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Ok guys so here is the deal. when i first bought the car it was victory red. i loved the color i think the firebirds looked beautiful in this color. but within 18 hours i found out the hard way that the guy who ownd the car before me didnt install the new braking system right. and had to replace the fenders, hood, and bumper. now, my origional idea was to paint it back to the same color it was when i bought it. but i was sitting and thinking "i want to do something different." well i came up with the idea to make a third- generation recreation of the bandit. now i know that they made a 3rd movie with a third gen trans am. but that movie just plain out sucked a$$ and isnt worth being anywhere related to the other two movies. now, you can see what my car looked like before the accident here: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2959804.
now the plans for now were going to be repaint the car black, then next get the gold bird for the hood. i would follow some of the same gold pinstripping as the origional bandit. for example the gold pinstripping around the wheel wells. and from there i will have reprints of my car made and draw the pinstrippes on the pictures to get and idea of what to do next. i have an idea for the largest pinstripe but its hard to explain. maybe if someone could let me use a picture of their black firebird so i can pull it up in paint and edit it to show what it will look like. it wont be pretty though just a rough edit. but i have been getting mixed feeling about the car. and i would like to know what you guys think about the idea.
thank you guys for reading this and i look forward to your feedback. and please if you have any ideas present them to me i will take them into consideration.
I wouldn't want to drive a thirdgen/bandit car everyday, but it'd make for a killer project!
The specifics of how you'd do it are totally,....well, UP TO YOU. Remember, you want it to represent the bandit cars, but it's never going to be exact since after all it's a thirdgen, so don't be afraid to make changes.
Its gotta have the shaker hood, no way around that. And the right tailpipes. To me those are two things that stick out as must haves. A cb antenna. It would be a good candidate for a retro styled dash. Something with the brushed aluminum or steel so it re-creates the style of the second gen bird dash. Black leather of course. I think it had snowflake wheels too, didnt it? It would be sweet. The question is though, would you go all the way? Swap in a built 6.6l poncho? Or maybe a 455 and say its a 6.6L? thats a tough call, there is something to be said for a FI SBC.
On the subjects of shaker hoods.. has anyone put one of those on a third gen?.. preferably on a camaro?.. i know it's a firebird then.. well.. T/A... whatever.. camaro's my strong point.. never read up on the difference between a T/A and a firebird.. anywho is it possible to do on a camaro if you had a 400 out of a 77 firebird?.. a guy i know is selling one and it's still sitting in the car with the shaker just woundered how it'd look.. definitly seems like it'd bring a new view to the stock hood
well this is odd. my car is a 1991 firebird bandit 2 factory. i bought the car off an older lady who took care of it. mechanically. needs paint but is infact number 171 of 600 made that year and has gold pinstripping and all gold trim in the interior but i removed some. was old falling apart the car has a fake shaker hood and has a plate on the dash saying its a bandit. it is a lo3 tbi 305 havent been able to find out much abuot the car but it was taked to a custom shop after the factory adn only 600 were made. only thing i have done to it is put gta wheels on it gold ones
I've though about adding a big CB antenna to the back of my car a few times... I plan on getting a tag that says BAND1T.... I thought best one was the first one, the other two did suck.... I've seen honeycomb style wheels once on an 82 in the junkyard...very nice wheels, I went back the next week to get the wheels (to either restore and sell, or keep) just to find out they CRUSHED the car!!! See if you can locate them, I'm pretty sure they're hard to find....
Mods so far: MSD Cap and rotor, MSD ignition coil, Accel 8.8mm ignition wires, Hooker Super Comp Shortie Headers, Flowmaster 3in catback, underdrive crank pulley, custom cold air intake, NOS wet 125 shot, air foil and a lead foot! no E/T's yet. ...TURBO COMING SOON...Other mods include keyless entry and remote start, and Sequential Turn Signals.
well this is odd. my car is a 1991 firebird bandit 2 factory. i bought the car off an older lady who took care of it. mechanically. needs paint but is infact number 171 of 600 made that year and has gold pinstripping and all gold trim in the interior but i removed some. was old falling apart the car has a fake shaker hood and has a plate on the dash saying its a bandit. it is a lo3 tbi 305 havent been able to find out much abuot the car but it was taked to a custom shop after the factory adn only 600 were made. only thing i have done to it is put gta wheels on it gold ones
they did make those for the third movie when it came out. but have you seen the movie? it wasnt good at all. in fact its going on still as one of the worst movies made lol. i wanted to make a car that recreates the third gen simular to the ban 2. it was an idea that i had. i know that mine is not a trans am. and as far as the interior i was going to keep it the same.
