, I replaced my T3s back in the '70s on cars when I discovered quartz-halogen and iodine-halogen headlights back then and never looked back. Seeing more than 100 feet in front of you is far more important than having factory lights, especially if you don't see that pothole or a deer, and suddenly, your pride and joy becomes a mangled mess. Really good looking car, though, and you did a great job. It will definitely bring back memories to many who see it.
The entire build was what the owner wanted, these are new repop t-3 bulbs not sure they are any better then the 50 year old bulbs or not. I loved building this car and will miss it when it’s gone.
The big question here is how much did you pay for the donor car? I can’t imagine you paid more than $8000 for the vehicle in its condition when you got it?
@@VinylVillageGarage that's what I thought, those appear to be 69 seats,. They are nicer than the originals. I have second generation seats in my firebird pictured to the left of this reply.
I Purchased, a 68 bird roughly 8 months ago from Coyote Classics. Small piece of advice, don’t ever do business with those guys at Coyote Classics. Total scammers! Inflated the quality of the vehicle on their online video massively!!! Full misrepresentation of the vehicle! Shipped it to me from Iowa down to Florida with a howling rear end, but mentioned nothing of this on that video and their supposed extensive walk around!! paid $35,000 plus plus plus and received the vehicle with so many things wrong with it that it’s not even funny. A five-year-old kid could’ve done a better walkaround!! Those guys suck! Scammers! So my mechanic ended up putting a brand new rear end to the tune of $6000 so now I’m into the vehicle for $45,000 and it still has 1 million things wrong with it. I was able to water sand the vehicle and smooth out the paint quite a bit to the point where it shines half decent now. There’s minor visible rust from the outside of the car, but there are a few bubbles down at the bottom of the doors that were painted over probably about six or seven years ago. It is supposedly painted in the original color it came from factory with and it has the original white vinyl top but who knows! At this point, I’m going to have to suffer with it for what it is and what was sold to me based on their lies! Not sure if I can post the pictures of the vehicle on here. Obviously the work you’re doing on these cars is over the top. Never expected to get anything even close to what you put together on your videos when I bought this car but unfortunately I did fall victim to the hands of two unprofessional goofballs running a scam business and now I have to drive it as it is for what it is. Definitely not going to pump $30,000 into this car at this point. Keep up the great work on your channel. Will continue viewing to get ideas on inexpensive things I can do to mine to better it. As for anyone watching your videos and reading this, stay away from Coyote Classics. They are total scammers!
I am sorry that happened. Be a lot cooler if people would just be honest about what they have. Thanks for watching and the heads up to all the other viewers.
Keep in mind, this was a STOCK rebuild. You would be lucky to sell it for $25K at auction because it's just a 350 A/T hard top car so you will find all your labor was free. This is why it's cheaper to buy one already done then to restore one as the price of restoration parts & machine work override the value of the car. the guys that spend 100s of thousands on resto mods have found this out the hard way as they found out they wanted their car there way but come to find nobody likes there way except them. So they own it for life or sell it for peanuts when they grow tired of it. The only exception to this would be a limited production car with a PROVABLE! history. AKA same owner for 30+ years or extremely rare powertrain AKA Super Duty or Ram Air IV or Yenko Chevy, Hemi cuda or 427 AC cobra, L-88 Vette, early Hurst Olds Buick Stage II etc. I did a total resto on a customer's 70 / 440 Superbird wing car (a real one) Cost the owner $40K in parts plus 10 years for me to do it right as there are no parts for the nose of a superbird, all had to be hand formed & welded. He got cancer just after it was finished and was forced to sell it less then 6 months after I finished it but won 3 best of class shows with it. I KNOW he had $90+K in it, however, it sold at auction for $65,000 and after fees walked away with 51K.The factory yellow & black car had 1,300 miles on it since restoration. So just keep in mind the restoration PARTS are the killer of any project. I am pretty sure Jon can back that up.
The price a car sells for is totally dictated by the buyer. The average is 25k for a plain Jane 350 bird. Right place right time maybe more or less. The car is only worth what someone will pay. Most times people have paid more on parts and labor on a rebuild then it will ever sell for unfortunately. Just because someone spent $100k on a restoration doesn’t mean they will get it back.
