I bought my first fbody in January of 2002 after wanting an fbody since I was 2 or 3 years old. This car was a 2001 NHRA Edition T/A, 6 speed and every option except traction control and cd changer. 4 months later I decided it was a lemon due to shoddy work I had done at a dealer, so I traded it in on my 2002 WS6.

The 1991 T/A is a different story. I noticed the car had been sitting at my work (pep boys) for several weeks. I asked around, and noone seemed to know anything about the car. Several months later, I found out the owner had left the car there due to a blown engine (idiot ran the car without any oil) and had given the title and keys to one of the techs. The title traded hands several times between coworkers, with noone doing anything with the car. Finally I was able to get it from one of the parts counter guys for $400, and I've been working on getting it back on the road since. It will be powered by a 67k 305 TPI that I got off ebay for $150. I hope to have it running in a couple months. T-tops leak, and the car has 167k on it, as well as some minor body damage on just about every panel complete with surface rust from peeling paint, and a trashed interior. So far I have about $1000 in new parts for it including GTA seats all around and an 85 T/A steering wheel, as well as countless interior trim pieces, ground efx, new cooling system, etc....I can't wait to drive my first third gen!!

 

I wasnt looking for a car when I saw mine I was on my way to plainwell mi. I saw it sitting in a yard and didnt believe the price so I went back to see if I saw the price right it said 2000 or best took it for a ride and fell in love.I said I only have 1500 he discused it with his wife and they were moving so he said sure.It is a 87 gta trans am,maroon,very clean body.It even had a new motor in it.Since that day Ive enjoyed modding it in and out.Ive had a ton of diffrent cars but this is my favorite to modify.

 

One of the guys in my club (AZFBA) was selling his 89 RS after he bought a 99 Z28 and I needed a daily driver.

 

My last "Investment" I took an alternate route home from work. THere Was Road construction on the expressway and it was the friday before the 4th of July... Do the math...

Nonetheless, I passed a Blue "Firebird" with a buldge hood... I spun around and stoped and looked at it. The owner stated it was a Trans Am , and someoen had replaced the aero spoiler with a Base firebird Spoiler, but it had a 350 under the hood...


I called the owner, looked at it on Sunday, I gave him a down deposit, and paid it off the next day... I had my Father in-lay tow it with a rope it was pouring rain, I had to crawl under it and attach the rope... Got it home, started working as it did not run, one month later, a set of spark plugs and some fixing of electrical bad connections and I got it running like a beast. It had the original engine rebuilt, and trans Rebuilt about 20 K ago...

John

John

 

It was back in the summer of 99 I was an e-3 in the navy, Just got my lincese reinstated, and I always wanted a camaro or trans am. did not care what year. All I did want was T-tops.

In July of 99. An officer in my commond had put up for sale a 1992 camaro . His wife had given birth to their 2nd kid, and the camaro was good for him any more. So I took it for a test drive, talk the price over and got him to come dorn to 4,000 for the car. It need need tires, new carpet, a driver t-top, the one that was with the car was plastic and was cracked. and an aliment.

Then in the winter of 2000 I was driving up home for christmas and i was passing a 18 wheeler when a deer jump out in front of my car i had no where to go, The deer bent the hood down into the low beam headlight cracked the light bar, rip the bumper cover and front ground effort put a dent in to the right fender door , and both legs of the quarter panel.

Well when i got to my parnet place I bought a light bar from a yard up there and replace that bent the hood back and took the whole front ground effect off she would stay that why until the fall of 2001. between that time I bought a 87 rs, 88 iroc, 87 z28.
SO i parted out those car sold some part on ebay and to other local camaro owners. I had everything I want my car to be
I had a replacement bumper cover, fenders doors, and a z28 hood to top it off. or so I thought.

Before I left on my 6 month deployment on the U.S.S John F. Kennedy. I drove the car up home and left it in the hands of 2 of my older brothers. The oldest one does body work for a lifing and the other one works for a PPG paint supply company. What I want was from them to repainted it back to it's orginal polo green and paint the ground effects silver cause it had a grey interior. ANd I did not want the whole car tobe just like everyones else 1992 all 1 color.

