In anticipation of a new COAL subject (a ’63 Buick Riviera) coming soon, I plan to update my fleet adventures of the past year or so. Given the propensity for my mind to wander, we’ll see how it goes.
My urban convalescent home for the modestly priced and long neglected old car has, if I may say so humbly, been quite successful in its mission of returning worthy vehicles to their natural habitat: the highways of Michigan, the hub of the American motorcar. Occasionally, however, a project will get away from me, and I’ll sheepishly have to call in a little help to put things right (or at least right from 10 feet away). Thus was my summer and fall of 2021 with my super cool ’74 Firebird Esprit.
Those who have followed this website for some time may have a vague recollection of my finding this Firebird on eBay in December 2015 for the round sum of $4084. It was largely as described (I have low standards for sight unseen buys), but the seller did not include pictures or commentary regarding this unsightly bulge where the passenger quarter panel and roof meet. It wasn’t exactly a situation that sent me to the computer to dispute my charge with that well-known auction site, but once the paint began to crack, I knew something needed to be done.
Therefore, when I took a wire wheel to the offending area one July morning, I was expecting just about any brand of the Devil’s lipstick, and I wasn’t surprised a bit to find a brazed seam where a new quarter panel had once been installed. As I’ve been guilty many a time of bondo abuse, there was no point in being a hypocrite by sending a steaming fog of off-color invective over my neighborhood. But I had to decide what to do. There’s no way I was tearing down a ’70s Firebird Esprit to “do it right” as the concours bunch might suggest. I wasn’t even in the mood to strip the entire interior.
Thus, I cleaned the seam and sprayed it with some weld-thru primer, called my dad down to watch the interior for sparks, propped up some welding blankets, and proceeded to cut out a plate.
Then I slowly tack welded the whole plate around the brazed seam. In retrospect upon looking at these pictures, I wish I would have sanded the filler back a few more inches to protect it from the heat, but it’s just one more thing to keep an eye on. Normally, I don’t advocate overlapping metal, but this was my best and least intrusive option considering my self-imposed restriction on rendering a perfectly working motor vehicle inoperable. It also saved me from using nearly an inch of body filler on this section, as the previous bodyman did.
I slathered a coating of “Tiger Hair” on the welded seam to waterproof my repair.
Then, I spent some time sanding and straightening the panel.
And this is where I ran out of talent, as they say on NASCAR broadcasts. I couldn’t get the paint to blend correctly, and it certainly didn’t match; plus, Firebirds have almost no natural breaks to blend paint from the roof to the quarter panels. A bodyman I talked to online explained that the roof and upper quarters should be treated as one panel. Additionally, red is fairly translucent, so the primer shows through coat after nightmarish coat. The first paint mix was too light.
So I tried a dark gray sealer in an attempt to darken the paint, but then the paint came out too dark. Sometimes, being cheap is false economy, but I’ll never learn, so I put the Firebird in storage and let my local bodyman figure it out a couple months later.
Which he did. My bodyman friend is now retired, but he and I got along well because each of us knew the other’s expectations. He did what I asked for a very reasonable price knowing that I wouldn’t bitch at him because there were some imperfections in the paint and some more orange peel than a normal human might like. I could always wet sand and wheel the paint if I wanted a smoother surface, but the repair matches the texture of the old paint job fairly well. Please notice that I’m standing 10 feet away as I take this picture. The color match is close but I can tell it’s a little off in low light and flourescent light situations, but it’s not bad enough to be upset about. I can also be proud that the bodywork is very good.
To cheat the eye, I did have the trunk lid and spoiler repainted to match the quarters; the paint formula for Buccaneer Red must have changed over the last six years. I had the trunk lid repainted when I bought the car (something had been spilled on it, peeling the paint), and that paint was significantly lighter than the current blend, and that was always something that bothered me just a bit.