That car can easily fetch more than 25k in today's market. Yes, being a 350/auto gives it a ceiling, but I bet, considering how near perfect it is, could easily bring upwards of 35..an auction is a gamble
@@bighank796 exactly, find someone that wants an autumn bronze car like they used to have back in the day and they will pay for the quality over most 350 cars. Because most 350 cars are not restored to this level
I have no clue what shops charged never had work done that I paid for. I did have a friend that had a floor pan put in after this video and they only charged $35 an hour…….Person working on it.
Everyone that decides to redo one knows most of the time you never get your money back . You do it for the love of the car and the memories. Great looking car. I'd do without lunch ever day just to be able to drive it to work on Friday's
Indeed this one was a labor of love for sure.
The bird 🕊️ is the word
Thanks!
First gen Firebirds have been in my blood since i was really little and the neighbors at the bottom of the cul de sac brought home a teal one with wide tires and red pin stripe sidewalls.
The neighbor girl from another house walked me past it while it was idling.
I could feel.the combustion pulses all through my body.
I remember the heat coming off of it.
Beautiful car.
These cars are very addictive for sure. Been a part of my life for nearly 30 years
The Firebird is nicer then it was new! Great Job!
Thanks! Had fun building it and definitely going to miss looking at it in the garage
The Pumpkin looks absolutely great.
Thank you
Love watching you restore the Firebird. I hope to own one again since I sold one a 1969, 400 back in 1982.
They are out there and hopefully you can get one again soon.
Same story here I had a 69 Camaro too at the same time 😊
Like you said better than new. What a fantastic job. 😊
Thanks so much! 😊
@@VinylVillageGarage You have gotten me pumped up to get working on my 66 Chevelle. I am retiring soon so I can devote a lot to working on it. The car needs a lot of work but I know that I can do it because I do have one thing going for me. Lots of patience. Thank you for your in depth videos on how to do things. You are really helping a lot of DIY guys out there,
@ezelk1337 that’s fantastic and happy retirement and best wishes on your 66 that will be a great car to bring back
What a fantastic job you've done on the great pumpkin. It's hard to imagine how you can be so talented in so many ways and yet remain so down to earth and humble. My hat's off to you.
Thank you so much for taking us along on the journey. I looked forward to every new episode and I'm eagerly waiting for the next one.
I love these cars and enjoy sharing their restoration. If only I had UA-cam as a resource years ago the money and time I could have saved.
Very nice job on the 68👍 hopefully I can do up my 67 400 convertible someday if I ever get enough saved to rebuild it.
Thanks! The more you do the more money left for other areas of the project.
Bring on the red lines! Nice build
That would be a nice touch for sure
Love the project. Great Car great work.
Thanks a bunch!
Wow, looks amazing!
Thank you.
👏👏👏 Nice recap of a fine build! Congrats 🥳
Thank you!
I am going to miss seeing this car! You have given me tons of info on how to work on my car. thank you for documenting this build!
You and me both, this car will be leaving soon
Jon @ VVG Fantastic journey you , took us all on ! I enjoyed every minute of your videos on refurbishing the Great Pumpkin and more so completing just as Halloween is just around the corner . 800 hours × $100.00 = $80,000.00 BRAVO JON ! 👏 LL KOOL RAY 😎 FRISCO (GOT TO SAVE THEM BIRDS) That , last touch the surfer foot was something I , had on my 1968 Pontiac Firebird now that took me , back down memory lane thanks Jon.....Most definitely enjoyed hanging out in your garage !
This car has come a long way and definitely the best i have done to date.
Awesome work! Bravo!
Thank you.
Awesome work my friend!
Thanks buddy.
@@VinylVillageGarage
🤘🤘🤘
Love your videos!
Glad you like them!
Stunning.
Thank you.
Very Very nice Jon, What a before and after transformation. I am sure I speak for everyone, thank you for taking us through this. learned a ton!
My pleasure!
I absolutely loved seeing this build. Cant wait for the next one!
I really liked this car too. Wish it was mine.
Thank you for making your videos! Great job!
Very welcome and gearing up for the next one.
