so a few weeks ago i bought myself an 83 dodge ram, in turn has given me an excuse to take apart my bird and completely redo it (other than the paint which is original and near perfect) i was just gonna rebuild the carb at first and drive it like that but i found out that the car eats batterys so i had to set it aside and buy another vehicle (me and fiance need 2 cars) since it was just the camaro for abit... anyways today i started on the tear down and found a few problems the last owner forgot to mention like the hot/cold cable doesnt move at all and i bent the cable, and then the reason for the speedometer not working was that there was no plug at all for it :/ so now to start the progress...

first heres how it sounds

http://youtu.be/sCW4ZiFz680

now for pics












also i posted a while back asking about my windsheild being funky, well... it seems the problem got worse

 

not much progress yet, i have the entire carpet and insulation taken out of the trunk, all plastics are off, center console is off, and all of the seats are out. no pics as i lost my camera :/ but im estatic as im finding there is no rust that i can spot anywhere on the car other than the exuast and the battery rest

 

ok, so far the truckcarpet is removed, door panels are off, seats are out, center console is out, and now im finding even more mysterious plugs, and even no plugs where ther should be(aka defrost and 3rdBL) i was also running the engine since its been run like 3 times in the past 4 months the car is in the backyard, it was facing the fence so i turned it the other way... what fun that was.... i come to find out all the tranny fluid leaked out of the car so it moved maybe 5ft. so i put some more in and got it moving... also tearing the yard up in the process (its a powerful little 305)




and heres some pics of new mysterious wires, they are in where the center console goes next to the shifter

 

ok, my tear down was refueled today since im selling my a/c system. i finally started tear down of the engine, (i know im slow at this but im usually doing other stuff)

 

Good Luck dude I'll subscribe and keep an eye on this I was born in 1986 and I love birds'. I am semi-restoring my 84 t/a wanted to do a frame up restoration and realized there was no way I could afford it any time soon. So I stuck to paint, rebuild engine and undercoating. It's easy for the most part and exciting disassembling the car. Getting it back together is going to be another story I am thinking haha. Keep on Keepin oonnn!!!

 

yeah, this project will defiantly be a few years, im gonna try and max out this little 305 just because people generally dislike it and favor the 350 more, hopefully i can get the wiring harness trimmed up (many unused wires) so i can get the interior back in soon and have more room in the shed XD

 

there ya go...previous owner of my car made a complete mess of the wires dropping in the 350. Going to attempt to clean it up when I drop the engine back in, in the next month or so. Jegs is running some decent specials for Crate 350's if your looking to upgrade. What's ur plan for an interior?

 

subscribing, threads like these reminds me of what my car looked like just a few years ago.

Just keep at it, and it'll be done in no time!

 

the interior was tan, but PO spraypainted it black, and he grabbed 91 T/A parts which didnt work since i dont have the over the shoulder belts in the rear, so i'm selling the rear panels, i like how it looks black so im gonna do it al in black but keep it in the early 80's parts, i got replacement panels for the spray painted ones from an 84-85 camaro. im keeping the front seats ant the top part of the rear seats he put in since they are in great condition, but i need new rear buckets because they got painted. as of right now im looking for black vinyl door panels to replace the white vinyl ones that are on it. and need a new carpet.

 

ok, today i i removed most of the plugs from the engine and i have the a/c entirely out. i'm finding so many melted, orphaned, and "modded" wires its really not funny... all i have left to do on the engine is divorce the transmission, and dissconnect the fuel lines... then get an engine hoist some how... i do have the engine stand thankfully

 

so i was hoping to beable to afford to buy some parts off of some people on the forums, but the selling of a 4l60-e transmission i had fell through, so if any of you are reading this that i was talking to im sorry,on to the car

since funds are scarce for me right now im just working with what i got, i decided to not use the 2 piece center console in favor of a single piece one from an 84 T/A, i found a nice t shift **** from a saturn s-seris car that feels alot better than the firebird t-**** (and i dont have to use the camaro **** anymore) i cleaned up the floor pans and started putting the interior back together, and as soon as i can get up to wally world im gonna pick up a cookie sheet to cover the holes left over from where the a/c used to be on the firewall then put the dash back on, and get to work on the engine

 

Just following along...