Though 2021 was a rough year for our relationship, the Firebird and I have had an uneventful 2022, unless you count plenty of happy miles as eventful. As I take it out to winter storage tomorrow (as I write this), I can say that it wins the “summer mileage award” of the fleet after coming in dead last in the prior contest.
If that isn’t what owning an old Firebird is all about, I don’t know what is.
Jim Rockford’s first car during the first few episodes of the show during the Fall of 1974.
Hey Pedro,
He actually used a ’74 for the whole first season. I’m sure a lot of people on here know that starting in ’75, they started using Formulas with base hoods and no spoilers for better performance in the chase scenes. If you look at still shots of the ’75/’76 season, you can see the Formula 400 emblems on the sides of the car. From ’76 on, they used basic Firebird emblems. I own all the seasons on DVD, and Rockford was probably one my main influences in buying the car. 🙂
Nice job! And thats exactly what I would have done. I’m with you,drivers don’t have to be perfect,
Thanks! I have too many cars to spend too much money on bodywork.
Well done! Or weld-done. I would have done the same thing, but run out of talent earlier in the painting process.
I’ll have to do a CC update on my Beetle, I had a less successful year than you did.
I would love to see an update on the Beetle, even if some of the details are gory.
These old firebirds have an Italian feel to them.
Yeah, I think Bill Mitchell and Bill Porter (I think he was in charge of the Pontiac studio on this one) must have had a few Ferraris sitting around for inspiration.
looking very nice and the photos, particularly the sunset one are great .
I admire and envy your body working skills .
-Nate
Thank you Nate…
Bodywork is my least favorite job on an old car, but you do what you’ve got to do when you’re in my position. I’m certainly not a natural, but I’ve taught myself to do a decent job.
I’d put those 2G, non-Trans Am or Formula Firebirds (i.e., base or Esprit) in the category of affordable classics, similar to an original six-banger Mustang. Nice looking, and since they’re not one of the performance variants, easier maintenance and closer to a daily-driver than one of the more desirable versions. Aaron’s non-concours, but still very well executed and appropriate bodywork is a perfect example.
The hardest part would be finding a good, original one that someone hadn’t ham-handedly added irreversable performance do-dads (like cutting a hole in the hood for an aftermarket Trans-Am shaker scoop).
That’s one of the reasons I was excited about this one when I bought it; you could tell that nobody had messed it up. I was busy loading it on the trailer when I bought it, but the original owner showed up and was talking to my dad, so it hadn’t been through many owners in its life.
Loved, loved everything about this. The “how-to” posts are so outside my wheelhouse, which is probably why I find them so fascinating. I could probably watch a YouTube channel on auto body repairs and it might have the same effect as unintentional ASMR.
And as an added bonus, my new cable provider has a station that reruns “The Rockford Files” after work, so I’ve been watching that and totally reappreciating not only Firebirds of the era, but especially the Esprit.
Well done, outsourcing and everything. Your car looks gorgeous.
Thanks Joe,
I spend WAY too much time watching auto repair videos on YouTube; it’s basically my evening TV, mixed with some Mannix or something like that. It says something about how out of the loop I am, but I had to Google ASMR. 🙂
Nice firebird. Kudos to you. Looks great. Red is always a monster to match as it fades more than other colors. When I used to do home gamer bodywork, I’d always advise that the only way to get a true match was to have the entire car painted.
Had a 70 formula ram air 3 4 spd for about a year back in the day. Rattley old thing iirc.
Thanks James. I too was warned that I should paint the whole car, and that’s good advice, but I’m kind of lazy. 🙂
A ’70 Formula would be great, but they’re well out of my price range.
Nice looking car. I’ve always liked the 1970 through 1978 Firebirds and Firebird Esprits especially.
Thanks! I like the look of the base models better, personally. Trans Ams are amazing, but I’d take a Formula over a TA because of its cleaner look.
Great looking Firebird. Nice repair, too. Wishing you many more miles of smiles!
Thanks Huey!