Looks better than new. I worked at a new car dealership for 13 years. Everything fits better than original.
Thanks! I believe a few extra minutes for the details makes all the difference
Halloween's this week.
I'd love the Pumpkin on my porch.
👍😎😎
The videography just keeps getting better.
I wish you a very happy Halloween and thank you for watching from the beginning to end much appreciated you support
Awesome job!
Thank you. I will miss this car when it’s gone
Great work love it.
thanks! very happy with this car and feel it represents what can be done at home doesn’t mean it has to lack details or quality.
Top notch restoration. I love the burnt orange, one of my favorite colors. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I think this color is on my top 10 list for sure
Great job, keep bringing those old Pontiacs back to life. You're lucky if resto shops charge $40-$50 bucks an hour. Here on Long Island N.Y. some shops are $125-$165 !
$100 hr x 800 is a lot of money!! I suppose some people pay that. Wow that would be something
Fantastic job, the car looks great. Keep up the good work.
Thanks!
Sir, you have done a fabulous job. Bringing that vehicle back to life. I had a 68 and it just got so overwhelming thought. I was going to get around to it and never did and now I kick myself when I see how fabulous your 69 turned out enjoyed. Happy cruisif you come to Kansas, look me up.
Right on! Thanks.
Beautiful, looks better than new. Can't wait for the next project.
Thank you very much!
I can barely replace a tire. There's no way I would be skilled enough to do a full restoration of this by myself. But you did a beautiful job, congratulations!
Thanks I do love these old birds and really enjoy building them.
Absolutely beautiful. Your attention to detail is outstanding.
Thank you very much!
Having the car restoration documented in these videos to me puts the car’s value way up there. This was a great journey. The car looks amazing. Can’t wait for the one. 👍
Yours will also be well documented and you will always have that as a digital copy how cool is that! Thanks. And already started on the new one
Incredible work man. Gorgeous.
Thanks,
Love this car and how it came out
Amazing job 👏 🙌 keep up the awesome work. You're one of UA-cam's best informative content creators.
I appreciate that!
Turned out very nice. My 72 will have white interior as well. Going to borrow that AC mod as well. Thats actually how I found your channel. 70-72, Z28's didnt have air. My car is far from original, but want to keep the firewall stock for this reason. I was actually searching for this mod and found your vids. Keep up the great work!
Heck yeah! I like the factory look with subtle mods. It takes up more time but really think it’s worth the effort. Good luck with your swap. Thanks for finding us.
Great job! Back in 1971, I bought a 68 400 Auto in Verdoro Green with the Ivy Gold interior and I put a rear spoiler on it...There was a guy running around town that had a Autumn Bronze 68 400 that had Cragars on it with Mickey Thompson wides on the back with air shocks...very rare color.
Don’t suppose you still have that bird do you.
Jon, that is a masterpiece! Thank you very much for sharing your build. I learned many things.
I think it came out great as well. Ready for the next one.
Amazing job all around. You're helping me to do my 67 Camaro. Every new chunk of Rot I need to deal with I watch your corresponding video a couple times and then go to town. I think I would be messing up without this great template. Great for us non body guys, who are just working guys and have to do it ourselves.
Good deal, wish you the best on your Camaro. You will love driving that car everywhere when done
A friend of mine had 68 firebird convertible in high school. 400, 4 speed. This was in the early 80's. He lives in Tennessee now, and still has it.
That’s cool. Keep one that long and being a 400/4spd even better
Can't wait to see this beauty in real life. I'm about 15k in my 67 between QA-1 suspension, 700r4 transmission and new rear end gears, but it's been worth it because it's been wonderful to drive. I'm still learning as I go so everything you do here helps.
Making progress, plus you have a couple other ones to do as well
Great work!! Not only in the way the car turned out but the fact you can stay focused on one project to the end. And within the time it took for one person. My hat is off to you. Thanks.
I love these old Pontiacs, and can’t wait to save more
I will definitely be using the videos of this build a lot for doing mine! Been watching from the start. Thanks again for all you do!!!!!
Very welcome, even I will be using these videos as a reference in the future
Thanks for showing us the restoration. Can't wait to see the new project!! Got really cold here (Wichita), I put my cars under their covers for the winter.
