I thought it was all over for my Bird

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 08-11-2008 at 01:24 AM:

I thought it was all over for my 2.8, after that 200 mile run of Rotella that robbed me of some oil psi, went from a constant 40 to 20psi and then feeling slugish I have been expecting to change the motor this year.

But after getting my notchback it inspired me to get back working on it.
Change the PS pump and ordered 2 new tires as the back ones were showing cord. Then while under the hood I needed to unhook my home made ramair setup and some how it never dawned on me to check the pre filter /screen I had installed up farther in the system.

Opened things up and it was like a rats nest of leaves, acorns and junk.
No wonder it was down on power, it could not get any air. Rev'in fast and hard again. No more need to find an engine soon, time to get new doors.






So is it true that any doors from a camaro or what ever from 82-92 will fit???
Both of mine are rotten and looking ugly.

[matthew]

"i like your notchback, different to others ive seen ? where did it come from ?"

Message originally posted on 08-11-2008 at 04:41 AM:

I don't have a clue, could not find any info on who made it or find any like it.
Found dozens of styles but not one like it, cept for the ferrair conversion is similar but its has a squared lipped end with a built in brake light, so it not for that.

Found it on craigslist local, thing had been traded around car shops for years never used. Still had stickers on it but they were faded. Paid $175 ;)

It makes the car look so much better. Wanna get some aluminum or plastic diamond plate put down in the recess. Has to be something that will withstand water well with time, don't wanna fuss with regular steel chrome plates stuff that would need attention. Why I painted my chrome rims black, got sick of cleaning them.

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 08-19-2008 at 11:45 PM:

Ohh gotta give a shoutout for tirerack.com

I got some nice tires cheap.

225/60HR15 Fuzion HRi

Not the best tires you can buy but for the size they are darn cheap and have a nylon band, which I wont use any tires that doesn't have a nylon layer or two in it. Also they had some decent reviews.

my 225/60/15 Dunlops were showing cord on the rear's

The pic on the website doesn't do them justice.
They got nice deep wide block treads, they look 2xs better in person.

Usualy with performance tires they are near bald new but these suckers got tread. I see no problems with snow this winter either.

Gonna hafta order two more.

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 12-27-2008 at 10:50 PM:

OK I was asked for some interior pics and it up.

Best I could do on the inside, couldn't get far enough forward to get a good wide shot. Don't have all my trim and such reinstalled yet.




Pic of the hatch open, I don't have shock for it yet. Stock shocks for the hatch with a wing are to strong, It makes the corners lift when when closed.

Bottom and whole thing was just a grey gel coating.




Also did some work to put back my rear mounted tach.
The short time it has been off, it back to normal with folks riding my butt.
But when the tach is there, folks can see im only pulling 2500 rpm and to get off my azz.

I don't know how it works so well, maybe it sikes most out but folks don't ride up on my butt when its on the car. Since it was mounted to the rear wing, and rear wing is gone..... had to come up with something else.

Gonna strip the paint from the back side and paint it black. So the bird logo and PC will go away.





Also a pic of how I dealt with my pull down. Welded a nut to the outter track and with weight on the hatch holding it closed, I used extension to tighten down the bolts and hold it there. Works great.

[matthew]

"Where did you get that rear strut bar? And does your rear seat still latch?"

Message originally posted on 12-28-2008 at 04:25 AM:


I got it for $12 for a on a goof as it looked close.
STB was a front STB for a 95-98 eagle talon.
Chromed aircraft aluminum.

see post n more pics here
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/v6/345712-i-did-rear-stb.html

Yes the back seat still goes up and latches.

Now does it do anything? Thats not proven yet but it can't hurt.
I got them front and rear.

Twas cheap, looks trick if it does anything or not.

Biggest improvemnt I saw was when I gutted it and rewelded all the body parts, them cheesy spot welds suck. Also cleaned all the goop out of the floor pan to side walls and welded it full length. Allot less flex.
No sub frames yet. But rear stock stuff has been boxed. LCA's & panahard bar. Handles like its on rails.

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 01-04-2009 at 06:27 PM:


Ok I got it finished up. I put a rubber gasket like around the outside to make it more clean though the whole tach is sealed up with silicone. Since I repaint the whole thing I nearly bought a new sticker set or something to rebadge the back. [Don't want folks assuming its a fiero or camaro from the back, YUK]
But then I membered I had the fenders badges still. Gave it a little polish and it looked nice. So I stuck it on there. Almost put it on the rigth side hatch lip but the whole car will be painted again soon so that was a no go. Looks decent enough there and folks will know what it is.