Been there, done that (outsourced any body repairs, because I have dire results if I try it myself). I have issues with C post leaded joints, the area where the vinyl roofs meet the sheet metal, and any body fillers on GM cars that look fine one year, and then spiderweb into a bunch of pieces the next season. I’ve given up on trying to find used replacements from wrecking yards, because they last a coupe of years after paint and installation, then fall to pieces shortly after.
I’ve attached a picture of a contented Pebbles on this cold day, because that is how I feel when a spot paint repair turns out nice enough that most folks wouldn’t look twice!
Pebbles (great name, BTW) has the right idea.
This also looks like a perfect place to spend time while *someone else* does body and paint work. 🙂
That picture of Pebbles is awesome; what a happy cat!
I salute your welding skills – this is a skill I have never tried to cultivate but have always wanted to.
There is nothing worse than trying to do a partial paint job of an area with no natural breaks anywhere. Some people like to blend in the middle of a panel, others like to go to a panel edge. Both have their pluses and minuses if the color is a trifle off. When I had my red Miata, one door and the quarters/deck were resprayed with red clearcoat, while the rest of the car was the original red single stage. When freshly waxed it was hard to tell the difference, but after a few months of the old paint oxidizing, I had a two-tone car that was screaming at me to polish it again.
Thanks JP,
I just have a 110 volt Hobart MIG welder with a gas hookup; it’s great for sheetmetal, but I’d probably want a 220 if I were working on thicker steel. One thing I learned this summer when doing some Focus rust repairs is that modern cars’ sheetmetal is PAPER thin. It was terrible.
The two-tone red thing will be real. I’ll be polishing it up yearly until I take the next step, I’m sure.
I applaud you for your welding and bodywork skills…as well as for the good fortune of knowing someone who can help you out reasonably when you need it.
Sharp car. I too loved the Rockford Files; although I think that this Buccaneer Red is a much better color than Jim Rockford’s gold/tan.
Thanks Jeff, I’ll have to find a new “Plan B” since my body guy retired, or I might just have to pay more. ***Shiver*** 🙂
Nice job Aaron. I too farm out some stuff like this when I just don’t have the skillset. I have done lots of body work, even done an entire car, but my paint skills are limited. I have done smaller parts and less seen areas, but not large exterior panels – I know my limitations. You should be proud of your work though, it looks excellent.
FWIW, I have to eventually redo the quarter seems on my Torino too. It still has untouched factory sheetmetal, but the lead filler must be contaminated as it’s causing issues with paint adhesion in that area. When dad had the car repainted about 25 years ago, it had the same issue with the old paint. The new paint looked good for about 15 years before the issue returned and slowly worsened with time. From other body guys I have talked to, your solution of welding sheetmetal over the joint seems to be the best solution. I’d like to repaint my entire car, but may go your route of just doing a partial job with the price of body work these days.
Thanks Vince, I wish I would have welded over the seam on my Mustang, because it’s only a matter of time before it starts to crack. I used a lot of Tiger Hair on it, but I remember torching out the lead from the quarter seams and an ancient “repair” on the passenger rocker panel. There must have been 40 pounds of lead in that thing.
The trick to making red paint “pop” is to use the correct color of primer/undercoat beneath it. Use a light tan color and you will be amazed at how much better and alive the red top coat looks.
Hindsight and all, but if I had to do this all over again, I’d do some sprayout cards with different color primers. I’d do A LOT of stuff differently if I had to do it over again. Live and learn.
Very nice work on that awkward repair. Paint matching is some sort of magic for me.
Thanks David, sometimes I can get the blend close and sometimes I just fumble it. This was one of those times.
I think you did a great job on that repair. Your car is beautiful!
Very nicely done, looks great. This is my favorite year…losing the goofy mismatch of the prior year front and rear bumpers, but retaining the non-wrap around rear window. Like some others I’m an Esprit fan. Unlike many others, I do enjoy that clean side view without the spoiler…there’s just something Italian/exotic about it.
R U Jim Rockford P.I. ? L0L