FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

I got a few things done today. I tried my best to improve my shifter plate and I also finished cleaning my new T-5.

I was not happy with the amount of light that shined through the grey plastic as seen here:


So I planned to remove the white bulb housing piece and then color the inside in with permanent marker.



That failed miserably to say the least, so I decided to mask everything off and paint it black.


Finally had to take it inside and paint it because it was so cold outside the paint wouldn't dry.



Done.


I feel like it helped a little bit, so why not. Oh well...what I would do to have a brand new one!

Also...freshly cleaned T-5!

LHernandezJr

...

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

For whatever reason whenever I try to take a picture of it the glare on the camera overwhelms the picture and makes it look like its overkill, but it's really not at all. You'd just have to see it in person. And I wanted another color besides OEM orange, so to get blue or other colors LED's were the way to go. The light also dims and brightens along with the gauge cluster.

badredbrd89

The light balance on your camera may be the way to go w/adjusting the amount of glare. I had to do that when I worked for a dealership photographing new and used inventory. Just a suggestion. I like the idea of the blue lighting myself, just keep at it and you'll find the right equation! Nice cleaning on the trans.

You going with a new clutch or OEM?

-Chris

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

I am using the stock clutch.

Bad news, found out today the reverse lights switch is broken.

So I am ordering a new one from Nook and Tranny.

http://www.nookandtranny.com/mm5/mer...egory_Code=TRA

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Well Chris I took your advice and used the grids on the console to use as a guide for cutting, along with some lines that I drew on it with marker and just went to town with the dremel and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. There's no wiggle or anything, perfectly solid.






Now I've spent most of today searching for some better switches because all of mine are faded.

badredbrd89

Atta boy!!

-Chris

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Well I ordered some new fog lights and front turn signal lights the other day and got them in the mail today. The turn signals were easy, I just put the bulb in the that's it. Well the fog lights were pretty difficult. Boy did I go from what I thought was going to be plug-in-play to hell!

To get access to the fog lights you must remove the torques from the turn signal housings and then the fog lights. I pulled the fog light out and soon realized the fog light I bought wasn't for my car, unlike the listing said. So I had to get creative. I cut the old socket and ground wire and searched around the shop for a connector that matched the LED I bought. There's a bunch of them laying around from old cut-up GM harnesses. I found two and soldered them to the wires I cut.
Old socket:

New plug soldered in:


I then had to take the dremel to the little bracket with the teeth on the bulb housing and widened it to be able to fit the new LED.

Here is the LED I ordered: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/l...8-532--202979/

Then when I thought I was done...

The LED sticks out the back of the fog light housing paired with the new plug from the old GM harness it was an extra inch longer and no longer fit, so I had to drill a hole through the plastic behind the fog light, the metal bracket bumper support, AND the bumper to make clearance.


Hooked it all up and wala!




I ordered a set of clear side marker housings for the front off eBay and have some extra white LED's I'm going to put in those.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-92-CHEVY-...f619c7&vxp=mtr

karl's-92'-z28

iTrader: (5)

Looks good, im goona use swictch back bulbs for the front turn signals & HID bulbs for the fogs to match my HID headlights. They make a world of difference!!!!!!

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Thanks man...I'm gonna put HID's in for my headlights eventually!

karl's-92'-z28

iTrader: (5)

The switchback led bulbs for the blinkers are pretty cool, they show white but blink orange, or you can get the ones that show white & blink orange & white.

Yea HIDs are so much better, Im running the 8,000K

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

That's pretty cool, and I would probably go with 5000k, for the pure white look.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Well the T5 is officially going in tomorrow! Hopefully everything with the automatic to manual swap goes smoothly.

Also, who was in the red Camaro with the black wheels that did the U-turn and tried to catch up to me in Kettering, Ohio tonight? LOL

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Ran into a few problems along the way with the swap, having to buy a new flywheel, and a few other things but everything is pretty much done. I drove the car tonight and it shifts absolutely GREAT! So relieved because when you buy a 20 year old transmission you never really know until it's in the car. lol

Only problem remaining is...the transmission had a mechanical speed sensor, but my car needs an electronic speed sensor. So does anyone know where I can find an electronic speed sensor for a T5 with the little gear thing with it?

powderedwater67

iTrader: (1)

This is awesome. I just bought my first bird a few months ago for $800. It's a 92 V6 Base. As I said, I paid only $800 for it so it's been sitting in my garage for restorations. Having never worked on a Firebird before all your pics are really helping me figure out what mine's supposed to look like, Hahaha.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Hey thanks man that means a lot. What are your plans for your 92?

