Hello! I'm new here, so take it easy. I've been lurking for a few days now and I've been using the search option a lot to try and answer some of my questions. My main question/concern is the following. I'm about to purchase an '85 Firebird w/ the 2.8L V6 froma friend of mine for $800 in "PERFECT" running order (or so he says). It's only got about 130K on the motor. The car is 100% stock (minus the CD player). I'm wondering, is there anything I need to be aware of once I get this car? Any little nuances I should look out for? This is gonna be a daily driver so I want it to last as long as possible.

Here are a few pics of it:

http://www.aseclub.net/gallery/view_...mName=album215

I'm an admin on that board (ASEC) so if you wanan check it out, I'm PiKapp504 over there! This might be in the wrong forum, so please move it if it needs to be moved. Thanks in advance!

 

you might wanna try the v6 section, this isnt the right forum for your question.

The v6 section covers all the mods etc you can do to these motors.

BTW welcome to tgo.

 

I see this post has been moved hear. One thing I should tell you: T5 manual tranny! That's just preference. A lot of the guys here like the automatic.

 

Damn those 85 Firebirds look good :rockon:

Check for underbody rust, broken front spring (in my case), and no chocolate milk in the erl pan. Almost thought we had another Beige Bird in the house , but looks like its white.

little nuances, ......lack of power (so I'm told. my 2.8 was dead when I got the car), decen t gears, killa styling (but then you already knew that )

 

1985 is really the beginning of V6 performance in the F Body with the introduction of the MPFI.
This 1985 MPFI set is "unique" as the smog hose set up is a one year design.
The ECM interchanges with a Corvette (use original PROM, tho!)
Damn good cars, I brought mine back from death & no regrets.
Swap in a 3.4 for more fun, then add the smog legal headers and pass the pumps as ya head to the strip!
FBody rides are very versital.
PS go for best body & interior.

 

wow, all the 1985 bird owners replying to the same post, no one forget who was first here though least i think i was. Good job on finding a ride, hopeuflly you're friend's a true friend and isn't trying to pass some junk onto you. Take a good look at the ride, give it a spin, anything you don't like, note it...cause after you shell over the cash, u definately won't be happy about quirks, find those quirks, add em up, and hope that they're still worth the money you're going to pay, as you have to remember, ur buying a 19y.o. car here, not something that's new, close to new, or even remotely new, infact, it's old. Best of luck w/ it, and welcome to the boards.

 

You're right! I noticed your membership date!
I'm looking for a set of these plastic louvered taillights & the (I NEED THE) rear spoiler!
Will swap them for a set of rebuilt 2.8-3.1 heads with new gaskets.
Look around for the build sheet. I found mine under drivers rear seat cushion. Are the wheels looking like mine, Turbo casting?
I need get the White Book on Firebirds. I've got questions about the 1985 year.
Are there any F41/Y99 cars prior to 1985 model year? Any F41/Y99 cars not an automatic tranny?

 

yeah the rear spoiler does make a huge diff in looks. I wonder how many 85s were painted this ugly off white color? And why? I hate it! EDIT: WAsnt referring to your car KED, mine is the same off white color!!!!

 

Hey ked, i actually pulled and replaced all my taillight pieces w/ 85-90 T/A lenses. If you wanna know something interesting and neat, the 85-90 T/A lenses will fit onto a 1985 firebird w/o any modification to the wirign harness, unlike 86+ birds that have the amber turn signals, we have the exact same lighting as the T/A's 3 reds, (two inners are turn signals/brake, outers are running lights) and reverse lights, that's all...simple swap. I'm using my old pieces for a "static display" (gonna make a shadow box for them with some light bulbs on the inside for lighting. But, was wondering if you'd be interested in 82-84 T/A grid lights. They're the frosted ones, but there's a car at the yard that has a set....i should also take the camera w/ me, as the car no longer has a SBC in it, or even a lil six. But instead what appears to be a buick 350 (heck of a lot wider than the standard sbc), was great, my buddy didn't even notice anything different, he was like "it's a 305 right".

 

Karl do you need a rear spoiler like mine? We got one, and it doesn't have the 3rd brake light so it'll go perfect on your car. It's gray, so you'll need to paint it. Let me know thru email, it's just sittin in our garage!

 

noooo keep the 85 lights with the (louvers?) on them, theyre so cool, my buddy had an 85 with the cool tailights, the "ugly" white (I like it) according to brobert and a spoiler that looked like the 92 camaro high rise on it, it was such a cool car! It had some kind of grand national interior in it too (black and grey). Being an avid camaro guy I have a soft spot for the 85 'bird, they rock!

 

Hi everybody
I'am new here, but I know thirdgen.org for a long time...
I'am from Poland.

I agree, those '85 Firebirds are damn good cars,
I have a yellow one with manual tranny and t-top.....

I have some problems with rust and heatercore, but I love this car!

sorry for my english

see ya!

