tchoupshop

Most people with good sense know to cut and run when a proposition to finish an abandoned project car comes their way. Good sense was never my strong suit.

Two years ago, a good friend from work offered me a 1989 Formula taking up space in his garage. Now that I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel for this stage of the build, and with its two year anniversary approaching, I thought the time was right to share. For at least the past decade or so, this car has occupied a small corner of this garage under a pile of parts from dozens of salvaged third gens. According to the inspection sticker, it's been off the road since 2003. Being a seasoned third gen guy with a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of these cars, my friend began the process of a full show quality restoration on this car. Unfortunately, that dream fell to the wayside. I'm sure most of us here can empathize. Intent on downsizing on projects and exiting his rental garage, he needed to find this car a new home. Knowing that I was one of those terminally car-less car guys, he made me the offer. "It's all there... somewhere. Put it together and it's yours to drive home. - Also, could you help me move out while you're at it?" Knowing myself that my only exposure to wrenching on or driving anything General Motors had been the odd GM-contracted plastic parts inside my Toyota trucks, I said, "Sure, why not?"







With 230k on the clock, this white Formula was beginning to show its age when it was put away last. However, this T-top car is virtually rust-free. Before I assumed this project, the engine compartment was stripped and painted along with the hood, fenders, A-pillars, and refreshed T-top bar area with fresh weatherstrip. The L03 engine was rebuilt and dropped back into the car mated to the 700R4 trans. Bringing up the rear is a 10-bolt with limited slip diff. The accessory brackets, K-member, spindles, and deep dish wheel accents have been powdercoated. The interior was very much intact and is sporting a new carpet with dynamat below. I decided to keep the 305 TBI setup allegedly improved by 350 heads and "high output" style exhaust manifolds. With budget and time constraints in mind and a desire to keep the car relatively stock (emphasis on relatively), the intention was to build a mechanically solid street cruiser with a significant bump in handling/cornering when compared to stock.

Below are the rest of my additions so far. If all goes well, this bird should be back on the road by March. Paint will need to be addressed sooner than later, but for now, I don't think I'll mind its calico appearance. I'll be satisfied to be behind that wheel.

• Eibach Pro Kit springs / Monroe shocks & struts with 245/50/R16 Cooper Zeon RS3-G1 tires
• OE 34mm front / 24mm rear sway bars
• Wonderbar
• Subframe connectors
• Boxed OE rear control arms
• Boxed OE panhard
• Astro steering shaft
• KYB strut mounts
• OE aluminum driveshaft with new joints
• Poly-graphite sway bar bushings / end links, panhard bushings, and torque arm bushings
• New rubber control arm bushings, transmission bushing, and motor mounts
• Moog ball joints
• Moog steering joints / TREs
• Brake system fully rebuilt new with stainless braided lines
• Flowmaster catback exhaust / new catalytic
• New front wheel bearings / seals
• New rear axle seals
• Fresh epoxy seam sealer in the area above the fuel tank, all wheel wells, and rear bumper area
• Epoxy coated fuel tank with new sending unit
• New Classic Auto Air Stage III air conditioning system
• New heater core with HVAC foam replaced
• Trans-am radiator scoop
• Cowl induction hood block-off plate
• New door seals / belt weatherstrips
• New hood insulation / cowl weatherstrip
• Many other minor improvements/upgrades

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Nice stuff tchoupshop! Certainly a good deal. Looks like a very nice car.

Thirdgen89GTA

iTrader: (5)

Very nice. But you can’t have my license plate.

Komet

Cool build, picking up a disassembled project is quite the challenge.

Big&BadGTA

iTrader: (1)

nice

tchoupshop

Yeah, and what plate would that be? Just so I know which one not to order for myself, you know?

I'm aware that I'm nearing a point where some builds can suddenly stagnate or fall apart all together due to those pesky little technical issues. Putting the legos together is one thing, bringing the whole system back to life is another. Just hoping for the best, expecting the worst, and rolling with the punches. I've got one hell of a mentor, luckily.

Thanks for the kudos, all!

Thirdgen89GTA

iTrader: (5)

pics worth a thousand words, but here’s a hint. Your thread title.

tchoupshop

@Thirdgen89GTA I believe your handle is safe and sound and also well deserved - one of these days, my project will hopefully hold a candle to that sweet T/A you've got.

Lots have happened since my intro posts. The Formula has finally been transported home (yes, on the trailer of shame). I had been making two and a half hour round trips on the weekends to work on this thing in a space with no electricity/compressed air. Relocating the car has been a game changer. As anyone with this engine knows, things are now busier inside this engine bay than a pair of teens left alone in an empty house and it's still far from over. I've reached the part of the build where overall progress tends to get stymied by the small, technical issues that require research and/or assistance from friends with greater experience on these F-bodies. I'm happy with the strides I've made, but I also have reasons why I need to have this car running soon so y'all wish me luck. Some of the things that I've done since are:

• Exhaust manifolds coated, air injection plumbing ran, all installed
• Installed windshield wiper stuff and 3D printed a replacement PS windshield wiper stop (then discovered I had grabbed the wrong motor type for my harness from the pile )
• Installed new throttle cable
• Changed the transmission rear cover seal at the driveshaft
• Torqued down the suspension/set the wonderbar pretension (discovered and changed a set of end link bushings which were over-tightened and had split )
• Greased the chassis
• Re-arranged the brake lines to the correct side of the steering shaft
• Had the valve covers powdercoated
• Ran heater/radiator hoses
• The hunt for other random hoses on the engine (a work in progress)
• Changed a bunch of busted/weathered connectors on the engine harness (another work in progress)
• Got the battery in and cables ran
• The new air conditioning system has been dry-fit (more on this in a later post)
• Reservoirs in
• Built up air intake
• Rebuilt the headlight motors (still having trouble with the headlight module because of course )
• Removed the vinyl graphics around the bottom of the body and old "FORMULA" door lettering
• Changed the old belt weatherstrip (this job really blows for the first-timer)
• Changed the old door seals
• Removed the ugly old door bumpers
• Profiled an insert for the bulge hood, had that cerakoted, sealed the scoop bezel off
• Installed hood insulation
• Discovered that the windshield is not fully installed and is just resting in place
• Watched helplessly as the only driver's side front bumper insert my friend had left progressively disintegrated into a million pieces

tchoupshop

You know, I think I have too many third gens - just probably not in the way someone normally would around here...

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

That's a ton of progress. You've been busy! Nice work.