Page 1: My Story
Page 2: Suspension
Page 3: Exhaust
Page 4: Interior
Page 5: Tail Lights
Page 6: Nooooooo !!!
Page 7: Removing engine
Page 8: The 396 build-up

A little history. My Name is Phil and this was/is my very first car. It's a 1993 Formula Firebird I got when I was just about to turn 18 years old. Origionally, (before I even had my license) I was only interested in the camaro. There was no other option. I had photo's of camaro's in every room of the house, in my locker at school, on my binders & notebooks, in the bathroom.... everywhere. I was in love with that car. As time went on I eventually got my drivers license and immediately began searching for a 4th gen. camaro. My dad, who had some friends working at various dealerships told them that if they ever received a 93-97 Z28, to give us a call so we could go and have a look at it. Well, time went on and athough I did see a lot of camaro's I really liked, they were all way too expensive.

I was really beginning to lose hope. But then one day one of my dad's friends called and told us that they had just received a 93 firebird. It was in mint condition and had only 22,000km on the odometer. ( I had always known that the Firebird was basically a camaro with a different shape, but never really had an interest in them. Probably because I had never really seen one up close before. Maybe because I had never seen any articles or advertisments in the car magazines. It was always "camaro vs. mustang", "chevy vs ford". There was almost never any mention of Pontiac or Firebird). Anyways, I decided to go and look at it (not thinking that I'd have any interest in it) and see whether a car that was (at that time) 7 years old, really did only have 22,000km.

When we drove past the the dealership (parking was in the rear) I saw the Firebird parked at the front along the sidewalk. I swear my heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. It was a feeling I'll never forget. When we parked, I ran out to go and look at it while my dad went to go and find his buddy. I swear I had never (even till this day) experienced the emotions I was feeling when I was in the presence of that car. Maybe it was the fact that this could very well be my first car. Maybe it was the thought of driving it around while my friends were stuck driving their parents mini-vans. Whatever it was, I had never been so exited in my entire life. My dad showed up with the salseman who handed me the keys and told be to "start her up".

I did, and when I heard that exhaust, that was it. There was no turning back. I had to have this car. We popped the hood and I saw that V8 engine for the first time. (Like I said the only car I had ever driven was my dad's buick with its 3.8 ) This was my first look at a real engine, and compared to my dad's V6, it was HUGE. I immedately saw that it wasn't stock. It had Edelbrock headers and the muffler (as I found out later) was Dynomax. The salesman suggested we take it for a spin and needless to say I jumped at the oppertunity. The car felt so much different than anything else I had driven. The stearing felt so much heavier. The exhaust tone was so much deeper. This was a man's car. The feeling of torque was amazing. We took it for a spin then headed back to the dealership.

It was now time to get serious and talk business. My dad, who obviously could see how thrilled I was, told me to relax and not appear to be that excited so as to fool the salesman that I wasn't really interested in the car. That way we could probably get a few bucks off the asking price. Inside the dealership though, my emotions changed completely. I had never spent this kind of money before and this was a really big deal for me (buying a car for anybody is a big deal). The stress level was so high that I really felt like I was going to puke. My stomach felt like it was in a knot. After about an hour of discussing the matter, the price was brought down by about a grand so my dad said we would "think about it" and make a decision the next day. We drove home and my dad let me know how he felt. He talked to me about the insurance for a first time driver for a car like that, the gas consumption. The harrassment from the cops and so on. I on the other hand, wouldn't hear any of it. I respected his opinion, but in the end the desion was mine. That decision (of coarse) was: "Damn Right I'm getting that car". We picked up the car 2 or 3 days later after getting all that insurance crap being taken care of. The rest as they say is history.

It's now 10/04/03 (almost 4 years later. I'm 2 weeks away from my 23rd birthday.) My car is parked in my parents garage for the winter. It seems like only yesterday I bought that car and you know what? All the things my dad warned me about, were true. Yes, the insurance was (and is) expensive. Yes, it does use up a lot of fuel and yes, the cops harass me like you wouldn't belive. BUT ... dispite all that, I have NOT, and NEVER WILL regret buying this car.

The feeling I get when I start up that V8 engine in the morning is the same as the first time I started it up at the dealership so many years ago. Driving it down the street and knowing that I could probably beat a good 95% of the cars on the road is such an amazing feeling. Seeing all the dime a dozen ricer's with their huge FART cannon's, stickers, and oversized spoilers make me laugh. The look on their faces when I pull up next to them, is worth the price of admission for owning one of these cars.

For the record, I now prefer the look of Pontiac's version of the Fbody over Chevy's. In my opinion Firebird's are much "cleaner" looking, with a more gracefull design. The interior's are much more comfortabe and better looking than their chevy counterparts. They also aren't anywhere near as plentiful as the camaro's are round here. For every Firebird I see, I'l see 50 camaro's. I'm not kidding either.

They're not as popular as the chevy, nor do I want them to be. They're unique and that's how I want them to stay. Let the camaro be the more popular. I don't really care.

Anyways, this is my website and I hope you enjoy it. It is dedicated to not only all other f-body enthuists out there, but to all the future f-body owners/lovers aswell.

ENJOY ...


If any of you see a picture you'd like to have as a desktop background. Let me know. e-mail me at: NINETYTHREEFORMULA@yahoo.com
I have all the photo's and more, available in whaever resolution you'd like.

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