 

MATT
YES
MATT
YES! If ya still in town, can we chat, I'll also send an email, too MANY THANKS!!
I like the current '85 style tail lights & I'll expalin why.
The 1967-69 Firebirds have the Louvered tail lights.
I had a 1968 Firebird 400/TH400.
James Garner's Firebirds on "Rockford Files" also had Louvered lights.
This 1985 "standard" louvered design brings back those memories.
I actually have a slim to none chance for finding my old 1968 Firebird I raced in Van Nuys in 1981/82 days (never lost a race, either & lived to tell about it!)

PLEASE IF ya can, show me a pic of those TA lights? That sounds like an interesting "option"!
I am "starting to kinda like" off White/Beige/Cream/Off Yellow. Damn paint just doesn't show dirt at all! And a "decent" accent stripe may make the "color" work well.

 

the 82-84 T/A taillights are the same louvered style as found on the 85 bird ones, however they have a slight smoke to them, (they're darker) than the plain red bird ones. They look good, i'll see if i can find a pic of them for ya on the net somewhere and hook ya up w/ it. I can also agree that i love the 85 styled lights also, they give a retro/classic/heritage look to the firebirds that the later versions don't have. Only reason i replaced them with 85-90 T/A lights is because the theme that's being done to my car isn't retro, instead it's modernizing. 4th gen interior including dash, center console (already done-auto), 4th gen spoiler, Early 4th gen ram air hood, and some ZR1 wheels and rubber. So, the T/A lights would work good, cause they almost give the impression of the later model honeycomb lenses (but still, not quite)

 

Can you post a pic of of your car? It doesn't look like the one in your sig has all the exterior goodies you mentioned. (I don't see the ram air.)

 

haha, thats cause it doesn't have it yet.... she's slowely going through the transformation as money permits

 

here's the 1st pic i've done w/ the front gfx on it, have the rest of them, but they haven't been bolted up yet, and won't be till summer.

 

The front end of the car really does look that crappy, it looked nice prior to me coming home for summer break last year, when my mother backed into it cause she forgot that i was parking behind her. Then the car was towed once and the towers scraped the front as they pulled the car away, and it's been being driven on 200 mile trips pretty regularlly. Here's my favorite pic of the car though, gives her justice, and she ain't bad for a daily driver.

 

Jmo but birds look better w/o the gfx.

 

But the Maros definitely look better with.

 

yup

 

How hard of a swap is this? I'm pretty familiar with cars (installed the turbo kit on my Dodge Avenger in a day and a half, including tuning!) so I don't think I'd have any problems. Will I need to get a new drive-shaft? Rear-end? How hard is it to bolt up all the pedals and run the clutch lines? Thanks in advance!

 

CaliCamaro did the Slushamatic to the Stick Shift Swap Boogie on his ride.
I believe there is a Stick Shift tranny available from Dale, also.
Start a thead asking for tips & these items.
You'll get a response.
IF ya need a set of rebuilt heads, give me a shout.

 

I might jsut leave it as the slushbox. This car is gonna be a daily driver (ie. "beater") for now. My Avenger is my project car. Gotta love beating Mustangs and, no offense, Camaros/firebirds with half as many cylinders. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the way Firebirds/Camaros looks and sound. Nothing can EVER beat the sound of a nice, tuned/cammed V8 rumble. I'm just buying this car as a drive back-and-forth to work car. I plan on doing the full tune-up, flushing the tranny and replacing the tranny filter, and maybe a few other little things and that'll be about it. gotta keep it reliable and able to be driven daily! I like the site here and I plan on being on OFTEN! Thanks again!

Also, the 5spd swap MIGHt be an option if I get some more $$$ and the time/facilities to do it. I don't think my apartment complex would like me swapping trannies in the parking lot! I got yelled at for replacing the intercooler on my roommate's MR2 turbo when he had that!

 

Maybe you should stop racing the 4 cyl ones and try racing a v8 car.

 

HAHA...not funny. I've beatne V8 GT Mustangs, V8 Camaros/Firebireds (non-WS6). I've beaten EVO's, WRX's, SRT-4's....etc. But hey, it's all good.

 

They must have been parked because a dodge avenger isnt that fast of a car. It seems like one of those "looks fast" cars. I raced several of them back when i had my 98 gt, before i modded anything on it and had no problem beating them.

 

Yes, I can understand that, but mine is FAR from stock! Here's an abbreviated mod list that I've got on my Avenger:

block bored .020 over
JE 8.8:1 pistons and rings
Eagle Extreme rods
solid motor mounts
HRC turbo system
S16G turbo (about to become a S20G or t3/t04 w/ a 60-trim wheel)
2.5" downpipe (getting installed shortly)
high flow cat w/ 3" catback exhaust (again, getting isntalled shortly)
custom short-throw shifter
Maxspeed coilovers
KYB AGX shocks
17" rims wrapped in 225/45/17 rubber

the list can go on and on and on...

