boost addict
11-23-2010, 05:12 PM
You know, those cars from high school that will forever live in your memory. Remember, the guy that was so lucky cause he drove this or that? Or the rich kid whose dad bought him the newest thing?
Do you ever wonder what happened to those cars?
Well, I do. And sometimes life throws you some wierd answers to those questions. Follow along:
Back in high school ('93-'94 ish) I knew that rich kid. Not well, Maybe spoke twice throughout high school. His dad was a doctor and bought the kid a brand new '94 Firehawk. I remember those were the stuff baby! 305hp Ram Air LT-1, SLP tuned, yada yada yada. I also remember they cost more than my own dad made in a year. So no prayer for me. Not a chance in hell.
The kid ended up putting a killer system in the car, entered it in stereo contests, put a black racing stripe over the top of the car, and finally ended up putting some awful set of wheels on it. Just awful. One of a kind, had to be. Nobody would make two sets of this monstrocity of an excuse for a wheel. Then I went off to college...and the car disappeared.
Flash forward to winter 2010, on a Friday night about 10PM after a lovely night out with my beautiful wife (If you've ever seen me, you know that I am a lucky man 'cause I ain't no prize...and my wife must be blind). Anyway, I jump on craigslist as a way to wind down and start cruising the classifieds. First car on the local list: "1994 Firehawk, 40K miles, Procharged"
What? That sounds cool. I'll call. It's 20 miles from where I went to high school and currently reside.
I called. Guy explains to me that it does indeed have 40K miles and he bought it with the procharger. He also explains that in the 7 years he's had it...it's never run. Won't start. So he was going to make a race car out of it.
How far did he get? He stripped the interior. Nothing else. Otherwise, everything was there.
So I asked if I could come see it...immediately. He explained that he was having a party and didn't mind me coming over, to the hood...I mean to the HOOD. So I grabbed an old buddy I went to high school with, 4 guns, a tazer, some cash, turned my hat sideways and headed off. Yea, I blend.
As I pull up to the house, I see the car. THE car. SAME car. Sitting way back in the driveway was THAT car. Sitting on flat tires, looking lost and out of place and just waiting for someone to come and recognize her for who she was (cars are like people to me). I didn't even have a chance to say a word when my buddy that was with me proclaimed "That's (insert name here)'s old car!!"
I walk up to the car and realize there is zero doubt about where this car came from. Same black stripe, same ghetto wheels, and the wiring remains of that killer stereo. But to my dismay, the car had just been sitting and rotting.
Paint: gone
Interior: gone
Engine: filthy
Ground Effects: All there!
I asked about why it wouldn't start and he explained that he thought it was the optispark and might have something to do with the procharger. I glanced under the hood and there was indeed a procharger. Not even hooked up.
I didn't ask anymore. I handed over the cash and left with the car on a trailer. Immediately took it to the carwash to wash the years of neglect (read: mud, dirt, grime) off the car. Here was my prize:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures013.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures008.jpg
So I brought it home to chase the non-starting issue. After about two hours I realized the plug wires were crossed. Yup. I don't even have to tell you the next part.
Vroom.
That week I traced down a friend of the guy who previously owned the car. Now in med school, he relayed a story about how they took the car to some performance shop down south where they had the procharger installed, new plug wires and some gauges. The car never started after that. He sold the car in frustration for pennies on the dollar with just 40,100 miles on the clock.
After getting it running I rolled the lift outside, grabbed the power washer and went to town.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures015.jpg
Sorry, phone pic...and wet hands. LOL
The interior looked like this:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures012.jpg
I just left the interior to deal with later and took it to paint. Here she is being dropped off:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures024.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures018.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures028.jpg
And during paint, although it looks almost orange it is indeed the original red.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures021.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures026.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures027.jpg
After several weeks, this was the result:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures019.jpg
So I am still in the middle of hunting parts for this thing. I did manage to find a set of the original ROH wheels. They had been painted and treated pretty poorly over the years so I sent them off to be completely restored. I just got them back. A place called Wheel Technologies in Dallas did a superb job. I'm amazed:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures002.jpg
Anyway, I'm planning on having the car going in a couple of months. I'll keep you posted. I think the hardest part is going to be door panels and getting it tuned properly. If any of you guys run across some let me know.