 

I have an 86 TA tpi I'm working on also(I'm in Michigan so I have more rust) just keep the faith.

 

I have an 86 T/A that I'm always finding something on it to make better...lol.

 

UPDATE: i've been tinkering around with the car, i found a few alarming problems, first being that its going through gas like crazy, and the oil smells like gas.... when i go to turn on the car i hear the truck release motor runningtill i let go of the ignition

 

If I had a garage I'd be doing a frame restore on my 86 TA but I guess i just get to do paint and odds and ends to make the appearance better.

 

Amen brother.....that's exactly what I do. I just put some new wheels on my 86 and I ordered some Dr. Colorchip stuff to blend in my paint scratches and whatnot. I've read a lot of good things about them. You send them your paint code and they custom make it for you.

 

Well, i was finally able to get the bird on the cement slab in front of the shed so i can tear down more

 

Looks like you have a project on your hands!!! LOL

 

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, Car's on a piece of concrete (better than dirt lol) anyway I don't know if you have one of these but this is a life saver for me. (I'm in florida too) http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trai...-Blue/21063166
I got this from walmart for like 50 bucks, best money ever spent. I use to have to wait to work on my car cause of the heat. I would only have like 3 to 4 hours, now I can do it pretty much anytime. I don't know if you have one or some type of shade/shelter, if not get one. (I put it up and take it down each time so it doesn't blow away lol) Makes a world of differents. Oh I use a cheap fan with it also, Next best thing to a garage lol.

 

btw your bird awesome I like it It has a sleek look to it.

 

yesterday i took the carb off and found that the intake manifold is toasty..... also the thermostat housing wanted a fight, but lost to a torque ratchet, and one of the bolts snapped of in it.... great thing im not using this engine










and here you should be able to see the war that the engine wanted, if you cant see right click the picture click view image and on that screen hold ctrl and move your mouse wheel forward

 

Good Luck. just got done with the engine and engine bay on mine. now its all gutted out to get refinished. just take your time and try not to take any shortcuts. you'll regret it about 10 minutes after.

 

took off the Y-pipe and the cat today, gonna tackle the transmission tomorrow

 

long time no up date... anyways, im hoping to get an engine hoist this holiday season and finally get this heap of crap out of my engine bay...


got the dash back together with a mix match dash/console combo haha. i like it, also the computer is where it should be as of now, just not in the pic






then birds do this >


so i cleaned it off

 

got the engine hoist a few days ago, now to get workin' on the engine pics will come as i progress

 

Keep at it. Don't get it to where you don't like to drive it.

 

finally got the engine out

 

Keep up the good work man, I'm bad about taking my time on projects, but if you keep at it you will get it. The car looks soild to start so that's always a plus.

 

got a 1979 350 SBC coming if everything goes according to plan

 

If your build up for the engine is going to be daily driver but "spirited," then you might want to keep your heads and intake off of your 305.

I've read on here lots of guys really like those heads for use on a 350. Your intake is aluminum, and a Quadrajet is gonna give you the best mileage for a carb setup.

 

yeah, i know about that but im trading engines so i cant keep them..

but i am keeping the quadrajet

 

UPDATE: i now have the 350

 

 

it seems my path has changed, i was trading my wornout 700r4 for a TH350 but it turns out what the dude gave me was a TH400 so now im gonna beef up the engine since i would have to get a new torque arm anyways since theres no mount on the 400

 

Good Stuff man keep going im just about to go at my 87 z 28 im sure theres gonna be alot of bumps in the road lol

 

yeah, there will be some bumps i can attest to that, i started this thread almost a year ago and still trudging along lol

 

Lol yeah I'm pretty sure I'll be there myself soon any tips or things to avoid?

 

if you want your car running sooner than later avoid swaps...