If you've ever seen the third Smokey & the Bandit movie (just plain bad) you'd see that they used a black and gold '82-'83 T/A so painting and decalling the car as an early 80's T/A would be no problem.
no i havent seen the movies. but i wasnt trying to say my car was anything special i was just saying i had one. just if he was going to make a bandit i was just saying i had a bandit 2. wasnt trying to brag or anything.
I was just saying that if he was going for the "movie car" look he didn't have a hard job ahead of him. I really wasn't sure which "Bandit" look he was going for.
no i havent seen the movies. but i wasnt trying to say my car was anything special i was just saying i had one. just if he was going to make a bandit i was just saying i had a bandit 2. wasnt trying to brag or anything.
no man i wasnt trying to accuse you of anything sorry for being missleading. its great that you have one. i read up on these cars and there werent really any made those are a gem out there. in all honesty i didnt know that they went to that late of a year. kind of disapointing though. i wanted to do something different but turn out GM already did it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mongoose
I was just saying that if he was going for the "movie car" look he didn't have a hard job ahead of him. I really wasn't sure which "Bandit" look he was going for.
actually i wanted to turn my 89 formula into the bandit. but i wanted to take the details from the 78 bandit (i think that was the year) and turn my formuls into one. but now im not really wanting to do it because its already out there.
WOW! Been considering this for sometime now on my GTA. A Bandit GTA.
I already have a 3rd gen shaker hood I built and have a 2nd rear spoiler that I was gonna use. I planned on the hoodbird and all striping along with the GTA emblems. I'm an idiot in photoshop and would love to see what it would look like. Planned to keep my gold lace GTA wheels too. The only problems I have is changing the cars current color. COstly to do right. BUt I bet it would be awesome. I've had two 77 bandit cars before and just thought a
3rd gen would be cool. If you do photoshop, let me know. I'm ready to go other than paint. Would be cool as hell to have ready for the bandit run in May
__________________ Thanks,
Bryan
_____________________________
1989 REAL GTA, 305TPI, 5spd--MSD Super Conductor wires, MSD BlasterGM Coil, Bosch P2 Plugs, MSD Cap and button, Afterburner muffler w/ no cat, TB Coolant bypass, 180 thermostat, K&N filter, Hypertech 180 degree fan switch 15.59 @ 90.44 with 100lbs of speakers in rear and on street tires
Heres something to think about, I think back in 88 or 89 they made some base firebirds with the second gen wheel spoilers and a tail spoiler, that and there was a 3rd gen bandit 2 made, seen it in one of my old pontiac mag.
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I have pic's of them sitting on the dealer lot, I could dig them up and scan them if you want.
Last edited by lawbreaker2; 03-29-2008 at 10:14 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
I think if you used an Aero spoiler, older snoflake wheels and the hood-bird with gold pinstriping, you'd be doing ok as far as a bandit edition car. The only other things that could really make it work would be a tan leather interior and if you could find one, a shaker hood though I can't believe a shaker hood would at all look good. Would help if someone here could photochop it onto a black T/A so we could review it. lol
I have seen the Bandit 2's before and though nice looking, they ddi not live up to the 77 Bandit heritage. No real performance and not as much "flair".
My GTA equipped with a shaker, ducktail spoiler and stripes would be as close to a real 3rd Gen Bandit as I could get. For my shaker build, I bought a plane Firebird hood, no vents, cut out the appropriate sized hole and mounted a 78 shaker from the bottom up thru the hood. It looks friggin awesome. My car does have original tan leather, (actually the 77 real Bandits were black leather), but tan works for me. I would love to get my hands on one of the Bandit 2 rear spoilers to use, or I believe in 88 Pontiac offered a special edition FIrebird with a ducktail spoiler option. I remember seeing it on here, but don't remember the option code. Either of these would make my life easier.
Again, like I said in my other post, my big concern is changing the original color on the car. If I go black and at somepoint get a glimpse of red that was missed, I'm gonna be pissed. Just that type of personality.
Please someone find a pic of a black GTA and photoshop the shaker, ducktail, and striping on it so I can make the call on mine. Shes all torn down and ready for paint.
I have seen the Bandit 2's before and though nice looking, they ddi not live up to the 77 Bandit heritage. No real performance and not as much "flair".
