warmachine

Well I decided to give you guys a little back story on me since this is my very first post. I've always been pretty involved with vehicles, mostly trucks though. I have had several trucks and a current project truck. It's a 78 f150 4x4 with a 300. I then put on a offy intake, edlebrock 500 cfm carb and hooker headers to dual glasspacks. I've done various other stuff to it but this is a third gen forum and not a truck forum. Anyway, I'm also know my way around snowmobiles, atvs, and jet skis fairly well. That being said, have not done any major engine work to a car engine(other than replacing a head gasket which really isn't major).

Now to the car, I picked up a 1984 pontiac firebird trans am. It has the 305 and the 700r4 tranny i believe. This is my first third gen but i've always like these cars! It runs and drives pretty good. The engine leaks some oil though. The body is in good shape for the a wisconsin car! The driverside fenders is pretty dented up but the rest is good. The only rust i can find is underneath the spare tire which is really decent for wisconsin! Anyway i paid 500 bucks for it and drove it 60 miles home! What do you think? Did i make out alright? It also has a grant steering wheel and JVC head unit. I'll get some more pics up soon!

GOATS2QUICK

iTrader: (5)

good deal, 500.00 and you drove it home. whats your plans with it?

warmachine

Thanks! My plans right now are to wait until spring and then it will become my daily driver. I'm gonna fix the oil leak(pretty sure it's just the valve cover gaskets), clean it up, do a tune up, and drive it. Possibly later summer i'd like to get a 350 then build it up to 300-325 hp. I also need to get some better seats sooner or later as the interior is rough. Other than that, basically just enjoy it!

LHernandezJr

Congratulations! And welcome to TGO. Here you will find tons of good info you'll be able to use on your project. And the classified ads section may come in handy from time to time

warmachine

Thank you! I have already spent a ton of time on here reading and looking. There is a ton of awesome cars on here! This is the best website for third gens i've found so far!

SpeedDemon91

IMO you done good, I payed $400 for mine and had to pull it home(big friggin pain!!) plus it broke pieces off the front so $500 and drive it home sounds good to me! Congrats and welcome to TGO!

maks10

cant argue 500 bucks...still running...ull find this forum WAAAAYYYY more informative than other truck forums (atleast i do...have a 93 f150)

good luck with it and prob perfect time to pickup a project for the winter

kentuckyKITT

iTrader: (4)

Yea, you did good. I paid $500.00 for my 82 black and gold off ebay sight unseen nearly 7 years ago. Was told it would not run or drive at all. I towed it home from FL and had it running and driving the same day. So, you did better than I did. Looks like a great car and of course I like it because it's black. Should be a fun project and since you only spent $500.00, that leaves you plenty of room to throw cash at it and make it real nice.

warmachine

Thank you everyone! This site is really informative but for my truck, i find pirate 4x4 is a great website also. Anyway figured i'd do a little photo shoot with it before the snow came. You can really see how messed up the one fender is. By the way, the first picture is my favorite!

Jersey89GTA

iTrader: (1)

You did fine, they dropped my off the car carrier and I paid 4x's what you paid. But I was able to get a paint job and other new goodies out of it !

Have fun w/it - go nuts. These cars are fun to drive.

maks10

better the front fender damaged than a rear quater panel IMO

good luck with it!!!

Jersey89GTA

iTrader: (1)

My body guy did good on the Rr Qtr Panel (actually both sides damage).

They weld the puller things on and pull out the dents little at a time. I really thought that area was a gonner.

steve87ta

iTrader: (4)

Welcome to TGO, looks like a good deal.
I see an old Plus there in the background, I have one that I bought new in 93. It does'nt go out as much as the other two sleds but I still like it!

warmachine

Thank you everyone! I do agree about the fender being better than a quarter panel. That is a 93 plus 583 back there! That's my brothers sled. Right now, I'm just researching about the engine swap for the car

warmachine

So i'm going today to take a fender off this car


This will replace my fender which is extremely dented and screwed up


I also found some rust on the car At least it isn't too bad and can be fixed fairly easily

Edwardgp

Good luck and keep the pictures coming. We love pictures.

2007xl50

Not bad at all for $500. Can't find them that cheap around here.

warmachine

I bet you guys thought I went away! Well I haven't. Here's a picture I edited of it!


Anyway, I've done alot of work to it. I decided to just go ahead and do the 350 swap. I've never swapped out a engine before but it was an enjoyable experience! I learned a ton through out the entire swap. I found a 350 out of a suburban. Actually the guy i bought it from had a 84 trans am just like mine! It also had a 350 swapped into it which was really cool. Anyhow, It was a 87-95 engine and I have no idea on the miles. I have never rebuilt an engine and decided not to rebuild it now. It did replace some gaskets though. I had some issues pulling the old engine out and the bellhousing bolts aren't as easy to get at as everybody seems to say. I decided to pull the tranny too right away. Other the the bolts on the bell housing, everything went very well! With it out, i started to swap things over to my 350. I still need to figure out how the power steering pump bolts up. I went to the junkyard and bought the wrong flex plate. Wound up going to autozone and just buying a new one. Now i was able to drop the them back in. Everything bolts up good. I decided with hedman full length headers. Once i got the old intake on, it wouldn't bolt up. Little did i know that they tilted the bolts on the center 18 degrees up. Decided to go with a weiand street warrior intake. Bolted up great! Got the carb on and taught myself how timing works. Got it fired up and ran super rough. Turned the dizzy a little bit counter close wise to advance it and got it set pretty good. It seems to run really strong. Really glad i did the swap! It definitely feels like a whole new car now. Future plans include sfcs (along with other braces), better tires and maybe rims, then just driving it and seeing what else it needs. Thank you to all on this website! It's very very helpful! Here's some pics
New 350

No more 305!

New intake!

Here are the headers i bought for it

New engine is in! Just to get everything hooked up now!

And everything is hooked up!

The hood is on it now. Still need to get new plug wires for it. I did all this including buying the engine for under 700 bucks by the way! I though that was pretty good.

warmachine

Welp, It's been awhile. In my previous post, you saw i swapped in the 350 outta a burban. That engine didn't make it too long. Somehow, the rod bearing on cylinder 1 blew apart and was laying in the pan. It managed to destroy the crank as well. The rings on several pistons were also broke. I decided not to rebuild it. I found another 350. It was in a 85 sierra but its a 74 block. I pulled it all apart to inspect it and everything looked good. I was told it had a mild cam as well but i'm not sure that it does. I got it swapped in and she runs pretty strong





With it running and driving, I took it to my first car show ever. About 200 other cars there. It was a blast!


Well, although the car was running and driving well, the body wasn't as good as i thought it was. these third gens can really hide the rust! So the search was on! I was looking for a early firebird roller with a solid body. After some looking, I found what i was looking for. It was about 4 hours away but it was definitely worth it. It is a 83 firebird. It had the 305 auto combo. It is just about perfect. It has a clean title and came from colorado! The only rust on it whatsoever is the hood(Don't think it's original) and the battery tray. The battery must have leaked pretty bad. Anyway, time for some pics!

fbodyalltheway

Hey I've seen that car on Facebook

warmachine

Yup i've posted it on there a couple times. Forgot to mention, I picked up the 83 roller for only 175 bucks!

fbodyalltheway

Damn I could use a parts car also for an 84 for that price