Well, this started before I went to Iraq, and now that i'm back, here's some pics. Dropped the car off at Hawk's ThirdGen, and he handled it all. Some of the pics are crappy, but you'll get the idea.

3 more be4 pics... BTW it's been sitting in the yard for quite some time after the last motor blew...

rollbar progress, pretty standard type 8 pt., plus diagonal bar and door sill bars. Driver's side swingout.

in primer, with cage painted hammertone Grey. Also notice toyota rear door handles.

Engine compartment gloss black as opposed to 1985 road grime...

Back from paint, they forgot to fill the antenna hole, but that got fixed. Also 91-92 TA tails, not yet smoked, and 4th gen TA spoiler.

Last one for now, I'll let the pics speak for themselves, any specifics post up and i'll answer.

looks awesome!!!! where in iraq did you go? TQ, AL Asad, Fallujah,?????

Slightly above Baghdad (undisclosed Location) then to Bucca. Woo Hoo. That's what I get for going from maintenance to Military Police.

Looks VERY nice, I like it alot.

Looks great, looks like how I am planning on building my firebird once i get around to finishing my iroc what are your plans for the motor/trans/rear?

motor is my existing 406 (right now, it exists in my Florida room, getting a MoTown block to cope with the T72 turbo) trans is a viper t56 also in the Florida room, and the Moser 9 inch with aluminum centersection is in the car now, with LS1 rear brakes on it. 3.90 gears.

If you don't mind my asking, how much did that paint job run ya?

that looks killer! I love the hood and spoiler combo in black. very slick

thats pretty friggen awesome man! good choice on the 4th gen wing along with the RA hood

lol nice f-body graveyard btw

Looks good but I hate the 4th gen wing... Stock TA wing FTW

no, don't mind i suppose. $5300 paint & labor, including door handle parts, rebuilding door hinges, installing 100% new weatherstripping. Not including other body parts.
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Actually, not black. It's a late model GM Truck color, Carbon Metallic, kinda like a metallic gunmetal.
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I was kinda torn, but i went with the spoiler to kinda go with the new hood. i prefer the stock TA wing with a flat hood or cowl.

You may also notice the GTA fenders, i couldn't stand the factory vents. And ignore the antenna hole in the fender, that's gone now, there was a miscommunication on whether i wanted it or not, and was filled shortly after these pics.

Goin up to pick up the car on the 1st, i'll post up some better pics hopefully, it'll be the first time i've seen the completed car in person, last time i saw it in person was the in-primer pics.

Wow, that looks awesome. I don't think I would be able to sleep knowing that was waiting for me at home.

Awesome car dude. Can't wait to see more pics.

looks good . real good .

Wow...that seems like a pretty good price for a decent looking paint job!

I eventually want to paint my 86 black...because I miss my 87 And I can honestly say I would trust Hawks over just about anyone to work on my thirdgen. Didnt know they could do body work/paint though.

Looks great!

J.

They didn't do the paint, Bruce has a shop in town he works closely with that does all of his paint and body on the 3rd and 4th gens. He was just the one who handled it, and got the parts and such for the full treatment. Doug, the painter, did admit to under-quoting the job, but he stuck to his original quote, which i even felt was maybe a little under what i was expecting to pay. I do know he probably wouldn't do the same exact thing for the same price.

Yeah I kinda figured Bruce sourced some of the work out... However if he approves of a shop to work on a thirdgen, Ill trust them equally. I would just like the fact that Bruce was overseeing the work.

Even if the price was higher... it would still be in the $6k range probably. And Ide MUCH rather hand my car over to Bruce with a $6k check vs. paying more or less at some other shop that doesnt know 3rd gens. These cars have a lot of little quirks and areas that need special attention. And if I were to give my car to another shop, Ide be worried they screw something up. Break my GFX and have to tape them back on or something dumb.

So, the color you have now is a like a dark graphite metallic sorta??? Ide really like to see some better pics of that. Definetly in the sun. Thats what Im thinking about going with instead of straight black. I like that color because it pops in the sunlight alittle, but in low light, looks black still. When you get time (no hurry because Im years away from paint. haha ) I wouldnt mind seeing some better/closer pics of it.

Looks great!

J.

Hey do you know how much just for the cage? Im needing to get one done really soon and my dad and I dont know if we can do it and it be right..

I have a hard time trusting my car to ANYBODY other than myself, but Bruce is really an honest guy, and his painter is a really good guy also, who has done a lot of these cars for Hawk's. I'm getting the car saturday, and i'll post some better pics as soon as i can, the pics don't do the color justice, you can kinda see the metallic in the front and rear bumper pics, but not that well. Real detail work, all new stainless screws in the GFX, and the like. For the level of work that i saw in person of the car in primer, (the engine bay was base/cleared black when i saw it) i'm probably underpaying.

The cage was $1300, but that's because it's all custom bent, not a kit, but i don't recommend his cage guy at all. I had to send the car back after I saw the welds right after it was done. I don't agree with the way some of the other portions of the cage were done, but it'll be ok. If i had to do it over again, i'd buy a S&W cage kit, ad the door sill bars and diagonal bar myself, and save the money. I'm a welder/fabricator by trade, and was hoping to get better quality than i could have done, but didn't get it. It was definitely not Bruce's fault, and he offered to have it totally re-done, but told him it'd be ok like it is.

Car looks good man, and welcome back! Sorry to post my question in your thread as it's not about your ride, but I can only read so many threads... I was wondering if anyone knew what might cause about an inch and a half gap between the hood and the front bumper on a 1985 TA? The hood line is flush with the bottom of the headlights but the "ramp" on the nose is much lower than the one shown in your before pics. My father in laws swears thats just the way the hood fits but every pic I've seen shows the nose with maybe a 1/4" gap between it and the hood. Anyway, thanks in advance for any replies and apologies for hijacking your thread.

looks REAL nice. I cant really tell that its not black either. I like the door handles too, and of course your hood and spoiler choice. (wonder why). The only thing I would change if it were my car, is to black out the sidemarkers instead of clear em. But thats just me.

What kinda plans do you have for the interior?

btw, you are inspiring me to want to paint my car black.

i'll get some better pics of the paint since it's home now. The sidemarkers and tails will be blacked out when i get a chance to get new sidemarkers, i just haven't gotten them yet.
The interior is in the middle of conversion from deluxe (carpet covered) grey to black, i have most of the panels except the kicks and door sills installed, along with the new carpet cut around the rollbar is in now. getting a 4th gen black TA console. i'll post some pics of that soon too.