Bought this Bird on Ebay! Hoping it was as solid as the pix seemed to show it was. I had looked at cars before that were 4 sale and the pix are always better looking then the cars really are, so its very hard to see what your getting. I had been searching for months to find a project for me and my 15yr old son over the summer.
I had been watching the price on this Firebird get higher and higher,knowing that most of the birds in the Florida area went for more money then the ones up around,Ga.Al. and Miss. So I was afraid it would go past my budget. Then the last day of action comes and the price is 51.00 below my budget! lol The bidding ended at 2:00pm. I'm thinking that could be in my favor thinking that most people are at work. The High bidder must have been,lol!!! So I wait 20mins til 10mins,5,4,3,2,1 30sec..20 10 and I'm thinking the whole time this guy (high bidder) has got to be watching or at least he has put in a higher bid to outbid my bid. So I say to my self what do I have to lose..? I was really praying to God if its the right one I will get it. So I did it..and I WON.!!! I beat the high bidder by $51.00 and the reserve was just $50.00 below my winning bid.
Here is me grinning from ear to ear..and I did even know what I had just bought. All I knew was, Its a solid 68 Bird w/ a 4spd and a Posi. All Clues that had my head spinning "What If" this car was originally 4 speed car..? Why is there a Posi in it also ??
But look at the Mess,,the Engine was all apart no interior,,Why would someone take a Real McCoy apart and never put it back.
Leaving it for dead..? Or..? For someone to come along and not know what it is and sell it to a recycled Teenager like me..
So I loaded it up to a dolly I bowered from a friend,(Thanks Henry)..and I drove towards home..
I didn't even get out of the parking lot where I bought the car from and I was under the car looking for clues. Here you see me under the car checking to see if the car had a Munice 4spd. I used my camaro flash to hold it up by the casting #'s. When I got in the truck to look on my digital camera I could see "660" on the upper case. The owner's didn't even look to see what kind of car they were selling! Of course the man had a shop full of mint muscle cars, maybe some of the sharpest car I have ever seen. There was a Z/28 they were restoring that belonged to Boyd Coddington. So my new Firebird was just something taking up space. I believe if they would have thought this one out more carefully I wouldn't own now.
My painted sign on the back window reading "Not 4 Sale" still didn't keep people from asking me if it was 4 sale or howmucha' want 4 da' Camero..? Every time we stopped...!
Here is some Pontiac 350 HO history...
In 1968, There was also a 350 "HO" which had an increased horsepower with the addition of higher compression #18 heads, (#17 and #46 were the most common 2 barrel heads)a 4 barrel carb and matching intake that was also used on the 400 and 428 engines. There was also the addition of dual exhaust, and in the case of a stick shift car, a slightly more aggressive cam.
In 1969, the 350HO was upgraded again with the addition of the 400 HO cam, commonly referred to by Pontiac hobbyists as the 068 cam. Also the addition of #48 casting number heads with a 68 cc chamber for higher compression, along with larger 2.11" & 1.77" valves. Free flowing exhaust manifolds from the 400 RamAir was used late in the model year. This was under rated at 325 horsepower (242 kW). Many of cousin division more popular Chevolet 350's and even base SS396's were handily beaten by this little 350"High Output"(HO) Pontiac. This may be today one of the most over looked high performance engines of the era, as it was overlooked by the buyers of larger 400 engines available in the day.
