i found a firebird formula that im going to go look at tonight, with any luck ill buy it cuz im ok with the price..... its a 5.7 tpi and a 88, iv never owned or had anything to do with a tpi car so any advice? anything i should look/watch out for? much thanks for any advice guys

2 things you need to have are over abundance of Patience and deduction skills. After that, make sure the body isn't a rust bucket. Be prepared to spend at least $300 over the next couple weeks to get it running really good.

They are fun cars to own. Gobs of torque and great handling. Not to mention those 4 orange gauge pods glowing at night.

heck yeah, well i checked it out last night, and i painted my last car myself so i knew what to look for lol body was straight and clean, car needs a few odds and ends but for 3k it seems solid and seemed to run fine, i just i have nothing to compair it too..

i know this dont belong here but i noticed the car has drum brakes, does that mean now posi?

Drum brakes does not mean it's a posi. If it is originally a 350 car it's most likely a posi rear. Look for the G80 option code on the sticker. If it has that code and the rear end it came from the factory with, it is a posi.

ok cool, i was under the impression that disk meant posi drum meant one wheel wonder lol

Yea all Disc rears are posi unit's. Some drum rears are posi also. If it's a Z28 should have came with a posi. My 84 Z Drum rear had one, my Bro's 90 Iroc has a drum Posi. His 82 Z had a drum posi, til we swapped it for a disc one from a donor car. His 92 RS drum rear was a one legger though.

yeah i bought the car and first thing i did was a lil burner and shes not posi

Was a 20 second brake stand burn out, or just a mash the gas and go? The posi could be shot. The posi on my 96 formula was shot. 1 wheel peels aren't fun for anyone. Did you check the RPO codes like Will said? It might be low on rear end fluid, also was the ground level where you did your burnout?

normal burnin for like 2 seconds on smooth leavel pavement, nope i havent checked the diff but i have a spare disk/posi rear that ill swap in

Yea if the car has some miles on it the clutches in the unit could have seen better days. From what I understand you get a cluch pack set and replace them, but the springs are under ALOT of pressure so it's kinda tough to do. I have never tried it, I just put an Auburn Pro Series carrier in my 84 when the posi bit it.

well for now i dont car i got lots to do on the car before i "need" posi so its no big issue

Good luck on your purchase. Just FYI, my 1991 T/A 'vert has drums in the back along with a posi (soooo much fun burning out with it and having the car slide to one side). And my car was sitting for a year before I bought mine, so the injectors (305 TPI) went sour after a few miles after I bought it. $575 (new injectors with labor) got me running right again, hopefully the same won't happen to you. Was your car sitting for a while before you got it?

nope ran good for 250 miles then i blew the tranny out

Well that sucks. At least 700r4s are a dime a dozen. A tranny shop might even buy yours from you as a core. Trannys are easy to put in. Time consuming, but I bet if you have a buddy, you can have it swapped out in 6 hours.

thats the plan, well imma remove it myself take it to a shop then reinstall it myself, i figure itll save me money i dont have lol