If ya wounder this is what I use on the fenders.
[Rims are now black too. hate chrome.]

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 01-04-2009 at 06:59 PM:


[QUOTE=project89;3996125]wow man that is an achient tach,lol i had one of those back inthe day when i was like 18. dont the cops give u hell for having that back there? i think that would fall under non aproved lighting or whatever they call it[/QUOTE]

Yes its old hard to find and pricy when you do. But if you notice its RPM and redline matches the stock V6 in dash tach. Where all other tachs made copy a typical V8 pattern which reds allot lower. It what made the whole mod even better for a led tach.

I have always had it powered vis my remote wire for the amp. Sure ya know, mos tradios have a small 1`2v line that will flip the switch and turn you amp on so it can be wired direct to the battery with out a switch. It put out plenty of power to run it and turn on my amp.

When I see a cop I just turn my radio off. None have ever been behind me when its on since 04. 02 is when I got the idea. My first thoughts were to put it in the old window mount brake light housing and when it didn't work I put it in my Buick for a while before it went to the wing first.


http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/electronics/214063-rear-brake-light-mods.html

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 04-02-2009 at 10:13 PM:




I got board today and put the rear wing on the back.
But upside down.

I really hate being able to see so much of the under side of the car, the trunk well and junk that hangs below. Also gave me a place to better secure my exhaust tips.

Course the idea is sort of stole from RedRaiff but she made it seem harder then it was. If you look under where the bumper tabs clip into the metal bumper support and remove the two outer tabs you have two perfect pre-made holes to use. You just drill 1 hole each through the wing down the center of the wing leg support and it all lines up like magic.

I swear someone thought ahead of time as it all lines up to easy and is to easy to do.

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 04-21-2009 at 10:34 PM:


[QUOTE=rhyspat;4129680]Hey Gumby,
How did you make your homemade RamAir ?. I like the little Hood Nostrils you did, where did you get them from ?

Thanks,
Rhys.[/QUOTE]

Those are 68 Firebird hood scoops, the metal open kind.

Rest of it is just hi temp ducting that was round, but I squish it oval and silicone it to the hood in a big U shape. [holds great] Back corner on the U by the heater core box there is a section of pipe that comes straight down, snakes past the alt and into the intake.

Very cheap but very effective. Have had to rebuild replace the duct on the hood once. Always planned to try and find a heating and AC guy and have it all re-done in metal. They do custom bent stuff often and wouldn't charge like a rod shop. Only snag would be keeping the alt from eating into the hood piece over it. If ya look close in that pic I had some extra metal flashing like a shield on the hose in that location. Now I just use an old piece of scrap wood that sits just right on top of the alt and keeps it out.

One of them thing where I always planned to do it better, but it functions well as is and never got around to it. Not a fan of them ram air hood they sell.

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 06-09-2009 at 05:49 AM:


[QUOTE=redraif;4180856] Makes me wonder how it would sit with a TA or 91-92 rear bumper cover?

I wonder if you could post some pics of them from the side. I would like to see how the side lined up with the cover. Also I wondered how much overhang you are getting with your mounting point.

Do you also have any picks of the hole you drilled and how the mount looks from below? I wanted mine to maintain a clean look when seen from below as well... I use mirrors when I show at certain shows. I'm curious because mine will recieve an overhaul before it is all said and done.

I have maintained the use of all 4 studs on the bottom of the spoiler as to not put any undue weight on the 84 urathane GFX, but the wind pulls the spoiler down when in motion and even with a spread load across the surface the GFX are ripping. So again thats why there is an overhaul in the bird's future...[/QUOTE]

I can do that. My mounting is a single bolt for each side and its held on solid. Though I was only just checking it out and it went on so easy it stayed.
For your app id use something like round head fancy chrome carriage bolts.

I only got 1 pic right now, few washers on there to space things out.
Like I said I was only trying it out so I used what was on hand, didn't plan anything butit went on so easy, like it was made to do that.

I did forget to add that I did have to drill two holes in the plastic part of the bumper for the two outer wing studs to go into. Id probably remove them or least just the outer two so that would not be needed. The other inner studs help, it slids up against the steel bumper core tight to help keep out spacing even.

