Hi everyone,

Proud to say that after 7 years i am back in a third gen! I bought a 1990 Firebird Formula in maui blue on saturday. It's what i used to have 7 years ago, not tge exact car but exact year model and color. Took me forever to find the exact one. 90's seem to be difficult to find, let alone in the blue.

Feels so good to be back in one of these.

 

Looks great!!! Congrats!!! Not too far from Morgantown either lol...know the feeling of missing driving these cars, hence drive as much as possible post winter. Can't imagine 7 years!!! Lol

 

Had to stop for the sunset after a trip to Sonic

 

Very nice, I loveee Maui blue. If I had to pick a Formula, that would be it!

 

Thanks! It just seems to be a color that stands out against all the other cars and thats why i liked it so much.

 

Very pretty.

That color really pops, in sun or shade. I don't think its actually "Maui Blue" though. I believe it's 'Medium Bright Blue Metallic' or something like that. Maui Blue has a slight green tint, and ours has a slight purple tint which you can see in the right light. But the two colors appear so similar that ours is often just referred to as Maui Blue.

First thing that car needs is a new wrap around spoiler. The fiberglass ones are expensive, especially with shipping, but it is necessary to complete the look.

Too bad you live so far away. I have a very nice Hooker cat back with custom Monza double dual tips that I wont be needing. Plus, probably some other stuff.

I 100% agree on the feeling of cool getting back in one of these. I felt it when I got my Formula (version 2.0) on the road. Sooooo much more character than my 4th Gen had.

 

Thanks for clarifying about the paint. I was never 100% sure on what the color was actually called. I actually bought a hawks wrap around spoiler off the person i bought the car from. I paid $500 but didnt have to pay the shipping. I got a third brake light for it but have to get it all painted and put on. I really hate not having it on there but i dont have the time right now to do it. Ha, ya too bad cuz i actually dont like my current exhaust tips on the car. When i first bought it, i didnt really pay attention to how they looked because i was just excited to be in one again, but now that i own it, i think they look way to big for the car. So i'll be researching to see what looks good.

I liked my 4th gen and seeing them at the cruises they still look mean, but you're absolutley right, ther character just isnt the same as the 3rd gens.

 

Just some pictures of the car. Trip to the TA Nationals, and the first time i took my first Formula to the car cruise in 09 and the last time in 17. Sadly the cruise couldnt keep going with all the property being sold. At one point in time it was one the largest weekly cruises on the east foast with around 1000 cars showing up every Friday. The Starlite Car Cruise in Wexford, PA.

 

Also got my new exhaust tips put on today. Went with the 70's style TA splitter exhaust tips. Saw a picture of it on a third gen years ago when i had my old car and always thought it looked good, so finally decided to go for it.

 

I have that same hoodie! Took it to Dayton too, but never wore it. People would have thought we were twins.

I like those exhaust tips. I think they look right at home on a 3rd gen.

How do you like the sound of the car with them? I always thought they changed the exhaust note, with a lot of sound reflecting off the pavement.

 

Ha, i wish they had more 3rd gen logo shirts and stuff out there, but for now the second gen logo will do!

Thanks, i always thought they seemed good with our cars. I honestly didnt really notice a big change or atleast any noticable change in the sound between the new and old tips. My car has 2 3/4" pipe with cat delete, so it might be a little too noisy to hear any real difference.

 

Just a few pictures from the weekend.

All the cars after washing them.


Few night time pics.




Quick sunset pictures.

 

New tips look great!!! Car looks great, keeping it spoilerless?

 

Thank you! No, i have the spoiler for it. Still needs painted and put on. I've been trying to get a few quotes to get it done. I really need to figure out how to adjust the rear hatch before anything goes on tho, due to how unaligned it is.

 

Cool! maybe try to spray it yourself since it's just the spoiler...probably easier to do a black spoiler to avoid having to match blue if you're ok with that look. Looks good even without spoiler.

 

Car has been covered up in my garage the last few months but I did finally confirm my paint code and color.

It is code: 9537 - Medium Maui Blue Metallic :as per automotivetouchup.com

 

Sharp car, looks like it's in great condition.

 

A few more weeks and you'll be doing 11s all over the place!

 

Got the car out of the garage for the first time this year. Had to charge the battery but it ran pretty good once it came out. All i really managed to get done this winter was painting the mirrors from black back to blue. Now to get the spoiler sanded, painted and put on.

 

Up from a long winters nap. Hope to get mine out and give it a bath soon.

 

I also like the color. Nice Formula! They are difficult to find. I've been keeping my out for one. I still got a bit yet to get mine out, still got a bit of snow lingering.