My GTA equipped with a shaker, ducktail spoiler and stripes would be as close to a real 3rd Gen Bandit as I could get. For my shaker build, I bought a plane Firebird hood, no vents, cut out the appropriate sized hole and mounted a 78 shaker from the bottom up thru the hood. It looks friggin awesome. My car does have original tan leather, (actually the 77 real Bandits were black leather), but tan works for me. I would love to get my hands on one of the Bandit 2 rear spoilers to use, or I believe in 88 Pontiac offered a special edition FIrebird with a ducktail spoiler option. I remember seeing it on here, but don't remember the option code. Either of these would make my life easier.
Again, like I said in my other post, my big concern is changing the original color on the car. If I go black and at somepoint get a glimpse of red that was missed, I'm gonna be pissed. Just that type of personality.
Please someone find a pic of a black GTA and photoshop the shaker, ducktail, and striping on it so I can make the call on mine. Shes all torn down and ready for paint.
Could you post or PM me a picture of yours? I've been going back and forth on how I wanted to do my car for the past two years and I think I finally got my inspiration...I have an 84T/A with the cowl induction and while I am not sure I'm up to the kind of modification necessary to put the shaker on, I would definitely use my cowl induction and put the T/A 5.0 (or 5.7) on it depending on how I rebuild my motor.
As for the original bandits having black leather...I really don't care. In the movie, (Oh darn....gonna have to go watch it again... ) it was Tan seats if I'm not mistaken.
If I would go with a bandit theme I would not copy everything on the bandit car because some things that were on the bandit aren't really in right now like the cb antenna and 15" wheels.
I think it needs to start out with an 82 t/a front bumper and 82-84 trans am taillights, those parts look more similar to the 2nd gen or at least more retro. Then make a shaker hood, get chrome thirdgen door handles, make a ducktail spoiler, and get the rare 88 Formula splats. Then if you really want to go the extra mile, get the year one bandit 17 or 18" rims, install 2nd gen t/a fender vents, then "message/cut/mold" 2007 dodge viper mirrors on because those mirrors look like 2nd gen mirrors. And I'd say just forget about the ugly cb antenna and small exhaust tips. I would also shave the ugly side door locks and shave the ugly thing called a radio antenna that sticks out of the passenger front fender.
Thats how I would start to build a retro-themed thirdgen firebird anyway. Look at every detail - side mirrors, taillights, door handles, etc. Otherwise, you are just throwing a sticker on the hood.
Could you post or PM me a picture of yours? I've been going back and forth on how I wanted to do my car for the past two years and I think I finally got my inspiration...I have an 84T/A with the cowl induction and while I am not sure I'm up to the kind of modification necessary to put the shaker on, I would definitely use my cowl induction and put the T/A 5.0 (or 5.7) on it depending on how I rebuild my motor.
As for the original bandits having black leather...I really don't care. In the movie, (Oh darn....gonna have to go watch it again... ) it was Tan seats if I'm not mistaken.
My current GTA is pictured in my sig. I have not done the Bandit version yet. But I do have the shaker hood ready. It was really simple. Make a template from a 77,78,79 and cut the hole to fit. Then fit the scoop in from underneath and weld up brackets accordingly. Being that my car is TPI, the scoop was nonfunctional.
The real Bandit movie cars were black leather. I did own the one that Burt first picked up Sally in with the wedding dress on. It was car number 4 used in the movie.
__________________ Thanks,
Bryan
_____________________________
1989 REAL GTA, 305TPI, 5spd--MSD Super Conductor wires, MSD BlasterGM Coil, Bosch P2 Plugs, MSD Cap and button, Afterburner muffler w/ no cat, TB Coolant bypass, 180 thermostat, K&N filter, Hypertech 180 degree fan switch 15.59 @ 90.44 with 100lbs of speakers in rear and on street tires
I say do whatever you want to your car that you, yourself likes.
There will always be people that will love your car, and then again there will always be a few that hate your car. The trick is to be happy with your car yourself.
But if you do good jobs even the haters will have to have some respect for the good work, though they might not admit it.
As for shaker hoods on a third gen. I did that with my Project Trans-Am, but I graphed it right into the hood. I needed clearance for my modified engine and didn’t want to go with the traditional cowl hood.
I think it looks pretty good and definitely serves its purpose.
What ever you choose to do though, can you post pictures of your project as you progress.
I say do whatever you want to your car that you, yourself likes.
There will always be people that will love your car, and then again there will always be a few that hate your car. The trick is to be happy with your car yourself.
