All 82's?

 

yeah ,I have that strip too on my 82 s/e

 

Yes, except the cars that received the base seats, which came with a different kind of door panel....

 

82 was a transition year for the punched door panels, most if not all 2nd gens and some but not all 1st year 3rd gen birds had the hole punched.


I think the bean counters at some point during the 82 production year said, Hey! stop punching and plugging cars with electric windows and we can save a few bucks on labor and parts. Also by then PW were starting to be more common on a lot of cars.

I have seen 82 birds with PW that did and did not have the plugs. Starting in 83 no punched holes for cars with PW.

 

Hey 82,whats youre production sequence #?Mine is 76000 I dont know exactly off the top of my head,but I dont have the firebird door panel emblems?I was thinking yours must be low since you have the emblem?true?

 

My s/e was made 4/2/82, so it's an early early 3rd bird from the van nuys plant. was yours made at norwood or van nuys?

 

Van Nuys

 

Mine is in the 25000 range, so it appears they may have stopped using the buttons late in the production year.

Anybody here with a low 82 run # with PW and no button?

 

..

 

1G2AW87H3CL528068 (dead) had the door badge.

Don't know if 1G2AW8778CL575524 (also dead) had them or not (original door panels were long gone)

 

I just picked up an 82 recaro parts car it has the B20 option and didn't have the door panel buttons.

But my regular 82 t/a Vin 1G2AW8773CL528191 has the red bird door emblems,Although I'm missing the one on the pass side.

 

3 types of buttons used adds to the mystery also

Silver like mine and 2 types of the red bird.

 

Ugly rear wiper? What rear wiper? I can hardly tell it's there

 

On my '82 TA I also have the door buttons where the manual window crack would go. Mine is the red/yellow color. I think it's strange that they have the 2nd gen bird design. I always thought they were using the leftovers from the 2nd gens...don't know if they are exactly the same though. I have seen on Ebay some of these buttons with the updated 3rd gen bird logo. Not sure when those came into production or why if they decided not to punch the holes in the doors so soon after the '82 year. I also have the chrome trim that is on the door panels. I also have the PMD seats with the carpeted cargo area. I think this was the deluxe interior option.

 

Had a chance today to test drive my S/E with the new TDS Wonderbar and the handling response is night and day

 

.,.........

 

Less than a month and these 82's hit 24 years young

I may have to think about getting a late model 3rd gen, like an 85 or 86

 

my 82 trans am 511961 had the buttons

 

Great S/E thread everyone... I better get in on this with my '83

 

Hey 83firebird,

What drivetrain did your 82 S/E have?

V6 4 speed or auto ?
V8 4 speed or auto ?

 

83firebird S/E - the verry first third gen i ever saw was an 83 S/E that had the same wheels as yours and the same color as 82 s/e ws6s. my woodshop teacher (asst. teach actualy) had one my sophmore year that he recieved as a gift from his neghbor (old lady who drove it to church and to buy groceries, seriously!) after she hit her garage with it (minor damage only) she decided she was too old to drive, she knew how he always loved it and gave it to him. he drove it to school and for some reason showed us little highschool brats. car was beautiful! had only 30K on it in 1998. ever since then i have though firebirds were "wicked cool" and have been the proud owner of one since summer 2003. just recently purchased my first v8. a 1988 GTA.

i still love the looks of the "early bird". you guys keep those cars looking nice

 

Dont want to pay for the newer stuff so I think I'll hang on to my early bird

Took the s/e out so I could give my right arm something to do, all my other rides are auto's

Come to a stop light and in the next lane is an "import" revving up his popcorn farter and when the light turned green he nails it hard and blasts off.

Me? I noticed an unmarked cop cruiser behind me and just stayed kool, the lights come on and I move to the right and watch him go after the "import"

Made My day

 

i have always wantec that to happen to me....

 

It was a V8, 3 speed Auto. Probably was the nicest S/E left in exististance. It had 17k miles on it in 2001. Everything was original even the tires, fanbelts etc. It had never seen rain.

 

I remember seeing pictures of that S/E awhile back! Amazing car! Can you send me more pictures if you have them? I'd like to see the interior/engine and more of the exterior.

Why did you let go of that one?

 

83FirebirdS/E

I fondly remember that S/E also. I watched it on Ebay, and than saw you pick it up. I figured you mustve gotten an offer you couldnt refuse. That car was a dream come true I hope you got to enjoy it while you had it.

Your 83 S/E is very stunning also. I commend you on the great Resto job. I hope my 84 will look like that someday

 

Thanks guys it really was one of the best originals I had ever seen. Even the underside was clean like the top. "kizz" who has a 82 Recaro T/A with 3000 miles said that the exhaust systym on this S/E was the best original he had ever seen. Here are some more pics:

 

 

 

 

TAdan you are right, I picked it up on ebay and got a offer a short time later for way more than I paid. 82firebirdTA I have a few more pics that I will send you.

 

Digging out my trusty 3rg gen floodlight, ahh! yes now I see that super clean exhuast

Were the S/E emblems missing from the sail panels when you got it?

 

Yeah weird eh. I forgot about the missing emblem. It was actually only missing it on one side. The original owner said that it was like that when he picked it up... Quality control

 

And these dont grow on tree's anymore

 

I hate it when those avatars go bye bye

 

Amazing how fast the time goes by when you're having fun

 

Nice to see the car still looking good

 

Ah yes good 'ole S/E birds,I'm partial to the 82's for superficial reasons

On a side note:While I was on vacation in San Francisco last spring,I was at a IHOP getting a burger and a Maroon third gen caught my eye parked a few feet away near a alley.Turned out to be a VERY RARE April build '82 S/E WS6 T-Tops,V8,4 speed,had EVERYTHING.The owner was VERY cool,So I helped my self to it's 15" N89 rims Best dam* burger I ever ate


Dave.S

 

26 years young last April 2nd. Koni Yellow's and some 710's then I take her out for some Autocross fun this summer!

The S/E won't catch my Miata but I'll have fun trying

 

Recently a one-owner 42,000-mile maroon S/E went up for sale in GA. It looked almost too good to be true, so I personally went by to look at it and drive it. Well, it turned out to be better than expected, being a WS7 car, and being in near-mint to mint condition. A friend of mine and I together, we snatched it right up! Almost a fully loaded car, the only thing I can think of that it's missing is rear discs and front license plate bracket (and mystery door eagles). It has everything else. It's totally original except for the wheels, which my friend quickly replaced with correct N89's, and now we're looking for a clean set of chrome caps. We had some transmission hiccups at first, but a TV cable adjustment seems to have solved that for the time being. The car is really sweet and really original, and it'll stay that way as long as I'm alive, anyway! I'd have to say it's in as good a shape as 83FirebirdS/E's black one, if not better.

basic info and pics of Black Cherry: http://www.geezerlab.com:8080/transa...rry/index.html

Back to the door eagles: a Van Nuys S/E in the 539--- VIN range has the monochrome door eagles, and this maroon S/E we just bought does not have them, at 541---. Could that be the boundary line? Who knows....

Rear wiper - unless I'm having a lapse in memory, the rear wiper was mandatory on all 1982 S/E's.

GT