Well when I came home and 1st look at my car I was not sure what to think. They did not do what I wanted. for starters they painted the ground effects a gold/copper color and they got some of the rainbow peral and smoke the rear end of the camaro. Well I did not kow what to think. THe next day I put her out of the garage and started to put my front clip back together. Then after I had that all back together I start on the door put thelocks and handles and mirriors back on. and that when the sun came out. Saw what they truly did for me.I asked for a custom and did I ever get a custom. ANd i went inside and gab the rear cover and just put it one to see how it looked and I was like that no way that MY Car. One problem is the grey interior had to go I want to go to black.

If I can find out how to put pick up I will post some of her.

 

i think i mught have posted here before but this is how it happened

got a 94 lumina for free drove that till i thought it was beat up enough then found a 88 firebird for $100 sitting in some guys backyard with bad starter smashed door and no keys, sold lumina to a friend for $250.
Friend bought a 03 mach 1 stang, i seen him coming down then road when i was in my 88 firebird. i stoped talked and he told me i should buy his camaro. so i went to his house a couple days later checked it out. was told lies about what was in it as of engine trans and that it had a blown rear main, he obviously didnt know crap about the car. it sat in his garage for a year with him thinking the rear main was gone. he said $500 so i took it and sold the 88firebird for $50 and a crossbow. towed car home checked it out and the oil pressure line was cracked not the rear main. fixed it and then drove til recently when i pulled out the motor and put in a bigger one.

 

i bought mine for a grand from my brother in the sumer of 2005. Had too many miles on it but the body and interior are in really good shape

 

e bay

 

I bought my 1989 Camaro RS from a kid that is a few years older than me. His parents said he didn't need a car that nice, and they didn't trust him with it, as he recently took it through a ditch, and did minor damages, just lost a drivers side ground effect which i replaced. His parents just wanted him to get rid of it, i took it off his hands for $600, he claims that the engine was going to blow, well many tires later and about 3 years, it's still running strong as hell.

My 86 Trans Am, i found when i was visiting my brother in Laramie Wyoming, he was attending WyoTech and he knew a guy with the car, and it was mostly gutted. I wanted the hatch motor out of it was it. I ended up buying the whole car (what was left of it). The guy planned on making it a drag car, so it had no interior, no gas tank, no engine/tranny, just the body and suspension, some supension was gone. I bought it for 100 bucks and trailered it back to south dakota. I will be starting it up in a few weeks for the first time...put everything new in it, autometer gauges, new interior, a rebuilt 350 out of the chevelle, 300+ HP, TPI, 700R4.

My brothers 87 IROC 5.7 TPI we found on ebay, but didn't buy it, we talked to the guy as he wanted to trade for a 90s explorer, which he happened to have. We drove to Kentucky and traded, the IROC has some problems idling and driving at times, but drives fine while accelerating, but can do some badass burnouts. Made the 14 hour drive back to SD though. The cars condition is excellent.

I also have a 89 firebird and an 86 firebird, parts cars mostly, used them to make my TransAm, going to turn the 89 into a drag car.

 

I bought my 1989 Camaro RS from a kid that is a few years older than me. His parents said he didn't need a car that nice, and they didn't trust him with it, as he recently took it through a ditch, and did minor damages, just lost a drivers side ground effect which i replaced. His parents just wanted him to get rid of it, i took it off his hands for $600, he claims that the engine was going to blow, well many tires later and about 3 years, it's still running strong as hell.

My 86 Trans Am, i found when i was visiting my brother in Laramie Wyoming, he was attending WyoTech and he knew a guy with the car, and it was mostly gutted. I wanted the hatch motor out of it was it. I ended up buying the whole car (what was left of it). The guy planned on making it a drag car, so it had no interior, no gas tank, no engine/tranny, just the body and suspension, some supension was gone. I bought it for 100 bucks and trailered it back to south dakota. I will be starting it up in a few weeks for the first time...put everything new in it, autometer gauges, new interior, a rebuilt 350 out of the chevelle, 300+ HP, TPI, 700R4.

My brothers 87 IROC 5.7 TPI we found on ebay, but didn't buy it, we talked to the guy as he wanted to trade for a 90s explorer, which he happened to have. We drove to Kentucky and traded, the IROC has some problems idling and driving at times, but drives fine while accelerating, but can do some badass burnouts. Made the 14 hour drive back to SD though. The cars condition is excellent.