But if you do good jobs even the haters will have to have some respect for the good work, though they might not admit it.
As for shaker hoods on a third gen. I did that with my Project Trans-Am, but I graphed it right into the hood. I needed clearance for my modified engine and didn’t want to go with the traditional cowl hood.
I think it looks pretty good and definitely serves its purpose.
What ever you choose to do though, can you post pictures of your project as you progress.
well actually i was planning on doing something different that other. but i had not relized that they had made bandit recreations up till 92. so i am going a different route. when i bought the car it was victory red. i ended up getting in a front end collision and it looked like the picture below. now the front end is almost where it need to be so i can paint. i just need another bumer. the new plan is to repaint it red and i will be getting the bird on the hood (not the gold that wouldnt look right) but the one in the other picture i am posting. from there i will be refinishing the wheels. and redoing the interior. i will post whatever pics of the project you guy want. that is if you still want to see what i am doing. all the project we be done by me and some friends, so it will be a fun adventure.
Here, I dug these up and scaned them, These are the duck tail and spoilers I was talking about, they were taken back around 1990 or 1991 cuz there were 91's on the lot, this was new firebirds at the pontiac dealer.
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Maybe with that first pic I posted you could photoshop a bird and a hoodscoop on to it, and may some lace wheels.
Last edited by lawbreaker2; 04-03-2008 at 10:28 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
What you need the most is a bird on the hood with big rockin' boobs, lol
Those of you might know what I'm talking about.
__________________
The ZZ5.0 is in full effect!!!
Check out my Cardomain!!! The Future Ultimate source for TBI performance. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3869220
wow...I was thinking of doing this to my '82 TA for a long time!!! I'm still trying to get the parts, but I have an idea of what I want to do with it. I know a place to get the spats and spoiler...it's just I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to part with my turbocast rims and hubcaps to pay for all the stuff to make it look like a Bandit car. I'd like to keep them stock, but those are getting harder to find also, and this is my second set (sold the first set) and I'm really torn about getting rid of them...again! I'm not sure what wheels I would use either. If I got rid of the turbocast I thought about the turbofinned. I wanted to keep it somewhat year specific, but then again I found a guy selling some 15x8 snowflakes (with the chrome lip) for like $150 so that is a steal right there. I have the "bulge" hood also, but I'd keep that. I could put the Turbo Trans Am bird decal on it like from '80-'81. There was a guy in the fabrication forum that made a shaker hood for real, using a shaker from a second gen. It looked awesome, and it was actually functional. Too much work for me though...don't have the time or the patience. As for the dash, I already have the templates for the gauges and console and I know a place that will make some overlays out of metal with the engine turned pattern on it like the second gens. I think it would look sweet...
wow tank that car is pretty. mine is green and is a 91 and number 167 of 600 or something close the that i would have to go look on the dash. and mine is for sale. needs paint. but runs great and interior is perfect.
nobody seems to want to, or has one that is willing to make one. I've been trying to get people that have them to make them for a long time...nobody is interested. Finding the spoiler and spats is next to impossible anyway
Here, I dug these up and scaned them, These are the duck tail and spoilers I was talking about, they were taken back around 1990 or 1991 cuz there were 91's on the lot, this was new firebirds at the pontiac dealer.
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Maybe with that first pic I posted you could photoshop a bird and a hoodscoop on to it, and may some lace wheels.
Yes, that is a pretty cool package. It's the "Special Appearance Package," RPO Z20. It was a GM option, available in 1988, and it was only available by ordering it thru a GM dealer's Parts Department. It's never been reproduced, and, unfortunately, since it was only a one-year option(and not a successful one at that), it's not likely to ever be reproduced.
Once every decade you might find a 1988 Firebird for sale with the package, and just as seldomly will you find the parts for sale separately. So you'd have better luck creating the parts on your own than finding the real things out there somewhere. If ever there was an option that really was "rare," it would be this one.
Classic Industries sells reproduction wheel flares("spats") for the 2ndgens. Maybe those could be modified to fit 3rdgens.
WOW did not know how rare they were, I have seen a few in my area over the years, this dealer had a few on the lot when I took these pic's I was there looking at buying a new trans am gta, and saw these, and said woow these are wierd looking and snap a few pics of them, Kind of glad I did, I'm glad I could be of some help. I may have more, I will see.
Ok, I do not have any more pic's but I do have a few more of the black car, and a bunch of t/a's formulas and even a 89 turbo t/a sitting on the showroom floor, so if you guy want, I will post them up.
