The Bird

I bought this car in march of this year from a close buddy of mine.  This car was loved by the previous owner, but unfortunately, he didn't have the time to keep up with it any longer.  The car had sat for a little over a year since it had last been fired up.  There was a lot wrong with the car.  It needed a full tuneup along with a bunch of attention in all aspects.  i'm gonna keep a build journal on this page so keep a look out for pics and updates!  pics from when i brought the car home:       4-8-08 Fixed cracked frame rail where steering box mounts added axtra factory supports from 85+ car so cracks should not re-occur Energy Suspension poly endlinks added to front sway bar replaced steering box with quick ratio IROC box     4-9-08 new AC Delco R45TS spark plugs gapped @ .045" new Accel 8mm spark plug wires     4-11-08 new cap, rotor,  and coil new murray 160* thermostat cleaned engine bay profusely, noticed strange black undercoating type of stuff on the engine bay, but was not under the coolant overflow or washer fluid tanks.  could be aftermarket or dealer installed?  either way it's nasty and NOT coming off.   4-13-08 pulled entire interior Kristin vaccumed entire carpet, seats, etc. Jack cleaned plastics verdict: carpet, floor mats, seat covers all need to be replaced.  rear plastics need to be either painted or replaced wired radio up.  rears through factory wiring, fronts through what was left from stereo, factory wiring and harness still intact.  i need to find rear harness from boneyard to properly repair took more of Viper system out. needs alot more attention replaced passenger side seat belt reciever.  need to replace both with good shape black recievers   4-14-08 replaced junk Stage 8 header bolts (goofy locking header bolts that DON'T work!) with traditional style header bolts. (Thanks Kyle!) need to replace gaskets at engine and collector.  y-pipe must be replaced   4-18-08 rear end swap.  replaced stock 3.08 open drum 10 bolt with a highly sought after 3.45 geared posi disc 9 bolt with lca relocation brackets 4-20-08 new-to-me 87-92 formula wheels.  16x8's.  will need new back tires in not-so-far future Holley 650 double pumper from white car installed to replace worn rich running edlebrock 1406.  Hello better fuel economy! 4-21-08 nothing installed buy purchased Barry Grant 625 Road Demon AND Holley 650 double pumper from Terry.  Also bought correct speedo gears for gear swap.   4-26-08 installed single electric fan setup.  may need larger gauge wire.  155* highway, 210* city in 90*+ ambient temps   4-27-08 "fixed" leaky power steering pump, will need new unit eventually installed rebuilt 625 road demon, will need rejetted and look at VS spring kits installed new speedo gears correct for 3.45 rear and 26" tall tires lowered car, 1 coil removed from front springs, 1.5 coils removed from rear springs fixed leaky y-pipe, will need whole new y-pipe fabbed cut big exhaust tips off.    5-3-08 painted guage "bezel" silver, white on the inside making gauges illuminate white instead of hard to see red/orange.  much brighter and clearer took 3 jet sizes out of primary side of the demon, now has 67's up front.  also went to "black" secondary spring started stripping wheels.  did fronts, need alot of attention still.  looks like the wheels will clean up nicely though.     5-8-08 ls1 driveshaft purchased and installed replaced powervalve with 8.5" version, may need 10.5" version or jet up?  weird bog will not go away when cold and bangs through intake.   5-20-08 purchased and installed non-cc Quadrajet...and the tuning/learning begins!   5-23-08 deleted AC stripped engine back and painted black hung two new genders, headlight assemblies, and front bumper cover from an '87 firebird.  used old headlight motors to keep wiring simple. deleted washer fluid and overflow tanks on fenders and replaced with  a combo tank from a 95ish ford f150.  installed on driver's side "battery" tray.  wired up washer fluid motor and works excellent!       5-24-08 built new y-pipe replaced header gaskets -managed to break the frickin' heater core...will replace when i tackle interior paint/carpet.   5-25-08 changed oil/filter   6-5-08 installed new-to-me seats from 1998 firebird formula in dark gray.  driver's side seat is power, and is wired up and working correctly! installed under-dash kick panel lamps.  for whatever reason, this car didn't have any...*weird* alarm system completely out of car, wiring is now back to stock (FINALLY...what a mess!)     6-7-08 built first ever strut tower brace.  worked out really well, and actually instigated a desire to make more.  have already made another one for my little brother and plan to make one for my camaro, and whoever else wants one.  they'll be for sale in my For Sale section.   6-11/12-08 painted front of engine, accessries, and bracketry, re-routed spark plug wires under headers   6-13-08 painted brake calipers up front red, then ran out of red paint and painted rears black.  i'll have to re-do this later anyway, but i just wanted to see if the engine enamel i have will hold up to the heat.  i also greased up the sliders while it was all apart, hopefully that solves a strange brake sticking issue i have intermittently on the highway.   keep lookin' back for more updates!

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