First-gens · Second-gen Trans Ams · 400s, 455s, and the bird on the hood.
The Firebird was never a rebadged Camaro — Pontiac gave it its own engines, its own suspension tune, and eventually the most recognizable hood in America. We restore 1967–79 Firebirds and Trans Ams with the Pontiac-specific knowledge and graphics-level precision these cars demand.
No muscle car depends on visual precision like a second-gen Trans Am. The shaker bulge, the flares, the spoilers, the screaming chicken itself — these cars are compositions, and a restoration that gets the paint right but the graphics wrong reads instantly as fake to anyone who knows. Stripe widths, decal placement, correct-year bird artwork: this is measured, documented territory, and we treat it that way.
Under the drama sits the same truth as the GTO: Pontiac's own V8, its own engineering, its own correctness standards — with PHS documentation available to prove what any car was born as. Our conviction is that a Firebird deserves shops fluent in both languages: the body and paint precision the graphics demand, and the Pontiac drivetrain fluency the badge demands. Most shops offer one. These cars need both.
Camaro bones, Pontiac soul — 326 to Ram Air 400s, and the 1969 debut of the Trans Am itself in Cameo White and blue stripes. Rarer than their Chevy cousins in every trim, and priced accordingly when documented.
The pinnacle: second-gen styling at its purest, 455 HO and Super Duty engines that kept muscle alive after everyone else surrendered. SD-455 cars are the holy grail; verification is everything at those prices.
The icon years — big birds, shaker hoods, and the black-and-gold Special Editions everyone recognizes on sight. Huge production, huge attrition, and a market that finally respects them. The most-requested graphics work in our shop.
Structurally these are F-bodies, and they get our F-body discipline: subframe-out builds, cowl and windshield-channel surgery, quarters and wheelhouses through the metal bench — the same map we run on first-gen Camaros, applied with Firebird-specific panels and trim. Second-gen cars add their own specialties: flare fitment, spoiler alignment, and the shaker hood systems that have to seal and function, not just sit there.
Drivetrains are pure Pontiac through our engine and drivetrain bench — 400s and 455s rebuilt to correct spec with casting and date verification, Quadrajets restored in-house, Ram Air and HO details done right. Interiors get the F-body treatment through our interior restoration program: engine-turned dash faces on Trans Ams, correct Madrid or Lombardy vinyl by year, and the Formula wheel restored rather than replaced with a repro that never feels right.
Cowl plenums, rear window channels, and quarter bottoms — the same spots that kill Camaros kill Firebirds, and second-gen rear glass leaks feed trunk and quarter rot for decades. Our guide to spotting hidden rust reads like a Firebird checklist.
Olds and Chevy 350s wearing Pontiac air cleaners, 400s claiming to be 455s. PHS paper plus casting decode settles it — and correct-date Pontiac replacements are findable when the car deserves them.
Resprayed birds in wrong sizes, stripes eyeballed by the last painter, Special Edition gold that's three different golds. We restore graphics from factory documentation, not from what faded on the car.
Cracked shaker bulges, broken spoiler end caps, flare edges packed with filler. Restorable — with the flexible-material discipline these urethane and fiberglass pieces actually require.
Gulf humidity runs its standard program on F-bodies — nightly condensation inside rockers, doors, and that notorious cowl, salt-air acceleration on cars from the bay side — and our standard answer applies: bare-metal honesty, welded repair, epoxy, seam sealer, and cavity wax through every enclosed section. Second-gen cars get the rear-glass channel rebuilt and sealed properly, because in this climate a weeping rear window is a quarter-panel death sentence.
Sun is the Trans Am's particular enemy. Texas UV fades graphics unevenly, chalks seventies lacquer, and cooks the urethane bumper caps and shaker bulges brittle. Our builds answer with UV-stable two-stage systems, modern flexible coatings on the soft parts, and graphics materials chosen to hold color — plus interior insulation under those big black dash pads that split in every un-garaged Texas car. Cooling and fuel systems get the full Houston spec: radiators sized for August idle, Quadrajets set up for ethanol, tanks and lines renewed on every stored car we open.
The result is the car these were always supposed to be — dramatic to look at, genuinely usable in a Houston summer, and documented through our build process from first photo to last decal.
Documented cars: Trans Ams, Formulas, Ram Air and HO cars with PHS paper get restored correct — engine, graphics, interior, and finishes to the factory record. Special Editions and early Trans Ams are appreciating assets whose value lives in verifiable correctness.
Base cars and lost-drivetrain birds: outstanding restomod candidates — the F-body takes modern suspension and brakes beautifully, and we'll argue (gently, persistently) for Pontiac power in the swap: a built 455 keeps the car's voice in a way no LS ever will. Either way the graphics stay correct, because a Trans Am with a wrong bird convinces no one.
And if your heart is actually set on the Chevy side of the F-body family, our GTO and Camaro programs give you the honest cross-shopping picture — we build all of them, so we have no badge to sell you.
Factory paper ordered, castings decoded — Trans Am claims tested before budgets form.
Correct restoration, driver, or Pontiac-powered restomod — matched to the car's identity.
Subframe out, soft parts triaged, rust map drawn at bare metal.
Metal, Pontiac drivetrain, paint — graphics measured and laid to factory documentation.
Sorted, sealed, and wearing the bird exactly where Pontiac put it.
PHS documentation — same as the GTO. Pontiac's factory records identify true Trans Ams, Formulas, and engine options definitively, which matters because Firebird-to-Trans-Am conversions are everywhere. We order and decode the paper during assessment.
Yes — from factory documentation, with correct-year artwork, measured placement, and the right finish interaction between decal and clear. Graphics are where Trans Am restorations pass or fail, and ours are laid to the documents, not to memory.
Yes — the market moved. Clean Special Editions and W72 four-speed cars bring serious money, survivors are scarcer than production numbers suggest, and the smoke-and-Bandit generation is buying back its youth. Restore it right and the math works.
Structurally identical work; the differences are parts economics (Camaro repro runs deeper, Firebird-specific pieces cost more hunting) and market character (Firebirds are rarer per trim). We build both and will give you the honest comparison for your goals.
We'll build what you want — after making the case for a built Pontiac 455 first. Torque, sound, correct castings, and Pontiac identity, with modern internals for reliability. Most owners who hear a healthy 455 idle stop asking about the LS.
Birds arrive from every corner of the metro — garage-kept Special Editions, project first-gens, and the occasional true Super Duty rumor worth verifying. Bring the VIN; we'll bring the PHS request form.
Send the VIN and photos. We'll verify what the car is, map what it needs, and restore it to the standard the hood demands.
(713) 555-0180