New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Hey guys, I've been lurking this f body board for a while now while I was on my quest to buy a 86-90 Firebird with a 305 or 350. In my opinion those were the best looking third gens. Not a fan of the camaros, love the bird headlights, up or down.

Yesterday I bought an 87 Firebird Formula, picking it up Saturday. Cars are all new to me(never owned anything outside of an SUV or p/u), I'm from the slow world. Off roading Wrangler and Toyotas but have plenty of mechanical experience. Im far from afraid to work on anything, lifting jeeps, swapping motors in them sasing yotas etc. I just sold my 94 Yota pick up for 2 and picked this up for 1600. Car is very clean rust wise, but needs a little help. Basic things dont work like a headlight doesn't flip up, the trunk latch, dash pads cracked, t top leaks a little etc. Bought it to daily drive. Cars in awsome shape, looks new off the lot next to the truck i just sold, specially being in the rust belt(Northern NY). Runs great, starts up awesome in the cold. Trans doesn't clunk. Its carbed with the 305, and what I'm assuming is a 700r4 behind it(o/d). I know a bit about gm products, had a 96 suburban(350, 4L60E, 241)and my dads a die hard Chevy guy. But I dont know much about 3rd gens. I've just always wanted a late 80s Firebird so found a clean looking one, cleaner then what I was aiming for, not to mention my girlfriend already nick named it the white trash burnout machine lol. So what more should I know about F body's? Its got 169,xxx on it. What should I look out for when its up there on mileage. Oil doesn't smell burnt, but does anything else start to go? Just give me some good general knowledge, little neat facts or what you guys think I should know. Gear ratios etc

I was also ready to put an exhaust on it to give it a nice mean rumble. But luckily it already does :thumbsup:

Sorry if I posted in the wrong place didn't see a general area of the board.

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Welcome! :waveman:

Good looking Formula! There is soooo much information on here and the members are full of knowledge. The best way is to pick a topic and enter it in the search area button.

As for one, I noticed the 16" WS6 wheels; great package.

Oh, and hang on tight while you're on here........us members can really dish it out, good or bad! Just dish it back... it's all in fun!

Again, Welcome!

Bob

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

That looks to be a pretty straight bird for the mileage. Good on ya.

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Welcome aboard. I like that color. If the the engine has nearly 170k on it and hasn't but worked on already, it's very likely it's burning a little oil caused by worn out valve stem oil seals. If you get some blue smoke at start-up, that's the first thing to suspect. I'd pull the spark plugs and inspect and their condition for any oil/water/mixture problems and do a compression check while they are out.

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Thanks for the welcomes.

Got the car on the road 2 days ago and it runs great. It does burn a little bit of oil but not much. Shifts smoothly. Only complaint its a small popping noise from the exhaust at idle. I'm assuming a fouled plug or 2. Also a small coolant leak I haven't narrowed down yet. Looks like the radiator might actually be cracked.

So its getting a small tune up this weekend. Plugs, wires, pads, rotors ect.

Any tips on changing the plugs? It looked like doing them from underneath would be easiest. There burried pretty good.

Can't think of much else to say right now, but I'm sure a few more questions will come up

Edit - Also, both headlighta flip up fine, the po just had some stuff out of wack, same with the truck motor. I'll also have to grab some more pictures for you guys, we all like pictures

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Nice car. I love the look of the formulas. Good luck with it

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Welcome, I remember seeing the car on Craigslist and thinking it was a good deal.

Looking forward to more pictures.

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Yea it was in Connecticut, about 3 hours from me. I'm in new York, well worth the trip to get it. The interiors a little rough. But like I said overall its in great shape.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o..._114047217.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o..._104619965.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o..._104558362.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o..._104502543.jpg

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o...525575_HDR.jpg

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Looks good! When you go to change the plugs I would also change the valve cover gaskets and put some new spark plug wires on it too. These cars are prone to have leaky valve covers. I've owned both 3rd gen trans am and camaros at the same time at one point so it's hard for me to choose so I decided I like both lol

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Welcome. Love the Color. I have a 91 Maui Blue Met. I prefer the solid colors and lack of ground effects. I use mine as a daily driver (except winter). Right now my car is sitting in the driveway under my cover. Another reason I hate winter.
If you are doing a tune up, go ahead and replace the Coil. Your right at the time they like to go out. Also I would replace the timing chain next time you replace the water pump.

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Yes ledman, wireset will be going with new plugs. Good thing you reminded of the gasket, totally forgot. I almost always throw new gaskets in when I get a new vehicle. And personally I dont care for 3rd gen camaros, I was set on a bird, I just think they look much sharper. I really wanted a trans am at first cause I like the gfx, but did some more reading and decided against a ta, in my area they would be rotted to ****.

And potter, I actually dont care much for the blue, I'm thinking I might give it a nice semi gloss black respray. But I am one for solid colors. I'm gonna dd it for a while. After putting about 400 miles on it so far I fell in love. Also what coil? The ignition coil? That's what I'm assuming you meant. Also the winters here in upstate NY are tough, but so far we got lucky snow wise. One decent storm on thanksgiving. I'm hoping it stays like this, come from a world of trucks I'm afraid to drive it in the snow. Which sucks cause I love being the only one out

Anyways, I got a quick question, what rear end and ratios does my car have. I know it's a 10 bolt. Is posi? There was no tag in the cover, so is there another way I could find out?

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Yes, the ignition coil.

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

I'm on my second 3rd gen as a daily driver. My first one ran for 300,000 miles, my current one is at 135,000. I have owned the Bird for 1 1/2 years. So far I have replaced the head gaskets, intake manifold was dipped to remove carbon, cleaned/replaced injectors, new timing chain, replaced all the rubber parts as well as a tune up. I knew I wanted a driver and the reliability of a new car. I would rather fix now instead of breaking down latter. I still have other things to fix and replace but nothing that stops the enjoyment of driving the car.

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

I'm guessing you have the 2.73 rearend limited slip non posi is what usually came in the 305 non tpi cars...not sure what motor you have?

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

The carbed 305. The taller gears explain the almost never ending top speed lol(to me, my last truck topped out at 70)

Also ifs its a LSD it can't be a non-posi. A posi and a limited slip are the same thing, posi is just a brand name.

As I said I come from a world where open or locked diff's make a difference. Had me curious, I could just spin some tire and find out but dont want feel the need to lol

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Does your car have the RPO list??

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Negative

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

That sucks! Compnine won't have it either!

Re: New Guy, 87 Formula
 

Is what it, I'll figure it out soon. Snowed yesterday, haven't driven it yet lol