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ConvertiblesDiscussed here are problems and solutions to convertible specific questions, including difficult to find part numbers and other convertible tech help.
Just bought this yesterday. 83,000 miles. Previous owner painted the hood and read deck with what looks like white rustoleum. Project number one is to deal with that and a general cleaning. It's filthy.
Last edited by Vanilla Ice; Jan 23, 2016 at 10:29 PM.
Yes manual was a stipulation when I was looking.
Tentative plans are to restore to as close to new as reasonable.
Fabricate a hardtop. Yes, I'll actually do it.
Turbo.
In no particular order. This will be a many year project.
Cleaned up a bit today.
Fog light switch bezel pulled and cleaned. Checked switch to repair, must get a new one.
Wiped dash, gauges, lower dash panel. So damn dirty.
Installed previous owners trash shift plate and pleather boot. Ripped off destroyed shift **** leather wrap. Pulled stereo faceplate cleaned up box ac controls and stereo.
Wiped steering wheel down too.
Interior is now a 1/10 instead of 0.5/10.
Also cleaned and installed e brake handle.
All center console and stereo box must be replaced. Fog light bezel sags. Need to replace. Ac control can stay.
Bought some OEM parts recently:
Rear view mirror.
Headlight switch panel.
Fog light switch
Center console lid. In decent shape. (Temporary until I get a new reman.)
My brother also donated some front cloth seats to ride me over until I can get the OEMs reupholstered.
I also found my stereo bezel from my OG 92 firebird from high school and an OEM near mint condition leather shift **** in my parts bins as well.
Going to wait to fix the paint issue until summer when I have more time.
Installed rear sway bar endlinks so no more bolts jingling under the car.
Found two and hopefully all exhaust leaks that I'll weld up when I get free time.
IIRC the fog light panel is convertible specific, as the coupe's T Tops had extra switches for heated window hatch release etc, and a lot of them got drilled for alarm led's or ugly aftermarket switches. Is it actually warped? or just fitting badly? I mention this because mine has 3 small holes drilled for alarm led's and when i see yours with no holes it makes me cringe to think its heading for the bin!
Nice find btw with the manual trans and all, I wish you good luck with restoring her back to original.
Do you already have a set of original seats to be re-done?
Project is coming along nicely! I will recommend spending a little money and replacing the interior lighting with LED. It makes a huge difference in how usable the interior is at night. I just bought them off e-bay, 5 smd 194s for the mirror, and 44mm rigid loop festoons (I went with 12 smd ones) for the rear panels.
IIRC the fog light panel is convertible specific, as the coupe's T Tops had extra switches for heated window hatch release etc, and a lot of them got drilled for alarm led's or ugly aftermarket switches. Is it actually warped? or just fitting badly? I mention this because mine has 3 small holes drilled for alarm led's and when i see yours with no holes it makes me cringe to think its heading for the bin!
Nice find btw with the manual trans and all, I wish you good luck with restoring her back to original.
I wouldn't say the panel is convertible specific but it's not going to be that easy to find a single switch one. Both rear defrost and the hatch release were options, so any car that didn't have them but had the ground effects would have a single switch panel. I would guess that some of the cars without ground effects on only one of the other options would also have the single hole. The most common, I would think, are the ones with all 3 holes, but my 1990 base model had one with 2 holes, and my 1991 Formula has one with no holes!
The guy I bought from gave me the original seats. They need new padding and leather but they are the OEM.
That panel will never see the trash. I am hardcore for keeping as much original as possible. I am going to use a heat gun and some clamps to straighten it out.
Wow, nice project.
Needs some work but nothing to bad the way it looks.
Interesting that it has a 82-84 dashpad in it.
To me I think the 4thgen seats used a lesser quality leather/pleather seat cover than the 3rds did.
Wow, nice project.
Needs some work but nothing to bad the way it looks.
Interesting that it has a 82-84 dashpad in it.
To me I think the 4thgen seats used a lesser quality leather/pleather seat cover than the 3rds did.
Yeah they swapped out a lot of weird parts. Door panels, power antennae, power windows. It must have been sitting in the sun for years and was replaced with the cheapest parts available.
And fourth gen seats are much lower quality in every way.
Fixed the HVAC unit. Now I have more than just defrost!
Used my wife's hairdryer and unwarped the fog light panel. There is still a sag to it that's difficult to get rid of without a proper jig. Looks 90% better though.
Need to figure out why my stereo box is crooked as well. Looks intact inside and mounted properly. All components fit correctly. So why does it sit at an angle?
Installed leather shift ****, rear view mirror (which has fallen off twice), fog light switch and checked them.
Also refurbished the headlight switch I just received. The plastic grid trim was too long and kept pulling away so I trimmed it and glued it. Now it sits perfect and is ready for install.
Also refurbished the used console lid I got. Reinforced the screw holes, rebuilt one altogether and reinforced the cracks inside and the upper side of the plastic bottom all with JBweld. Also added some to the spring arm.
As you can see it's still needing work. I'll get at that warped plastic with the blow dryer too. Can't stand it. Even though this is a temporary piece until I get a new one it drives me nuts. I guess thats what happens when you compare it to your near perfect car from 15+ years ago.
Yes manual was a stipulation when I was looking.
Tentative plans are to restore to as close to new as reasonable.
Fabricate a hardtop. Yes, I'll actually do it.
Turbo.
In no particular order. This will be a many year project.
I know it's your cat and you will do what you want, but why buy a convertible if you want a hard top? Wouldn't it have been easier to find a hard top to begin with?