I also have a 89 firebird and an 86 firebird, parts cars mostly, used them to make my TransAm, going to turn the 89 into a drag car.

 

Got mine lookin in the paper under just plain 89 pontiac so I called and
it was a Firebird GTA5.7 TPI T-tops every option with only 76,000 on it
so I took it for a drive and fell in LOVE!!! My brother in-law had one and
you know... I had to have one, always thought they looked great!! 3 I drove it till I started having probs with it not wanting to startwhen
hot so I started a steady regiment of starting fluid whenever I went
anywhere, I know, but I didn't have a clue that the injectors were on
the blink but I wanted to do a 383 anyways and go carb. Anywho it's
so close now to being done I'm giddy can't wait to get back on the road.
btw paid 3k and worth every penny!!!!!!

 

i got mine from a friends brother who didnt wanna drive it anymore with a cracked windshield.87 formula primer black straigh rust free body handles like a dream. best 300 i ever spent in 1999

 

Well, I always really liked the 3rd gen. camaro's and a nice, clean one got traded in at a dealer I was working for... So, I bought it...Ever since, been slowly building it and making it nice (as my wife will let me..!!)

 

eBay is the only way to go to buy a new car.

 

I traded a new kitchen for mine. thats right installed kitchen cabnets for it. was a neer perfect 85 IROC. now its a bad a** 85 IROC

 

hmmm i dont think ive posted on this before (if i have yell at me) i had been looking for a project car for awhile and ive wanted thirdgen forever. so one day my buddy calls me and tells me "hey my dads got a camaro for you, come look at it" so i drag my *** out of bed and take my dad over there. its a 84 camaro v6 car doesnt run has old cragars on it and some weird *** cragar louvers on the back. so about 3 hours and 200 dollars later it was half stripped. right now its sitting on s10 rims (the cragars are on my fullsize) and 75% of the interior is gone. its still waiting for its motor trans and other racing related stuff

 

I got my 84 Berlinetta for 10.00 bucks from my best friends dad. My best friends family had the car given to them from a friend who had bought it new and never drove it. they didn't use it much either. I think the youngest one in the family drove it for a while before he got married and then it just sat in the drive way for a little over a year. His mom got tired of all the cars they had sitting infront of the house and asked me if I wanted to buy it. I told her I couldn't afford to buy it because I was putting my wife through school, but if she just wanted it gone I'd make it dissapear for her. So she had her husband sell it to me for 10.00 bucks so she could park in the driveway.

 

i gave my friend $1,000 and an '89 Cavalier Z24 for it... barrely running 355, car had 69K miles on it, never driven in winter and has very little rust (a few spots on the roof). I've since dumped about $3K in the engine and tranny, next is to get rid of the fugly purple and take it back to the stock silver or maybe a little darker silver...

 

