DM_Ju5t1n

It breaks my heart to have to come to this and sell. No more bragging rights about how I still have my 1st car after 20+ years.

This '88, 305, TBI 5.0L Formula, my first car, was purchased in '95. Mere months before I was legal to drive. My dad always told me he was going to buy me an Iroc when I was 16, but I was never fond of this idea, as I did not care for the Camaro. There were just too many around my small town. When he pulled into the driveway with this and called me outside, I was floored and instantly in love, yet also terrified. At 16 I was afraid it was a stick-shift.

He bought it from the original owner with 123,000 miles on it. I drove the crap out of it until I graduated. The summer after my Sr. year, a buddy borrowed it to take another buddy home one night and decided to take the back roads home, and hit a dear.

This smashed the windshield, broke off the passenger headlight, crinkled the hood, and dented the fender pushing it back and causing damage to the passenger door. For where the damage was on the windshield I was very fortunate it didn't also damage the T-tops.

Sadly the car sat for a couple of years at my parents when I moved to Chicago, but I managed to keep dad from selling it. When I finally moved to Michigan I had the means and the place to keep and restore it. So my buddy and I drove back to Oklahoma to trailer it back. Thus the restoration began. It did not, however, reach completion due to financial strain.

Servicing before the accident:
Oil sending unit
Replaced wire harness on cooling fan.
Alternator, Starter
Ignition switch (2)
Water Pump, Radiator
Heater Core
O2 Sensor
Hood strut supports

Servicing After the accident:
Alignment (tie-rods and sway-bar)
Fuel sending unit.
Alternator, Starter
Thermostat

Thanks to a great guy I found on ThridGen.org, I was able to secure some quality OEM parts from South Carolina. He happened to be making one of his regular trips to MI and brought them to me! I wish I could remember his name.

Body work after accident:
Stock hood from base model
Passenger chair - replaced due to torn upholstery. Unfortunately he grabbed from an older model ('86?) so it wasn't an exact style match.
A complete set of doors, which were sanded primed and painted but never mounted. (I don't remember why not, but they were lost in a move.)
Center console
Dash Pad
Headliner
Nose cone, (he brought me 2, one had a bad waffle and the other a bad skin.)
Passenger door from Camaro (reused original lock and inner Firebird door skin.)
Rear seats from Camaro

From salvage I picked up:
Passenger headlight
Firebird trunk lock cover to replace the original that was peeling from the inside.



Known remaining issues:
175,000 miles
Anything that would need service after a long sit
Standard T-top leakage
Fuel sending unit assumed bad again
Compression plate (fly wheel) 700-R4 automatic
Oil pan – stripped plug. JB-weld filled plug hole as temp fix. I had the new oil pan but lost in move.
Hatch strut supports
Hatch latch pull-down motor. (As far as I can tell it's still operable but loose enough not to catch.)
Straight pipe from the cat-back. The muffler fell off in my youth, was quickly and cheaply fixed, and was never upgraded.
One headlight seems to still work while the other never got the nylon upgrade

It is currently in Michigan, but it's an Oklahoma car. It has never driven on a salty winter road.
It does have surface rust in many places. Some areas worse than others. The underside is as clean as I can imagine any vehicle as old as this.
With all the love I have for this car it pains me to no end to let it go. That being said I'm not looking to 'give' it away but it has to GO.

Please text or email with any questions.
Serious buyers, with serious, reasonable offers may call me.
jjhighberger@gmail.com
Phone or text 586-883-0847.
If I don't answer please leave a message.

Images here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/y9jtrwf8v...s0Ab-GN9a?dl=0