I was born in whicita, didn’t live there long enough to remember winter. I have put three of my cars up for winter, unfortunately it’s just around the corner
@@VinylVillageGarage stay true to the 1st gen firebird add a chrysler firepower hemi lol jk
I have a 1968 convertible Firebird that I've done a lot to. Been thinking about selling it, but I like it so much its hard to do that. Its my dream car.
I would have a hard time selling my car. It’s very hard to replace if you change your mind. If you don’t need to I would not
Beautiful! How many full restorations have you done? As mentioned by another $40-$50 per hour shop charges were charged 25 years ago. Minimum now is $125 an hour! I'm surprised it only cost you $25K in parts with today's costs. If one took the original car to a reputable shop for complete restoration expect to pay close to $80,000-$100,000....EASY!! Hell a good paint job is $12,000!!
Yeah. I got an education on shop rates. Lol. I have never paid nor had clue what shops charged always did it myself. The guy who owned this car was quoted over 100k so that was on par.
Very nice build John!! Keep up the fantastic work!!!👍🏽
Thanks buddy, I am ready for the next one.
Looks so good man! Keep up the great work.
Thanks!! You will have yours together soon too.
Sweet ride..
Thanks!!
Amazing work, the car turned out great! You're talented - thanks for sharing the build.
Had fun building the car and ready for the next one.
Congratulations on a job well done! Thanks for the journey. Looking forward to the next projects!
Thank you. The next one will be a fun one too. Definitely going to be tuff seeing this one go when it’s done
Looks awesome Jon. Can't wait to see what's next. Been hanging on for that pedal. Good stuff!
That pedal was sitting patiently for over a year. Finally it’s home
Mindblowingly well done. You are unbelievably talented in so many aspects. You should be extremely proud of the job youve done. Congrats, and thanks for taking us along!!!
I like new challenges and attempting things. After 30 years of that I have learned a lot and still learning. Looking forward to the next project
Now I had to go add up all my receipts now for my 67 Bird... lol
I don't save mine. I DON"T want to know!! 😂
It might scare you. Lol
Incredible series. It is hard to believe you got her all done in a year....with awesome results. Makes me feel like a slacker as my project hits 7-years in November. 🙄
Looking forward to the next series. We need MORE Ed in the next one. 😃
Yeah..... Get to work! I want to see the road with her soon!
The next one will be an awesome project as well
Been watching this build since the beginning, if not for your skill this is not possible for the money an effort 👏! 😅 My 68 bird project is still in metal work. Boosts my motivation for the finish 💪 Congrats!
You can do it!
Absolutely beautiful you my brother you have done a fantastic job....now for the cost of the build it's a great price (WHY) ? Here I why? I have seen over and over again people Will put their car in a ( professional )shop and never get it done. This fast and this good quality work We both know what it takes. So to me, you hit a home run And believe me, this build. Have open and continue opening doors for you.
Thanks brother. This journey has already been very rewarding and I am not talking about money but the friends i have made and cars I have seen and the opportunities that have come from sharing my passion for these cars is priceless
@@VinylVillageGarage lol gotta add headlights to be 100% done
@mattwill63 the video of him driving the car with no headlights was before the car was done! Should probably know what you’re talking about before commenting it makes you look less foolish! Just saying!
@@mattwill63glad to see you can pay attention lmao!
I just finished a 1970 oldsmobilecutlasssupreme and did the frame on restoration by my self 12 months over three summers Basically during the summer because the car was out side 24.000.00 the front seat and back seats were done by a upholstery i installed them.
Very cool. Getting your hands dirty on a project it means so much more when done.
$25k and a massive amount of love. It sounds like a great investment to me.
Well worth the time and money for sure.
Had a 67 just like it bad ass
Thanks!
Incredible job man. I had a 68 Firebird 400, same color with black top and seats. Brings back memories. So what's next? 😊
Next up will be a 1969 Firebird convertible. Should be a good one
Great job. Most people have no idea how much labor is involved in a restoration like this. If you had to pay for labor, restoring a pedestrian Firebird like this wouldn't be worth it. With a 4 barrel carb, and high rise manifold and some 3;55 gears, you'd have a mid 14 second car. Not bad at all.