Growing up I was around many different cars. most were not worth a s__t. I have been tinkering with car since I was a lil tot haha...... When I was 12 I remember going to my mom's bosses house to see his red 55 chev bel-air (beautiful car) had a 327 built up with t-10 4 speed, he started it, and I was permanitly fixiated with the sound of that hot blooded chevrolet. over hte next couple of years I started tinkering more nad more and when I was 14 I had already been working for about a year running errands and doing misc. things in my fathers marine repair shop. I saved up 1800 bucks and started looking.... at 14 you really dont know what your looking for but with me I knew I wanted v-8 power and the bowtie emblem. After a cople of months one night my dad was looking thru the local paper and founts something.... it was a black 83 Z-28, t-tops, and an auto. We went and looked at it the very next day and took it for a test drive (I of course wasn't even close to be old enough to drive)... On our test drive my dad got on it and I was hooked, I had to have that car. Black flowing lines the whole thing reminded me of my old infatuation with knight rider (even thought knight rider was a firebird). The car had been in couple of accidents and the previous owner had been very unkind to the car. Cruched front fasica broken winshield crunched fenders and cracked hood with chunks missing after the accidents the owner had sold it to the next ownder, whom I bought the car from. he had not driven it and had put it in his garage with 65000 miles on the odo.... I didnt care when we got back my dad told him we would go and think about it and we left. I preceded to bug my dad about it non stop for the nexxt hour or so while he tried talking reason into me about how I should get something older if I want to go fast. He was impressed with the 305's performance. I could only see potential though and after much persuation he took me to the bank let me withdraw the money and we went back and bought the car. I still remember the first 60 mile drive home in it! things were in bad shape and the car wandered but I didnt car I was in heaven. Over the next two years I completely tore that car apart. If I wasn't in school I was in the shop with the car and every night I was up all night reading the latest of chevy high performance. camaro performers. and HOT ROD magazine. A couple of days before I turned 16 I was finaly finished (or so I thought) I had torn the engine down and installed world sportsman 305 torquer heads, comp 270h magnum cam, roller rocker, street dominator instake, 750 double pumper, and acccell distributer, hooker headers, and 3 inch aerochamber exaust kit. As well as a b&m shift kit in the trans (700r4) I drove myself to my final drivers ed class in it haha that was fun. Dad was finally starting to relize that I wasn't going to give up on this thing.... he started to change his attitude about the it once he took it for a spin with the new mods. After I graduated high school I went to College for nothing other then..... you guessed it..... Automotive Tech! I even lucked out and got a job at a Chevrolet Dealer. There I met some great people that taught me more then I ever could have learned at school. I got another daily driver car..... and after about 35000 miles of racing and cruisin I decided it was time for a revamp. I completly tore the car back apart installed a aluminum headed 355 and a 87 700 with all the add-ons Did the whole project myself. I worked and worked every night after work and finally after almost a year got the car running and back on the road. I drove this combnation for exatly 1800 miles before the engine gave out due to an oiling mishap..... live and learn I guess. I tore it all back down after the car sat for about 3-4 months due to embarressment lol. This time I decided the 355 was fun but it just needed more. I was hooked on drag racing and I wanted to build something not just fast but Quick! so I went completly back to the drawing board after turning 12.90's in the 355..... I swear what some of us have is like a desease. I built a whole nother engine and trans..... stroker motor time! 383 11:1 compression forged everything, tond of oiling mods since I never wanted to have another oiling failure, I took the trickflow aluminum heads and ported and pollished them, installed better springs, nitrous HP cam, full trickflow top end, pushrods-roller rockers. torker II manifold port matched to the heads, and everything balanced and blueprinted ( I was super lucky because along the way I made friends with the shop foreman and master tech at Chevrolet and we put it together in his shop!) I learned soo much along the way. I found another 87 700-r4 and went thru the whole thing with a hughes performance kit and a tci manual valve body, 2400 holeshot converter (another friend at chevrolet was a tranny specialist ;-) he kept an eye on me and looked over my shoulder while I built the trans. ) ...... and all the while changed a jobs a couple of times.... I was an RV technitian (yay rebuilding toilets is a blast let me tell ya! NOT!) and finally ended up where i am right not assistant manager at a Midas. Once at midas I was just finishing up on my camaro and I had everything except for my exaust done... There was an old guy that worked that, that told me I ought to put dual exaust on it. Knowing the third gen performance market I told him that there was no companies that made exaust like that.... "Well then we'll built it" he said... and he set about helping me design and build a completly custom 3 inch mandrel bent removable exaust with x-pipe and dynomax bullet mufflers full length over the axles and out the back.went to the track the first time with the 383 and snapped the 10 bolt into oblivion when I pulled the front tires off the ground haha... Ford 9 inch time with 4.56's and upgrade possible with a detroit locker. This past month I recently took it to the track and ran 11.70 @ 121mph without nitrous and no tuning. I can't wait for more testing! all the while everytime I drive the car I remember things..... first and foremost that first drive home at 14. But also other things such as graduation day ( left a big burnout in front of my high school that day and needed new tires right away lol!) and my senior prom night, the first night I picked my wife to be up in it, and of course my countless nights at the local cruisin spot slappin down the local hondas and other v-8 performers. Recently I drove the car out and my fathers house and it had been awhile since he had since it and as I was driving downtown from my good ol' marine shop he stood outside and says "lets see it boy?" I took off and preceded to ride the car sideways until I was outa sight a couple of hundred feet away.... doesn't hook well with steet tires! I came back to the house that night and he had a big smile. You did well Son I amazed at how well you got that car moving! lol we laughed and that was the perfect moment haha. Thanks thirdgen.org for your support on our cars and the hobby of hot roddin!

