Hello everyone

So My father owned a 1985 firebird that he purchased new. I was only a few years old but I loved that car. He had to get rid of it due to constant overheating and timing issues with only approx. 25k miles on it.

Fast forward to today, Someone is offering one for sale near my house. It needs some body work and the timing seems to be off. I've always wanted one of these but I want to know what I will be getting myself into. I would do more searching online but I'm in a rush to make a deal.

Here's my question, was there a known issue with these cars overheating and having issues with timing? I ask because my fathers was brand new and yet it went in for repair all the time for this. He basically gave it away with only 25,000 or so miles because the dealer could not fix the problem. I want to make sure I'm not opening up a can of worms here. Also, are parts still easy to obtain?

I appreciate whatever help you guys can give me and I look forward to owning one of my dream cars.

 

no known problem unless there are bad sensors feeding the computer to set back timing. Also there are no problems with overheating unless your coolant system is sub par (rusted up or clogged) or a component isn't working correctly.

 

Even "back in the day" dealership mechanics had a hard time 'fixing' these cars, as they are the first generation automobile with computerized gadgets, and all the grease monkeys just couldn't get past the mental block of a computer doing things and thus having to deal with a computer's issues.

Timing for example - to see it, you have to unplug the computer's control of the timing, otherwise when you look at it, it's all over the place.

And cooling - fan switches control cooling fans, as well as relays and the computer. It's very simple to fix, but not if you don't know why it's overheating because you refuse to recognize the computers involvement.

Some tips

1) don't buy a V6 car if you want a V8 - get a V8, much cheaper and easier in the end. wapping to a V8 means a new engine AND tranny
2) rust - pass on it - rust free cars are available, rust free cars are in the south, and are always cheaper here than in the rust belt anyway - take a long weekend and head south if you can (if you are east of the Miss) - $300 airplane ride and $200 in hotels can save you thousands in car cost!
3) would have to be showroom condition with not a spec of dust AND have a factory installed 350 in order for me to justify over $3000 for it. I have had three 3rd gens now, all running, all normal wear/tear, none I paid over $900 for (but then again, I live in the south).

 

There's an entire forum for cooling system issues... The most common problems are a missing air dam (the plastic flap under the front bumper that forces air up through the radiator), and cooling fan issues. It's all very straight forward, and short of a major mechanical problem (cracked heads, head gaskets, etc) it could be an easy fix.

 

Thanks for all of the information you guys have provided me. I got home a little late from work today so tomorrow I will be going to look at the car again. I know it will need some body work but according to the seller, it's mechanically sound (still gonna check it out myself). I won't be able to test the engine and trans untill tomorrow because the battery was dead this morning.

I ran a carfax on the car and it came up clean with no reported accidents or title problems. As for rust, aside from one rust spot on the roof, there is some rust infront of the passenger door due to water getting in between where the front fender is dented in and the door meet.

I will check under the car for rust and look everything else over in detail and I'm taking my uncle with me as he knows much more about all this mechanical stuff. Anything else I should be checking for?

Well, wish me luck guys!