My faithful steed, Taarna - a 180,000 mile 1989 Formula 350 that I, for better or for worse, fell in love with on sight.
I first saw my car at a Halloween party my coworker was putting on around this time in 2020. I hardly socialized with anyone because I just kept thinking about that car.
This was the first time I ever got to see it in day light! It had been sitting for 2 to 3 years after the previous owner went through fuel pump issues and had just gotten tired of working on it. The tires were junk, it was dirty, filthy, stunk like gas.
Fresh set of Riken raptors. Still on the car today and they are great tires.
I drove the car around for 4th of July in 2021, and then stored it at my in-laws' as it was less than a mile away from the shop I intended to have replace the fuel pump.
Feb 2022
Half a mile down the road, the fuel pump died completely, sputtering out. Not the last time the car would ride on this specific tow truck.
In Colorado, anything made after 1975 needs to pass a California-standard emissions test to get plates. The car failed its first and second tests - then went back for a full tune-up, failed the third by a small margin. I took the car back an hour later for a free re-test and it passed, barely. That was good enough for 2 years of registration.
I spent an inhumanely long time looking at my phone and screen, scouring the depths of marketplace and craigslist like an old pirate for a set of louvers. I found these almost 2 hrs away on a V6 firebird that was being sold. I asked if buddy would sell me just the louvers - we struck a price and I took off in my 2016 Dart to pick them up. They will just barely fit in the back seat if you drive with your knees in the dash!
I ended up cutting the tips of the rotten Aero wing off my car with a steak knife in front of my house so they would fit.
Sept 2022
This is around the time that working on this car felt like the 7 trials of Hercules.
I began tackling the job of replacing the fuel injectors. The car had developed a bad problem where it would not want to start again after being driven - everything pointed to the injectors. I had never worked on a fuel injection setup before, so this was a nerve racking ordeal to go through. Stripped Torx bolts galore! All of those are replaced with grade-8 hex head bolts now.
Feb 2023
Found a $20 spoiler on Marketplace. Painted to match, looks much better than the Aero style.
Throughout 2023 the car still had the problem of not starting, until the last time in 2023 I drove it, the car shut off just sitting in park and did NOT want to start again for over 5 hours. I thought the pump was done for, again.
Called AAA next morning, and the car fired up enough to drive back to my house. Had the AAA guy follow me on standby just in case.
2024
I donned the Hercules costume yet again and dove into replacing most of the things I could get my hands on.
I tore off the plenum and found sticky, stinky gas coating EVERYTHING. 2 cans of carb cleaner later, refreshed and installed.
Among hundreds of dollars of engine sensors, control modules, having the car re-timed (it was 6 degrees off), figured she was ready to drive. I took it out and cruised while my wife had her hair cut. Went to get her after, and the rig died on me on the side of a highway. No fuel pump, again. I sat on the side of the road and cried real man tears in frustration.
When the AAA guy dropped it off, I told him that it would probably start up in a few hours like it normally would. To my amazement, it fired up and drove into the garage before the truck driver even left.
I sat up all night thinking about the car, and went into the garage about 3 am after a wild hair thought. I cracked open the fuel line - black, gritty gas running down my arms. I had finally found the major issue.
Spent about a week looking around at pricing - lucked out on a brand new tank with a Walbro 255 and new sending unit for $75 on marketplace. 2 hour trip there, 2 hours back - worth it.
One more time on the dinosaur tow truck, going to have the new tank installed.
Also replaced the old fuel pressure regulator. It was so old, it crumbled in my hands.
After the new tank went in, I set along replacing the radiator. Car always ran hot - took out the old rad and found it JAM PACKED with road fuzz, small woodland critter remnants, and general nastiness.
One new O'reillys Murray brand has been a fantastic bolt-in replacement.
I fought with this install, trying to do it in my small garage and trying to become a contortionist in doing so - not reccomended.
Aftermath of using a cheap Amazon kit for burping the coolant. The funnel neck bent, and i was stuck holding the funnel up and trying to figure out how to shut off the car without letting the funnel go. I had to just drop it, it was bubbling over and I burnt the crap out of my hand on 200 degree coolant for about 2 weeks after that.
I was afraid to work on it after that, anxious I'd have more hot coolant introduced to my skin - but I knuckled down and did it.
Last thing left was to take her to emissions again. By this point, my registration was 4 months expired so I had to pony up for temp tags so I wouldn't get pulled over en-route to the test.
Took the car out for about an hour just driving it, giving it an Italian tune-up, then sat in line for an hour for the test. It passed with flying colors!
I've been able to enjoy the car these past few months, and got 5-year collector vehicle plates. That means 5 years before she needs another emissions test.
I run the car strictly on ethanol free 91 octane. She loves it.
The last piece of the puzzle, and where I'm at now -
I spent these past few years looking for the correct Formula hood. I don't much care for the Trans Am style, and it's dented from hail damage anyway. Tried to buy 4 or 5 of these hoods, one time almost committing to driving 5 hours one way for a hood that was already the correct black. I found an old boy on a Formula facebook group who had one for sale an hour away. I struck up a deal and left it at my buddy's house who was just 5 mins away from the seller.
Once I rent a truck to bring it the hour home with, getting this hood ready for paint will be my winter project.
Before and after, stock seats and new to me junk yard buckets from an 82 camaro. I had to use the seat recliner mechanism from the 89 seats but everything lined up