 

I bought my 89 RS from a cop who lived across the street. He bought it from a city auction after it was confiscated from a drug dealer that he had busted 6 months earlier. It was an all go with no show (read "sleeper") that was loaded. It had a 12bolt with disc brakes and 3.73 gears, boxed LCA's, lowered springs, subframe conectors, spohn torque arm, some ugly 17" wheels, 3'' exhaust with a Flowmaster, it is a TPI motor that now has a Demon carb.
The rear spoiler was removed, the rear seat was gone and has Sparco front buckets. It was all black with the paint peeling, door dings and a crease on the front right. Also all emmisions removed as well as the AC.
I haven't done anything to it except put a new stereo in it and tune it up but I plan to fix it up right.

 

Got busted up in Iraq, the army paid me 14k dollars, so I searched for my dream car. Found the cleanest 1991-92 Z28 I could find and bought it from the classifieds right here.

 

Thank you sir for your service!!!

 

Thank you, I have no regrets, everything worked out great for me!

 

Thanks you for your service. From one vet to another

 

I thank all you guys for the kind words, I really enjoy this site!

 

3 years ago while driving to work, I'd pass by this red Formula that was for sale about 3 miles from my house. about a week later it was still sitting there so I decided to stop by and take a look at it, not really looking to buy, just to see what it had and how it looked up close.

Stopped by and talked to the guys father who called his son and then came by to show me the car.
Had a 305TPI, 103K miles, auto, very clean interior but the drivers side seat had a tear on the left bolster.
It also had a little rust on the lower drivers side door and a small dent on the rear drivers 1/4 panel next to the bumper cover.
He was asking $2300 and I offered $1500 and we settled on $1700.

This is what she looked like when I brought her home,





Car came with this configuration:
305TPI
700R4
3.23 Posi Drum rear
Aluminum Driveshaft
N64 Aluminum space saver Spare tire
All power options except power mirrors.
Map Pocket Delete
140mph/6K tach


I've upgraded and swapped a lot of parts on her over the past 3 years.
Here is the list of upgrades:
Holley Stealth Ram
MSD Pro Billet Distributor
K&N Cone Filter
A/C Delete Setup
Smog Delete
LS1 rear end
LS1 rear brakes
4.10 gears
Eaton Posi
140mph/8K tach
ASCD Ram Air Hood
17x9.5 ZR1 Wheels (2 sets of these, one for my race tires and one for street tires)
Black Door panels and black interior panels
91-92 Tail Lights
T5 Manual Transmission setup from an 88 GTA
Pro 5.0 Shifter with Lou's Short Stick
B&M Shift ****
Energy Suspension Tranny and Torque Arm mounts
KYB-GR2 Struts and KYB Gas-A-Just Rear Shocks
97 Camaro Leather seats, front and rear
97 Camaro Center Console
Grant Formula 1 Steering Wheel
Flowmaster 80 Series muffler with 3" tips

and here is a list of parts in the garage just waiting to get installed:
LS1 front brakes
Hotchkis Subframe Connectors
Hooker Coated Shorty headers with custom y-pipe
Mallory HyFire CD Ignition with rev limiter, 2 step, and window switch
Ram Air Hoods custom Air Box
Earls SS Braided Brake lines

And a few pictures of the car as it is today,










and here is a video showing the car in action,
http://www.transamws6.com/video/manny-acu4.wmv (right click and "Save As")

 

bought my 3rd gen from the orig owner he but only 80k on it and he wasnt able to drive it for health problems.. i told him i'd give him 600 bucks.. he took it.. then the damn tranny goes out.. but oh well ya live ya learn and in the condition it was in i couldnt pass it up for 600

 

Ive loved camaros since I was a kid, but especially IROC's the name sounded mean, so as soon as I turned 15 and got my first job i started saving for one, it took a year and a half working at a grocery store and when I was sixteen I took all my checks cashed them and bought not only my first car but my first IROC for 2500 dollars. Im 22 now and I've never looked back................

 

I think I already responded to this but ow well

My first 3rd gen was a 1989 Firebird XS me and the wife saw it setting across the street for McD. Called the owner and we brought it for 2200 dollars. Put some work into it. Wife decide she did not like it. Not enough power. v6 and all

So one day I saw a 1992 firebird at a used car lot. Stop and asked the owner how much he said 3500. But he said cash does some talking. Looked at the VIn ands copied it down. It was a 1992 formula with a 350 auto. Like 408 made and the last year of the body style. I haggled with the guy and settled on 2600 dollars.

