I currently have a 89 Flame red Formula 350 with t-tops and only 7,000 miles on it. I'd like to keep it as original as possible. i also own (but am selling) a 90 Formula that has the hypertech chip and flowmaster exhaust. i love the sound and am thinking of putting the same mods to the 89 that i have. then i read into the SLP package. that would give me the added performance but still keep it original. should i keep it bone stock or go for the slp pieces? or should i go for other brands instead of slp?

 

:hail: under 10K ohhhh. I would defantly keep it original. Got any pics?

 

Just don't do anything permanent. A chip and catback can be returned to stock as long as you keep the original pieces.

 

Keep it original and only do mods that can be reversed.

 

Agreed *eagerly awaiting to see pics*

 

Exactly, do whatever you want to it but make sure that it is all reversable and keep all of the original parts you remove...

Pics?

 

Why save it and keeping it original?? Are you planning on keeping it for someone else?? Enjoy it yourself, there are enough garage queens. Original owner of 1987 IROC.
My opinion...

 

Nice, Pics?

How much for the 1990 Formula?

 

thanks for the replies guys. i'll get the pics up soon. right now she sits in the garage until the snow and the salt go away. i cant wait to take her out!
also, asking 4k for the 90 formula. negotiable.

 

My mom always said "if aint broken don't fix it". Keep it orginal. Get another project car are mess w/ that. The low milage on that car is incredible. Once you make mods, then you want to drive more & harder.. who knows what could happen. Otherwise enjoy your car & do whatever you want to.

 

Just keep all original parts.....Don't go drilling, cutting or gutting anything

You can actually do quite a bit, yet still stay stock......

Like new hoods, leather seats, exhaust system, and alot of interior modifications, new wheels/tires........etc

 

I was glad to see this post. Im kinda in the same boat amandagregory is in with my bird. 85 model with 64k ORIGINAL miles on it. NOT A SCRATCH! I have the same question myself, but I keep wondering if the mods will make it worth more or less. I have actually bought a set of headers, 3' y-pipe, welded dynomax muffler for it, but its not on the car yet. Im not sweating a new muffler, but do I rip the AIR pump and all the emissions off, or do I leave it and just replace the muffler and pipes? It kinda seems a shame to mod such a cherry car, but... Kinda seems to me if I'm gonna put headers on it, then why stop there? ALMOST makes me wish I had bought a third gem with more miles that needed a restoration, then I might not feel so bad. I guess I will see what you all have to say. I have been nothing less than amazed at what you 3rd gen guys know and appreciate about these cars.

BTW, amandagregory, how far are you away from east tennesse are you? Id kinda like to take a look at the 90 formula you have for sale.

 

There are numerous schools of thought on this subject and all of them are correct. It's really a matter of opinion. Here's mine:

I feel there are four categories: 1) Non-collectible, average/high mileage, 2) Non-collectible, low mileage, 3) Collectible, high mileage, & 4) Collectible, low mileage.

This brings up a question; what is "collectible"? It is a car that has been recognized as such by people/companies that research this issue. Because this is a website devoted exclusively to the third gen F-body, I'll restrict my opinions to such. For Camaros, here's a list of "collectibles" -- again, this is my opinion which means I am neither correct or incorrect. I list these Camaros in random order:

1) 1982 Indy Pace Car Replica
2) 1987 "20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition" Convertibles (All variants)
3) 1988 - 1992 Z28 / IROC-Z 1LE's
4) 1991 - 1992 B4C RS's
5) 1990 IROC-Z Coupe & Convertible (not yet, but possibly a future collectible)

I do not know Firebirds well enough to derive a list, so I'll keep my opinions related to Camaros. Now back to the subject at hand.

1) Non-collectible, average / high mileage:
Do whatever you want. These cars can be modded to your hearts content as they hold no future collectibility status.

Note: My 1987 IROC-Z could be considered by some as somewhat collectible (I do not). It's a 305 TPI, automatic, fully equipped (Option Package #3) and with G80 (limited-slip), J65 (four-wheel discs) and G92 (high-performance axle ratio). It's not so much the options that make a difference, it's the status of the car itself. Therefore, my IROC-Z is not a collectible, so I mod it to my heart's content.

