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EXTERIOR MODS
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RAIF's body modifications were done by me. Joe & his father completed the shaving. John the major body work and painting. Except for the hood, there was nothing installed that was designed aftermarket for this car. Though it has gotten better in the past few years, the aftermarket choices are limited and there is not much variety.
Now you must remember, with RAIF being a show car, I did not want to be stuck doing the mods everyone else was. So I designed/installed my own modifications from the GM f-body line. I used 2nd, 3rd & 4th generation parts.
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So On with the tour!
Here's RAIF: Ram Air Inducted Firebird
How's this for an aggressive front end.
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HEADLIGHTS
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Yep, those are headlights you see. Nope, the car no longer has pop up lights.
You might have noticed the clear front turn signals as well. I had to hand make those.
In the above pic as well as the following pics you will see the frt side marker lights I purchased from Pro Car Parts. They readily sell these on Ebay. Shipping is what you have to watch out for. I'm very impressed with the quality of the product. Now when I bought them they were listed for Camaros, but they fit 3rd gen bird as well. They DO NOT fit in the rear sidemarker assemblies however!
So I had to make my own custom rear side marker lights in clear to match the front side markers...
One more shot...of the headlights
There is another mod a bit more obvious in the above shot... Did you see it?
Ok they blend pretty well, so I will tell you...
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4TH GEN FIREBIRD MIRRORS
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Look again!
Did you notice how the lines of the mirrors match the lines of the lines of the hood? I think they look like they were made for the car.
Now I have you wondering about the hood, don't I...
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SUNCOAST RAM AIR I HOOD
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It’s A SunCoast hood. It's fiberglass. Yes, the "Ram Air" is functional. Right now SunCoast is the only company that has a bolt on fully functional Ram Air hood for 3rd gens...
A side shot…
I bet you noticed the tint in that picture.
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TINT
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Yes, that is red mirror tint. No its not photoshopped. Its actually transparent red with mirrored tint behind it. It just depends on the angle & lighting conditions as to how it appears.
Yes, you can see through it. In fact, I got this shot to prove to a local cop you could in fact see through the tint.
Here is a shot of the back glass.
I know the tint does not go all the way up. The guy who tinted RAIF he did not think this tint would stick to the factory shade lines at the top of the glass. So to compensate I installed the vinyl to cover the untinted areas!
I also vinyled the windshield...
Here is the newest Modification!
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TA FENDER VENTS
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OK I wanted the TA fender vents on the car, but with a twist. I decided I wanted them flushed in and smoothed to look like the inserts are part of the fender! I thought they went well with the vented look of the 4th gen mirrors, as well as the vented Camaro side gfx!
These are the only installed shots I have so far with the correct rims on. Having tire issues...
Will get some better resolution ones soon!
Here is another difference you may not have noticed at first...
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BUMPER INSERTS
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Yep, that is still my stock front & rear bumper cover. To further lessen the base model look I also did away with the black bumper inserts and replaced them with Plexiglas panels.
You might have also noticed I added ground effects to the stock bumpers.
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GROUND EFFECTS
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I went with the nose and rear gfx pieces off a junk yard 1984 model TA. Only paid $150 for the whole set. Now these pieces are only designed to fit the bumper covers on 82-84 models. See, the nose and rear were a bit more angular on the 82-84 cars, but with a bit of coaxing, I got the gfx to line up and seat properly. To customize them, I had to hand cut out the holes for the fog lights and KITT light. That was also where some damage was in those pieces, so it worked out perfect!
Now did you notice the side GFX...
They are from a 1992 Camaro Z28. These side gfx are more rare. (1991-92 only) I thought they would give it a subtle different look. I got them for $150.00 as well! So all total, I paid a total of $300 + for all my GFX. And they were already black... You may have noticed I left off the top molding that attaches to the bottom of the door. To me, that tied them in better with the rear lower spoiler. I also hung them a touch lower than stock, to further lower the look of the body.
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LOWER SPOILER
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Yep, you read that correct! Some of you remember the front spoiler, in fact it can be seen in a few pics I have around, but I know you did not see the front one in that last pic. The front lower spoiler got creamed by a roll of carpet in the road and was destroyed. So its gone!
Now I do still have my rear lower one...its still here. Let's just take a look at that rear lower spoiler...
Did you notice it before?
Yep, its a single spoiler.
Why?! People ask all the time... Well, originally I wanted to update the ground effects. Lets face it, the stock GFX have been around for 20 years now. And with the cars being that old, there are only a few companies producing gfx. None of them have a modern look though. They are either too much, or not enough. That meant I had to create something to update & modernize the looks of RAIF...Tada! Both sets of spoilers visually lowered the looks of the body, to sleeken RAIF's looks.
And there may or may not be some aerodynamic effects to the spoiler... that is a topic of much debate. I plan to take a trip in the near future to a testing facility that will answer those very questions with a wind tunnel test!
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EXHAUST
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While we are at the rear, let's discuss how my exhaust exits the car at the rear. I bet you noticed those 4 tips under the license plate...
What do you think of it? Cool looking, eh! All Pro Muffler did a really good job implementing my idea. Here's another shot from below.
The muffler is a Flowmaster with a 2.5 inch in and dual outs.
The performance aspect of he exhaust I will get into later on this site...
