Third Generation F-Body Message Boards - South Carolina 1991 Firebird

General description: 1991 Firebird, V8, originally a 305TBI car (now a 350 TBI more on that later), T-tops, power windows, power door locks, cloth interior, approximately 107k miles, 95% done but needs some work. Asking $3300 obo.

Brief history: Bought the car in January of 2007 from the second owner who only had the car for about a year. It was my daily driver until May 2009 when it spun a bearing. Unfortunately the car has been sitting ever since as I could never muster up enough cash/time to get it running right. After 5 years of being down, I have lost interest in the rebuild so I am looking to sell it. I have invested well over 5k in the rebuild alone (without considering the other brand new parts that are on it) of which I have ALL receipts to prove what has been done and I know I’ll never get that much out of it the way it sits but I’d like to recoup some of that money to pay off a student loan or two. I have done extensive upgrades to the car since I have had it and I will do my best to accurately describe all of them so that you can see what a diamond in the rough this car truly is.

Drivetrain: I’ll start with the part that everyone cares about. Originally a 305 TBI, it now has a brand new GM performance 350 short block with 113 casting Corvette heads, Holley 300-66 TBI intake, and Holley TBI throttle body with 85lb/hr injectors (professionally cleaned and flow tested for proof), and LT4 Hot Cam kit. Also new with the motor swap was a 190lb/hr fuel pump and Dynamic EFI’s EBL tuning software with the TT-1 wideband. The current issue with the motor is a sticking valve that may have damaged the cylinder head and/or piston. I have not taken the head off to diagnose the severity of the valve issue. Before the sticking valve, I could never get the motor to stay running long enough to even break it in properly before it would start to stumble and sputter and eventually choke itself out. I believe the issue is a combination of the starter tune and bad cam/distributor timing but I was never able to confirm the true cause of the stumble. Other parts that were installed previous to the motor swap are March 3-piece underdrive pulleys and Edelbrock aluminum water pump. I also upgraded to the TPI dual fan setup and hard wired the fans to run all the time as I always had an issue with overheating. There are way too many other parts to list, but basically, if it’s a part that goes under the hood it’s either been upgraded or replaced at some point.

The transmission is still the factory 700R4 with stock torque converter. I had a reputable transmission shop look at the trans and replace the seals/gaskets and filter before putting it back in the car for the motor swap and although it drove fine for me when the car ran, he recommended a rebuild as there was some indication of wear to the clutches. But he didn’t say it would absolutely need a rebuild in order to drive.

About a year before the motor went down, I had a brand new set of Motive 3.42 gears and an Eaton limited slip differential installed. I would say they have less than 2000 miles on them but I would suggest a rear diff flush before it is driven again just to be safe.

Suspension/Chassis: These parts are all brand new with zero miles on them.
KYB GR2 Shocks and Struts on all four corners
Eibach Pro Kit
Founders Strut mounts
TDS wonderbar
Polyurethane bushings and end links for factory sway bars
Chrome C4 ZR1 17x9.5 wheels with Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Tires 275/45/17 front and 285/40/17 rear
Set of four 2” aluminum adapter spacers with lugnuts. Two of them are installed, two aren’t (didn’t realize until after I had bought them that you need 2.25” for the front wheels). Still have the stock wheels and tires also.

Exhaust: Dyno Don ceramic coated headers and Y-pipe (not coated) are currently on the car. For those of you that don’t know, his y-pipe comes in a few pieces and right now it is just mocked up under the car and not welded or properly sealed to the headers. I also have a Magnaflow catalytic converter (which I don’t think will fit but it will go with the car anyway) and Hooker catback exhaust that have yet to be installed. I have done a full EGR/AIR delete which includes the delete pulley on the serpentine system.

Interior: About what you’d expect for an almost 25 year old car. Seats are in pretty good shape (no tears). Carpet is decent but worn in spots. Only one small split in the dash on the far corner. The headliner definitely needs to be replaced as you can see water damage. The T-tops leak of course (don't they all lol). There is one small spot on the driver side T-bar that is rusted but other than that it looks ok. I upgraded to the 145mph gauge cluster (I still have the original cluster as well for proof of mileage at time of swap). I also have a Pioneer head unit and aftermarket speakers (can’t remember what exactly) but it’s nothing special. Comes with a T-top bag but the zipper teeth are in pretty rough shape. I have the original owner’s manual and window sticker as well as the build sheet. The build sheet is basically unreadable and would need to have forensic techniques used to read it but at least I can say I have it.

Exterior: The only real exterior upgrade I’ve done is a Ram Air I hood. I still have the stock hood as well but it will not fit with the new motor. I replaced the broken/missing front fender ground effects pieces as well so the car is complete and not missing anything. I have done the delrin bushing mod for the headlights so they function properly and “upgraded” to Silverstar headlights and fog lights. The original owner had a fender bender (literally) when pulling out of the garage. The front driver’s side was repaired by Econo/Maaco (it shows). As a result, they repainted the whole car with a crappy single stage paint job (t-tops included). I would rate the paint as 5 out of ten right now. There are some chips, scratches, and oxidization from sitting in the sun and just general wear and tear, however. Regarding the t-tops, I did go through the process of sanding them down and buffing them out so you can see through them again. It could probably use another once-over on the wet sanding and buffing from the neglect but at least they aren’t painted anymore.

I have some pictures posted below. I know this car front to back, top to bottom, & inside and out so please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions you may have as I’m sure there is a lot I have forgotten to mention. If there are any parts of the car you’d like to see that aren't posted let me know and I will do my best to get it posted for you.