This is my 1989 Firebird project. I bought it when i was 15 (over 4 years ago) with a 2.8 v6 and a 5 speed manual tranny.
Immediately I put a sound system in it. But other than that, i didnt really do any work on it for about a year.
Then I wanted some power... So i put a stock 350 c.i. v8 out of an older Caprice in it. I also intalled a stock 700r4 automatic transmision. I rebuilt the whole front end (Tire-rods, Ball joints, Idler arm, ETC.) The new engine was carbuerated so i tore out the ECU and all of those unnecessary electronics. The 700r4 tranny was a mechanical spedometer transmision so i did not and do not have a spedometer. (Big deal! I know i speed, I dont need a spedometer to tell me that!)
Then I wanted some more power! So, I tore the engine out and rebuilt it. New pistons, high performance 277 extreme cam, cast iron heads w/ 2.02" intake valves, Performer rpm intake, Hooker Comp. headers, Holey 600 cfm carb., and all those goodies! Then i put a freshly rebuilt 350 turbo tranny in it with a 2,800 rpm torque converter, and a shift kit. Then i put a posi. track rear-end out of a '89 GTA but that had the 273 gears in it (Those are really slow gears!). She ran a 13.4 second 1/4 mile with the old street tires on it. Around 350 horse power.
Around the time of the engine rebuild i also added a new set of rims, with some real fat tires on the back, so i definitely have some traction now! and I am rebuilding the interior.
Right now the car is in pieces! There is no front or rear bumpers on it. I mounted a 7" scoop onto the GTA hood. (As seen in the picture). I am painting the hood and GTA "body kit" to match my paint, and will be installing those hopefully real soon!
Here is a friend of mine, who is teaching me how to paint. He is throwing one of the last coats of clear coat on my hood.
And here is what the finished hood looks like just sitting on my car.
7-5-06
I took the car to the strip a fews weeks ago! It was a lot of fun! We had a few complications, we found out the carb was way too small! I could not get traction at all! So I was only running low 14's. I think mainly becuase of the no traction and small carb!
9-3-06
Well, it has been a while since I have added anything to this! Within the last few months, I have put a new carb on the engine (750 Holley, Dumble pumper) and then we jetted that carb. The carb alone made a huge difference to the car. It is encredibly faster off the line. Then I added a new set of rims and tires. The rims are American Racing Outlaw II's. They are 15x6 in the front with hoosier tires. The rears are 15x10's! With 13.5 inch wide M/T slicks! I love these slicks! They are amazing!
10-31-06
I ran it a few weeks ago at the Cedar Falls Raceway. It ran a 13.4 sec. quarter mile at 102 mph. It was a lot of fun. Now that winter is approaching, I think the small block is coming out, and I think we are going big block!
11-21-06
Well, we changed our minds. We are not going with the big block. We decided to stick with the small block, so as we speak, our new 383 stroker is being blue-printed and balanced! This engine will be a huge step up from the last one. We are expecting somewhere around 550 hp.
12-14-06
We picked up the 383 engine block last week. It has Wiseco forged pistons in it. We ordered a pair of AFR 210cc Eliminator series heads. We also decided to go with the 950 cfm carb. This should put us at roughly 10.5:1 compression. Which will just barely let us still run with normal pump gas! This will be an awesome set up, and I can not wait till spring so I can run it!
11-1-07
We just started the new 383 stroker last week. Its a beast! We are running AFR performance heads with a full racing 800cfm carb. Running racing full because we are about at a 13:1 ratio. We should be right around 600 hp. We did not get to run it at the track because it is already closed... Maybe next season! I should have some pictures soon.
