Aero

Hey guys and girls, just wanting to say hi and looking for anybody that can help give me tips and/or advice to a new owner of a 1989 Pontiac Firebird. I'll be honest here, I'm not to well knowledgeable when it comes to being a mechanic, but I have always been a fan of American muscle cars, and I finally got around to purchasing myself a car that fits that description. Although my car is only the v6 2.8L version, I do plan on working on it quite a bit to make it live up to an American muscle car.
Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated though!
Thanks in advance.

Beater79TA

Welcome to the addiction. Consider this car your chance to learn more about basic vehicle repairs. Compared to a lot of newer cars, most of the mechanical bits of this one are easy to reach and relatively inexpensive.

My advice would be to look for other owners in Vegas to meet up with. There used to be a couple of FBody groups in town (LVFBody was the original but it has morphed a few times to other groups). Once you've found some like minded individuals, do an honest evaluation of your new car. Prioritize what needs to be repaired/replaced now to make driving it an enjoyable experience. Then start thinking about what your vision is for the car. Do you want to daily drive it? Do you want it to be a weekend drag race toy? Do you want to autox / road race it? Each of these will lead down a different path when you start upgrading the parts to reach your vision.

But, most importantly, do what will make you happy with it and not what other people think you should do with it. And enjoy driving it as often as you can.

Aero

Well I'm going to turn this car into my daily driver but still be able to be strong enough to represent itself as a muscle car.
Just went to the shop today to get a realignment for the car, but turns out my ball joints are really lose and the mechanic was saying the estimate with the realignment would cost me about $572 and I currently do not have the funds for such an operation :\
I was thinking of doing it myself, but according to my friends who have way much experience than me with vehicles said that doing this job is really annoying. So as for now i am doing research on what to do.

Beater79TA

Sadly, if the ball joints are that shot, then the entire front steering probably needs a rebuild. There are some threads on this board about how to replace ball joints and most auto parts stores will rent you the tools. But it is a pain to do them.

Again, look for the current local club and see if any of them can recommend a less expensive shop. Our local club in Phoenix has a shop owner among the members who will press ball joints and bushings very inexpensively if you bring him the parts off the car.

Beater79TA

As far as groups in Vegas, you could try VegasLSX.com. I think this is where a lot of the old LVFBody ended up.

Aero

Alright cool thanks for the info!
Hopefully my situation isnt that bad ><

TheScaryOne

iTrader: (3)

http://www.harborfreight.com/ball-jo...cles-4065.html

Go in with the 20% off of one item coupon. I think I got mine for $50 plus tax.

http://www.rockauto.com/dbphp/x,cata...OG_K6145T.html

$100 + alignment (down here in Tucson the going rate on a two-wheel alignment is $45)

This of course assumes you have a standard set of sockets, wrenches, and other basic mechanical tools. If you do not have these, Craftsman has a good sale every holiday season, you can usually pick up their $300 mechanics tool set for like $150 or less.

Someone told me that K-mart has a Craftsman sale going right now, but I have no way to verify.

W.E.G.

Old cars are cheap to buy.

Old cars are as expensive to maintain and restore as new cars.

You gotta love wrenching, or that old car is just going to be like a hungry tick stuck on a soft spot.

If you don't at least have a driveway where you can take some things apart, and without somebody calling the cops over some "no-working-on-cars" code-violation, you are in for some heartburn on this one.

There are lots of videos on youtube on doing simple jobs like replacing ball joints or working on brakes.

If you have to pay somebody else to work on your car, be sure you have a real clear vision of what you intend to accomplish. Spending a lot of money on bodywork, while the bones are all bad, will leave you unfulfilled... and vice-versa.

W.E.G.

...and don't let anybody talk-down your V6.

Those V6 motors are perfectly good, even if they won't beat the V8's in a drag race.

If you actually DRIVE the car on public roads, your fuel-cost savings will be well-worth whatever downside there is to the small motor.

If you want REALLY FAST, you need to get a trailer, and a truck to pull the trailer, and a whole bunch of EXPENSIVE specialized race-car parts. The guys who have the street-legal V8's are going to get hammered every time on the track by the guy driving tricked car with the salvage title.

TheScaryOne

iTrader: (3)

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Power...ro&srchtyp=ymm

Let everybody talk down your V6. The 2.8 is a clunker, and GM knew it. It's why just a few years later they suddenly expanded to a 3.1 by giving it a longer stroke, which you can do by swapping in the shortblock of a 3.1. You'll even keep your 2.8 manifold, so you'll have a sleeper. The 3.1 later grew into the 3.4l, which is a much much much much .... much much much better engine.

If that 2.8 ever farts, slips, rumbles, or anything that leads you to believe it has an internal problem, drop a 3.8 V6 in there, and then everything that WEG says is true. Better F/R weight ratio, better fuel mileage, probably twice the power of the 2.8. Then you can also drop on a FREAKING HUGE TURBO and turn it into a DIY TTA.

Edit: The 2.8 Has 135 hp at the crank. Figure 30% drivetrain loss, and you get 95 horsepower in a 3500 pound car. That's less power than my Miata (100hp at the wheels) at almost twice the weight (2050 lb sans driver).

Aero

Well this is a lot to put in, and thanks again guys.
For now I am going to focus on just maintaining the car and make sure its in working condition before I do such a project as making into my lil sleeper

Samurai_Of_Dawn

1st of all, I want to say welcome to the boards. Always great to have new members here.