Definitely upside down if paying to have a car restored like this. Fortunately this one was a labor of love.
Most times, more than it's worth.
Unfortunately true.
Incredible series. Incredible restoration! Absolutely.
.
Much appreciation: I learned a lot & you give me inspiration to work on my own '68 Firebird once I get some other projects around the house finished. SOON!! 😅
Cute footage insert around time stamp 4:36. (From episode "First Drive ...Restoration")
Thought you could slip that one in without being noticed, eh?😊
(No Headlights gave it away)
.
Well Done, Sir. Well Done !!
Lol. What who needs headlights?!? Sharp eye and thank you for watching.
Screaming freedom the bird
Yes indeed
Nice Job!!!! are you going to put the chrome wheel well moldings back on??
Thanks. I just can’t bring myself to drill holes into the new wheel wells to install the molding not to mention it will cover up how clean and correct the openings metal work is.
800 hours! How many of those were just on paint prep? Great job. Wanted to thank you for sharing retoration costs and time involved. Should help a lot anyone concidering a restoration.
As an additional follow up video tp this series, you might want to break down your costs and time per the various stages of the build. This would assist those concidering a restoration as they may want to farm out a particular stage vs doing themselves.
Lol. Yeah tell be about it. I had more hours in body working then anything else.
Thanks for all of the videos. Is there a video that I missed that shows the initial cost of the car? Just curious if thats included in the total. Thanks again.
Nope the car was not included in the price. The owner has had this one since 1976 didn’t have to buy the car fortunately just get it back up to speed.
Drove a totally mint Blue 68 Firebird with a really crazy 455 in it for a lot of years. Total eye candy people stopper. It was fun back in the day when you could afford to fill the gas tank every day. and go out cruzin with your buds. Not anymore. Prices for older cars are beyond stupid because of greed and not worth it.
The prices have been climbing and glad i have mine already don’t see myself selling any soon.
Got a 67 drop 400
I wanted one since 67 and in 68 i was 14 years old couldn't buy one then and shure as heck can't afford one now
You can get a decent driver quality for 13-15k.
We had a 68 400 conv in the same color combo.
It’s a beautiful combination,
I really like it.
The vinyl looks good but they're always rusted underneath because the factory doesn't paint the roof; mine was basically primer on my 1970 Camaro. Very nice car.
I don’t typically go vinyl top but it was owners request and when I took this car apart very minimal rust under the top. The only areas was the window channel where all these cars rust. This car still had the factory top on the car too. And the paint under was, well actually painted and in decent shape.
Looks great, love the way you did the video lol-new view! Now I have a couple of questions. What would you value this car at now that’s it’s complete? Some range. Second, did you see the tribute 69 trans am that sold at Mecum Indy? Was it yours?
Hard to tell what it’s worth, I like to think if at auction sell in the area of $45k. Which is more then the average condition bird sells for. I don’t feel this car is average.
Nope not my car at auction it’s put up for the winter. That one is definitely not for sale.
Absolutely fantastic, Jon! I thoroughly loved the series! Nice video work on the time lapse, that took some planning. Are you still planning to record the delivery?
I hope to. If it works out. Looking at a March delivery
I'm going to miss my weekly fix of resto-mod videos :(
Not really I have a all new project the will be getting an entire overhaul.
I have a 68 firebird 350 four speed manual. I have owned it since 79 was my high school car. Everything is there just needs to be gone through.
No better time then now!
Do you restore firebirds for other people
@@troybuchanan3763 not really, wish I could. I am currently at 4 cars in line and 3 are mine.
@@VinylVillageGarage you can make a UA-cam video on it
B e a u t i f u l F-Bird !!!!
Thanks!!
A few years ago, I/we restored a 1967 400 4 speed Firebird that had never been titled or street driven. $31K to retore it correctly. Appraised at $30k.
Interesting a 400 4spd car I would appraise it for more.
@@VinylVillageGarage As stated, I/we restored the 400 four speed car a few years ago. 8 years 4 months to be exact.
8 years, yup time flys when having fun. That makes more sense
Love the body style and color ❤❤❤❤❤ Does it have 455?😂😢
Thanks. It’s a 350 4bbl car the owner wanted to keep it relatively original.