I think it would be great if companies started making those ducktail spoilers!...could a Camaro 3 piece be retrofitted? I know the lengths are different...
Mods so far: MSD Cap and rotor, MSD ignition coil, Accel 8.8mm ignition wires, Hooker Super Comp Shortie Headers, Flowmaster 3in catback, underdrive crank pulley, custom cold air intake, NOS wet 125 shot, air foil and a lead foot! no E/T's yet. ...TURBO COMING SOON...Other mods include keyless entry and remote start, and Sequential Turn Signals.
I'd love to see more pics! Do you happen to have one of the TTA when they put it on it's side in the showroom? I've not seen that in a while. PM me them if you want, or maybe put them on the Firebird pic thread
wow...I was thinking of doing this to my '82 TA for a long time!!! I'm still trying to get the parts, but I have an idea of what I want to do with it. I know a place to get the spats and spoiler...it's just I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to part with my turbocast rims and hubcaps to pay for all the stuff to make it look like a Bandit car. I'd like to keep them stock, but those are getting harder to find also, and this is my second set (sold the first set) and I'm really torn about getting rid of them...again! I'm not sure what wheels I would use either. If I got rid of the turbocast I thought about the turbofinned. I wanted to keep it somewhat year specific, but then again I found a guy selling some 15x8 snowflakes (with the chrome lip) for like $150 so that is a steal right there. I have the "bulge" hood also, but I'd keep that. I could put the Turbo Trans Am bird decal on it like from '80-'81. There was a guy in the fabrication forum that made a shaker hood for real, using a shaker from a second gen. It looked awesome, and it was actually functional. Too much work for me though...don't have the time or the patience. As for the dash, I already have the templates for the gauges and console and I know a place that will make some overlays out of metal with the engine turned pattern on it like the second gens. I think it would look sweet...
Would the repro snowflake rims Year One are using on the Burt Reynolds Edition Trans Am fit? They look hot!
Sorry guy's I have been very busy, so I have not had the time to post up those pic's of the turbo gta on the showroom floor, but I can't seem to get into my photobucket so it will be awhile till I can fix it but I will not forget about it.
While I like the third gen F-Birds 1977 T/A special edition used in the first movie is still my favorite, the third and second movies
were just stupid.
While I like the third gen F-Birds 1977 T/A special edition used in the first movie is still my favorite, the third and second movies
were just stupid.
Yes, that is a pretty cool package. It's the "Special Appearance Package," RPO Z20. It was a GM option, available in 1988, and it was only available by ordering it thru a GM dealer's Parts Department. It's never been reproduced, and, unfortunately, since it was only a one-year option(and not a successful one at that), it's not likely to ever be reproduced.
Once every decade you might find a 1988 Firebird for sale with the package, and just as seldomly will you find the parts for sale separately. So you'd have better luck creating the parts on your own than finding the real things out there somewhere. If ever there was an option that really was "rare," it would be this one.
Classic Industries sells reproduction wheel flares("spats") for the 2ndgens. Maybe those could be modified to fit 3rdgens.
You're right, they are super-rare. I have one of the spoilers, but not the spats. I looked for it for years, and I've never seen another one for sale since.
A couple of years back, I decided I wasn't going to use it on my car. I chased Hawk's for awhile to see if they wanted to buy it so they could reproduce it to sell. Never got any interest from them.
I'd still like to see someone do that. Those spoilers would fit Camaros as well, and since so few are out there, you wouldn't get a lot of "Ain't that a Fahrburd spoiler you got on that there Cuhmarah?" comments.
I about fell out of my chair whe I saw it. I got interested in this package back in 2003, and set up daily autosearches for it. I found my spoiler in 2004 but have never seen another one for sale, and this is the first whole car I've ever seen.
BTW, on the Bandit II? I had one of those hoods for awhile. My plan was to use the Bandit II hood and the Z20 SAP spoiler, and (hopefully) the spats (never found 'em). The "shaker" is just a bolt on, and when I put the hood on the car for a few weeks and looked at it, I decided it really messed up the lines of the car (you might think differently). I ended up losing the hood in a move, anyway.
To anyone really obsessed with a Bandit II shaker, do a search on here. A couple of years ago, a guy did a detailed thread on fitting a 2nd Gen shaker, and making it functional. it's a lot more involved than you might think, but he got it done.
Last edited by seanof30306; 12-07-2009 at 08:07 PM.
) it was Tan seats if I'm not mistaken. 