Also how solid are the floors? The convertible tops are notorious for leaking. Good looking car.
The car isn't rust free but it's not a lot either. Battery tray is kinda ugly, that's my only concern for now.
Also, found a Gm parts site that listed some interior parts in stock.
Until they tell me they weren't in stock I scored a new driver side kick panel and fuse cover, a passenger side cover where the performance suspension badge is. New map pocket, new console light lens cover.
And for the exterior a driver side front ground effect.
The car isn't rust free but it's not a lot either. Battery tray is kinda ugly, that's my only concern for now.
Also, found a Gm parts site that listed some interior parts in stock.
Until they tell me they weren't in stock I scored a new driver side kick panel and fuse cover, a passenger side cover where the performance suspension badge is. New map pocket, new console light lens cover.
And for the exterior a driver side front ground effect.
Also just received my new strut mount.
Nice! I mean you missed the major rust we get up in the north. The first month of my 91 convertible build were just trying to get the rear suspension apart. Then I had 4 months of rust repair
Putting a little of my tax return toward the car.
Got a tuning setup. Hdr1/GP1 and prom burner.
Having trouble deciding on what else.
Thinking floor mats, dashmat, 2Bar MAP, wideband, SFCs, and refurb stereo.
But limited to $500. Leaning toward the MAP, wideband, dashmat and floormats. Just so the car is fully tunable and the dash and carpet look nicer.
What good is a 2 bar MAP on a NA car? I am not even sure why you think you need a wideband O2 sensor at this time.
I get the dashmat, floormats, and the SFCs.
I definitely understand you questioning the 2Bar MAP sensor. Seems quite stupid if you haven't seen my thread but this should explain: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/diy-...turbo-bin.html
I did say early on in this thread it will be turbo.
What I don't get is why you'd question my purchase of a wideband. Maybe you've assumed I'm inept due to the map sensor, I don't know.
I definitely understand you questioning the 2Bar MAP sensor. Seems quite stupid if you haven't seen my thread but this should explain: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/diy-...turbo-bin.html
I did say early on in this thread it will be turbo.
What I don't get is why you'd question my purchase of a wideband. Maybe you've assumed I'm inept due to the map sensor, I don't know.
Why do you need a wideband right now? Buy stuff that will make the car better right now, not for what you plan on doing in the future. SFCs will improve the car right now, a wideband and 2bar don't (unless you have some reason they do, but you didn't state that in either thread).
Buy stuff that will make the car better right now, not for what you plan on doing in the future.
A tune and ability to tune is the single best modification to any car ever. It makes the car drive better, get better MPG, and increase power. A wideband is an absolute necessity to complete a tune and is where half or more of the power increase comes from. Proper fueling. No car is optimum from the factory.
Originally Posted by AmorgetRS
SFCs will improve the car right now, a wideband and 2bar don't.
SFCs will improve the car no doubt. But a tune is always first. Again, 2bar isn't needed for the car as it is.
Originally Posted by AmorgetRS
unless you have some reason they do, but you didn't state that in either thread
The thread I linked is documenting the custom code I'm writing. If you didn't read the thread you can look at the last 3-4 posts by me in it to get up to speed. The 2 bar MAP is for the code I have written to run boost on AXXD ($8D). Without it I cannot implement the code or finalize it.
I am sorry that my comment came off as tactless and belittling, it was never meant to be. I wanted to know why you felt you needed those things on your currently limited budget on a stock engine. I fully disagree that a tune is the best modification you can make to a stock engine, but that is an opinion and not something worth arguing over but it does offer insight into why you are choosing the route you are going.
I will unsubscribe from your thread now and not offer any more opinions.
Headlight(s) repair kit
OE(R) floor mats
82 Dashmat to cover cracked 82 dash until I get oer replacement.
Wideband O2 sensor
Door hinge pins. To correct sag.
New headlight switch.
Thinking of going black (probably plastidip, just bought a sprayer) with Gold OEM style decals until I can get paint equipment or afford a real paint job. At this point anything is better than what I have to look at now. I'll photoshop it before I do it. Should be posted up here if I ever get around to it.
Last edited by Vanilla Ice; Mar 30, 2016 at 04:31 PM.
I want it to look decent until I can paint it right. You're talking about leaving it looking godawful for a couple years. This isn't an option. It'll look like a newer edgy recaro or smokey bandit car.
$2-300 is easy. $1500-$4,000 on my car in one shot when I have a wife daughter and house to invest in? It'll have to wait 4 years for when I sell this house.
Last edited by Vanilla Ice; Mar 31, 2016 at 09:23 PM.
Interior isn't stock.
It haD power windows, mirrors, antennae.
I see. I wondered about that as all the convertibles I've seen had the ZQ2 power options package.
THose CD players are hard to find. Buttons from a similar year Buick (orange power button, others are black) or Grand Prix cassette player will interchange and i see those pretty often.
I see. I wondered about that as all the convertibles I've seen had the ZQ2 power options package.
THose CD players are hard to find. Buttons from a similar year Buick (orange power button, others are black) or Grand Prix cassette player will interchange and i see those pretty often.
Interesting thanks for the info. If I can fix it up I'd still need to fix the cd. But it's not the trash I thought it was.
Installed it a bit ago, simple job.
Only problem and it's a bit of a huge one for me is that the faceplate looks like it's Chevy and is too light to be acceptable. I'll deal with it for now but I will at some point have to replace it.
Last edited by Vanilla Ice; May 28, 2016 at 08:26 PM.
