w0lfpack91

just three months ago i stumbled across a Black 1988 Pontiac firebird at a local private dealer. got it for $800, motor overheated constantly, drinks coolant and oil, left front fender and door were totaled out, pretty good sized dent in the right rear quarter, hatch latch was destroyed and the cylinders were toast, half the under hood wireing was jury rigged.

well even with all this couldnt turn down $800, come to find out this car had belonged to one of my friends in the past ans she could account for every dent ding and scratch. she bought it brand new in 1987 in december as a xmas gift to her now ex. he had got drunk one night and run it into a baricade on the side of the road and destroyed the left side of the car which then spun around and nailed the right rear quarter on a pole before the vehicle finally came to a stop. she sold the car to a national guard member in october of 1998 this guy parked it and was going to restore it, it sat till 2006 after he had got deployed his convoy was ambushed and he was killed so the car by way of inhearitance was passed to his son who was a jr. in highschool. his son then started useing it as a daily driver and hot rodded the **** out of it and blew the head gaskets. then ripped off the air dam and started the car down its relitively short path to its ultimate destination. he butchered the hood by ripping out the latch system and putting hood pins in and the hood pins are drilled through the turn signals, after market bolt on cosmetic hood scoop. then five months ago he sold the car to the dealer i bought it from for $700 and aquired a foxbody 5.0 stang.

i found it funny that i bought a 26 year old car used and can retrace its entire life through friends who had been around the car its entire life.

but anyways in the three months i have had it i have done a complete OEM rebuild on the rear trunk latch which now works like it did in 1988, replaced the hatch cylinders, pulled a fender and door off of a 1992 firebird in a local scrapyard and replaced the damaged body panels, fixed the overheating problem, re wired the electrical under the hood. i still have not addressed the butchered hood, the hood pins, right rear dent, or head gasket. but i must say in just three months i turned back over 16 years of damage and misuse. i met the previous owner last week and he almost didn't reconise the car.

as for future plans i am debating putting a knight rider Kitt front cap on it because i really like the look of the pointed front and the 6 fog lights in the bumper. i am going to track down a trans am/formula bulge hood. during the winter months while it is cold and snowy i am going to pull the motor and tear it down and see if the old worn 305 is even worth salvaging if not im gonna drop in a camed 350 possibly small stroker kit and bore. by spring i should have the dent fixed. once the hood is installed it will be ready for paint and by 2016 it should look like a brand new car.

here are some pics i got of it. ill post the new pics i have as soon as i figure out how to because every time i try to post them i get upload failed

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

You've made a quick turnaround on this one. Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to following your work here.