 

 

@maks10
Still deciding. Gonna go get another quote from a body shop to have it painted and installed. Last quote for paint only was $300. My concern is that I don't know how to prep fiberglass for paint and im worried anout having to drill holes to instal the spoiler and brake light.

 

I was finally able to find and pick up an L98 350 engine from a member on the forums. Was told that it came out of an 88 Camaro. Very excited to have it and slowly begin the rebuild/build.

 

Good deal! I will also be picking up an 87 L98 from a friend of mine very soon. He went LS and I think I will be happy with the 70k mi L98. Got headers, 049 cam, bigger injectors and lots of goodies waiting to go in it. Going to freshen it up and shoot for swap maybe over winter

 

Nice DMC! I havent got anything for it yet. Still planning exactly what i’m going to do, so realisticly im not planning on swapping mine till probably next spring/fall. But im going to make sure i dont pull my current engine till im 100% ready to put the new one in. I just want a nice low/mild build. Just the 350 with a little extra kick!

 

That extra kick will be a good feeling I tell ya. These cars are pretty light so adding more HP increases the fun. Good score on the L98.

 

Finally got the engine on the stand and into my garage. Now i guess the plan is to start breakibg it down, cleaning and seeing what i really got.





(Side note. Sorry for the double posts in this thread and a few of my other ones. I want this thread to show everything i ever do to the Formula and have it all in one place)

 

 

Thank you. Im not planning on doing the swap till sometime next year. Definitely dont want to have it out of commision during driving season.

 

More C U B E S!

 

A little progress tonight. Old water pump, throttle body and plenum taken off. Need to go out and get the right sockets and some other stuff to make this a little easier.

 

This happened yesterday. Ofcourse i couldnt stop to take a pic till it was past 88,000 lol

 

More work with the 350. I think the insides are failry clean but i dont completley know what to look for. Just glad its not all filled with grime and sludge.

 

It does look good

 

Good lookin' 'Bird! I just picked up (a few months ago) a 1990 Maui Blue Formula myself. 16,511 miles, original down to the Goodyear VR50 tires. Of course, the tires are not what I would consider safe to drive on; the rubber is hard as a rock. It's originally a San Diego, Cali car that was always garaged, so there is no rust at all, nor really any corrosion. Put it up on my friend's two-post lift and he was amazed. Said he'd seen two year old cars that were dirtier. Anyway, enough bragging. I was wondering what brand/model tires you have on yours. There doesn't seem to be a lot of choices if you want to stick to stock size. Thanks.

 

@rt66er
Thats a very clean bird. Wish i had paint and an interior like that! I’ll have to look and see what kind of tires are on it when i get home and let you know.

 

@rt66er sorry, it hasnt been to nice here so I havent remebered to look at the tires. Theyre PRIMEWELL brand size 245/50ZR16 97W. They came on the car when I bought it so I dont really know what kind of tire they are.

 

I also managed to finally sand my Hawks spoiler down. The differnce is crazy between how rough it comes and how a scotchbrite pad makes it feel. I also went a tiny bit further and hlightly hit it with 400 grit and 2000 grit paper. Those were the only 2 grits I could grab while I was covered in dust, but it is very smooth now. Hopefully its nice out tomorrow and I can hit it with some primer and maybe even paint!

 

Started painting the first few coats today. Only using Dupli color perfect match paint, but it should look good enough until the entire car gets painted. Better than it sitting in my garage and my car being spoilerless.

 

Looks good. I'm with you, I think bird without a spoiler looks terrible. 2000 grit is too fine to paint over, normally just use that for cut/buff of clear. 400 or 600 at most was all you really needed then and adhesion promoter like bulldog and then prime and paint. Lots of ways to skin a cat though and I'm sure it will be just fine!

 

Curious to know how well the Duplicolor matched.

 

I used it on the mirrors because someone painted them black. It was suprisingly really close. I could have done a better job painting but its much better than leaving them black.

 

That does look good!

 

Thanks! It will definitely due for now.

 

Far from finished. Still needs a few more coats, sanded and cleared but i set it in there anyways. Cant wait till its on. It changes the whole look of the car.

 

Also im trying to change my thermostat because my engine coolant has been boiling when I take the car out. But there is a hose i’m slowly destroying to get to it. It goes from the TB to the lower intake. Its only a few inches long and is shaped like a horseshoe. What exactly is this called so i can find a new one?

 

It's some variety or another of a bypass hose, "horseshoe" hose is as accurate as any other.

GATES 18777 ACDELCO 14097S

 

Great, thanks Drew. I managed to get the thermostat out with only moving that hose and the air duct. Definitely made a mistake by pulling the entire hose off. Coolant everywhere. Chalk that up to not knowing exactly what i was doing. New thermostat is going in tomorrow.

 

Congrats. Feels great to have another one right?