88firebird

Its driving me crazy... I wanna take my GTA out for a spin... I wanna do some work on it, but I haven't been able to all summer due to the fact that I'm unemployed. I just got out of school end of April and haven't found a job yet. I've got just enough money set aside to finish paying off my truck (which will be payed off in October) and pay for insurance... but other than that no extra $$$ for the GTA... I have plenty of time, but no $. Its driving me crazy cause I was hoping to fix it up and drive it a bit this summer, but unfortunately its not working out that way. I have to settle for going to the cruise nights and watching all you guys having fun with your nice 3rd gens! ha ha

George

Can I use that as the title for my autobiography..lol

88firebird

LOL Then you can follow it up with "So Many Toys, So Little $". ha ha I really wanna take the car out for a spin... it looks like I won't be able to get much done to the car this year... maybe I could throw a 10 day temporary plate on it and drive it for a few days. Course that might just make me miss driving it that much more

(BR)G-Machine

Dude... bodywork is your friend. It takes tons of time and costs next to nothing lol.

I was there... all through high school. And still now in University.

88firebird

Well, the car does need some bodywork, thats true... the problem is tho I need to do it all outside (my dad's garage is full) and the car will also have to be stored outside all winter too... I almost don't want to do the bodywork yet cause I don't want the car sitting in primer all winter... too much moisture could get to it.

Cruz'N Bruz'R

Better get the body work done before knowing it has to sit out all winter.

Don't feel bad, i'm on the better half of a 3rd season with it not out, and i've thrown like $10G into the fire so far (well Dad too), I think I've had it out a total of 5 times in the last 3 years. For a total of maybe 45mins driving.

speedmachine

iTrader: (5)

Hey man

Be thankful. You can legally drive. I just graduated grade 8 and after putting the pressure on papa bear for two years [since grade6] I got him to double my 3000 to buy a camaro. I have a 89 350 TPI Iroc. Its a cherry car but its a real pooch screw not being able to legally drive it for two years. Its also a pain trying to get a job for goodies to put on my car because most places only start highering at 16. Take it from me you are a whole lot better of than I am.

Speedmachine [up my country driveway that is]

HalfInchWrench

Build a track around the house. Just like NASCAR less the fancy pavement.

88firebird

LOL Well, I do live in the country... that would be a blast! ha ha Actually there's a house a couple miles away where a guy lets his kid drive a beat up ol Buick around the field.... somehow I doubt that would be good for a 3rd gen.

And Speedmachine.... if I were you I wouldn't be complaining about being that young and having such a nice car for your first car! (just FYI, I'm 24... I know I'm a loser for still living at home, but heck, its cheaper that way! ha ha) I wish I had an Iroc when I was younger... must be nice. My first car when I was 17 was an 88 Firebird 2.8. I drove it for about 4 years til the engine died.... then I bought my S10 which is my every day car.... its just not as much fun to drive the GTA. I still got the 88 Firebird sitting in pieces actually... my plan was to swap in a V8, but then I found the GTA...

Cruz'N Bruz'R

Firebirds and Iroc for 1st cars, boo hoo.

At least you didn't get to run around in an 86 Tempo with the back bumper being held on by bungee cords.

Although it had seen quite a few offroading runs.

speedmachine

iTrader: (5)

hi,

I just can't see me pulling a dukes of hazzard driving around in fields with this car. But its a funny idea though. I know i am pretty lucky to have such a beast but Ive saved up for and wanted one since grade 5. Not many kids think about saving up for a car until they are getting ready to get their liscence and end up getting a peice of **** clunker or grandma's old car. I'm just a car nerd and thats what i love. So from now until I'm licsenced I will be putting parts in it, and rubbing it with a cloth.

Speedmachine

HalfInchWrench

My first car was an F-body. Bought it when I was 17. The 84 and I still have it. Paid for it myself and the outragous ins. for it too. Folks at work would bug me saying it would be cheaper to take a cab where ever I wanted to go. It would have been too.

All tho I havn't driven it in over 10 years, it got in rough shape while I stored it. Grass growing up into the floor is a bad bad thing. Still haven't decieded if I should repair or trash it. Have funny feelings about parting with my first car. It is fixable I suppose but it would take a lot of work.

speedmachine

iTrader: (5)

hi, HalfInchWrench

Your 84 sounds like its hurting pretty darn bad. If you are going to restore it I wouldn't bother repairing most of your car [garden in the interior]. I would go and buy a solid 84 with no rust, a good interior, and a good engine. Then merge the two and save whatever you can. But this requires a fair amount of work and $$$. If I was in your shoes I would bite the bullet and wave goodbye to your baby. Then I would start fresh with a solid clean car. I dont mean to offend you but to me your car sounds like it would be the kind of car in that condition that you scrap not sell. My uncles friend has a thirdgen [I think its an 83 but im not sure] and he has spent so much money keeping it up, and invested so much time into it that the dollar value of it is insane. So because he could not sell it for even a small fraction spent on it he just keeps it. Many a time has my uncle said that he should have had some fun with his car and then sold it. He would have been much better off getting a new one.

good luck with that

Speedmachine

speedmachine

iTrader: (5)

hi guys

Just thought you might want to se my car.