Well my 89 was totalled last month. But I brought it back from the insurance.

SO I was shopping. Was looking for a 88-92 firebird Hardtop v6 Auto. A guy Emailed me and said that he had one. It is a 1992 firbird w/out GFX with a v6 auto. But need some work.

Well figured I had a complete car with lots of new parts. I will used the car as a daily driver. Once I fix it up. It is bright red with black interior with power windows and door locks.

Had to put a used MAP sensor and my air Dam and fix the windshield washer before I could drive it home. Hopefully this one will last longer than the last one. Rearened S*&k

But I like driving it alot

 

The first 3rd gen i owned was a 87 I-Roc Z that was bought from a friend of my dads. It had sat up for 6 months and started right up when we got there and paid $800 for it and drove it home. It was a couple of weeks later when the rear end started howling and grinding, so we got it in our shop. It had been mabey a week later and my dads cousin who owns a impound lot called us and said he had just impounded a 92 RS Camaro. I ended up getting that camaro for $1,350 in a sealed bid auction, and a couple of months later sold it for $2,000 (after fixing it up just a bit).I am now fixing up my 87 and loving every minute of it.......

 

My third gen is an 85 z-28, I bought it from my brother for $100. Cdn. He paid the same amount three weeks prior. When I saw this car I saw the potential, his wife did not!

I drove the car for two years after cleaning it up and lowering her. I am in the process of an overhaul at this time as the Canadian winters have not been nice to her, yes I could have started with a better canvas, but as they say "Don't crush them ... Restore them!"

Mayby I should have crushed this one, but hey; I'm a sucker for punishment.

The pics are where I started and from the fall of last year ... the journey continues.

 

I had been looking for a project car, since I sold my Galant VR4. I had been looking for another mustang (had also owned a 90 GT) and came across my 91 l98. I had always loved the look of the 91-92 z28s, and this one was in great shape for being 15 years old. Bought the car from the original owner, a nice older lady, who had ordered it from the Chevy dealer. Her husband was a mechanic at a Mercedes, so the car was WELL maintained and ran great.

 

bought an 85sport coupe for $1200, ran it until it died. i then found an 86sc for $200, i bought another 2.8 for it for $200. i traded it even for a 91 firebird with the 305 tbi. i sold it to a friend for $500 and a 79 malibu that i sold for $600. i used the money to buy a 94 camaro with the 3.4 (turd)for $1200. i ran it for about a year and traded it even for a black 87 iroc with the 5.7 and so far it's been my favorite of the bunch. not a bad deal to only have a couple hundred dolars in it.

 

Always wanted a Camaro, just because it was Chevy and a nice car. Always had the 80's model trucks and just liked to stay in the generation i was born. And along came a girl driving a blue ford truck and creamed my from the read, and VOILA.....insurance money and no more truck. This is what is paying for the project....







I say it was a good trade. Would do away with the other one for another 3rd gen.

 

My first 3rd Gen was a 1986 Camaro Berlinetta.. a wussy 2.8L automatic. This was a few years ago. Since then, I've moved to a 1989 Trans Am with a "new" 305 Jasper. I still have both cars, and both still need work. I just finished fixing the t-top gaskets, the exhaust, the rear, electrical system, etc in the T/A, and more things to fix keep popping up. I at this point don't have the funds to swap out the stock with anything special.

My Camaro, which I am the 2nd owner on, is sitting with half the engine in the back seat. This car happens to be in near perfect exterior/interior condition. I'm currently working on getting the Camaro running again. I do love them both though!

 

The first 3rdgen I had was a black 91 rs 3.1 mpfi. I was searching on autotrader.com and it caught my eye. It had silver racing stripes and an ok paint job. After learning about 3rdgens and seeing how AWESOME they are, I started looking for a 92 convertable. I found a green 92 vert RS on autotrader.com at a nearby dealership. When I went down to check it out, it was love at first sight! After my dad bought it for me I had to watch it sit in my drive way and watch my sisters drive it until I could pay my dad back. took a while but now she is all MINE!!!

