well not totally knight rider but it reminds me of it hehe, this car is a mixture of so many parts n themes its a nice looking frankenstein lol

props to a job well done! and those gauges are super cool.

Good luck with the look. I am going to build a KITT replica in the future, so, maybe this will help me.

thanks for the props guys, and good luck with ur kitt reproduction. i know a kitt car is really awesome but i coudlnt afford all the reproduction parts.

if anything im just upgrading this standard looking 1986 car to a pretty kool unique looking car.

it has the rare 1982 shifter handle, it will have the 1982 maybe even 83-84 steering wheel with the silver firebird emblem.

im currently buying the very rare 1984 leg cushion. just for ha ha's and i'll use velcro to make it stick to the 1985-1992 style center console


and keep in mind these arnt the same gauges in knight rider just looks cool. and was made specifically for 82-90 trans ams from an aftermarket company

but i'll be posting new pics of the dash very shortly. i've been gutting part of the inside of the dash to fit the 82-84 style gauge face plate.

great job it looks great. im 19 almost 20 and ive owned my 86 since i got my liscens and i drove it for about a year and have been working on it sence and its still not done mainly because of money issues and a place to do it since all my work is done outside on a hill. i do have to say i like the mixture of the diff year stylings since i have a 82 and a 86 i like both stylings a lot. keep up the good work i hope to paint my 82 this winter and send the 86 to get done by pros since its my baby

thanks i'm glad you like it. just whatever you do take your time. i like these cars so much and obivously we all do since we're on this site. personally im impressed with my metalic paint job. esp for being a first time painter.

if you find out u did a ncie job painting your 82, might wana save yoru money on labor and paint the 86 when you have time.

your choice. just i'm very satisfied with my 700 paint job instead of payign thousands for some jerk to paint my car which to him is just anyother car.

but hey if you got the money go for it. post pics when you can

sry i havent posted lately guys this 30 degree weather in new england sucks, plsu i need to replaces my oil gauge sender before i complete the dash to make sure everything is calibrated before i screw the face plate back on.

I agree, the snow/cold weather sucks, my car doesnt move at all, I had to shovel for at least an hour just to get my car into the garage.

I made this image to show the transformation my car has been through.

the first picture is the picture of my car as it was 20yrs ago. its not the same car as mine but same year and paint and decal scheme. its exactly what my car was. found it on google.

the middle and last picture is my real car during the body work and after paint process.

i have to admit i like how the car looked 20yrs ago but on the first page of this post you see what 2 previous owners have done to it over the years.

so i like to think i saved this car and giving it my own look just makes me love it that much more.

please comment i love reading comments. plus i know you guys are waiting for the digital dash updates and its still too cold to work on the car. in a couple months i will update you with fresh interior pics and the suspension upgrades too. I'll be installing bilstein struts and new iroc style springs from spohn and wonder bar to be installed with mostly all new bushings. Also putting in a front end rebuild kit for the steering.

Gonna do the red stripe again?

You could always stripe in a vinyl, in case you didn't like it. Then just peel the stripe back off.

i could. gota find where to get the original decals. i already have the trans am and 5.0 tpi fuel injected decals and firebird logos.

i might just leave the car naked of any stickers. but i wont decide untill after i wet sand and buff the clear in the spring

Any good vinyl shop could easily do the stripes. Or if you just did the red stripe, a red roll of striping tape is available all over the place.

thanks i know a place in town i could ask

I think the old front end and old tail lights are a step in the wrong direction BUT...you did a hell of a job and its clearly 1000X better then when you first got it.

Just use alot of tire shine, get them super black.

im getting fresh new tires. these are old and worn and after so much money and time put into the car be a shame to use cheap worn tires that could ruin the whole car when fresh tires could help me stop and handle much better.

and yea its all a preference for anyone and their cars. and i totally get why the 85-90 style most people like. just personally for me i liked the 82-84 style more. wasnt as many made and i see the newer style much more often.

it would be neat if it wasnt too much work to have the newer style bumpers and gfx painted and ready to bolt on incase i wanted to change the look for a day here and there but obvious that wont happen.

but ya never know i already have a 87 camaro and this 86 trans am. if i get bored in later yrs i just might buy another late 80's trans am or gta and keep the bumper style and have my thrills with that car.

i bought this car back in late 06 and because of long winters and spending most of its life with me in pieces in my garage i havent been able to let her rip on pavement and take her out for an honest fun ride. im geting so anxious. i cant wait to give you guys updated photos once shes completely road ready and showoff ready.

thanks keep posting opinions and ideas its gona be a long winter. might as well share thoughts

very nice work! its nice to see another bird brought back from the dead. i wish i had the time and a garage to pull that off!

thank you. still have lots to do but yes definately looks much better.

