Bye bye Birdy!

[737driver]

This week I sold my 1971 Firebird. I sold it to a friend of mine who decided to drive it from Las Vegas to North Carolina. The total trip was just over 2200 miles. The trip went well for him and included a stop by Second Gen Graveyard  in Gallatin, Tennessee.
Only two issues on the way home, the alternator’s voltage regulator failed so there was an alternator replacement enroute. The alternator was a new PowerMaster alternator. The other issue was something punctured the rear tire and required a quick plug.

Otherwise, the car drove well across the country. I am real happy to see the car has a new great owner ( someone I know as well, so that is a plus.) .

Jim

[Gene-73]

That would be a fun road trip in any car, even better in a classic Firebird! The fact that there were minimal issues is a testament to the quality of your builds.

[Jack]

Those issues could have happened to a brand new car as well. Beautiful car and I'm sure it found a good home.

[scarebird]

1 day, 7 hours?   cannonballin'

[kentucky yeti]

I always was a little sad when one left.  But it just created room for another one to get some love and restoration.  Now we just have the two birds and don't try to restore them anymore.  I miss doing it sometimes, but I am getting too old.  I now just want us to be able to enjoy and maintain the ones we have.  That is a very nice car that you sold.

[nUcLeArEnVoY]

That's awesome!

I'll be the first to admit that it's a little nerve-racking to drive these old cars even around town, much less cross country. Eyes glued to the temp or oil gauge, every little bump, knock, squeek leaves you wondering if you're about to experience catastrophic failure... but honestly it's never happened to me yet, and it usually never does. You'll never know until you do it.

[hakitup]

That’s cool I love long trips in older vehicles.

Tom H

[5th T/A]

Jim,

I haven't been around long enough to know the story on this 1971. Was this another restoration?

The smile on the face of the new owner says he is very happy, I would be too.

[737driver]

Thanks for the replies!
I bought the 71 in January 2018. Basically, I did a full job on it minus the paint and interior. When I bought it, it turned out to need a lot of work. Minus paint, body and interior everything else needed work.

After all that work it was one of my favorites. The 350 motor ran well and was a good match for the car. Once I had it all finished it turned out to be a very reliable car.

I wasn’t happy to hear about the alternator, because it happened 3 hours past Albuquerque (middle of nowhere). It was a PowerMaster, not much to do about that. The tire went flat about 2 hours from destination, turned out a simple plug was needed to fix but caused about a 4-hour delay.

To be honest it had more miles put on it in those 3 days than since I bought it. I have realized that I can only drive one car at a time so I figured I would sell that one. I was sad to see it go, but I’m glad to see it going to a great owner. I’m also glad to see that it was driven across all four time zones! This one will fund my current project (1977 Trans Am SE), so it’s a continuing story!
Jim

[rkellerjr]

Sounds like a good solid car, kudos to your work on it. I've taken mine out for long drives like that, it is a blast, congrats to the new owner.

[pancho400cid]

Awesome story!  Sounds like a fun trip.

[LeighP]

Was a good move selling it, Jim…..liquidity is a bonus when you’re trying to do a high end restore, like your SE deserves.