I'm currently restoring a 67 Camaro. Putting a big block in the car. What is the heater box mod you pointed out?
I did a vintage air kit but but I replumbed the hoses so that I could retain the factory heater hose location and box under the hood
Nice job! The rear spoiler is sacrilege. Were those air cleaner lid decals factory installed? I don't recall seeing them BITD.
Spoiler and the air cleaner decal both not factory but added request of the owner.
@@VinylVillageGarage I'll allow the decal, but that spoiler needs to be tossed in the trash can.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with that spoiler being added to the car. They were available from the factory in 1968! It looks great and I like how you put the PONTIAC emblems on the spoiler, a unique touch.
I also like the Autumn Bronze color on the dash and steering wheel. Really looks good, another unique touch.
I like adding minor things to make a car unique.
As a mechanic, I probably would have rebuilt the '68 - 350 engine and added high compression heads, but I agree, it did have issues.
The 455 would have made it a serious Hot Rod!
Great build Jon!
Keep up the good work!
Don't listen to the nay- sayers!
@@cleanreed The spoiler was available on the '68 Camaro, not the '68 Firebird.
That is being generous on the hourly rate... here in Cali it is considered specialized service to restore classics and depending on the reputation of the shop hourly rates start at $75 hr and go up from there. Most reputable shops are $90-100 hr.
I’m paying $125 but I know my mechanic is really good and does it right so I don’t mind paying a bit extra
@asdezi they never say on the show but I can't imagine what a shop like Kindig design gets...
I have no idea what a shop rate is. Never paid nor had any work done. I would happily do restoration work for $100
Quality has a price and it’s ok to charge accordingly
I am sure it’s not cheap
You added aftermarket air conditioning but worried about having old fashion T3 headlights to score better at car shows? LOL Just put some nice Sylvania halogen headlights in and have the light you need when returning home from those evening car shows. Heck, I replaced my T3s back in the '70s on cars when I discovered quartz-halogen and iodine-halogen headlights back then and never looked back. Seeing more than 100 feet in front of you is far more important than having factory lights, especially if you don't see that pothole or a deer, and suddenly, your pride and joy becomes a mangled mess.
Really good looking car, though, and you did a great job. It will definitely bring back memories to many who see it.
The entire build was what the owner wanted, these are new repop t-3 bulbs not sure they are any better then the 50 year old bulbs or not. I loved building this car and will miss it when it’s gone.
Awesome job...l'd give my wife's right arm for this car....
Go for it! Not sure if she will be as happy with the decision. At least it’s an automatic if she wanted to drive it I suppose.
The big question here is how much did you pay for the donor car? I can’t imagine you paid more than $8000 for the vehicle in its condition when you got it?
This car has been owned by the same guy since 1976 to put a value on it prior is just an opinion. $4,000-$6,000 range on a good day.
They had headrests in 68?
From everything I have researched no. It was a special request to add them to this car during the restoration
@@VinylVillageGarage that's what I thought, those appear to be 69 seats,. They are nicer than the originals. I have second generation seats in my firebird pictured to the left of this reply.
@ultimtsacrifice nice bird! However fun fact you could get headrest on 1967 birds.
Love the car should be green I don't know why.??? All the firebird 400 I remember as a kid were green
Green was a very popular color might be why
That's not bad, you will not buy one in that great of shape for that price 👍👍
Exactly why Doing it yourself pays off.
Great job. Did you sell your 69 Le Mans?
