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ConvertiblesDiscussed here are problems and solutions to convertible specific questions, including difficult to find part numbers and other convertible tech help.
I will say sorry now for being long winded. This will be a long term thread since I will be building this car between January and May 2015.
Back in November I picked up a 1991 Firebird Convertible 3.1L auto for $600. The owner said that is was parked after the fuel pump went bad 3 years ago. He parked it in his buddies driveway, but at some point it was moved to a gravel lot next to the garage. By the time I got it, there was some extensive rust issues which the half-open drivers window didn't help.
So far I have replaced the fuel tank completely, since the lines and tank were badly rusted. I had to replace the ECM nice it was unresponsive, and I have replaced the TPS and TPS plug just to get it running.
Last night I gutted out most of the interior, to find a slightly bigger hole than I had first thought. So far I know it needs most of the drivers side floor pan and both rear wheel wells need to be patched.
My question now is, since I know these convertibles were originally T-top cars, how much of the floor is interchangeable between my hardtop donor car and my convertible?
Last edited by broke91firebird; 01-21-2015 at 08:26 AM.
Reason: pictures!
Anyway so here is the list of everything that needs to be done before May 1, 2015 so I will have enough shake down time to make sure the car which has been sitting untouched for three years before I bought it will make it to Louisiana and back.
I will be updating this list as I complete each as well as posting as many pictures as possible with a real camera.
In no real order:
1. Replace most of the drivers floor from 2"above the floor-to-firewall seam to the trunk.--DONE!!!!
2. patch the front passenger side floor.
3. replace the floor under the passenger rear seat and foot area.
4. rebuild the passenger wheel well
5. patch the drivers side wheel well
6. patch/repair both front wheel wells.
7. install 3.73 rear gears
8. Install parking brake cables and replace rear brake shoes
9. pull reliable engine from donor car and tear down for replacement of all seals, timing gear set, water pump, cam, and smog pump delete
10. pull engine from convertible
clean/ paint engine bay while empty then install reliable engine.
11. new carpet and install '97 Trans Am center console
12. recover and install front seats out of '97 Trans Am and stock convertible rear seats
13. Build/install custom door panels
14. build custom radio bezel for stock looking install of aftermarket radio
15. go over entire front suspension/ replace struts and others as necessary
16. install Formula sway bars front and rear
17. Install new top
18. install all new weather stripping
19. replace stock steering wheel with aftermarket steering wheel
20. install B&M hammer shifter
21. re-install rear suspension
22. swap stock gas tank with LS-1 tank--DONE
23. Get new windshield installed
24. install complete exhaust out of donor car
86 days, 16 hours, and 3 minutes as of 8:57 2/3/15
Gonna be a few long nights along the way.
Last edited by broke91firebird; 03-07-2015 at 12:14 AM.
Well I know I'm going to get some criticism over the looks, but I have the floor in front over the drivers side basically done. Its a mixture of donor parts and new steel. Basically everything between the pinch rail and tunnel were replaced firewall back to the center of the seat.
I did get her drive-able in time to make it onto the 2015 Hot Rod Power Tour and did in fact finish the entire tour. The goals for this winter are to complete sealing the joints in the floor pans, pull the engine and replace it with the one that's going to the shop next week, complete the 3X00 hybrid top end swap(maybe), swap in my 3:73 rear gears and a locker and pull the dash out to replace the all the HVAC hardware.
All before June 9 so as to hopefully make it on the 2016 Power Tour.
At the start/finish line of Gateway Raceway in St. Louis
Last edited by broke91firebird; 01-25-2016 at 10:19 AM.
The Blue is VERY Rare for 1991, Compnine only shows 57 Made in Color 98U for that year. If it was a Manual shift car, there was only about 14 of those made with the V6 & manual in 1991... That would have made it even more rare. There was only about 177 V6 Firebird Convertibles...
THe Blue number is for 1991 convertibles only There was about 3,100 Blue Coupes/T-tops.. just happens to be rare on the vert for 1991...
Sorry, I guess I did not specify that... Regardless, I only can think of one other 91 Blue Convertible I have seen, it was for sale on autotrader or cars.com a while back...
Ok, to go back a little bit, Here are some more pictures of the rust repairs. I don't have a good picture of the rear seats cut out, but once I finish sealing the joints I'll get a picture of the seals with the sealant.
passenger side rear wheel well rust patch almost complete
one of the patches in the rear wheel wells
Drivers side rear wheel well rust repair continues
Rear seat pan welded in place. Still needs foot area installed
Most of the rust is cut out.
Driver side rear wheel well after body sealant but before under coating.
Front of passenger side rear wheel well after body sealant but before under coating.
Back of passenger side rear wheel well after body sealant but before under coating.
And then this is the latest. I fully removed the dash to swap out the heater box, controls and blower box with the working one in the hard top. I am also going to do some wiring upgrades while I'm back here.
128 days left till the deadline to finish all major projects.
TO DO LIST:
finish HVAC equipment change
Pull engine
clean engine bay some, hide wiring
install new 3.4 block with 272 cam and stock top end(for now)
burn chip for new engine
swap in the 3:73 rear gears and rear locker
build center console and radio pod
build gauge bezel and buy new gauges
01-21-2015, 08:17 AM