And Im sort of in your boat, dam thing is not running again.
Got fed up n just parked it. Still will probably get the rest of the body work done this summer still.

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 06-09-2009 at 06:02 AM:


Still gonna go ahead with this mod also, even if it won't run.
[Engines are to cheap to let that stop me.
Only money slows me down on changing anything major yet. Though I got the wagon lifting the left front off the ground when it hooks good now so its time to spend on the Bird.]
Laid most of it out and its gonna be easier then it looked.
Not gonna graft any metal in. Just gonna cut the hole for the plastic vent to slide into. Yes they won't be recessed like how they are in the nose but to me such a minor detail it not worth the extra work.

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 06-09-2009 at 05:52 PM:


I do swear it was made to go on the bottom as its hard to capture but it hugs and flow with the body just right, using the pre drilled hole in the bumper support for the bumper clips. You can see a scribe mark on one. Right down the center of each leg. Its dead even with the bumper straight down. The way the holes were already there and the final fit, its to wacky that it would all work out like that.

[matthew]

Message originally posted on 06-12-2009 at 07:36 PM:



[QUOTE=redraif;4184536]What are you going to do to prevent leaks? Lord Fusor is a good bonding agent b/w plastic and metal I ahve been told. Remember the speaker is right there... be sure you have the clearance before you start to cut. Any water leaking in could decompose the speaker baffle as its an odd paper/fabric like material. You might go with an after market rubber one.[/QUOTE]

There is plenty of room for the vents and speakers. The vents will also be boxed off. When moving nothing should get in there, when sitting it will just catch the water and it will run back out.

I want to control where they take air from. Since I have no headliner n junk Im gonna boxy both off and build like a tunnel that will wrap side to side, with vent holes in the roof area. So cool air comes in the windows up the roof and out. Not just in the window n out the side. I want cross flow coming up and past my head to keep my cool.

I want air flow folks, besides running hatchless or tube doors.

I can do the same in my wagon, just two windows down isn't that cooling, but put down just 1 more and you get air flow like ya want when your using 4windows down AC. 2 just isn't enough.

[matthew]

60* V6 Fageol Supercharger

[matthew]

Plan

Fix the 6 in the Bird
Yank and install into the GMC S15
Pick up a Buick 455 and install in the wagon
Install Buick 350 from the wagon into Firebird

BOP be original

Who wants to help?

[matthew]

Back in the game again, again

rockauto sent me a new computer for free

been 3 days and all is well, will see.

Did the hood pins on the rear hatch to hold the corners down.

#1 cause I thought it where it was sucking in exhuast, not being as heavy n sealing right.

#2 to hold the corner down for better looks.
[lift supports are so strong they were flexing them up, now I can put them back on.]

#1 didn't work, then realized it was a rust hole behind the tail lights sucking in exhaust fumes when the windows were down. [spray foam]

So all in all it was worth the effort.
[Still lockes with the key.]

Just glad to be back driving it though I still got all the parts to slap a carb on there if it goes south again.



[still need to find a good left door
ripples from the PO rubbing on a drivethru pole.]

[matthew]

To get them both lined up the same on both sides wasn't easy, also had to position them a tad different for that, no big trouble with the hole cut, a test fit and some dremil grinding got it to fit snug, as I under cut the hole, then you can see the globby mess, using 2in thick foam sheet and white paintable caulk to box off n seal the area, gonna paint the inside pocket white, so it will all blend in or if ya look through the white vents, ya can't really see anything.
Still more to go to make it rain proof, just takin a food break.





Well you can see where its goin from here, once its all tested and ready to be installed for good, I will poprivit them on, just got 2 screws in the corners right now. Now to tackle the other side.





I was ask about how Im stopping the water.

The drawing is the inside sheet metal, there is a metal ridge that sticks up part way through, [look up at the hole cut pic above] which I used as an anchor point. I used some metal to make a flap/ramp.

Now its probably not the final solution but was quick n worked.

Kind of thinking if I can get some thin rubber that would work well and only allow 1 way air flow, which I do only want it going out.





Here's a right side, engine on stand hiding some rough spots in the rear, still gonng get rear glass wide body fenders so I don't want to spend allot on fixing it. Also the car is all dull, if you look at the hatch in my sig and the pic you can see. To much rain latley washes it clean n makes the primer parts look real dull.

Few mins of work and a can of magic spray make the whole car nice n shiny like sig pic.

[http://viragotech.com/qwr1.jpg