I have an 85 Firebird T/A. The floors are shot the frame is bent just usable body parts. I just bought a 91 T/A that has been involved in a rear end accident. It being the car that rear ended the other. Will the fenders , hood ,nose, and core support from the 85 fit on the 91? Ant help will be appreciated.

 

The parts should swap over. You will need to use the headlights (and motors) from the 85 on the 91. I think the headlight wiring is differn't on the 91-92's than the earlier ones. It may be as simple as changing the location of the pins in the socket or swaping the headlight harness. The core support should fit, but it's welded on. Before removing from the donor car, take measurements (from a common referance point). Use the measurements to make sure it goes on square.

 

ok Thanks for the info. I have never done body work. What is the best way to remove the core support? Maybe carefully with an angle grinder?

 

There is a special drill bit for removing spot welds. Looks like it has a ring of saw teeth on the end with a point in the middle. It cuts the top layer of sheet metal around the perimeter of the weld so you can separate the two pieces. Check the local body shop supply stores for one, Harbor Freight, or most online parts sites for one. An angle grinder will remove WAY too much metal, no matter how careful you are.

Buy some replacement cutters as well. They come in a 3-pack, and they never seem to stay sharp very long for me. There are a LOT of spot welds on that core support.

 

ok thanks for the info. Would never have known about the drill bits

 

Probably a little late, but...

The 91 Bird at the junkyard that I'm pulling my replacement quarter from was a car that rear-ended SOMETHING. Let me just say this... Get under the car and make sure the front frame rails haven't separated from the passenger's compartment. If they have, you're probably wasting your time and money.

Also, the car may need more than just a radiator support... There's diagrams around of body measurements. Measure and inspect before you do ANYTHING else.

And Harbor Freight sells the spot weld cutter... About $5 each, IIRC, but you won't find replacement heads there. Don't expect to use both sides of it, either, as I had one that I wore out one side of the cutter on, tried to get the cutter loose to flip it, and it broke in half . Still can't believe I spent $8 on that cheap thing...

 

Thanks for the input. The car hit a truck so the nose went under the back bumper of the truck pushing the hood up and the very top of the core back. The bumper under the nose was not even touched and is still usable, also just the drivers side fender got damaged just at the top. I'm replacing both fenders anyway with the fenders of my 85 T/A because the have the cool looking vents at the back near the door. lol

 

Again, check those front subframe mounts. That's the way the 91 in the yard seems to have been hit, pushing everything in at the top and the bumper and such down. I guess that the whole front end got smashed high and that's what ripped the front frames off of the floor pans under the front of the trans tunnel.

 

That's odd. I have bought my last few cutters there and haven't had any problems with them breaking. One of the local body shop supply stores carries them, but at $13 for the bit and $10 for 3 replacement cutters it almost isn't worth it for small jobs. I do wish HF carried the replacements as I can't even find them online for cheaper.

To the OP:

Definitely take measurements. If the top of the core support was pushed back you want to make sure the fender support arms didn't buckle in the corners. And check the ends of the frame rails as Maverick metioned. I would also check the battery trays in the front corners. If you have one that is rusting out(as they tend to do) then now would be a good time to replace it as well. If you're cutting a piece out of a JY car, make sure you cut lots of extra metal. You can always trim it down easily, but adding metal because the piece you cut out is 1/2" short is very difficult.

 

i swapped the hood, fenders, and bumper from an 89 to a 87. it worked perfectly.
i left the fenders connected to the front bumper which made the swap easy to line up


I tried not to move the front end, in order to not bend it. I took it off then removed the totaled car and drove my good car right up to the front end sitting on the ground.

 

I didn't buy the HF spot weld cutter... At the time, I didn't even know HF was local. I got mine off of eBay, which probably explains the quality, and it only had the one cutter head.

arnold, if the driver's side battery tray is good in either of the wrecks, I'd like to buy it if you'd like to sell... Mine got cut out last fall because it literally was so bad it was about to drop the battery right out of the engine bay. I can't get a new replacement for it as only passenger's side ones are available (for the V8's... The V6 cars got screwed in that department).

 

I am going to the local junk yard tomorrow they have 8 of the 3rd generations sitting. If i see a good drivers side ill grab it up and sell it to you for what i got it for. The one in my 85 is gone as well and I'm keeping my 91 since I"m fixing the front end.