CharlesDeCapua

This car has been completely restored from ground but we still left some original parts on it, such as rear diff, the whole bone stock suspension (sadly the struts and shocks are bad so my car rides like a sponge and can dribble the car like a basketball LOL)

This is the picture of what the car looks like currently. I understand it needs a bath and a repaint but I should worry more about keeping the engine running on ALL 8 cylinders.



What should I say about the heart of Frankie???

Well the engine before this one was a worn out 250k miles 305 TBI from the 1991 Caprice. That lasted 2 to 3 years and then it overheated and then the bearing in the bottom end said "I give up"

So my dad called the local scrapyard to get another engine for Frankie. Techincally I was supposed to get another 91 305 from the Firebird. So the employees took the TPI set up off the heads for them to get more money off the set up. 4 days went by, the engine finally shows up but as a long block. So my dad went and checked out the engine, it says "88 305" on the flex plate. Well my dad dug a little deeper and noticed the "5.7" stamped on the back of the block. Okay so it's a 350. So dad went on Facebook and sent the numbers to a buddy of ours and he messaged back saying that the 350 was from an 1988 C1500 pushing 215rwhp and 300rwft/lbs of torque. Dad had to change the oil pan gasket, after he took the oil pan off, first he noticed it's a 4 bolt main and dug even deeper. The engine has new pistons, connecting rods, crank, mild flat tappet camshaft and dual roller timing chain. I do remember him telling me that the bores still have marks on them that the block has been machined and cleaned up. Dad did the long block swap over the weekend, connected the wiring harness, transmission, fuel lines and battery, the 350 fired right up at the first crank and ran flawlessly ever since. We didn't find out that the 350 is cammed until dad changed the throttle body and air cleaner. The 350 is running 10w30 fully synthetic oil and 93 octane pump gas. The timing is advanced but left the idle screw alone. Engine idles at 500rpm at operating temperature until the computer bring the idle up to 750rpm. Transmission is currently a 4L60E (No it doesn't go into 2nd gear) but we have a factory rebuilt 700R4 from the 88 Silverado waiting to be behind this beefy 350.



Here's the front end shot of Frankie. Yes the turn signals say "TRANS AM" on them, my dad made those by using stickers, a template and razor blade. The original fog lamps don't work anymore so now Frankie has LED daytime running lights. They only turn on when I turn on the parking lights on.


Exhaust system:

Stock Exhaust Manifolds (Air tubes deleted) custom 2 1/4 duel out to the 3 inch Y-Pipe with no catalytic convertors,
stock 2 1/2 inch over axle pipe to the custom made 2.5 inch to 3 inch pipe to fit the inlet to the MagnaFlow muffler, two 2 1/2 inch out to dual 3 inch 45 degree angle slash cuts.






Interior:

1991 Firebird and Camaro interior.. All of the panels are blacked out.

5 point racing seat belts for driver.

Stock Seat belt for passenger.

Rear seats were taken out.

My dad welded the 6 point roll cage into it. It's a 4 point now because of easier access getting in and out of the car by opening the doors.

1991 Steering column with Computer Chip key and Stock 1985 steering wheel with the spinner ****.

Sounds:

Stock fronts, aftermarket rear, 2 AMPs, crossover, compassetor, dual American Bass DX subwoofers.







Exterior:

Stock spoiler from the 84
82 Turbo Bulge hood
91 Doors
Brand new 85 Driver side Trans Am Fender

16x8 Black Crosslaces with Gold Bird Center Caps.

blakbird89

Looks like a great start man, that's awesome you found an engine with almost brand new parts! Where it's a project, I would definitely take care to rustproof the floorpans/undercarriage and fix some of the other factory flaws before making any big mods. It'll save soo much headache down the line

Good luck!

-Jack

CharlesDeCapua

Well the car didn't have that many holes in the floor pans but my dad did patch this hole in the driver side...







And then before my dad installed the cage in, he patched a few more...




Here's the cage...