Speedmachine

Acceld Z

Looks great

Zedsled

Ok... speedmachine.. DUDE you rock!

It will deffinatly be worth it once you get your lisence.I had my first camaro at 15 years old,just the little 2.8 V6 but i still had the car.It was is WAY worse condition than yours and i was going nuts just to take it out on the road.Then about a year and a half ago i picked up my Z28.Had it sitting in the garage "getting ready" for almost a year.I had it out for 3 days during that time and that was such a tease.Got the car painted and out this year..i practically LIVE in the thing now.

freestylzz

At gas prices for premium hovering around $1.12-$1.20 a litre I don't care to drive anywhere.

88firebird

Gas prices have been nuts lately... absolutely crazy... its bad enough feeding my S10... driving a 3rd gen every day would be brutal!

BTW Speedmachine... looks like you got a nice car... nicer than mine for sure... do a search on my name and you'll find my posting from when I bought my GTA and there's a pic or 2 there of it. Mine is in decent overall condition, but needs a little TLC....

And to the guy with the beloved 84 sitting in a field... I know exactly what you mean... my original 88 Firebird's sitting in a field... its not rotted away... but its sitting there all alone and empty... probably could still fix her up but once again, it would take a lot of $$$ probably... can't decide if I should keep it for a future project or get rid of it...

Cruz'N Bruz'R

Your 305 probably isn't that bad on gas.
Feel pity on us poor suckers who swapped over to carb, and are funding the middle eastern front through petroleum sales.

Anvil

I'm a driving instructor.I have 3 cars,including a'84 Z28, a Suburban, and a Mustang for teaching in.I buy more than 10,000 liters of gas a year. Gas prices are hurting me every day!!

88firebird

Actually, I don't really know what the mileage on my 305 would be like to be honest... its a 5 speed which would help... but I only drove the car for like a month last fall. The gas mileage really sucked tho, cause the car is running rich and idling bad. You can smell gas coming out of the exhaust. Once I get it running well it should be a bit better tho.

Zedsled

I did some figuring a few weeks ago,figuring out how much gas i was buying and how many KM's i'd get then how much gas i'd re-fill with.I did that for about a month and i worked out i was getting roughly 22-24 MPG with my 305 H.O. and that 22-24 is just an average of highway/city and cruising on Friday or Saturday nights.

freestylzz

Hopefully the Mustang is a 4 cylinder. I can't understand why being a driving instructor you would even consider using those as teaching vehicles, even when gas was cheaper!

freestylzz

Last time I checked I was lucky to get 200 kms out of a 55 litrefull tank of ultra.

Zedsled

I think i can see why..You have/had a modded 350.I'm only running a stock 305 H.O.

I'm sure my milage will drop siginificantly when my 350 is dropped in.

freestylzz

More power, less milage. Yum yum

Zedsled

I hear that..but having that more power just means if somebody wants to try something it's easier toput them back in their place.

88firebird

So I finally got a job the beginning of September... now that I have enough money in the bank to almost pay for a tank of gas (ha ha) I've decided I gotta drive my car before the snow flies... (sorry for that vulgar 4 letter s-word).

I tried starting the GTA up tonight... dead battery... so I threw that on the charger... tomorrow after work I'll pick up a temp plate and take her for a spin! I know my car is a piece of crap compared to many other 3rd gens on the road... but its still fun to drive!

Slade1

In my case the jump to ls1/t56 = more power and more mileage...

I wouldn't drive anything but an f-body, I've had my 88 since I was 16 (it was my dad's before that), and now I've added a 4th gen to my little collection...

on a side note, keep a clean driving record... else your insurance will cost more than your car...

88firebird

So I finally took her for a cruise! It was nice to blow the cobwebs out of her (quite literally... cobwebs all over under the hood... those little buggers work fast!).

My battery is still dead tho... it worked well enough to start the car when I left home, and when I had to restart the car when I stopped to get gas... but then the battery completely died when I got back home. My dads got a battery he's gone loan me from one of his cars, cause I'll only need it for the next 10 days (I'm only going to drive it for one 10 day permit).

Car drove out nice... no strange noises, leaks or explosions, so thats good! She's still running a little rough, but hopefully that'll get fixed up for next summer... then some new paint.