History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
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Okay, so I find this GTA in the impound yard. Some poor sap didn't know how to drive it on the ice this last January and hit a fire hydrant. The nosepiece is trashed along with passenger headlight and fender, but it's all cosmetic, no structural damage. Hood has a little bend in it, other than that it's darn straight. Interior is above average, and it shows only 72k on the odometer. Given that there hasn't been a malfunction with the odometer, I'd say that it's accurate. I won't have the car physically in my possession for another week and half or so, so these are the best pics I can get. Price tag from impound was $1,000. I think it's worth it, how about you guys?
I did get the chance to crawl around underneath it and under the hood and through the interior, everything looked as it should. Doors line up perfectly and close like they must have when it rolled off the assembly line. I was impressed about that. Someone put 15" rims on it, and though they don't look horrible, I can't imagine why they would have gotten rid of the 16" gold crosslace. Passenger side tail light has a hole and crack in it, and I did see a couple of small rust spots on the passenger rear quarter above the wheel well. Paint looks good on the parts that aren't crinkled otherwise...Also, not sure if GTA's came with the hood bird...but if it was an afterthought, whoever did it did a good job.
It will be interesting to find out more about this car. I know the RPO sheet is in there, and I checked the VIN and it came back as the L98 engine. I'll get more pics when I get possession, and do a full RPO check. I also didn't think that GTAs came with the pinstriping on them either...so I guess I'm on a mission!
Who gives a crap if it's original, it sure does look good on there
This isn't correct either but IMO it really makes the car
Quote:
Originally Posted by lasher_350
Also, not sure if GTA's came with the hood bird...but if it was an afterthought, whoever did it did a good job.
This is why I mentioned it was not original because the 1987 GTA did not have the option for the hood bird, unlike the 1987 Trans AM. The poster wasn't sure, and therefore, I gave the necessary information.
Personally owning a Third Gen Trans AM with the hood bird, I can say I like the option.
UPDATE: I got her home, cleaned her up a little and dropped a new battery in her, and she fired right up, no SES light, good oil pressure, ALL the lights work, even the busted ones! ha ha. It sounds GOOD!! There is an electrical problem, however, with the blower motor, it seems to want to run whether the ignition is on or not. Not a big issue at this moment, though, probably just a short somewhere. It looks as if the impact bar did it's job on a low speed front end collision, though, and it's a little compressed, but nothing else seems affected by it. Fingers crossed that it doesn't go deeper than that. Also, a bit worried, the driver's side floorpan seems to be at an odd geometric placement in relationship to the rest of the floorpan. As if the car bounced up on something that dented the underbody up. Didn't have time to jack it up and crawl under it, as it was dark by the time I got it running and sat there drooling for a while. I'm very excited!
Car runs great! a few exhaust issues. Getting the fender off this week and a replacement impact bar/honeycomb. Have the front bumper cover ready to go. Will have pics up this week.
Okay, I got the bumper cover, impact bar and passenger fender off (well, fender will be off when I get the antenna mount and ground effect unbolted, not a big deal) last night, everything looks acceptable except for the driver's side impact bar mount. Looks like it got a little squished. Any thoughts of how to spread it back out? Any other assessments you can give would be appreciated. I got a decent fender today from the happy UPS guy, but it's for a base firebird, so I will need to drill some holes for the ground effects. Going to sand lightly and primer that bad boy until I can get it some matching paint.
And this cooler line was semi-crushed in whatever collision happened. Would it be okay to cut out the crushed part and splice in rubber line with multiple clamps?
The honeycomb was broken in three pieces (at the thin connecting bands), and I'm not sure if I could reuse it or not. At the local f-body salvage yard in Wichita they sell the combo impact bar/honeycomb, but they want 100 bucks for it. A new impact can be had anywhere on the net for like 45-50 dollars, but not sure of the price of the honeycomb. Which would be the better way to go do you think?
And this is a neat little piece that was injured in the collision, don't know if I could get this back into shape or not, but I have never seen any for sale on eBay or anywhere else. Any suggestions?
It goes between the impact bar and the radiator I'm guessing for increased air flow through the radiator. I know it may not necessarily be NEEDED, but I certainly WANT it back in there! lol
Last edited by lasher_350; 08-04-2009 at 09:32 PM.
Reason: Wrong image
-- Impact bar mounts: maybe get a couple from a salvage yard and and weld them on. (Maybe they bolt on? Dunno) Re-paint the repair areas to prevent rust.
-- Big flat thing: pound out the dents, repaint it black, reinstall.
-- Cooler line: splice in a piece of transmission fluid line, two clamps at each end of splice. Replace/flush fluid once its all back together.
maybe you can use a heat gun on the plastic part and work it back into the original shape?? just make sure to wear some gloves. you definitely don't want melted plastic on your hands.
Okay, I got the crushed fender off and inspected behind. Looks great. Some dry dirt and leaves in there, but I washed it all off. Banged up fender had the VIN number sticker on it, matching the true vin, so I'm pretty stoked about that. However now it's going to have a bastard fender on it. Oh well, as long as it comes out looking good. I need to locate and drill the ground effects holes on the new white fender. Did some sanding on it today, smoothed out some deep scratches. Couple dings in there still that I'll fill with body filler, no big deal, very small nicks. My main concern is the impact bar mount on the driver side. It is WAY out of whack.
I plan on getting the fender sanded and primed for now and getting it put back together and streetable, then find a local paintshop to color match and paint the fender down the road a bit. I am SO anxious to drive this!!