Not yet! I have a video to post soon and will also be listing it on market place
I'm sure to do it _RIGHT,_ it sure isn't _CHEAP!_
It does cost a bit more
For sure. It comes down to what it’s worth and what do you want when done
😮
Thanks. Time for the next one
@VinylVillageGarage the cost without the labor surprised me
I Purchased, a 68 bird roughly 8 months ago from Coyote Classics. Small piece of advice, don’t ever do business with those guys at Coyote Classics. Total scammers! Inflated the quality of the vehicle on their online video massively!!! Full misrepresentation of the vehicle! Shipped it to me from Iowa down to Florida with a howling rear end, but mentioned nothing of this on that video and their supposed extensive walk around!! paid $35,000 plus plus plus and received the vehicle with so many things wrong with it that it’s not even funny. A five-year-old kid could’ve done a better walkaround!! Those guys suck! Scammers! So my mechanic ended up putting a brand new rear end to the tune of $6000 so now I’m into the vehicle for $45,000 and it still has 1 million things wrong with it. I was able to water sand the vehicle and smooth out the paint quite a bit to the point where it shines half decent now. There’s minor visible rust from the outside of the car, but there are a few bubbles down at the bottom of the doors that were painted over probably about six or seven years ago. It is supposedly painted in the original color it came from factory with and it has the original white vinyl top but who knows! At this point, I’m going to have to suffer with it for what it is and what was sold to me based on their lies! Not sure if I can post the pictures of the vehicle on here. Obviously the work you’re doing on these cars is over the top. Never expected to get anything even close to what you put together on your videos when I bought this car but unfortunately I did fall victim to the hands of two unprofessional goofballs running a scam business and now I have to drive it as it is for what it is. Definitely not going to pump $30,000 into this car at this point. Keep up the great work on your channel. Will continue viewing to get ideas on inexpensive things I can do to mine to better it. As for anyone watching your videos and reading this, stay away from Coyote Classics. They are total scammers!
I am sorry that happened. Be a lot cooler if people would just be honest about what they have. Thanks for watching and the heads up to all the other viewers.
That's really not that much. You did a great job.
All Things considered it came out great for the price.
انها سياره رائعه
?
I don't know where you get car repairs done for $40/50 hr. It's more like $100 hr now.
I was only guessing. I have never paid for repairs. Maybe I should go into business fixing these old birds for $100 an hour 🤔😁
Keep in mind, this was a STOCK rebuild. You would be lucky to sell it for $25K at auction because it's just a 350 A/T hard top car so you will find all your labor was free. This is why it's cheaper to buy one already done then to restore one as the price of restoration parts & machine work override the value of the car. the guys that spend 100s of thousands on resto mods have found this out the hard way as they found out they wanted their car there way but come to find nobody likes there way except them. So they own it for life or sell it for peanuts when they grow tired of it. The only exception to this would be a limited production car with a PROVABLE! history. AKA same owner for 30+ years or extremely rare powertrain AKA Super Duty or Ram Air IV or Yenko Chevy, Hemi cuda or 427 AC cobra, L-88 Vette, early Hurst Olds Buick Stage II etc. I did a total resto on a customer's 70 / 440 Superbird wing car (a real one) Cost the owner $40K in parts plus 10 years for me to do it right as there are no parts for the nose of a superbird, all had to be hand formed & welded. He got cancer just after it was finished and was forced to sell it less then 6 months after I finished it but won 3 best of class shows with it. I KNOW he had $90+K in it, however, it sold at auction for $65,000 and after fees walked away with 51K.The factory yellow & black car had 1,300 miles on it since restoration. So just keep in mind the restoration PARTS are the killer of any project. I am pretty sure Jon can back that up.
The price a car sells for is totally dictated by the buyer. The average is 25k for a plain Jane 350 bird. Right place right time maybe more or less. The car is only worth what someone will pay. Most times people have paid more on parts and labor on a rebuild then it will ever sell for unfortunately. Just because someone spent $100k on a restoration doesn’t mean they will get it back.
That car can easily fetch more than 25k in today's market. Yes, being a 350/auto gives it a ceiling, but I bet, considering how near perfect it is, could easily bring upwards of 35..an auction is a gamble
@@bighank796 exactly, find someone that wants an autumn bronze car like they used to have back in the day and they will pay for the quality over most 350 cars. Because most 350 cars are not restored to this level
If you don't get at least 2 people that want something at an auction, it's basically going to sell for nothing.
about 100 dollars- rainman
Fantastic I will let you build all my cars!! .
40 or 50 bucks an hour? I had to check to see if this video was from the '90s. Try 100 to 120 an hour now.
I have no clue what shops charged never had work done that I paid for. I did have a friend that had a floor pan put in after this video and they only charged $35 an hour…….Person working on it.
Wrong tires.
Thanks