Ok, I have looked up and down on almost every post.. looking for pictures or advice on how to mount the bracket for my side skirts. The car is a 89 Firebird. I have seen some pictures but nothing thats detailed enough for me to do it. Can anybody help. im sick of looking at my car with the GTA bumpers but no skirts..

I will post pics of the brackets i have. i believe their the ones that came off the GTA...

 

Does anyone have any ideas.. i want to get these on there asap

 

I converted an 83 Firebird to 85-90 TA GFX. It was very time consuming to get everything lined up properly. I welded the brackets for the side skirts on the car. I had to tack weld and grind lots of times to get them hung w/ the proper door gaps.

You can either do what I did, or you can make tabs like the factory GFX cars had (they were welded to the rockers of the factory GFX cars). You could definitely make brackets and rivet them through the body w/ pop rivets if you won't have a welder (or worst case, use sheet metal screws). But it is not easy to get the brackets in the exact locations when you are just holding the skirts up to the car and guessing how it's supposed to be aligned.

The brackets you have will missing the body tabs that you have to make.

Getting rid of the horrible Formula bumperette bumpers is the best thing you can do to a 3rd gen.

 

When I put the rocker brackets on my 87 Camaro, I just used some self-tapping screws. I used 5 per side and they hold the bracket on nicely. I am not sure if firebirds are the same, but the same style should work.

 

Thanks. I have the stock GFX brackets. they came off of a 85 with the rest of my kit. I might be able to get a welder to use but would prolly end up using rivets.

I am just confused on what position to mount them. im going to take a pic tomorrow and put it on here with some possible positions..

 

I tried using rivets, but it didn't work out. It may have just been bad rivets, but they didn't pull the bracket tight against the rocker panel. Also, screws would be better if you ever have to remove the bracket for some reason (as unlikely as it may be).

For position, I just drilled the hole for the mounting bolt on the back of the piece, put the nut on, then lined the front up where it should be with the fender. Then I drew a line across the top of the rocker GFX piece. I then measured 1/4'' down from that line (creating the "second line") and lined the top of the bracket up with the second line.

 

I added a gfx kit to an 87 sport coupe about 12 years ago so my memory may be a bit weak. From what I can remember, the door pieces had a bunch of threaded studs on them and I used wet paint on the tips of all the studs to figure out where I had to drill in the door. I just coated all the studs and then carefully lined up the door piece where I thought it should go and then pressed it up againt the outside of the door. The paint transfered over to the door and then I just drilled the holes out. I attached the panel with the OEM acorn nuts and then moved on to the outer piece. I used a few pieces of wood to hold up the panel where it needed to go and then dabbed paint the brackets and used the same method I used for the first piece. I drilled 2 holes for the front and slipped my hand behind the inner fender to attach the acorn nuts. The back was a lot more involved since I had to remove the interior panel to gain access so I could put the 2 nuts on. GM put a nice little square cutout on the car so someone could get to the nuts.

Now remember, I did this like 12 years ago when I was 18 or something so I dont remember much. I hope this helps you somewhat. Just remember to take your time. There should not be any welding going on. I dont see a need for it but then again, I havent been in that area of my car in a LONG time so I cant really picture what is going on there. Good luck and get some pics. it may refresh my memory some.