I have 1992 Firebird convertible with the 305 in it and I was wanting to make it a clone of a Trans am of the same year. What do you guys think?

 

anyone?

 

its all personal preference (and I love me a TA), but some of the more purists will say leave it be; nice verts are few and far between these days. do what makes you happy with YOUR car.

 

All you need are wheels, tail lights, and a hood and it will look like a trans am, so do it if you want.
Cost you maybe $1500, just save your old parts so you can put it back to stock if you sell it and use the other parts on another car or sell them.

 

NO! period!

 

I'm guessing he doesn't have the appearance package, otherwise there wouldn't be much arguement or question in putting on wheels and a hood. Taillights would be a nightmare to come by, but either way, I have a feeling he's speaking on putting on the entire ground effects package also.

To that affect, I say find yourself a trans am. This is coming from a guy who went from taking his absolutely base model bird, and bringing it up to formula standards, and then tripped over a perfectly good trans am in the junk yard and soon made that kit onto his car, it was a LOT of work. I love the look, i think the outcome was well worth it, but it's not a simple slap together thing to make it look right. Also I already had the hood and the 91/92 spoiler to boot to make adding a kit a no-brainer. It's your car, and if you need help, we are all here to do just that, but don't ask such broad questions like that, or you will get the 50/50 yes it's your car; no it's not worth it kinda thing. Make the decision yourself, and then if need be ask questions from there. My vote goes into it's your car. Honestly adding the skirting isn't going to destroy the car, and if by some miracle vert value shoots through the roof, all you need to do is fill 28 holes at most, usually only 22 on 91/92 style kits, and a respray and it's all back together as a Firebird vert.

 

I say just do the wheels and sway bars. Hood does belong to a T/A, but it's your car, if you can find a dent free one go for it. As for the tail lights, you could always spot a thirdgen firebird from up the street by those wide red horizontal lights. Not only that, it's kinda retro of the 1st gen firebird tails. Polish up the stock units and center peice and call it a day.

 

All 91 /92 base birds and the verts have the ground effect kit !!

Only the formulas do not, and if you take off the ground effects you can see the frame supports. ugly in my opinion !

 

its all personal preference (and I love me a TA), but some of the more purists will say leave it be; nice verts are few and far between these days. do what makes you happy with YOUR car.
__________________________________
Malaysia Flights
Kuala Lumpur Accommodation

 

My car came with the ground effects package already

 

IMO, a Firebird vert is quite a car to be proud of. By all means, if you want to make a Trans Am clone then go for it. Personally, I would leave it be and love it for what it is rather than changing it. Just my .

 

I agree with every one else, it is up to you. Me personally my 91 T Top will be more like one when finished but will not say Trans Am. Nobody can say I am trying to mislead or fool anybody as it will only say Firebird and that will only be a few places.

 

Make it a Formula of the same year.

 

As long as you don't plan on putting "Trans Am" stickers on it, go for it.

It's just the rims, hood and taillights.

 

dont listen to the trolls that post one liners

the
this^^ would be teh best route.

maybe this^?


its all personal preference..

 

no, base birds could have no gfx, as the gfx was an option, but it was a very popular option, so they are rare without, but they are out there.

 

I say no to clone cars. Not saying you shouldn't make your Firebird look like a Trans Am. What I'm saying is, make your Firebird look how you want, but I wouldn't call it something that it isn't.(same goes for z28s and sport coupes) Be proud of the car you own. My

Either way I'm sure it'll look good. Just depends on personal preference.

 

WRONG!
(I'm just trying to stop the rampant spread of misinformation)

The ground effects on the base birds were part of an optional appearance package (W68). Granted, the vast majority of the 91/92 birds were ordered with them but, they were available without them. I haven't seen many of them in person but they do exist.



To the OP- Go for it! That's exactly what I did with mine. The only thing that I'm lacking is the T/A hood, and I have one on the way. But, if you're going to do it then do it right and go all out, even down to the suspension and drive train.

 

Very interesting ! would like to see a pic of 91/92 base vert without the ground effects. I wonder how they cover up shorted front fenders ?

 

I say just do the wheels and sway bars. Hood does belong to a T/A, but it's your car, if you can find a dent free one go for it. As for the tail lights, you could always spot a thirdgen firebird from up the street by those wide red horizontal lights. Not only that, it's kinda retro of the 1st gen firebird tails. Polish up the stock units and center peice and call it a day.
____________________________________
Malaysia Flights
Kuala Lumpur Accommodation

 

Only thirdgenners are going to notice difference and half of them won't care. Do whatever you want. At a glance it looks like a TA already. If you went with nonfactory wheels then the only thing separating it visually are the taillights/hood.

 

They look like a Formula with a flat hood and pedestal spoiler and 15" wheels.

 

bumpity bump bumps!

 

I have a set of bumpers off of a 92 bird with no ground effects, trust me they are out there, but very hard to get your hands on them. It just sucks that I have no use for mine so they'll be going back out just as fast as I got them. I love the 91/92 formula look, and would have gone that route had I found the front bumper faster. Of course in my situation I found a cherry 1990 v6 with the appearance package (85-90 Trans AM Kit) in mint shape so I ended up going full blown Trans Am, and of course, as mentioned above, only die hard thirdgenners would notice my firebird fenders, which would hint at GTA, with the lack of GTA parts.

Its your car, enjoy it to the fullest, it's going to be another 15-20 years before anyone is talking about value and rarity.