Yeret

Hey, all! First post here, so I reckon to make it count. A few weeks back, I picked up a 1992 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA with a 305 Tuned Port for pretty much nothing. Engine doesn't crank and the starter seems to draw power but I haven't figured yet if the starter is not working right or if the engine is seized. Honestly, I've never dealt with a vehicle with such a problem. When I first looked at the car, I pulled the dipstick and the oil was over a quart low and black as engine oil can get. Yish. The tranny fluid didn't look much better. Only 114 on the clock but they seem to be hard miles.

Long story short, I made a lowball offer that I really didn't expect to pass but next thing you know, the guy's texting me saying he'll take it. Had the car hauled home and, well, so the journey begins. The thing is, I originally bought this car as a quick flip for some cash but I gotta say, it's totally grown on me and I've honestly decided to just take a big dose of Screwitol and keep the car, irregardless of how much of a money pit it may be.

Being as this is a dedicated third-gen forum, I figured this to be a good stop for some general information. Since the car may well need a complete mechanical overhaul, I'm curious to learn the strengths and weaknesses as well as the in's and out's of the Tuned Port engine. I've been driving/maintaining a second-gen Dodge Ram for years now and have corrected pretty much every weakness in that platform that exists and she's a bluechip vehicle now that isn't bound to have any major issues in the near/mid future. I am hoping to do the same with this car.

I'm also interested in the modification aspect The only thing I know about these Tuned Port engines is that they run off of OBD1 programming and you can take the PROM chip from a Corvette, swap it into a Camaro/Firebird and pick up some extra power but as far as I know, this only works with the 350 engines. This whole deal is a bit different from my Ram in which I purchased an SCT Tuner and a tune, plugged it into the diagnostic port, waited a couple minutes and BOOM, instant performance upgrade.