No real updates for me. I bought a speed sensor but am still in need of the driven gear that makes it work. So no speedo and the car dies sometimes when you push in the clutch because I'm pretty sure with the 92 the car needs to know how fast it's going for the computer.

Now I'm saving up for a motor. When I was initially looking to do a manual swap I was trying my best to find a T56 because I want to do a 5.3 lsx swap in this car eventually, but they wanted too much money for them. So for now I'm just gonna settle with the T5 and find a nice 350TPI.

powderedwater67

iTrader: (1)

I've got too many plans for it to list. Right now my main concern is getting the poor thing back on it's feet.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Gotta pic?

powderedwater67

iTrader: (1)

Na I don't, if I get some I'll post a new thread about what I'm doing with it. But for now...

It's a 1992 Pontiac Firebird, Base. It has the LH0 3.1 L (191 cu in) V6 with 182,000 miles on it.

There's a lot of the previous owners "handy work" that needs to be fixed before I'd consider it safe and several minor to moderate cosmetic repairs needed before i'd consider it nice. All that said, I was able to drive it home 50 miles without mechanical issues so I know the engine is pretty much sound.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

I've got two new photos to share with you guys.

One was the other day I went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping and I really liked how the window tint looked.



And this one was when I was taking my girlfriend out to dinner last night and she got the door stuck in the grass and just went ahead and tugged. Yep.

powderedwater67

iTrader: (1)

Awe Man... If you still love her, she's the one, LMAO!

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Finally got my new chrome stick Hurst short shifter installed. This thing is awesome!


I also bought a new gauge cluster. Mine currently is a 120MPH/6,000RPM with 189xxx miles.

The new one I bought appears to be in real nice condition, 140MPH/8,000RPM with 100xxx miles, I'm excited to put that in. It should be here Tuesday. And I'm probably gonna put in all new LED's to change it up from the orange. I am thinking about using white or blue?


And lastly, I ordered new eprom for my ECM from Tuned Performance here on TGO. After I did the T5 swap my car would die occasionally when I pushed the clutch in because of how low it idles once it warms up. The manuals idle differently so that needed addressed. I also had Brian program VATS delete, EGR and emissions delete, air pump delete, and CODE 32 removal. And that should be here tomorrow!

carlos64030

iTrader: (1)

How about an update on your relationship status?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/91-92-Trans-...6df3be&vxp=mtr

LHernandezJr

...

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Haha, if you saw how cute my girl was than you would know you couldn't stay mad.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

I installed my new eprom yesterday from Brian at Tuned Performance here on TGO and I couldn't be happier. The car is idling the way it should, hasn't died once and it's running perfecly now.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

First nice day in Ohio in a while, so I took the Firebird to the car wash and cleaned up the interior and gave it a wash.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Well I've finally decided what to do with my new gauge cluster. I was going to go with superbrightleds.com and just do plug and play, but from what I saw some looked okay and some looked really bad. And I was unsure of what I was going to do, until I saw this:


This is member joshiers8605's Firebird gauge cluster. I instantly fell in love. This involved some crazy process that included wiring together like 100 different little LED's and gluing them in at certain angles to get the light affect and sanding down the plexi to get the right lighting, basically stuff that I can't do. So I sent him an email hoping that he would get back to me because he has very few posts and hasn't logged onto the board since like October, but he got back to me and agreed to do it for me! Can't wait!

karl's-92'-z28

iTrader: (5)

Thats ficken awsome....I.was thing about something like that.

Pm sent

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Just a few updates, I bought an entire set of some nice red lowering springs with a 1.5" drop for 40 bucks off a nice dude on Craigslist. I checked out his 1986 Camaro I believe it was, it had over 300,000 miles with the original motor and trans, it was pretty awesome.


I'm gonna pick up some new shocks all the way around as well.

And then the guy who is doing my LED gauge cluster sent me a few progress pictures the other day. I hope he gets done soon!

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Bought an absolute mint pair of black visors today for 5 bucks!!! So excited. Nice ones go for like 100 bucks. I will post pics later. Now I need a headliner and my interior will be complete aside from a few modifications here and there.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Sorry it took me a while to get pics of the visors I've been busy with work and they were installed on the car.



Yesterday I installed my new suspension parts. I bought 1.5" lowering springs all around and new shocks all around. I took pictures of the before height and planned on putting up the pictures of the after height, but I was so disappointed in the drop that I didn't. I'm going to give the shocks a week or two to break in and see the ride height after that, but am probably going to end up cutting a coil or two off because I saw a very slim drop after installing the lowering springs.