2nd: If you feel you're not very knowledgeable of your car, well that's why you make an account on here. This site is a Godsend for owners of the 3rd gen. Great people on here who know their stuff.

3rd: Like you, I'm no pro at being a mechanic. However, you won't learn unless you try (someone don't quote me on that Pink song >_<). If there's something I don't know how to do, I'll look it up on here and try and figure out the situation. I'll attempt to fix it if I feel I'm capable. If it's out of my league, then and only then, I will take it to the shop. Pretty much, I try to save money if I can. That, and I really don't like leaving my car with other people, you know?

4th: Your V6 may not be the fastest on wheels, but you'll do plenty good of saving gas and having a great looking car. Don't ever let other people talk down your car because of it being a V6. Just be glad you didn't get a 4 cylinder version camaro (I don't recall the year/s, but I believe it was the first 2 for this gen. Feel free to correct me anyone :P

And if you think a V6 is not fast enough, look up the turbo'd trans am of the 3rd gens. Those can be pretty nasty O_O *shivers* and they are sleepers too! >_<

Anywho, best of luck to you on your future projects

Aero

Thanks Samurai, I have found that this forum is full of really nice and helpful people. I've been scouring the forums for future plans as to what I would like to do to my car and so far I either want to do an engine swap to a chevy 350 or go with what TheScaryOne said and do the whole 3.8L V6 and turbo it.
But, since I am only 20 (21 in 2 days ) currently working a retail job (ya i know.....it sucks but its the best I got right now), it's going to be a long time before I can do anything I really want to with my car. So i guess all i can do right now is maintenance and buying stuff little by little.

TheScaryOne

iTrader: (3)

The 3.8 is a pretty involved swap, lots of work and unusual parts (most still in stock at the dealer, thankfully) and I think that there are no adaptable motor mounts, has to be fabbed up. Not terrible work if you know a local fab shop, and I *know* there's one in Vegas somewhere. I really just threw it in to show that there are good (really good) V6's.

If you have any inner engine beasties at this stage of your mechanical learning I'd say do a 3.4 not DOHC swap. You'll get better mileage, and about 75 more horses, and IIRC it basically bolts in.

It really depends on where you want to go. The aftermarket for this car is huge. I keep looking at putting money in my SBC, but you can pick up a L92 out of a wrecked Escalade for like $1500 these days. 6.2L, all aluminum for better front/rear weight ratio and you can stroke the pig out to a 7 liter 429. Who needs a power adder? :P

Keep faith. Anything that a mechanic can do, you can do too, for the most part. It will take you longer, and you might have to buy a part twice because you broke it learning. You will also find that tools start out being the most expensive part of the job. The only things I surrender my car to the shop for is something that requires a lift (but now I work at a shop, so that's not a problem). Also some things that require unusual service tools, but there's not a lot of them on either of my current cars.

I've been not going to a shop since I was 16 and my dad's mechanic didn't hammer down the ears on the brake pads on our car, so the pads rode against the rotors. Brakes lasted 6,000 miles, and he torqued the lugs on to about 200 or 300 foot pounds with an impact gun and we had to get them plasma cut off. Even on low money it's doable. (FWIW I'm 25 now)

Ask for the Craftsman mechanics set for Christmas. Prices get really good. I've had to piecemeal all of my tools, and while they all have lifetime warranties (Most are Powerbuilt from Checkers/Pep Boys) they don't have the same kind of warranty as a Craftsman. "It broke." "Here's a new one. Have a nice day."

Edit: Like this: http://www.sears.com/craftsman-325-p...&blockType=G67

Aero

oh man.....thats an impressive set of tools, for now I just have a little mini toolbox that i keep in my car with a couple of screwdrivers (philips and flatheads) and a torque wrench with various heads

Beater79TA

Everyone starts out small on their tool collection. Over time you'll find yourself getting more. If it's something you expect to use a lot, be willing to spend a little more for brands like Craftsman with lifetime warranties. One time use items can often be sourced from Harbor Freight and tossed in the trash if they break after the first use. I've been building my set for 25 years and now have a house set and a traveling set with multiples of everything. The traveling box just made life easier when we started racing the car out of town a lot.

But don't think you have to go all out in the beginning. Make friends with the local guys. Some of them probably have space and tools to let you wrench with them at their place. And don't commit the biggest mistake possible and go into it acting like you know everything. If you're willing to ask for help, you'll find a lot of car guys are willing to offer up advice and help in exchange for pizza and beverages.

Aero

Also, since I am not sure where this would fall under and hopefully i can get some responses as to which i can understand, but what is a cam lope and is that normal? My car was at a red stop light and after a couple minutes it just choked and I had to restart it up a couple times in order to get it back running. What couldve been the problem? or did it have anything to do with this "cam lope?"

Samurai_Of_Dawn

Those are the best times man! You learn while having a good time

As for cam lope, from what I know, that's the sound the car is making while it's at idle. The more aggressive the cam, the lower the lope sound is (kinda like it wants to die sound, but it's not going to since that's how it's setup). Not really sure on how to explain it.

Well there's could be alot of things going on. When you are on the road, what rpms does your car idle at?

Aero

depending on if my car is warm or not I typically idle around 500-800rpm

Samurai_Of_Dawn

That seems to be pretty normal, though 500 is a lil low (for me it is).

Hmm, check your vac lines. Hopefully it's not a fuel problem >_<

My knowledge is a bit limited, so my best advice is posting up in the help section. Tell them what motor you are running, and the setup. They'll be able to give you a better explanation than I ever could.