 

I have wanted a 91 or 92 t/a vert ever since I laid eyes on one when I was 15. I traded motorcycles for a few years recently ... started with an 81 Honda CB900 for $750 and ended with a Shadow ACE that I sold for $4,000. I would buy a bike locally (cheap) ride it for 2-3 months and sell it on ebay for a profit and buy a nicer bike with the proceeds. Worked very well, but I got tired of motorcycles (and a good friend of mine is now on permanent disability because of a bike wreck he had in November ... kind of scared me).

Since I had $4,000 in my pocket with only $750 invested, I decided I would finally get my Trans Am. I looked for weeks and finally found one on ebay about 80 miles from me. Exactly what I wanted. 92 vert with leather. It cost me a bit more than 4K, but it is well worth it.

This is the best story, though ... the same day I brought it home, I got a call from a local dealer (who I had scouting for a T/A) that said he had found me a car. A man had come in that morning and said he was going to court the next day and needed fast cash. He had an 86 T-Top T/A and would take $1,200 for it. I went and looked at the car , told him I would give him $600 for it, and he took it. I didn't need another car, so I sold it to my dad an hour later for even money. Now we both have T/As and couldn't be happier. His only needs paint and new upholstery ... you can't beat that for $600.

 

thats way cool dude!!

 

After the frame rusted away from my '91 TBI 5spd and i had to junk it, I was looking for a long time for another 3rd gen. My friend said he saw one for sale near his house. Went to look at it at 8:00 at night, checked out the frame, it was rock solid. Car was an '85 305 tpi automatic. It had some front end damage and was unrunning. Got it towed over to my house, tinkered around with the motor to get it running well and put the front end from my '91 on. After driving it for a year or so, I smoked the transmission after running it low on fluid. That winter, I was going to put the 5spd in, tore the engine apart, took the heads off, and sent them out. The car needed a valve job, so instead of putting money into a 305 with 160,000 or so miles, i decided to get a crate motor from GM. I put that in (keeping TPI) and switched it over to a standard. Nearly two and a half years after I got the car, the new motor and transmission are in and run great. I got new fenders and the whole car is going to be painted soon.

 

mine is a 86 with recaro seats t tops 5.0 tpi ws6 supascion bought it from the orignal owner found it siting in a garge with a fresh paint job but needed seats done so its in geting done now its black with gold wheels and had the decal delete opt

 

This is my first time ont this site and will introduce myself at the samre time as say my story. Mty namer is antonio and I live in moore oklahoma. I have 2 camaro's a 2002 v6 and a 1987 z28. I have always loved 3rd gens but could never afford 1. So i was leaving work one day and seen the car. I bought it for 2200.00 on the spot. Since then i have painted, totaly reupholstered, put a total of about 3000.00 into it and will never sell it.

 

I got my 1992 Firebird off ebay last summer, spent $6900 on it, 305 TBI with the 700R4 all original with 40k miles on it, MINT shape. gets lots off good comments at the cruise nights, after i get my front spoiler/air dam fixed ill be taking it to shows. shes my baby! id post pics if i could, but since i dont know how heres a link: car pictures and photos at CarDomain.com

 

Savage, nice job on an inexpensive "restoration"! That car looks great! If you went from "before" to "after" for only 3 grand, you did very well.

Where did you get your paint done?

 

traded for a 91 mercury topaz about 2-3 weeks ago....

 

buddy of mine had it... i work with him at EMS... he wanted to sell it cause he lost interest and the brakes wouldn't hold...

gave him $250 and went to his house and put a new master cylinder on, and bled the brakes ... drove it home

replaced the pads and rotors ... a couple other little things and it runs like a champ. Gave him another $250 on payday and got the title signed over...

$500 for a working running 85 Trans am with a cam and bore and who knows what else... plus he gave me a redlight that hell it costs 100 by itself... and a second set of wheels! lol

 

Best things come to those who wait, right Benm?

Hey, I'm only about an hour from you up here in NC. Maybe we'll run into each other sometime.

