Hey guys/gals,

How did your 3rd gen start out? junk? show queen? new from the factory?

I'm just curious, mine was definitely a rag...major rag.

Post some pics of your Day 1, when you brought it home, I bet there are some good ones out there.

Here are some pics of my '83 Z, no wheels/tires, no engine or tranny...in fact, not much of anything besides the body and a rotted interior.

(interior pics from day 1 can be found here: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...storation.html )

 

When I first got it I was around 18 years old and found it behind this guys house near a small pond. Bought it for $200 no engine/tranny.

Took it to my grandparents house where I had all sorts of space and tools then cleaned it up to find out the paint was still really good with a few spots of chipping near the T-Tops.

Around the end of that summer my grandfather and I rebuilt an engine found a recently rebuilt transmission and put it in the car. Only by then I was heading off to college and was broke for the next four years. Just recently I was able to start doing things to it again.

 

Good story, glad you could get back to it!

 

This is my First T/A 1989 Gun Metal GTA. with the intention of restoring it. after a Divorce it was impossible. but it became my Parts T/A.

 

This is My Second Trans Am 1985 305. I bought it with the insurance Money from a Accident with my Grand Marquis.

 

My third and current Trans Am 1989 GTA.

 

The day I got it home

and the day I pulled it out of the garage after we got it done

 

Those are some awesome looking birds!!

 

Coming in on the rollback-

 

6 months later

 

Nice! love the one headlight.

Looks like she turned out nice in the end

 

Here's my 1989 Pontiac Firebird Formula WS6. It was mostly apart when I saw it for the first time. My Dad restores cars as a hobby, and I am his garage assistant for this project . I have to say, I cannot wait to drive it when the weather finally warms up!

It still has the one and only original inspection sticker, exp Nov 1989, with 26,132 original miles. This car was taken apart about 24 years ago, partially restored, and sat in a garage since. It has all the original parts, and I've had to replace some minor things, like the lift cylinders for the hood and hatch and lug nuts, but other than that, it's all there. It was like putting together a life sized kit car. Waiting for the carpet to arrive; decided to replace it rather than try to clean it up.

 

And the alignment pushed the steering wheel 90 degrees out of kilter.

 

this my 91 RS the day I brought it home


and this is how it sit today


this my 91 Z28 the day it came home


and this is it today

well it actually sits on a set chrome zr1 rims now

 

Found it on Auto trader in FL (pic 1)

Had it shipped to NJ, carrier dropped it off the trailer on I 95 in FL, smashed the *** end up ..... (pic 2 - delivery day)

Insurance co bought me new paint, engine work, and new tires, and a few other things (Pic 3)

 

The first day, June 2010.
With the old smoky 305.




And now, October 2013 before winter!
Brand new engine, wheels, drops, etc.

 

My $300 roller, Soon as winter breaks the new engine and trans goes in !!!

 

These are all beautiful cars, guys, thanks for sharing!!

and Jersey89GTA: that's insane about it falling off the trailer!!

 

Here's my Firebird right after I got it home from San Antonio 6/30/12.

 

My first new car: 1982 Z28, black with silver-grey interior, purchased in the spring of 1982. Here are 3 of several pics I have. Not sure when I took the pics, but I only had this car for one year. Sold it in the spring of 1983 after ordering a 1983 Z28 HO.

 

That's a clean Formula!

Awesome pics of the '82, that sounds really exciting!

 

My second new thirdgen: 1983 Z28 HO, black with charcoal interior, special-ordered for me in the spring of 1983; it arrived until July. Removed the red exterior stripes. Installed a 140 mph "Z28" speedometer. Added Bilstein shocks. The car is pictured in a parking lot at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon during a road trip to CA. Not a great pic, but it's my only pic. Car was stolen in the spring of 1986, never recovered.

My third new thirdgen: 1987 Firebird Formula, black with medium dark grey interior. After my 1983 was stolen, I spent the summer test driving nearly every make and model of similar cars, without finding anything I liked. So in October of 1986, I special-ordered my Formula, and I still have it. At the time I lived in the Chicago area; moved to CA in 1989.

 

Wow, that stinks about the '83. It's great to hear you still have the Formula

 

mine looked awesome when i bought it.now it has faded paint,dented quarter,and a 24 year old top.

 

Bought mine in 2011 in SC. Brought it back home to NJ the day after i got it. My parents were not too happy but nothing they could do. I paid for it with my own money.

 

When bought:

More recent:


Paint has faded/peeled, but at least I got a spoiler!

 

damn that looks amazing

 

 

Here are a couple of my recent purchase the day it came off the car hauler from Georgia.

 

Fwiw, one of my favorite cars here.

 

What Color White Is That ?? Is it a stock GM color or ???

Thanks

 

Saved up all the money from washing dishes in high school and bought this right after christmas my senior year. Still looks the same but now has a vortec 350 installed. T56, C6 wheels, racing seats, tubular suspension, and an aluminum color plasti dip kit are going on in spring

 

Yea, and the good part is they tried to say it was a hit and run ... screwed up the insurance claim for a while til we got the police report. Said they didn't know it fell off, had to intercept the truck 10 miles up the road and return it to the scene ... long story short got paid finally from insurance co (mine).
Then 3 weeks later they delivered it, rained for 3 days while coming from FL to NJ, had 3" of water in trunk well along with and inch of broken glass ....

I was madder than a wet hen !!

 

WOW. Well it sure looks great today!!

 

My first thirdgen and first car. Bought with 180,xxx miles, now 280,xxx miles and going strong, aside from a bad icm and coil, lol.

 

Before and after

 

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This picture is after I cleaned the exterior but here is my 92 dd showing the good side. It now has a blue powerbulge hood and keystone classic wheels but those will be changing soon.

 

$300 shell





And now

 

Wish I had a video showing my mother screaming at me when I pulled into the driveway with my Camaro at 19. "TAKE THAT F**KI*G CAR BACK TO WHERE YOU BOUGHT IT FROM!!" Guess she didn't really like the fact that I had a better car than hers. LOL

 

Ha, nice. $300 well spent!

 

Its crazy to think, thats what I started with and to know im only in it for roughly about $2g now

 

yeah, that's really good, junkyards are amazing places

 

Here is my 91 RS when I brought it home. Hated those chrome wheelwell dress up #$*&. Pulled those off as soon as I got her home.

 

That's funny.

Amazing how many cars that we are seeing survived from becoming parts cars .... lots of survivors.

 

Here's mine getting unloaded from the transporter.

 

I agree, makes me proud to own one!

great cars/stories, guys!

 

Do you have any pics of the side of your car with the WS6 wheels installed?

 

I bought my 1985 Sport Coupe in the summer of 1986 with around 11,295 miles. At the time the car was perfect. Now 28 years later it needs some work. Below is a shot of it on the trailer bringing it back from a friend's place where I had been storing it for a couple years. Check out my build thread for more updates. (1985 Sport Coupe - The Resurrection)

 

Proof that Formulas are just better.