FirebirdUSX

Ok I found on the internet for sale my old 88 Firebird ,2.8 T5 and I have few questions before I go and rebuy it.
The guy says it has a faulty water pump. How often that thing fails? I know they have problems with the head gaskets but the problem is I had the engine professionally rebuilt in 2003 and since then the car barely drove 20,000 miles. Its visible the car sat ,it needs repainting and pretty much a new interior . I'm asking about the engine because that's the hardest part. The guy asks for 2500 euros but he is willing to negociate. What should I look for when I get there? Obvious rust spots on non t top cars? There is no rust in the engine bay or strut towers .What are the weakest points? Transmission and suspension can always be rebuilt easy thanks to Rockauto ...I can't rebuy floor pans from US this is why I'm asking here. I need professional help lol

Oh and if its the water pump can I actually drive the car around? If its the head gasket what is causing that? Is the head that gets warped or something else?I imagine in both cases the engine should start. If I go there what oil viscosity should I put in the engine and how much? Is it the same as in my 350? Asking because I seriously no longer remember.

And no I won't jump over it ...these cars are really rare in Europe so i have to save it somehow.

P.S. Really hope this is the right section.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Yikes !

Where to start ..... ? Hmm , well first things first , yes indeed by all means crawl all over every inch looking for rust & rot , if it's rotted out badly anywhere it's gonna cost you more to fix than it's ever gonna possibly be worth , even in Germany where they are "rare" . Now , if it's not rotted out and hasn't been hacked all to hell with wiring butchery and aftermarket crap badly installed the next question is why is he saying the water pump is bad ? Water pumps generally fail by the way of leaking out coolant , if it's not leaking coolant but instead the engine is overheating , the water pump isn't as likely to be causing that as something like a stuck closed thermostat or a not working radiator fan could be . Head gaskets aren't usually suspected till you start seeing coolant into the oil or compression loss between two adjacent cylinders , why do you suspect head gasket issues ? You ask about oil viscosity and how much to put in , why ? Doesn't it have oil in it now ? It should be just fine to put 10W40 in it , mine's been running on it for years now (just don't like/trust 5W oil here myself) and fill it till it's on the full line on the dipstick (the 2.8 V6 takes a bit under 5 US quarts if I recall correctly) . As a last thought in this response I'll say "Auto Detailing and Appearance" is about the last place I'd have asked your questions , the "Tech / General Engine" category being more of a "catch all" mechanical question area . "Detailing and appearance" is all about making the car pretty , and it sounds like your adventure will take you more into the mechanical (drivetrain) realm than the making of the car pretty .

FirebirdUSX

I'm in Romania right now and yes they are kinda rare in Germany ...they keep turning them into kitt lol

I haven't seen the car...its about 300 miles away and I also have a personal life with work ,wife and all the boring crap that keeps me alive. I asked because the car sat...I'm ain't starting it with the old oil. Hope its the water pump because that means I can start and hear the engine.

I sure have to make the car pretty ,some dumbass painted the car over the old paint and it start cracking and revealing the old paint.I don't worry about this because I know a guy who paints US cars using US methods. Its not easy to fix american engines around here. Just a month ago a spun a rod on another american car I own(*cough* chrysler) ...seriously not funny trying to find someone even look at your car here.

Engine bay doesn't look to have too many hacked wires.Its dirty beyond what I accept as dirty thou. He said its overheating.If its the thermostat I can just remove it ,if its the water pump I can't keep adding antifreeze ...if its the headgaskets I can junk the engine lol

Oh and sorry about the thread being in the wrong place. If a mod wants he can delete it or move it please , my bad

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Oh my , yes indeed that paint is terrible !

First check to make on the overheating is to make sure the electric radiator fan does in fact work . Now that you know it has overheated there will be certain checks that should be made , things like making sure there is no coolant in the oil and a compression check of the cylinders . If the thermostat is stuck closed then yes removing it will cure the overheating , but at the cost of the engine running too cold , so replacing rather than removing will be the way to go . All in all it don't look too bad under the hood from what I see in the pictures , rust wise , if you got any pictures of the rest of the car post them up .

FirebirdUSX

The hood is not rusted ,its the "new" paint flaking off the original one. I will make sure I will remove that garbage before I will apply some quality paintwork using OEM color code.
Under the hood there is no hacking except the one on the driver side...I don't know where that "tube" for the wires is coming from. There is no coolant as the guy said it poured out ,hopefully from the water pump.I don't see what can go wrong with a cold engine ,yes it will use more fuel till I replace the thermostat.Saying this because I'm thinking to actually drive the car home ...shipping cars over 300 miles here is very expensive.I was suspecting head gaskets because I'm a true pessimist lol . I had this engine rebuilt in 2003 and since then it barely got over 20k miles.

I'll add few more pics from the guy. He sent them to me through whatsapp .The interior is pretty much trashed and dirty. I will start buying parts from US ,that's easier than shipping engines. Found a 2.8 long block on Rockauto 1.4k and another 2k to ship...not funny ,interior parts are easier because most will come used thus I won't be paying tariffs plus they are not heavy.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Looking at the pictures I see a couple of things I'm curious about . hopefully the driver's door just wasn't closed tight , if there is that much gap in a fully closed door there is a problem . Also , the trunk lid fits very badly to the fender area , there is a huge misalignment there . The water pump does have fresh gasket glue around it , it's been worked on fairly recently . You say the radiator is empty , the rate of the leak and where it's leaking to will determine whether you can drive it 300 miles home or not .

All in all it looks like a worthy restoration candidate to me so far , and I do like the look of the roof without the T tops , I wish my car didn't have them ....

FirebirdUSX

The fresh glue is probably the one I used back in 2003...everything on that engine was replaced in 2003. Yea the driver door is probably not closed ,if it stays like that the hinges will need replacing .It was already starting to sag in 2003. The trunk was bad since I got it ,it got worse thou. The expansion tank is empty ,no idea about the radiator. Back in 2003 it had tiny tiny really tiny cracks in the corners of the B pillar and the roof. I know the common defects like that because I also have a 350 Formula. When I rebuilt the 2.8 I had to do it because it was loosing compression ,the poor little thing start getting that around 155,000 miles . I used the best of the best parts I could find in US at the time. From what I remember it was a really resistant little engine ,heck I overheated few times after the rebuilt (thermostat closed) and it had no problems with it...it ran great. I guess having an iron block helps.

Only things I have to find now is interior parts because I can't find any on Rockauto and classic industries is crazy ...$90 for a set of center caps+ shipping and taxes ,I end up close to 300

Also the "glass" on the speedometer is cracked. Is there a way to fix that or I need to buy another cluster?