Hey ya'll. I'm a relatively new third-gen owner.

About eight months ago I graduated college and my parents bought me a used firebird formula 350, had to drive six hours to get it, was $2,000.

The main problem here is that I haven't really been into cars, I'm more of a computer person. Here's a pic of me and the car, I'll post more pics later tonight, I have to find my digital camera.

http://a41.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/...32303040_l.jpg

So I've been toying around with ideas of what I'm going to do with it to make it 'mine'. As it stands, the hood may need repaired (It has really bad rust on the hood where I'm sitting :P, has been since I got the car, but lack of funds have prevented from repair). It's also got the crap rubber spoiler where the paint cracked in the first year. Lack of a garage sucks.

So I have been looking into where I could get a fiberglass reproduction of the spoiler, and what I've found is that the company that made them went out of business a few years ago, at least, that's what I was told by the body shop I visited.

Any ideas?

 

welcome to the boards Im pretty sure hawks thirdgen( a sponsor on the site) and another place cant remer the name sells them to their a lttle pricey though sweet formula btw

 

Thanks.

There's some minor things that bother me about the car, though.

-50+ Miles per hour I have a breeze noise coming through the rightmost vent.

-Door hinges
-Two blown speakers, prolly will eventually just get a full sound system
-Rusted hood, most likely will just replace the hood byt he time I get the funds to do the work
-Spoiler Replacment
-Full paint, I was thinking a darker shade of red with black spoiler, I like the look ;x

It's gonna cost me a pretty penny, new hood and spoiler will prolly happen at the same time as the paint, so i'll just build up the funds and kill all the birds with one stone.

Any suggestions for the hood? I was thinking of the ram intake, but there's so many of those around these days, I'm sort of hesitant. I hate just blending in.

 

Looks good. Yeah my firebird needs some work also. I think formula's are the best looking third gen, but they all look good.

-Door hinges
-Oil pan gasket
-Valve adjusted
-Vacumn Lines
-seats reupholstered
-Carpet

 

ah, the only thing that's a problem right now in terms of operation is a small leak on the intake. :[

 

A leak on thei ntake? Is it right near the front below the radiator hose?

I had the exact same leak on my car. It's not a big deal, really.

If you want, you can try to do it yourself but you're gonna need some tools.

And I've discoverd what I suspected all along when I got mine. These cars need attention and care ot keep them running, they're old. Things break. Get used to buying tools and shop manuals and learning how to fix it yourself. MOST of it isnt that hard. I had a friend show me how to replace the intake gasket that was leaking, learned how to do a brake job, and just today I replaced the starter, got big, big plans ahead of me. Take it slow, one step at a time, and if you've got a mechanically inclined friend that will make your life a lot easier.

Be ready to buy some goofy specialized tools. Most of htose arent very expensive either, though.

See if there are any local camaro/firebird clubs around you. The Georgia F Body Association has a thriving chapter in my town, and the guys I've met have been the most helpful, nice guys I could have ever imagined. Eager to help with anything. Check your localized regional board and see if they have a sticky list and go from there.

That gasket leak aint a big deal though if it's the one I think it is.

If you want some info on it check this out: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/post...748-post7.html



Lastly, thirdgen.org is a TREASURE TROVE of knowledge. Use the search, it's your friend, and it's incredibly awesome! Whenever I have some dumb question taht Im too embarassed to ask, I search it, and I 99% of hte time find my answer. There's so much information here to absorb. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the tips.

Yes, it's an extremely small leak on the very front, so I'm assuming it's what you're thinking of. At first I assumed it was the hose--My dad's 'bird had the hose leak, but mine seems to be the gasket.

Yes, I grew up with a black firebird formula 350 in my life, it's only fitting that I get one when I graduate college. ;P

And I do plan on learning how to do stuff myself, but until I move to a place that has a garage it's hard, I live on a steep hill with parallel parking. Narrow street, too.

 

Welcome.

The door hinges are an easy fix, even for a newbie. It just takes some time and really would be better in a garage. Replacement hinge pins are sold here all the time, and I think one of the vendors sells them as well.
Vent noise could be troublesome to narrow down. My passenger side vent was broke when I got my car and it was a PITA for a newb to get the dash off and find out how to replace it. Still, just messing with stuff is a good way to learn something new. You'll probably see some similarities between cars and computers; both hardware and software, but fun to mod, etc. Fortunately cars are more durable than computers when people are messing with them.

 

50mph noise...only careful diagnosis can narrow that one down.

Speakers...That depends on your budget & preferences really.

Hood...Lots of choices. Wanna stand out? Go with a Jongbloed hood (I love those hoods!), and a fiberglass rear wing, both from www.gtfiberglass.com.

Never been a black spoiler fan myself. I prefer body color, but...It's your car, As long as you are happy with it, that id what matters.

Welcome to the 3rd gen world!

 

well, my interior wasn't looking par with my new idea for the external of the car. For those who haven't figured it out yet, I'm going for a show car before I dive into performance at all.

So, today I ripped out all the plastic from the driver's seat and back, scrubbed it all down, sanded it all down using 120 grade sandpaper, followed by 320 grade, and finished with 600. I then painted them all black.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to take before pics, but the "After" pics will be posted soon.

The person who owned the car before me didn't take good care of the interior at all, and some of the pieces were so badly dinged up that even 120 grit sandpaper for an hour or more could cure. Eventually I cut my losses--It still looks 500x better than it did before.

Car name: Empath.
Current color: Red
Desired Color: Black with a green shine to it.
Interior will be completely changed in the near future to black and dark green/bright green mixture. I'm sort of following the look of Redraif, for those of you who are familiar with the car.

Most likely i'm not going to put AS MUCH green in my car as she has red. I think she over-did her red.

Anyway, I picked up an amp and two 12" subs from a family member who lives in texas, he mailed it UPS ground yesterday, so I'm starting to plan on what i'm gonna do with them. Debating where they should go. I've seen subs in the trunk (and the schematics for it) on a third gen, but I haven't seen a back seat replacment type, which is most likely what i'm going for.

I might even do both, if I can pick up two more subs for a decent price. :-x

Let me know what ya'll think of the idea.

Oh, and I plan on installing this front end:
http://www.americancarsuk.com/Previo...ransam_GTA.jpg

along with a ram air hood, and a straight rear spoiler.

 

if you're gonna go with the 91-92 t/a front end you're gonna be looking at getting all of the ground effects and the rear bumper cover also. you've got a nice looking car to start with though!

 

Any idea where I can get one?

Haven't been able to find a source to buy it.

 

The rear wing?

G&T Fiberglass

 

No, I wanted to know where I could get the GTA 91-92 body kit. :P But thanks for the link to the spoiler again.

 

www.hawksthirdgenparts.com