 

I joght bought my "baby" sunday. I sold my 94 corvette over a month ago, because I was supposed to move to AZ. Well, I have to put that off for a while, so I strted looking for a car here in FL. I originally was considering getting a V6 91-92 Firebird, because of gas prices, and I've always liked the "banshee" styling of the those birds, and I just happened to come across her on autotrader.com last thursday. The 92 Firehawk, has always been one of my favorite cars, and she's as close as I can get, (for now) gas prices be damned! I drove 1 1/2 hours to pick her up from a woman who's had her supposedly since 93. The woman had been tryin to sell her a few months just sitting in her front yard,which is in the middle of nowhere and just put her in the autotrader a few weeks ago. I Got her for $2500. She's in pretty good shape, everything works except the passenger window gets stuck, gray interior looks great, and only has 95kmi, but she needs a rearspoiler, has a small dent in the back and I just gave her a thorough cleaning and complete tuneup which she needed, and is now purring like a kitten. I love working on cars and making them look and run better, and can't wait to mod her and put some 17" Firehawk wheels on I used to have a 90 5.7 GTA, I sold 4 years ago, and loved that car, and my Formy feels just like it.Her's pic's of both

 

my first fbody was a 1986 t-top 2.8L firebird. i still own it but it is loaned to a friend w/o a car. i had no plans of buying another car. i was planning on swapping a buick 3.8L turbo v6 into it. once i realised that was around 10Gs i started looking into a TTA. i loved the look of the GTAs/TTAs. i gave up on that when i realised that this was not a point in my life when i could afford a car like that. a guy in my carclub needed money and addvertised his black 1988 GTA 5.7TPI for 4000.00. i called him the day after i saw the add and he informed me he had lowered the price to 3000.00. i drove through the entire state of washington to look at it. it was beautifull. digital dash, hardtop, black, etc....

then disaster struck. he did not have the tittle. he said he was going to get it in the mail soon. i left him a deposit and drove back to oregon empty handed. a week later he said he was tired of waiting and that if i wanted it i could have it with a copy of the old title (before his divorce) and he would send me the new one when he got it. so i paid him and drove it back to oregon.

been a half a year and that title still has not shown up, but i used the old one and titled it in my name in oregon. i also have a bill of sale in case anyone comes asking questions.

since purchasing it i have rapaired a few broken intirior pieces, added SLP shorty headers, given her a prety good tuneup, swaped in rear "1LE" brakes, put in a 3.23 Posi 9bolt and will be buying a friends old GTA wheels in one month. she is realy coming along.

when i took it to my car clubs "dyno meet, 2006" it put down 172 RWHP, that was right after i got it. other then an AC delete and AIR delete it was bone stock. now it runs a 14.3 @ 95MPH. i can't wait to dyno it again next year.


as for the six... i plan on making it into a formula clone when i get it back from my buddy. i am going to do some weight reduction, give her a tuneup, and see what kind of gasmialage i can squeeze out of her.

 

i got my first car last month, a 1982 firebird trans am, obviously my first f-body, and i must have looked at 15 to 20 f bodys before i got this one. i was actually going to another dealer when i passed a truck dealer and saw it in front of the main building, picked it up the next day. it hurts to pay for gas but this beats driving just about anything else, when i picked it up it needed ALOT of cleaning, inside and out, new tires, some engine work, but everythings done and i go in for my license test monday

 

Wow, looks like everybody commented on this!! So I might as well too

I've always loved F-Body's (and thirdgen's in particular). My senior year in college(3yrs ago) I had test driven a few third & fourth gens but either I couldn't afford them, or the cars weren't in the condition I was looking for.

My dad called me up one day and said "I know I am going to regret telling you this, but I found a nice trans am"

Oddly enought about 5 blocks from my parents house, a guy was selling a 1992 Trans AM GTA with 44,000 miles, all stock with the ORIGINAL tires on it. Aside from some normal wear & tear that a then 11yr old car would have she was in excellent condition, and the best part he was asking $4,500 for it. I feel bad, he did NOT want to sell the car at all, didn't return my phone calls and one time tried to not answer the door. He sold it because his wife made him, and honestly the guy didn't have 2 nickles to rub together, at that time he was REALLY strapped for cash. I offered him $3,700 and drove the car home.

It wasn't until AFTER I bought her that I realized I got a pretty rare car. Only 226 GTAs were made that year.

So does my dad regret telling me this?? Well, seeing how its a rare car I'm keeping it as a collector car, not using it as a daily driver...as a result the car has been garage kept (in his garage) LMAO so yeah, I think he does.