I also wish you had the time and a garage to work on your car. its so much fun when your not in a rush. plus just so nice to restore these cars.

Bobby, killer work… it’s really interesting to see what parts/look people like on these things. In my case, when I first got my ’83 I was really a fan of the ’85-90 TA/GTA look, and even thought about collecting parts to convert mine. I ended up dramatically lowering that car and with a specific tire size it looked great and at that point my mind quickly changed and I became a big fan of the ’82-84 TA non aero package bodywork, even my brother changed his opinion on that and decided that that body work had the best profile of all of them.

When that car had an 8’ in diameter oak tree fall on it I saved everything that made it unique so I could turn another one into that body style, but now I have a ’87 TA and I’ve about decided that I’m sticking with at least the lower body work. The thing is that it’s got a messed up stock hood and like every other one of the wings, the wing is just toast, so I’m trying to decide on what look I’m going to end up with, If I’m going to try to fix the TA hood, use the early TA/later formula turbo dome hood that I have, or do some thing different (there’s a bit of a form follows function thing going on that is making me consider trying to find a flat ‘glass hood and working in heat extractors, maybe like on a viper) and what I’m going to do for the wing, I don’t see myself spending $400 on a ‘glass replica, I have the early TA/late firebird style wing like you used that I’m considering, or again something different and functional.

One criticism… you keep using “grinded,” no such word, it’s ground.

great job, keep up the good work !

thanks crosssfire i'm very curious to see what you end up doing. definately send me pics.

i'm almost done with the rear end with new springs and shocks, sway bar links and disc rotors.

then ii'll be rebuilding the front end suspension/steering next week.

i'll be posting pictures when thats all done with before and after.

thanks guys

You did a very nice job on that car.
I definitely respect someone that takes a car that is on its way to the junkyard and restores it.

I take it from your tone in the beginning of this thread that people in your past have given you a ruff time about your choices in cars, or at least this car. When you say stuff like, well I know it looks pretty ruff, and well I know it’s only an automatic, etc.

I understand that lots of people pick on people about what their car looks like, what features it has, or even where it is stored, but what I find far more important is that you saw a car you liked, you saw potential and then you did the work to make your vision become a reality.

So for that, above all else I congratulate you.
Nice to see another 3rd gen. brought back from the dead.

Good Job

that is propably the kindest and greatest compliment i've had yet. thank you very much ezysk.

The other greatst comment was like i said up top when someone thought i junked the car(how it looked before) and got this one instead(how it looks now) haha.

The true reward for me is knowing i did it 90% the other 10% was when it wnet to teh garage for stuff on teh engine i wasn't comfortable doing or the exhaust.

The other 90% was all by myself with no real automotive background. no engine or body or paint experience just interior from doing my 87 camaro.

i did it by just asking questions on this site, reading other posts on specific subjects, manuals and asking more questions. dad helped a little bit but even though a lot of money went into the car just as much would of been spent on labor so i like to think i saved a lot by doing all this work myself.

And because i already had the camaro i didn't really have any fear about toying with the trans am. The best part was i already have my 2004 grand am as my daily driver so i was never in a full rush to get the car done because i already have transportation. I only pushed myself to get it done because i knew the longer it stood unfinished the more money id soak into it. plus i had that idea of hwo it would look in my head and was just so excited to drive it and show ppl that it is a nice car


Yea i did get a lot of holy crap what r u doing looks and yelled at about not putting too much money into it etc.. and automatics are junk etc... and soem people want to keep these cars orginal which i understand but look at what i had what could i keep original? haha plus i bought the car to do a nice custom but almost factory look with my own ideas thrown in the mix. and defiantely tuning the engine and upgrading suspension parts so i can rely and and feel safe when driving this car.

and i'm getting so excited now spring is coming i can finally finish what i have in mind for the car and show all you guys the final result.

I used to get the whole automatics are junk remark more when I was in high school.
Now I rarely hear that.
Sure, I would love to run across a manual in a 3rd gen restoration project, but around here, finding one is pretty rare. I have only saw one for sale in like 2 years, and that was on a 4 cylinder. Before you ask, yes sadly enough they did make a few 4 cylinder 3rd gens.
Disclaimer, I have seen more than one for sale, but none as restoration projects, the only sticks I see are in cars that have already been restored.

As for keeping these cars original, heck that is why I buy them, so I don’t have to keep them original, and so that I don’t feel bad customizing. I mean sure, if I ran across a really rare version or something then sure, but other than that, if I can make it better I will.

