TheFab

Hey guys.
I'm new to this board, so let me introduce myself and my car. I'm 22 and I live in Germany. I got my Firebird back in 2006 right after I got my license.

It's a '89 2.8l V6 Firebird. I do use her as my daily driver which I think is no problem given the right amount of maintenance.
I'm not a fan of radical appearance modification. If something's changed I always use original Pontiac parts.

Here's what I did with her between now and when I first got her:
First, I got rid of the Euro side mirrors that were installed upon import back in '89 and replaced them with the original US ones. Next up was the aerowing. The scars of time were clearly visible there, plus I prefer the D80 rear wing, so that's what I chose instead.
With the taillights I also prefer the early '82 Trans Am taillights. Luckily, a friend was selling those installed in his '82 Formula. So, I bought them and swapped the taillights.
In the spring of 2009, I finally had the opportunity to get her a new paint job. The old paint wasn't that bad but it wasn't great either. I had a custom color created, well a custom shade of black, actually (the guy named the color "Black Jack") and had her painted in April.
I'm very happy with the result. It's an excellent job. I still haven't got new decals but I actually like the "stealth look" for now.
Also, I installed a keyless entry system.

Lastly I got her a Pontiac emblem (originally for a G6) to put on the front. I really never understood why there is no emblem on the Firebirds. I mean the spot seems destined for it.


Anyway, here's some pictures. I hope you like it!


That's how she looked when I first got her


And a pic from right before the new paint job


Here's how she looks now





(there's nothing wrong with the paint here. Just dirt on the lens of the camera)

CapnCrunch53

Very beautiful car, I must say it seems only to have improved since its been in your hands. I think the reason they never put a Pontiac logo on the nose there is that some (well.. at least my 91) Birds have another phoenix logo there. In fact there's quite a lack of Pontiac branding on the car, I'd imagine because its their top model, kind of how Corvettes don't have a lot of bowties on them, just the Vette flags. I agree though, I think the Pontiac badge looks really good there.

Formulamuscle

That looks amazing! I have an 89 that looks just like that, except for the louvers on the back of mine. I've never seen a pontiac logo on a 3rd gen bird before (do you have to drill or is it some type of adhesive?), but it looks great! You've done some really tasteful mods so far. Keep up the great work.

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

dont like the wheels, but the car looks really good!

kymmee

Nice ride!! I like the pontiac logo too. I have the logo on my center caps of my wheels, but it looks great on the nose!!

TheFab

Thanks for the compliments, guys! It's always nice to see people like what you're doing.

@CapnCrunch: Yeah, I guess you're right about the badging on Firebirds. But notice how the 3rd generation is the first to not come with a Pontiac badge. 1st & 2nd gens had 'em.

Also, I keep thinking about whether it would look good to make the rear side markers resemble those of the 1st generation. I always loved that Pontiac badge shaped side markers. But I probably should have thought about that before the paint job.

@Formulamuscle: It's not drilled, it's adhesive. Which kinda sucked because the badge I bought is meant to go on a flat surface. And since the front nose is a little bent I had to fill the space where the badge didn't touch the nose with some type of sealing material.

@//<86TA>\\: Actually, I'm with you on the wheels. When I got the car, I really needed some for the summer as the red ones in the first picture were equipped with winter tires. I ordered those because they were on special offer.
And now I wish I would have looked around a little more.
Oh well, but I do plan on replacing them soon. Either with diamond spokes (either black or gold) or with Torque Thrusts.

ThirdGenFire93

Very pretty car indeed.

FYRCHKN

I'm loving the nose emblem. That has been on my mod list for a while but I just haven't gotten around to it.

MTXaudioSYSTM

damn she looks goood.

love all 3 rims. didn't think the stock rims looked good in any other color besides silver but you proved me wrong!

and that's what my car is going to look like when finished. all black and sexyyy

Yor

Hey Fab, those taillights you have on there, did you swap those out from a Trans Am or did they come stock on it?

If you did swap them, how did you do it? I'm buying an 89 Formula and it has the gaudy brake light strips that take up the entire rear end. I hate them so much. lol

kevmann

Very nice car. I am with you. I am not into radically changing a car's appearance. I have seen some great customized cars but its just not for me. The emblem does look good.

Kevin

TheFab

Hey, guys! Thanks again for the kind words, everyone!

@MTXaudioSYSTM:
If I'm not mistaken you got the formula hood on your car. That does make me jealous. The damn thing is almost impossible to find here and if there is one for sale it goes for like 1200€.
Oh, and the former owner painted the rims, so I can't really take credit for that. But thanks anyway!

@Yor:
No, they didn't come stock. Those were only stock on the 82-84 Trans Am and 82-84 Firebird SE.
I got 'em from a friend who had those mounted on his Formula. I guess he once got them from an early T/A.
Swapping is not very hard!
You'll have to do a little rewiring but it's not too difficult. The early T/A taillights have fewer chambers (is that right=?) than the stock taillights from your '89 Formula.
For the T/A taillights you'll need a total of 8 bulbs. 2 for the reversing lamps and 6 for everything that's red. Now, I still don't know if the way I wired it is the way it's supposed to be but here's how I did it:
the two bulbs next to the reversing lamp work as break light and, well, light. And the one on the outside works as parking light and turn signal.
That's the difference between the wiring of your original Formula taillights and the T/A ones. The T/A's don't have dedicated turn signals. So, you'll have to add power for parking light to your turn signal socket.

I hope that helps a little. When it comes to describing that kind of stuff I do have some trouble making myself clear and finding the right words.
If you like, I can take some pictures of the wiring on mine. I'm taking them out today for detailing.


@kevmann:
Exactly. It's not that I think it's bad or you shouldn't do it. It's just not for me. I'm totally with you there.
It's funny, the Pontiac badge is probably the easiest "mod" to do but it does get the most attention from F-Body fans. Everybody notices the badge first.

Yor

I see, I'm pretty good with wiring so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you could get some pictures that would be a huge help to my project!