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'99
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Since I paid all that money, I had obviously decided this was it. I was in for the long haul with this car. The idea of not wanting to destroy the value of a potentially classic car was lifted. There were millions of Firebirds out there, plus mine was a V-6.

So what did it matter?! I will never sell anyway!!

So I started to add some fun stuff...

Time for changes....

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OVERVIEW
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INTERIOR:
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Power Windows, locks, and door poppers
1991 Shifter console
Red mirror window tint
Trim: red bulbs, new rear view mirror, carbon fiber shift handle, brake lever, and petals

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Stereo:
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Alpine Din & half, new 4X6s and 6X9s

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EXTERIOR:
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Catz fog lights
KITT light
4 red egg lights
headlight motor rebuild

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PROBLEMS
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Alternator
Fuel Injectors
Transmission
Engine

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INTERIOR
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1991 Shifter console:
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I put the shifter console from a 1991 Bird in.

I used its factory window switch locations for my VPA switches. I decided to upgrade the shifter console because I had always hated that there was no indicator to tell you what gear you were in. The 1991 had an indicator to show what gear you are in. I picked it up at a local junkyard for next to nothing.

I switched in a new black shift boot that mom made for me.

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Time for Tint:
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I noticed my black tint was now in the early stages of turning purple back in 2000.
Why does old tint do this you ask?
The tint guy told me that in both paint and dyed window film, the yellow fades out first. This leaves you with more reds and blues, hence the purple. This also causes red cars to get darker red as they age.

I had to get the purple off right away. A matter of pride I guess. I had the door panels off any way. I was installing power windows, locks, and poppers...

I was debating how dark to go this time. My eyes had been giving me more and more problems. I have severe migraines.

Then on the way back from work on day, I saw this white Honda Civic up on a trailer. It had red mirror tint. I knew right then what I wanted. I had been wearing red sunglasses lately.
They seem to be the most comfortable for my eyes anyway.

I called everywhere the next day. 75% of the people thought I had hallucinated the whole thing. 24% said they knew of regular red tint being used in residential tinting,
but they would have to buy too much to warrant getting it. They knew nothing of red �mirror� tint though.

I finally found one place (Oasis) that knew what I was talking about. They said it was a double layer of tint.
The red goes on first and the silver mirror goes on behind it. They would do it, but getting the red was a problem. I was determined.

On the way to see my horse that weekend, I saw a red probe on the side of the street. The car had red tint. I stopped. Sure enough it was red mirror tint. I went to the door and talked to the owner. He had just done it himself. He used to tint at Oasis. Small world He said he still had some red. He got the car the next weekend.
$365.00 later, I had my tint. ($150.00 per layer and $65.00 to strip the old tint)

Only bad part was his buddy installed it and did not do that good of a job.
There were a lot of errors and the guy would not call me back. The one I had asked to do the tint eventually gave me back � my $ for the obvious errors.

I love this stuff. Yes it is illegal, but with my migraines, it was necessary

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Trim:
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I got a carbon fiber shift handle from NOPI. Installing it took some work.
Ryan and I had to get some rubber tubing to act as a spacer around the shift lever. All the shifter handles had such large holes.

Ryan got matching Ractive brake and accelerator petals for me.

I ended up having to get 3M carbon fiber vinyl and cover the brake lever to match. That was a chore. I had to practically burn my fingers with the hair dyer to get the vinyl soft enough to lay sooth on the contours of the handle.

Ryan upgraded the rear view mirror to one out of a Dodge Neon. It has built in map lights. I then replaced the interior bulbs with red ones.

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Stereo:
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For my Birthday, I got an Alpine DIN and a half CD receiver from Ryan.

My speakers were showing their age, so I got new Pioneers. I upgraded the front 4X6s to plates. This took some cutting on the driver�s side, but I got it to fit. I upgraded the rear 6X9s to 3 ways.

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EXTERIOR:
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Lights:
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I was driving down the road one day and saw a truck with a light that looked like KITT's. I followed him to a gas station. He told me about JC Whitney. This is how I originally heard about them. I then ordered a red KITT light from them.

Then I got fog lights from NOPI. They are 130 watt KATZ. After the fight with the trunk lights wiring fog lights was easy.

Then I got 4 red egg lights that sit on either side of the fog lights.

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Headlight motor repair
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I had my passenger side headlight motor fail. It would not go up by itself, but it would go down quite easily.

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Alternator
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Now just a few months into the year I had to deal with the alternator. It was on the way out, but my adding the KITT Light and the fog lights was to much for it.

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Fuel Injectors
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Then the injectors began leaking. The injectors were a mess to get the dealership to fix. I took it in and told them it was hard to crank. It was easier on cold mornings verses warm mornings. I said it took a 6-7 solid seconds of holding the ignition to get it to fire up. I told them I thought it was the fuel system and to check it.
Well, the next morning I called. They said they thought it was the charging system. I said no way. It was a different feel than that. Plus, I had a new Diehard battery and new alternator they installed. Come to find out the porter left the door open all night.

I waited another day. They checked the exhaust now, of course it was fine. Idiots. Still another day, I went up there and asked to talk to the mechanic. I explained what it was doing. Another guy came over and said it sound like the fuel system. Thank god somebody was on my page. I asked that he work on the car.

Turns out some of my injectors were cracked. They were allowing the fuel to drain back out after the car sat,
so the delay in starting was the time it took to pull fuel from the tank.

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Transmission
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I was noticing that the overdrive had begun to go out. The car would act like it was in neutral. I called around and was told the transmission was going out. I drove it till it died. I had it towed the mile up the road to Jasper Transmissions and Engines. They put in a new rebuilt one. When I was leaving I noticed the engine did not sound right. I went straight to Terry Cullen.

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Engine Rebuild
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The bottom had gone out again.
It had been a year since they had rebuilt the engine, but they rebuilt it again under warranty. They said the mechanic that rebuilt my engine had messed up tons of cars and the problem was his fault. It had spun the same rod as before. So I got another new bottom end. This time Brent rebuilt it. He did it so it would last.

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HOME PAGE

Follow this link to additional information on the car not found on this site!
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DIRECTORY FOR RAIF'S HISTORY SITE
01 Site Overview
02 (1987) Options and window sticker...
03 (1989) Stock pics...
04 (1990) Bottom Accent color changed to Black, Enkei rims, & Tint
05 (1992) Wreck & Added 2 amps
06 (1994) Changer, Alarm, Taillights painted red, Emblems Modified
07 (1998) Engine�s top end rebuilt
08 (1999) Major mods began...Misc. trim, exterior lights, & Alpine head unit <<<
09 (2000) Journal of events
10 (pre July 2001) Journal of events
11 (post July 2001) Journal of events
12 (pre March 2002) Journal of events
13 (March 2002) Pensacola Fiasco
14 (post March 2002) Journal of events
15 Grey and Black Interior
16 Old Sub box
17 Cop Stories
18 Old 2.25 Inch Exhaust
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