Hi everyone, I'm new to these boards and I wanted some advice and help on restoring a 1988 Firebird GTA I will be acquiring next week.

Now let me make this clear, this car has been my dream car ever since I was 5. I always loved this car, especially with the T-tops. Fortunately I was able to bump into someone who was selling one for $2500, and when he saw how much it meant to me, he let it go for $1800. The engine is as solid as can be, it has under 80K miles on it and the stock gold rims are as pristine as can be.

The only issues is it needs some cosmetic work.

The 3rd break light needs to be replaced, the spoiler was ripped out, front leather seats are all torn up, the dash is cracked, there's no headliner,the driver headlight motor is shot, and finally it has a couple of small dings and a small rust spot on the hood.

I'm willing to put in a lot of work and money into making this car as good as new, and I hope with all your help, I'll have the car of my dreams looking like a dream in no time.

So for my first question...

where should I start?

 

I'd say start with the rust, and the headlight motor. then move onto the dings, and have it painted. once thats done, start on the interior.

also I see you made a thread in the North East section, where are you from?

 

I live in Lawrence, Ma. In the Northern Essex County. The guy I'm getting this car from lives in Lowell.

 

cool, just a little info, if you need any parts, Id recommend talking to TPI-Hearse, he lives in CT and hes got a ton of parts. he probably has seats for you and a headliner. I know he'll have a dash too.

 

What's your opinion of the plastic dash cover available at Hawks?

 

I didn't ever use one, so I dont know about them. I spent $100 bucks and bought a perfect dash pad instead.

 

That's not too bad.

What kind of sucks is as much as I love the car I'm not a huge fan of the tan interior.

I wish I had pictures but the outside is red (not sure what shade since I only seen it at night) and the inside is Tan. I want to make the inside black because eventually I'm going to want to put a black 3rd gen bird on the hood (since it has the 4 air vents so the 2nd gen wouldn't fit)

 

it probably looks a little like mine did when I bought it (see link in sig)

 

ha ha wow, yeah pretty much. A few differances here and there but it stills looks good, do you have any pics of the finished project or are you still working on it?

 

I'm still working on it, hopefully I'll have it in color by April (when I get my learners permit). I can only work on it on weekends so its been going very slow.

 

that's cool. My little brother is waiting to see how mine comes looks when it's done and if he likes it he might go out and find an 87 Camaro so he can restore it himself.

 

cool, hope all goes well with the purchase. also, pretty funny, once I bought my Trans Am, my brother wanted a project car too, he bought a 91 camaro, and gave up on it after like 2 months.

 

haha, sounds like something my brother would do.