jonhues3

Hi all! I just bought a 92 Firebird (3.1 V6) and I'd like some opinions as to what to do, and I have some questions about some things with the car. I'm uploading pics to illustrate. The car came with everything you see on it, including the 85 T/A nose and tail, which required some wiring mods to make the blinkers work. In order to get it running, the fuel pump had to be replaced, which I did at home; with a little help. Now I'm trying to find ways to bring her back up to speed as far as paint shine, engine performance, etc., and I'm open to ideas.



Question 1: my t-tops seem to be Sunbaked or something...I'm not sure. They scratch easily, and it almost seems like the tint is "chalky"...it looks like this


Question 2: the offset on my rear hatch seems a little extreme to me. It doesn't leak, but the back of the hatch hangs over the edge of the rear, and the gap b/w the roof and the hatch seems a bit far...



and finally, question 3: this may be the worst of all of them, but what kind of rims are these, and should I sell them or keep them? I have some 20 slot alloys (16x8)

navy02ws6

Welcome to the board. Looks like you might have an 85 T/A rear bumper, but your front bumper is definitely off a 1985-90 base model Firebird or Formula, and not a T/A. Looks like someone has added base model 1982-85 Firebird taillights as well.

As far as the t-tops, it looks like your car still has the original Lexan tops, and not the glass ones that were used on earlier models. They're scratched up because the coating has oxidized/failed, which is EXTREMELY common with these tops. I highly recommend buying a set of glass ones instead, you can usually pick up a pair used for under $100 at a junkyard. Just make sure you save your Lexan ones until you transfer the locks onto your new ones, otherwise you'll never be able to lock them.

Is there a brake light mounted at the top of your rear window? I can't really tell for sure from the photos. If there's no brake light, then I would guess someone has swapped your rear hatch to an earlier one (1982-85) as well. Regardless, there shouldn't be that big of a gap, particularly where the bottom of the hatch meets the rear quarter panels. Unless something is bent or damaged, you should be able to have the hatch realigned by a body shop.

As for the wheels...they look like Centerlines maybe. I absolutely hate this style of wheel on anything but an old truck, so I'd say they need to go, but that's just me. I like factory wheels, and that's about it as far as third gen's go for me. Also, the wrong size tires make the car look just plain stupid. Assuming it's still there, there should be a label in the driver's door jamb area that will tell you the factory tire size.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I can answer a question or two for you. First the T Tops are made of lexan or to put it simpler plexiglass/plastic. Having the chalky and checked lokk is common. most people choose to replace them with glass T Tops from a earlier year Camaro or Firebird app 84? on.
As for the rear hatch the gap at the top rear will look big and it is not uncommon to have the hatch lid hang over on the back. the proper fix is to unbolt and reseal/bond the lid to the glass and rebolt it together. I have over simplifiedand left out many steps but there are some excellent threads on here for how to do this. Search for hatch alignment. You are sure to find a good how to thread.
As for the wheels those are cheap chrome plated wheels. They are not what most of us on here would want but is up to you. I would look into some aluminum wheels and 16 or 17 inch is popular.
The front bumper is a 85-90 formula base and the rear is probably the same. Both designed for no ground effects. As mentioned the tail ights are 82-85 base tail lights.


I bought my 91 for 600 and got a bunch of spare parts with it. I swapped then front and rear bumpers and ground effects to 85-90 T/A and a 82-84 powerbulge hood and 82-84 T/A tail lights. Almost all the parts used were from the spare parts I received.

jonhues3

@navy, thanks! I've been reading these boards for weeks, trying to decide whether or not to actually buy the car, what I would need, etc, and it's been a great help. There is a brake light on the hatch, the glare cut it out.

As for the wheels, I hate them just as much, I want to sell them. Like I said, I have the 16x8s off of a T/A, what I didn't say was that I have a new tail and bumper as well, I'll post pics, I haven't put them on yet. I've been looking into GFX, this car DEFINITELY had them, at least at one point...I've got the wing-looking piece on the bottom of the passenger door, but no rocker, and as for the driver side, the rail is all that's left. Bolt holes galore.

I love the taillights...one of the things I like most about this particular bit.

is there a way to scrape and refinish the lexan t tops? or is there no hope for those suckers?

lastly, I only paid 700 for the car, with 75k original miles; but I'm in college so that's actually quite a bit. I'd love advice on cheap ways to make her better. I'll be back with pics of the nose/tail.

naf

iTrader: (7)

You can't fix the gap at the top of the hatch by re-seating the deck lid. That will only re-align the deck lid with the rear and leave that gap. That much gap is usually caused by bent hinges. There is a few eighths of adjustment where the hinges bolt to the roof but not that much. The hinges get bent over time by the stress of the struts pushing the decklid out (and opening and closing).

Looks like maybe an '84 nose and rear bumper?

You can search for some threads on polishing the lexan tops. Can't say it would work but some have reported good results.

jonhues3

here's the pics I promised of the new nose and tail, as well as the 20 slots I got

navy02ws6

Sweet, looks like you've got your work cut out for you. As far as sourcing parts, the junkyards are your best friend. I hit the pull-a-parts around here (Atlanta), I believe they now have locations in NC too. Anything you get off a car there is dirt cheap, check out the price list here http://www.pullapart.com/pricing.asp...c=7&#pricelist . They also list current in stock cars for each location on their website, which is helpful too.

89TACOREY

my 89 firebird has the same issue. the rear window and deck lid are way to far bad. message me if you figured out how to fix that.