well i just paid 7800 cash money about 2 months ago. i believe maybe i could flip for a little better? but i didnt buy her to make money on a flip i got her because when i was 12 years old i had a hard on for the 1984 pontiac car lot, with its rows of firebirds and brand new fieros. it was a fantasy as a kid to walk in a dealer & buy one of these gems.

mid life purchase bla bla bla. i love driving this car!

as of now the only pending mod is OEM 15 inch turbo cast wheels & hubcaps...the L69 305 HO i bought is in limbo! i am still inclined to follow my tentative plan to replace the LG4 with the L69. it has better compression better cam, & i would remove the old smog equipment & add headers, so IMO without any other mods i believe the L69 will be close to the 280 FT LB limit of the T5 NWC. I really dont want to get into changing the tranny & rear end. then its originality is finished.

still deliberating whether my L69 is a bridge too far for originality purpose. i mean, this car still has the rusty jones rust prevention system installed by the dealer. this cars originality is just insane!

 

its starting to look like the L69 i bought is going to a boneyard. gosh darn it the L69 has only 24K original miles. its as money as an original L69 can get!

still stumped. LOL.

 

The only major differences between L-69, and LG-4 of that year are flat-top pistons for 9.5:1 compression (versus 8.6:1 for the LG-4),
a little hotter cam (but still mild), aluminum intake manifold (same flow as the cast iron),
2-1/4" outlets on exhaust manifolds,
2-1/4" "T-pipe", Corvette catalytic converter, 2-7/8" intermediate pipe, 2-1/4" tail-pipes, 3.42 or 3.73 rearend gears, and Camaros got a dual snorkle air cleaner. For all the work required to do an engine swap, it's really not worth it unless you got all that stuff for free.
If what's in there now is in good condition, I'd suggest bolt-ons. If you want to do an engine swap, do a 350 for low-budget, or a 383 or LS for a substantial budget. Do what you want with YOUR car. If you LIKE it the way it is, then KEEP it the way it is, but don't worry about "originality", because again, it's not, nor will ever be a "holy grail" of collectible cars. I like it. I like hardtops, and I like the look of the '82-'84, and I don't need power windows, but at the end of the day, it's still a low-option thirdgen F-body, so don't be afraid to resto-mod it...

 

,
i appreciate your comments. the car already came with 3.73 gears and owner #1 replaced the exhaust with a banks power pack system from the late 80s. the original crap manifolds persist but otherwise the Y pipe/system is equal to the 305 HO exhaust. the stock LG4 with the stick shift and 3.73 is pretty perky. its like a small chest, but nice, if you will.

as much as i have an itch to mod the motor, & try & justify the impulse buy of the L69, i dont think i can change motors at the end of the day. Its a Norwood Ohio car, the owner #1 time encapsulated this thing to the point i will have a guilty conscience if i mod her. even though its a low option dealer inventory ride with no collector cred. i personally have a respect for original because original gets better with age. and a swapped car is 80% of whats left of 3rd gens.

maybe cam job, headers, remove the smog & call it a day?

 

Looks like you've decided what to do, which is to keep the car pretty much as-is with a nod to the person that kept the car so nice for almost 40 years.

Still won't satisfy your need for speed and you're going to have to come up with a solution to that urge....