I know summer is right around the corner, so I am getting excited too, which means I have to really start working on my project car and finish it up.

You also mentioned not doing 100% of the work. Honestly I don’t think anyone does 100% of the work, I believe they all ship out at least something to get done. Whether that is alignment, mounting tires, sand blasting, etc. Unless you have access to a full restoration shop, and have all the knowledge to do all parts of a restoration, its impossible to do 100% of it.
But it is nice to see your honesty, and that you admit to not doing 100% of it.
For me, it’s about the majority. If you have done over 50% of the restoration, I believe you can honestly claim that you personally have restored the car, with some help of course.

Once again.
Great Job.

yea at some point i'll post pictures of my 87 cmaaro its a v6 5spd. really nice condistion very little rust. was all original till i had an acccident but its in better condition now cant even tell.

its original engine and original clutch/transmission at 132,000 miles. its just starting to slip a little bit but definately stil drviable by all means also a t-top like the trans am

IMO there is absolutely no reward greater then that feeling, and man reading through this thread again and looking at all the pics really makes me not able to wait to spray my car! also since your from CT have you registered at http://www.necamaro-firebird.org/forum/ its just a little club some fellow New England third gen'ers have started

Heh, I’m curious what I’m going to end up with, this thing keeps evolving as I come up with reasons why I should do it differently than the original plans, like last night I was looking at pics of the car when I was fitting wheels and tires on it and it still had it’s original, but very beat TA aero wing on it and you know, it might be worth spending the $400 to get that look back, it just seems to go better with really big back rubber, don’t you think?

(oh, BTW, just so noone gets the wrong impression, that is not my bondo work on the car, I bought it like that. All the dust all over the place was the result of taking a layer of bondo over 1" thick off the driver's quarter, I even suprised myself when I managed to hammer most of that out within about 1/8" or less of where it should have been)

Oh, and there are some people that really do all their own work. Yes, I weld, yes, I can build just about anything, I’m OK at bodywork and I even mounted/balanced those tires (at a friend’s shop). I’ve even painted cars before, did my own upholstery work, and made my own parts out of fiberglass when what I wanted didn’t exist.

It is possible, it also makes for a very cluttered shop/basement and for slow moving projects.

tmic87tpi - great thanx for the site i didnt know it was around.

83 crossfire. you got a project car in much better condition than mine was haha. although doesnt mean you dont have the same amount of work ahead.

definately keep us posted on your progress as will i.

heres a quick update:


rear end is done suspension wise. soon i get to have my fun with the front end. springs bushings and bilstein struts and front end stearing rebuild.

I created a cardomain account for those who would like to see more photos from before and after and skip all the text stuff.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3048546

Looks Great

ok here's a few more updates now that i can actually work on the car since its warming up.

i took a picture of the front of the car just cuz it looks so darn good haha

the rest of the pictures are before and after on the front suspension. still working of the front steering but the front bilstein struts are in along with new bushings and end links for the front sway bar.

also put in a wonder bar while i was down there.

heres some more of front/rear bushings and wonder bar installed

I woulda taken the exrta few minutes to pull the sway bars & give them a blast of black or red paint.

i know but no one is ever going to see the bottom of the car and its not like im trying to win trophies at shows.

i was more concerned with how the car handles and feels.

but trust me i would love this car to be perfect inside and out but its never going to be worth more than 5grand for the next 10 -15 yrs or even more.

plus i doubt i will ever sell it so might be another project for me when i feel like taking it apart and painting some of the suspension or replace more parts later.

but doesnt look too great i just hope it feels great on the road

That's an amazing amount of work in that time, i bought my 85 at the same time and i've barely got to turn a wrench on it yet! great work man, with those kind of results your first time out, can't wait to see what else you do!

a beautiful unique car.

thank you. very much. dont feel bad. i was very determined to get it finished because i didnt want to put alot of strain on the engine while having some fun with it on the road until it ran better so i can get better performance out of it and hope it will last longer.

also i didnt feel safe in a car that sat for over a yr and with old rusted suspension. Also i wanted it to handle well since i put so much money into it. would hate to have an accident that could of been avoided if my suspension was upgraded and maintained.

plus the interior was so bad i wouldnt let my dog ride in it for a second so why should i. so i fixed it up custom in my own image with knight rider and back to the future as inspiration along with earlier style muscle cars with those solid black seats.

so i really havent had any fun in the car on the road since i bought it.

but now that the suspension is almost complete for my needs i will finally get my bang for my buck.

and i too am amazed at my first time results. There hardly isnt a thing on this car that has not been either replaced or fixed or tweeked.