2) Non-collectible, low mileage:
These cars will retain more value than #1, however the market is very small for these cars. I would have no issue modding these cars, but I would limit the mods to bolt-ons.

3) Collectible, average / high mileage:
These cars are worth significantly more than #1 or #2 and have already proven that they are worth significantly more. Modding a car in this class should be limited to parts that do not alter it visually. In other words, I have no problem changing the rear axle ratio, cam, heads, etc. But I would never install headers, a supercharger, aftermarket hood, etc.

Note: I consider my 1987 Z28 convertible in this class. Today, it has 89k miles, which cannot be considered "low". That's because even though it's a collectible, I enjoy it by driving it. I am not "saving it for the next owner."

4) Collectible, low mileage:
To remain 100 percent original. These numbers-matching cars are worth a premium and should never be modified in ANY way.

 

Willie, I gotta say, I very much like and respect your opinion. What you said makes absolute sense. I guess that is what I have been waiting for somone else to say, I guess as a way of validating my conclusion as to what to do with my car. I honestly think that is good advise for ANYONE that owns ANY muscle / collector car. It makes me want to beat the crap out of people that take a high mileage RARE car and chop it up into a pro street, drag car, race car, etc. As much as I LOVE the sport of racing, lets face it, you can race ANY f-body, so why do it with a rare f-body? THANKS for the input, Willie!! :hail:

 

Any Z28, or IROC vert with low miles. I would want to keep it in as good condition as I possibly could. I consider them to be rare to me. I like the rest of your list, its on the same level of what I think are considered to keep original.

 

i agree do some mods that can easily be changed back using the stock parts.

 

AmandaGregory
Do you have any pics of your 7 thousand mile Firebird??? We would be interested to see this beauty.]]

 

If it only got 7000 miles then keep it original.

 

If it is original, I would keep it that way. I was gonna keep my TA stock/original til I found out the original motor was not in it.

 

i'll post some more pics as soon as i can get her out of the garage. should also mention i bought this car from the original owner who ordered the car brand new. has every possible option that was available in 89, including the 9 bolt 3.27 rear and n10 dual cats. original gatorbacks have never been off the rims. i bought it to enjoy, not 'preserve for the next guy'. i just dont want to do something to it i'll regret down the road. i disagree about irocs being collectable. all the meets i've been to they are a dime a dozen. not that many firebird/trans ams out there.

 

pic

 

Very nice car amandagregory.

Interesting topic, and it crosses my mind everyday. My car is still stock and havent done a thing to it yet. After reading this im second guessing if i should even touch my car.

I guess an ATI Procharger is not a smart move then.

For there are a few mods i would like to do, and i dont think it would hurt value.

SFC= Improves the chassis, why would it hurt value? (Fixing something GM should of done)

CAI= We all know they restricted the TA beyond what it should of been. The car needs to breathe better. (Another flaw from GM)

Intake Runners= Its any easy bolt-on, can be reversed no-problem, so why not?

Complete Exhaust= From headers to cat-back. I would really like that throaty V8 sound, but this would be the most irreversable bolt on from the pack

Custom Prom= Have a friend that has the hardware, why not tweak it a bit. Plus i'll back up the stock chip.

And thats it!!! All bolt-ons, and reversable. Plus there mainly bolt-ons that IMO should of been fixed from GM.

Besides, bottom line is im probably gonna keep this car for the rest of my life, and i already got it appraised so i dont have to worry about mods as much.

Later

 

I'd say keep it original. They are worth more if they are original. But that only matters if you sell it.
I spent several thousand modifying my original '78 which in retrospect would be worth more if I had left it stock. But I wanted to make it how I wanted it and do not intend to sell it.
It's up to you but low mileage unmolested thirdgens are getting harder to come by.

