"Routy" (rhymes with Rowdy) is the name given to this 1969 Pontiac Firebird project. It's a play on the last name of the owner, and the car's demeanor and looks are designed to cause a stir on the streets. We're starting with a 1969 Firebird that was originally a 350 2-barrel car, and adding a full Trans Am body package, upgraded interior featuring late model Trans Am seats, and 17" and 18" Boyd Junk Yard Dog wheels. The new engine is a 400-based Pontiac with lots of performance tricks. The design came from the creative mind of Ben Hermance at Hermance Design and highlights the car's original lines with a bright red scheme and subtle charcoal stripes. The stripe treatment suggests other Pontiac themes, like the 1969 GTO Judge. We'll be posting video and photo updates of every step of the restoration process. Forum member "Steve Firebird" is the man behind this car, and we're going to be using this forum to make lots of build decisions and choices along the way, so feel free to jump in an be part of the process. It's an interesting story!

Hello everyone I go by Steve Firebird on this site this is my project car.  Here is a history of how I ended up with the 69. It’s a long one so settle in. I have a friend named Mark that came across a guy that was selling a bunch of Firebird parts. After some discussion Mark found out the guy had a whole storage shed of parts and two Firebirds partially apart he wanted to get rid of. Mark called me and we went down to check it out, after some haggling a deal was made for every thing. I went back with Mark and a few other friends and we loaded everything up and hauled it to Marks house. I hauled the 69 for Mark on my trailer and got a chance to look it over pretty well. I knew that my friend John was looking for a GTO and mentioned the 69 Firebird to him. He really had his heart set on a GTO so I kept on the look out and found what I thought was a great deal for him. We were actually on the way to look at the GTO when he started asking me about the Firebird. We happened to be going with in 5 miles of the 69 so he decided to take a look at it on the way. We never made it to see the GTO. Once he got a look at how solid the 69 was it was sold. I then got to haul the 69 to John’s house. I helped him take out the nasty interior and he started ordering parts and his wife even bought some stuff for him as a surprise Christmas present. John fixed a small spot on the driver side floor and a small spot on the trunk floor. He found a set of original GM front fenders for the car that were very nice and bought a set of after market rear quarters for the car and started to install them. I stopped by from time to time and was very impressed and happy that he was making such great progress.  The rest of the car was rust free and in no time he had come a long way. Then all of the sudden he just stopped working on it. It sat for a year and he did not touch it. Finally he told me he took it to a body shop to have the rear quarters put on and again it sat at the body shop for something like a year with out being touched. I told him if he ever decided to sell it to call me. One day out of the blue I got the call. We agreed on a price and all that was left was to tell his wife. That did not go over very well so we just decided to let the deal sit and see what happed. Not to long after that I got a call. John had just called the body shop to tell them to forget about the rear quarters because he was thinking about selling the car. They said they had just finished them the car was in primer and he had a bill sitting there. That was the final straw. I paid off the body shop bill and gave John his asking price for the 1969 Firebird all the parts and a driver 1970 GTO he had picked up after he stopped working on the Firebird. I cleaned up the GTO and sold it to recoup some of my investment and stored the 69 for later.  Now it finally gets to be finished like it deserves and I can’t be happier to be working with the crew at V8TV to make it happen. I will go into some of my plans for the car later on.  Steve

Steve,

Are all the parts still in the trailer?     Kelle's asking about the inventory system.... I don't suppose you've got the bolts bagged & tagged, huh?

We'll have to see what she says about that.... Kelle is the parts person and keeps track of all that stuff.     We'd be in a big mess if she didn't manage all the details.

I took some photos of the DuPont Hot Hues paint chip charts in the sun, and I know it's not 100% accurate, but I'll post the pics and we can all hone in on the exact colors for the red, the charcoal, and the silver stripes.    I'll probably post 'em tomorrow.     

I noticed the dash and the package tray.     The tray is an easy one, we can make a new piece for it if you don't need a 100% original piece, or we can locate a GM piece if you'd rather have that.     

Did the car have work done in the driver seat floor area? 

Not wrong, I just picked up on what looks like some weld beads around where the seat brace mounts to the floor.

How nice do you want this car to be in the areas where you normally can't see?   Like the weld seams in the trunk where the quarters were repaired, the floor patches, etc.?     We normally like to make the repairs undetectable, and from what I see so far, it looks like we should be able to clean up those areas.

Kevin, I think it’s a good idea to clean up the welds as best you can. I will try to get a better look at those areas today. I bought the car put it in the trailer and never really looked at it since.

Kelle, I understand what you are saying. I will try to dig in and see just how bad it is and get back to you. I will send along a master parts guide to help you when putting it back together. I have one on CD and a hardcopy from a GM dealer I got years ago. It has really helped me over the years. Hopefully you will still like the car after you guys work on it for a while.   

Looks like a great project!  Of course, I'm more than elated to see another Pontiac being restored.  What kinds of plans are in store for the engine & transmission?  Are you going to call on the maestros at Butler Performance, or perhaps build it in-house?  Either way, this should be a great build to watch, especially since the car's owner is in the forum!  I can't wait!