my only compalint is that i have orange peel in the clear coat and i only put 4 layers of clear on. and im just un sure if i want to attempt wetsanding and buffing.

i can live with it but its the first reaction i get everytime " looks great but are you gona buff it?"

o well still a very nice car.

thanks guys

wow, looks great, love the nose/gfx combo you have there!

thank you very much, i'm glad it looks well together, i didnt want the 83-84 bottom nose spoiler/scoop.

i wanted the nose high enough so i wouldn't wreck it when tryign to park ya know?

so im glad the 82 front fender flares flow well with the 83-84 gfx from the doors to the rear.

plus i like the front nose grilles better than the 83-84 delete plates they had

Ok next updates:

here are 3 pictures of the old steering parts. center link idle arm tie rods etc...

including a box of my old rear springs and all 4 old shocks/struts

and heres a few pictures of the new steering parts installed.

Just replaced my oil pressure sender, i was getting 20psi with just the ignition key turned.

installed a new sender and got 00psi on my digital dash.

so now im free to finish installing the backfaces to the dash from a 1984 interior style dash faceplate.

i had to hack up the dash a little but it fits like a glove and bolts right in i will post pictures soon and then install the headliner and re-wrap my center console because i'm not happy with the first try.

my dad knows a guy who does interior and is going to make my seats more tight and full. too many wrinkles and extra fabric hanging around the original seat foam.

so new pictures to come.

anyone know of a source to get cheap fresh tires? ill even take used ones where someone just had them installed and totaled their car in accident right after haha

here are some interior upgrades i have done.

i got new pioneer front dash speakers and new rear speakers of a cheaper brand. i used a soldering iron and used the original front speaker connectors and soldered them to the pioneer wires so i can just plug them in no wire cutting needed.

i also replaced the old front dash speaker grilles they were oringal design with black fabric over the top. the fabric fell off and was turned purple from the sun exposure.

i installed a 90-92 speaker grill set and it looks great.

also installed a nice red lcd display cd player and it sounds excellent with the new speakers

i know a bunch of u guys have been waiting to see the backfaces for my digital dash.

well heres a quick teaser to give you an idea. i'm still assembling the lower part of the dash with my own switches. i threw out the old original ones for fog lights defroster etc..

i got rid of the ugly gray dash face plate and installed 82-84 dash plate and i love it. its black and looks awesome with the red digital displays.

had to fabricate the dash to make it fit right but for the most part it fit in there just had to make it fit better. love my dremel hehe.

also in this picture you can see my red lcd cd player i just put in. i hated how the stock casette palyer which amazingly still works had that grennish blue display i wanted better sound and it to match my red led theme.

I will take more pictures don't worry this is just to keep you guys hooked for now hehe

if you notice on the passenger side of the third photo i replaced the map pocket pouch and installed a custom vinyl wrap plate with a silver firebird in the corner of it. i think it looks nice tahn that bulky pouch i dont think i would every relaly use plus the gold stiching didnt go with my black and silver interior combo.

i also installed a 82 (some 83-84) steering wheel with a silver firebird in the center. i was almost tempted to put that transformers center wheel logo from the movie haha

so more is to come guys im not going to post anymore untill the rest of the interior is done which includes custom switches in the upper console, a nice black wrapped center console, and the lower dash trim pieces installed.

hope you guys like what you see so far.

All i can say to you is WOW!
Im in my mid 30's and i have wanted an 84 firebird forever... (must be that Knight Rider thing)
Well i found one that i pick up monday morning... all i could do when i saw it was stand and smile from ear to ear.. I wanted one that i could work on and make my own. i have no skills in body or engine i want to learn and do this job with my sons...
You are an inspiration with the work you have done here. Makes me feel like i got this no problem. Thanks a ton for posting this

Sib/Tom

hey your firebird looks like its in very good condition. have fun with it. doesnt matter if you guys have ever done it before just need a few correct tools the motivation to get it done and ask lots of questions.

Yea its not knight rider but u can tell it helped inspire me for my little interior theme i have going on.

goodluck with your car sib/tom

ok guys here are some updates with my interior. i added a-pillar gauges one is a air/fuel ratio the other displays my fuel pressure.

also fully assembled my dash with 1982-1984 dash face plate

and finally customized my upper console with neat led switches and installed a new abs headliner

the 7 switches in the upper console turn on my

cd player, power antenna, engine fan, hatch light, air/fuel gauge, fuel pressure guage

and the big red button pops the hatch

the 2 toggle switches in the front of the console turn on the dome and map lights with a red and green led indicator.

and heres some more black interior seat pictures

heres the interior seats

i solved our little problem for cup holders, works perfectly for me