Here are just some quick install pics I took:



I also saw that Hawks Third Generation is making BRAND NEW reproduction Firebird 5 speed shifter plates. Guys with Firebirds know how big that is. So I plan on selling mine asap while the market still demands them and using the money from that to buy the new one.


And I think paint is going to be coming soon. I am stuck between black, grey, or re-doing the blue.

SpeedDemon91

Stick with the blue! Black and grey are too common!

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Just got home with an LS1 4th Gen rear end. It has complete disc breaks including drilled and slotted rotors. It's posi and has 3.42 gears. She's not pretty, but hopefully after some hardcore cleaning I'll be able to paint it before I put it in the Firebird. And oh, only $200!

And don't ask how but I actually picked it up in the Firebird. LOL

Zane M

iTrader: (1)

Beautiful car!

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Thanks!

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

I also went ahead and just bought a pair of clear side marker housings. Gonna replace the bulb with an LED. Always liked the look of the clear.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Got some stuff done today for the car. My clear side markers came in the mail yesterday and I put them in today with white LED's. I also cut my Eibach lowering springs a little bit and slammed the car. I think it looks pretty good, rides good too.






I also went to the parts store and bought a few things to do a basic rebuild/or tuneup if you will for the rear end including fluids, bearings, and gaskets. And tried my best to get some cleaning done before I can paint. That thing is a pain in the *** to clean.



The guy doing my gauge cluster gave me an update and said that he should be done soon...really looking forward to that.

And I also ordered my brand new Firebird 5 Speed shifter plate...Hawks says that they will be shipping out around mid March.

...I also apologize for the crappy pics and dirty car, will try to get better pics of the car soon.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Just did a quick photoshop of the wheels that I am going to get here soon. XXR 521

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Haven't posted in a while because I have been moving in to my new place and still working a ton, but I do have quite a few updates and lots of pictures that I will post here soon!

Barlow8869

iTrader: (1)

people here seem to be helpful, if i had to cut them, i would try to talk one of the guys on here into making you a template

guess i should gave read a little further, i see you have already cut them in

Bullydawg

iTrader: (7)

Looks great! How much did you cut off on the springs? I just installed some drop springs and would like a bit lower...

Also, how much is the guy charging you to do the gauge cluster? It looks awesome!

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

^^ Yes I already cut them it wasn't too hard because the Firebird plate is pretty much a grid in itself.

^ I just cut a little bit off at a time and put everything back together until I was happy with it so I can't say for sure. And after everything it was about $100 bucks for the gauge cluster which I still do not have..

I haven't finished everything yet and I'm still waiting on parts in the mail but here is the list of new parts I bought.

-Brand new brakes all around the car including rotors, calipers, pads, and lines.
-Brand new reproduction window switches from ThirdGen Ranch.
-Brand new Hawks Third Generation reproduction Firebird 5 Speed Plate.
-Brand new cnc'd aluminum gauge rings from member motobooks (Luis)
-A used but new looking power mirror switch with almost all white lettering still on it. They don't make the new ones anymore.
-A used but new looking driver under dash pad from ThirdGen Ranch.
-Brand new power lock buttons from ThirdGen Ranch.
-Also got a lower shifter boot finally after my T5 swap put in. There was so much noise coming from the hole I had to cut. Not anymore!

That's it for parts for now. I also cleaned and painted my new 4th gen rear end which has had a mild rebuild for safe measure and is ready to go in. Pics of everything below:

Power mirror switch:

Power window switches:

Power lock buttons:

Hawks reproduction 5 speed plate:


Cool thing about this reproduction is it has templates on the bottom that show you exactly where to cut if you have power windows and mirrors.

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

^^^....continued.

Gauge rings:


Lower dash filler:


Shifter without boot:


Shifter with new boot:


New rear end in primer and painted:



Also I picked up this VERY nice original Firebird radio at a junk yard and planned on putting it in my car, but decided to just sell it.


More pics and info to come!

m2rtin

Very nice car, I love that you transported the axle in the trunk, nice job afterwards on it also.. Keep it comming!

86T/A_Ram_Air

looks good man

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the kind words!

The 4th gen rear end went in last night...didn't take many photos because I kinda just got lost in doing it. I still have to run the ebrake and put the sway bar back in but I drove with it today and it was awesome! I still have my original Firebird wheels on it so the rear is sticking out a bit, but I don't mind it too much. I also have more pictures of my new interior parts put in that I will be posting soon.

Caleb Taylor

where you from in ohio bro?!

FooFighters92

iTrader: (2)

I live in Kettering which is about 30 minutes north of Cincinnati

LHernandezJr

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