So let’s discuss the rest of the rear…
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TAILLIGHTS
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First thing you notice is that the taillights are painted. Mine were getting dull and the luster would not buff back, so rather than replace them, it was cheaper & more original to go body color.
Another thing you may not have noticed it different, the amber turn section is no longer amber. I painted the inside of the lens red! I think it really compliments this style of Bird tailights! Here is also an older picture to compare too...
I addition I cut and modified the inside and added some new bulbs so the turn signals would flash like this at night...
Stock it was just a single amber section!
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SPOILER
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Well I'm sure you noticed the spoiler.
Its a stock 3rd gen bird spoiler atop the rare, 1988 only, stock Camaro RS spoiler. I have been told they only made the Camaro spoiler for 1/2 the year.
I felt the car needed a more aggresive look to match that of the hood. the stock spoiler was just not cutting it! So I came up with this idea. Some hate it at a fundamental level seeing as how it is 2 spoilers, but I think they lend well to each other. Plus the lower one raises the stock to a lever where it should be more effective. Again not sure it does, the wind tunnel test will show for sure!
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SHAVING
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Now that you have seen RAIF from all different angles, did you manage to notice the lack of door handles?
Well, they are shaved! I get in via a remote. Did you also notice that the side body moldings are gone also? It really makes the fact that RAIF is shaved stand out. It was hard deciding whether or not to leave them off, but once I saw RAIF painted with them off it was definitely the way to go!
Also shaved is the gas filler and the antenna. The gas filler is now in the wheel well in the trunk.
Believe me, everyone always asks how I fill up.
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NEON
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Yes I finally did it.
I got a red underbody neon kit.
Well more like 2 Street Glow Blue line kits and then some extra tubes to fill everything in...
Last, but not least...
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EMBLEMS
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RAIF hand made emblem (rear)
Ram Air V-6 from a Grand Am (rear tail section & hood)
2nd Generation Bird emblems (nose, sail panel, & rear center section)
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v v EXTERIOR MODIFICATIONS LIST WITH LINKS TO MORE DETAILED INFORMATION! v v
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BODY APPEARANCE:
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SunCoast RAM Air Hood
Shaved door handles, antenna, & bump strips/ Shaved and relocated gas filler
Flush and smoothed in TA fender vents in front fenders
Custom Spoiler: 1988 (½ yr production) RS Camaro & Stock (82-92) Firebird
1993-2002 Firebird side mirrors
1991/2 Camaro Ground effects on the sides
1984 Ground Effects on the front and rear bumpers
1984 Firebird spoiler mounted upside down under rear ground effects
Black bumper inserts changed: custom designed reflective red inserts (frt/rear)
4- 1970’s Firebird emblems replacing stock emblems
“Ram Air V6” Emblems from 2001 Grand Am (3)
“RAIF” (Ram Air Inducted Firebird) emblem: custom designed and made (rear)
“RAIF” reflective decals on the side ground effects
Custom light holes cut in the front bumper w/ inlaid Plexiglas and mesh
Red Mirror Tint
Red vinyl on top and bottom of the windshield w/ Black vinyl framing back window
2002 Repainted 1987 Firebird Bright red & 1987 universal black (Spies-Hecker)
Black soundproofing undercarriage
Red soundproofed gas tank
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EXTERIOR LIGHTING
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Custom Headlight conversion: Non-popup: Pilot 55watt HID sim. driving lights
Pilot 55watt HID simulated driving lights (fog lights)
Custom made clear rear side marker lights
Custom made clear front turn signals
Clear front side marker signals
All front and side turn signal lights are red APC LED Bulbs
6 pairs of red Pilot Strobes
2 Red “egg” lights on either side of the fog lights
Red K.I.T.T. light added to the center of the front ground effect
Taillights: black painted red and emblems added
Rear turn signal extended & amber painted transparent red
50 watt back up bulbs
2-Street Glow Blue Line “Red” Underbody Neon Kits
6- Street Glow 12 in. slimline neon tubes
Liteglow underbody neon kit
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Link to my exterior site!
v v Links to more detailed information on my exterior modifications on my dedicated exterior site! v v
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01 Site Intro
02 Red Window Tint
03 Red Window Vinyl
04 Stance
05 Bumper Insert Conversion
06 Ground Effects
07 Lower GFX Spoiler
08 SunCoast Hood
09 Shaving
10 Shaving Electronics
11 Antenna Relocation & Gas Tank Filler Neck Reroute
12 Headlight Conversion
13 Clear Front Turn Signals
14 Exterior Underbody Neon
15 Strobes
16 Spoiler
17 4th Gen Mirror Conversion
18 Tailights
19 Primer
20 Paint
21 Emblems
22 Smoothed TA Fender Vents
23 Clear Rear Side Markers
24 Paint: Jam Touch Up
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RAIF's Picture site!
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LINKS PAGE
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DIRECTORY FOR REDRAIF SITE
01 Home
02 RAIF's History
03 Exterior Modifications <<<
04 Interior Modifications
05 Stereo Modifications
06 Engine Detailing
07 Engine Performance Modifications
08 Handling Modifications
09 Show Standings & Publishings
10 My Club Affiliations
11 A Bit About Me
12 Guestbook comments!
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