I've spent a good amount of $$ on this car and I've barely scratched the surface. I'll be the first to admit! Avengers and Sebrings are DOGS stock. If anyone can say that 16-18seconds is a GOOD 1/4 mile, they have NO business racing that car. My theory, is go fast before looks. I feel any car should be able to run AT LEAST a 14.5 before the owner goes and adds body kits to the mix.

My best run @ the track was 14.2 @ 103. I had a SEVERELY slipping clutch, blew off 2 vacuum lines (only saw like 7-8psi then) and was running PIG rich (read blowing black smoke out the back).

I have since cleaned up all those issues and upped the boost to around 111-13psi for now (about to redo fuel system with an 8-injector setup). So I KNOW for a fact I can hid mid to high 13's now.

 

Where's the F-body tech related information?

 

Uhhh.....I don't think there is any! br()bert was just merely stating that Avengers/Sebrings are slow, and I agreed with him...when they're stock. My car is FAR from stock and I was merely stating what I had done to my Avenger. No worries. If this thread needs to be trimmed or move due to the off-topicness, please feel free to do so.

Anyway, back to subject at hand. I did a search and noticed that there aren't any comanies that directly make intake systems or aftermarket intake manifolds for the 2.8, is that correct? So everything needs to be custom fabbed?

 

Not a problem. No aftermarket intake setups for the 60* V6's, most anything you want to do for modifications has to be a custom setup.

 

I was also told that if something breaks, parts for the 60* 2.8L V6 are VERY hard to find. Is this true? Oh, and about custom fabbing, I have NO PROBLEMS making stuff! that's half the fun!

 

parts for the 6/60 2.8/3.1/3.4 are easy to find. S10's, camaros, birds, jeeps and many others.

As for your orginal question, check the timing chain soon as you get it. Pull the distrib and do a rebuild one it. I belive ked85 posted this. Look into replacing the coil, they take alot of heat in the orginal location.

Make sure the headlights flip up and work.

I to have a t5, and flywheel (for 3.1/3.4, not a 85 2.8), and lower section of the shifter forsale. PM me if you want it. You will need bellhousing, peddles, slave, rest of shifter, clutch to finish swap. oo, and proper flywheel for 85 model.

 

The coil, AHHHHHHHHHHHH! My coil died like 4 months after i bought the car. Left me with a $90 tow back to my house. Stock coil is kinda small also.

 

Stock parts are easy to find, aftermarket hi-po parts aren't- depending on the part. Call a store and ask for a performance exhaust for the v6, they'll probably say that there is none- BUT the v8 exhaust bolts right up (and they won't know that).

The only 'little nuances' I know of are related to 'lack of maintenance'. People usually drive these cars into the ground without even thinking of changing spark plug wires (and the ones in that picture look like 7mm cheapies).

The one "big" problem I can see is that it's an '85 with a 700r4- 85-86 700r4 transmissions had a faulty design with the fluid pump. The vanes were evenly spaced, which could cause cavitation (air bubbles in the fluid), and with enough air bubbles, the tranny would basically be running dry. The metal pump gear would eventually chew into the aluminum case and send metal shavings everywhere- and require a rebuild. This was fixed in 1987, when GM put an updated pump design in, along with some other improvements (such as an auxiliary valve body). 87-up 700r4 trannies are the best to grab from junkyards- and absolutely positively avoid the 83-84 700r4's... they were the first design, and among other problems that were fixed in 85-86, the 83-84's also had a smaller (weaker) input shaft.

Check the trans fluid out; if it's black and/or burnt smelling, you'll need a rebuild soon. If the fluid's alright, and you do buy the car, and you do change the fluid, take a pair of angle cutters to the trans filter. Remove the filter medium and unfold it; if there's big chunks of metal in there, start saving for a rebuild. I can't remember when my first (original) trans went out. I'm on my 3rd one right now, but the original engine (+267,000 miles). The second trans was a rebuilt piece of garbage that Lee Myles put in for $1300- it lasted a year and a half. Current trans was put in by myself in 1999, it's still working but wasn't rebuilt right (a friend of a friend owed a favor, he rebuilt it for me for $400, and I put it in myself). I plan to rebuild the trans myself next time- I can't do much worse!

So the only possible weak link I see is the transmission. Other than that, you should be good to go! And welcome to thirdgen.org!

 

I agree, the wires do look like cheapies. Since it'll be a daily driver, are there any other recommended wires that should go in there inplace of the 7mm cheapies? He says the car drives great and was babied (how much of it do I believe? We'll find out when I change the tranny fluid. Thanks for the welcome! I'm sure I'll have a LOT of questions coming once I do get the car!

 

Now by replacing, do you mean buying a new one, or relocating, or both? I say both is a good idea.

 

I love Accel stuff.
It's cost effective performs wonderful last nearly forever.
Check the T chain & do a distributor rebuild.
Intake stuff is "make your own" or "open yourself with griding tools".
Actualy the MPFI is a decent piece. It's takes awhile for the MPFI to become a restrictive issue in 60*V6 performace.
You'll hit roadblocks with the exhaust, first. Solved by the stickie up top the Pace Setter Exhaust street legal headers.