Thanks for reading my ramble. :beer:
Do you ever wonder what happened to those cars?
Well, I do. And sometimes life throws you some wierd answers to those questions. Follow along:
Back in high school ('93-'94 ish) I knew that rich kid. Not well, Maybe spoke twice throughout high school. His dad was a doctor and bought the kid a brand new '94 Firehawk. I remember those were the stuff baby! 305hp Ram Air LT-1, SLP tuned, yada yada yada. I also remember they cost more than my own dad made in a year. So no prayer for me. Not a chance in hell.
The kid ended up putting a killer system in the car, entered it in stereo contests, put a black racing stripe over the top of the car, and finally ended up putting some awful set of wheels on it. Just awful. One of a kind, had to be. Nobody would make two sets of this monstrocity of an excuse for a wheel. Then I went off to college...and the car disappeared.
Flash forward to winter 2010, on a Friday night about 10PM after a lovely night out with my beautiful wife (If you've ever seen me, you know that I am a lucky man 'cause I ain't no prize...and my wife must be blind). Anyway, I jump on craigslist as a way to wind down and start cruising the classifieds. First car on the local list: "1994 Firehawk, 40K miles, Procharged"
What? That sounds cool. I'll call. It's 20 miles from where I went to high school and currently reside.
I called. Guy explains to me that it does indeed have 40K miles and he bought it with the procharger. He also explains that in the 7 years he's had it...it's never run. Won't start. So he was going to make a race car out of it.
How far did he get? He stripped the interior. Nothing else. Otherwise, everything was there.
So I asked if I could come see it...immediately. He explained that he was having a party and didn't mind me coming over, to the hood...I mean to the HOOD. So I grabbed an old buddy I went to high school with, 4 guns, a tazer, some cash, turned my hat sideways and headed off. Yea, I blend.
As I pull up to the house, I see the car. THE car. SAME car. Sitting way back in the driveway was THAT car. Sitting on flat tires, looking lost and out of place and just waiting for someone to come and recognize her for who she was (cars are like people to me). I didn't even have a chance to say a word when my buddy that was with me proclaimed "That's (insert name here)'s old car!!"
I walk up to the car and realize there is zero doubt about where this car came from. Same black stripe, same ghetto wheels, and the wiring remains of that killer stereo. But to my dismay, the car had just been sitting and rotting.
Paint: gone
Interior: gone
Engine: filthy
Ground Effects: All there!
I asked about why it wouldn't start and he explained that he thought it was the optispark and might have something to do with the procharger. I glanced under the hood and there was indeed a procharger. Not even hooked up.
I didn't ask anymore. I handed over the cash and left with the car on a trailer. Immediately took it to the carwash to wash the years of neglect (read: mud, dirt, grime) off the car. Here was my prize:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures013.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures008.jpg
So I brought it home to chase the non-starting issue. After about two hours I realized the plug wires were crossed. Yup. I don't even have to tell you the next part.
Vroom.
That week I traced down a friend of the guy who previously owned the car. Now in med school, he relayed a story about how they took the car to some performance shop down south where they had the procharger installed, new plug wires and some gauges. The car never started after that. He sold the car in frustration for pennies on the dollar with just 40,100 miles on the clock.
After getting it running I rolled the lift outside, grabbed the power washer and went to town.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures015.jpg
Sorry, phone pic...and wet hands. LOL
The interior looked like this:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures012.jpg
I just left the interior to deal with later and took it to paint. Here she is being dropped off:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures024.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures018.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures028.jpg
And during paint, although it looks almost orange it is indeed the original red.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures021.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures026.jpg
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures027.jpg
After several weeks, this was the result:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures019.jpg
So I am still in the middle of hunting parts for this thing. I did manage to find a set of the original ROH wheels. They had been painted and treated pretty poorly over the years so I sent them off to be completely restored. I just got them back. A place called Wheel Technologies in Dallas did a superb job. I'm amazed:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w189/tonystrong_bucket/cobraandfirehawkpictures002.jpg
Anyway, I'm planning on having the car going in a couple of months. I'll keep you posted. I think the hardest part is going to be door panels and getting it tuned properly. If any of you guys run across some let me know.
Thanks for reading my ramble. :beer: