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Hey just so you know, at least near me craigslist has a surprising amount of 3rd gen parts. You might be able to snag a new center piece that way. You could browse the chicago area CL as well.
I must say I am impressed all around. Nice car to start with, it has all the goodness - Formula, TPI, 5 speed & T top, and a nice 1980's color. Condition appears to be worn yet still solid and original. And a young guy that's doing his own wrenching - and not just brake pads either, fuel pump and front springs are pretty involved jobs.
Congratulations are in order. You will have a lot of fun with this car. My son is 21 and has had his 88 TPI 5 speed T top bird for 5 years and still loves it so much that he says he's going to keep it forever. All of his friends drive new and much faster Subarus, VW's and Genesis. But none of them look as good or sound as good doing it.
So, it's been awhile. I have a few updates and a question.
#1: I pulled out my tail lights and cleaned them. I took apart my driver's side tail light, got the gunk out and sealed the crack with some clear caulk. I put a new bulb in and it looks great!
#2: My dad was cleaning out his garage when he was on vacation and he found a very nice surprise for me. Last year he had a '95 Z28 that he parted out. It turns out that he saved the rear seats and they're in near perfect condition! AAAAND they bolt directly into my car!! They look great!
Question time. I was looking at Formulas on Google and saw someone's Bird had 85-90 Trans Am tail lights in it. Oh my goodness. They look awesome on it! I think it's actually the user Zepher's car. I decided that that's what I want to use on my car. I was wondering if anyone knew a good place to get some with the centerpiece as well. I'm looking on Ebay and a lot of them are kind of crummy. I also don't want tinted ones. I also found out that if I got the gold centerpiece I can pick up a repro silver emblem and replace the bird in the center. Silver better matches Maui Blue.
Thanks and I'll post pics in the next post.
OOHH!! I forgot, I Autocrossed my car for the first time two weeks ago! I had so much fun! It was great. I was in the first heat and I wish I had been in the second. MY first three runs sucked. 131, 111, and 83 seconds respectively. Two of those were dnf runs as well. The middle section of the course confused me. When I was working a corner, I actually had the corner where I would get confused. So I watched all of these cars take the course and I eventually got it down. My last two runs were amazing! I decided I would floor it and push my car to the limit. My last two times were 67 and 63. My last run my dad was watching the big carousel. He was in the center of it. Right before the carousel there's a straight. So I floor it and when I get to the turn it felt like my rear end lifted up slightly and I just drifted around the turn. Tires screeches the whole time. Oh my gosh.. heh. Can't wait for the next event.
awesome man! good to see things are coming along! I know those trans am tail lights can fetch a premium from what I've heard. Someone I know was trying to get a set that was in great condition and they were firm with something like $400-500. Dunno if thats everywhere or just near me.
I spent a good 6 hours over the last few days looking for lights. I can find them just about everywhere. The one thing you can not fint is the stupid centerpiece. But I called a guy in chicago about his craigslist ad and he has one! And it's in perfect condition and even has the right emblem color for $55 including shipping! I'm very pleased. I can wait on the lights and the harness, but that stupid centerpiece is so darn hard to find, I'm buying this one now.
A little preview of what's gonna happen. I haven't changed my writing harness yet and I don't have my nice centerpiece yet. They're just sitting there. The pic with the lights on top of each other, the top one is hand buffed out. And we switched out my ignition switch as well. More tomorrow!
04-08-2016, 02:05 PM