 

amanda, just curious but if you sell the 90, won't you be forced to daily-drive the 89? That would be a real shame. Looking at Willie's post above, I'd say your car long-term will be part of the elite #4 category if you have enough willpower to save it. Formula 350 is going to be a pretty rare car, as most were 305's. Since your car survived this long with so little mileage, it would be a real shame to start using it frequently now. My opinion is keep original and keep it a low mile car, and it would make a great investment if you can hang on to it for years to come. I know there's always one or two people who say "mod the hell out of it! it's meant to have fun with!" but I disagree and I'm sure you could get a super cheap common Firebird to do that with while still saving this rare survivor. Any more pics? sweet car.

 

Agreed. I hate having my bird as a daily driver but I have no other choice. But at least it's only from home to work and back, and mostly highway miles. If I could afford a 4 cylinder grocery getter though, I would retire my bird from daily driving.

 

lucky for me my daily driver is a 2003 Toyota Tacoma pickup. but its killing me not being able to drive it! (i hate snow)
after getting a lot of input i think i might install only the SLP package that was available thru the dealers back in 89. that way it is consistently original. even the radio is original.

 

So the question is - "Why do you want to change the car?" If this car makes you happy the way it is, then leave it alone, keep it original, it should be worth more as time goes buy, but only to the buyer. If you are not satisfied with it, then make small changes that you can reverse until you just can't stop. Either way, these cars were ment to be driven. So enjoy it to the fullest, because nobody can live your life but you.

 

....Either way, these cars were ment to be driven. So enjoy it to the fullest, because nobody can live your life but you.

Very well put, Ed... I couldn't agree more.

Willie

 

Its really up to you. About the only thing I am having a hard time with is welding SFC. While I dont consider my car rare I do believe its getting hard to find L98 GTA with most SLP mods. And since SLP was introduce in 91 as a factory parts make it somewhat desirable.

So my point if I had a TTA, Firehawk or 1LE car I'd leave it stock. But who gives a $hit, Im going to mod my GTA to suit me, I have always done things that I like without someone else wantabee opinion on what I should do.

I would install nitrous and tell everyone its stock, and when you sell you all stock car (w/o the nitrous) the poor sap buying your car will never know you ran 100 plus filled bottle of fun thru it

 

SLP GTA, i dont know if id ever buy a car from u man, u sneaky dog, hehe.

I cant see myself selling my car, seriously, i think im gonna keep it for the rest of my life!

Why sell it, for what? Its gonna start going up in value in like 5-10 years. Our 3rd gens will be like 60s and 70s cars of today, much value!

What am i saying, im not gonna sell my car, so again who gives a ****, its my car, im doing what i want with it, i paid for it, and i;ll do what the **** i want!

Ok later

 

I too have run across this same situation. I have a 92 RS Heritage ed. In all my research (alot) I've discoered that only about 500 cars like mine were made, polo green with gold stripes and badges, with a 305. That would seem like a rare car to me.IMHO I have the option of doing the LS1 swap and dont know if I should. I'v had this car since 94 and love the fact that I only know 5 other cars like it. I show it in original class and have won many tropheys for it.
On the other hand, I could get the LS1 for $1000 and do the swap in the garage. No denying the power of an LS1 in a 3rd gen.
Heres a pic from a show last summer, what do you think?

 

This is kind of off topic here but here goes.

I've been seeing a lot of the 'rarity' of certain vehicles lately on these boards and I was doing a little research of my own...

My current car, a '93 Beretta GTZ, is pretty rare in itsself... Its one of only 621 GTZ's built in 1993 with the Quad4 HO/5 speed. The rest were the 3.1 V6/autos. Next, my color is very rare: Medium Quasar Blue. Added to that, my interior color is even more rare: medium blue.

Those combinations, even on a Beretta, make my GTZ on of say probably 50 or so cars built the same...

Damn I want a 3RdGen

 

im was in the same boat as GreenRS

heres a realllll nice polo green car....



i only know of 4 cars...me yrusoslo GreenRS and the owner of this vert...

i hacked mine up...it had 126K miles and it was begging for a 350...