95 Firebird Makeover

[New2chevy]

Hey guys. I created a thread, on another forum, about my 95 Formula makeover. Here is the link to the thread, in case anyone is interested.

http://www.ls1lt1.com/forum/project-section/70841-discuss-95-formula-overhaul.html

I'm getting pretty darn close to being done with the mechanical aspect of the project.

I have all the Trans Am body parts for it, too. I like the Trans Am look better than the Formula look.

Any questions or comments are appreciated!

My favorite parts were doing the HVAC mod and the rocker arm clearancing.

HVAC Mod: http://ltxtech.com/forums/showthread.php?23443-HVAC-Box-Removed-and-Modified-to-Keep-Heat

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/CamSwap57_zps5ec4d6b2.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/CamSwap57_zps5ec4d6b2.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/CamSwap77_zps163975b8.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/CamSwap77_zps163975b8.jpg.html)

Decided to clean it up the ignition wires even more:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/CamSwap91_zpsa00de7f7.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/CamSwap91_zpsa00de7f7.jpg.html)

[SSlowBoat]

Looks good, what'd u have to clearance for scorpions? Mine dropped right in

[New2chevy]

Looks good, what'd u have to clearance for scorpions? Mine dropped right in

Thank you.

I had to clearance the sides of the front of them. They were touching the edges of the "dish" in the retainers. It was time consuming.


Before clearancing.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/RockerArm_zps3bf18ca5.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/RockerArm_zps3bf18ca5.jpg.html)


Ground down.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/rockerarm3_zps3282fc26.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/rockerarm3_zps3282fc26.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Rockerarm2_zps5901ba1e.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Rockerarm2_zps5901ba1e.jpg.html)

After Clearancing-Installed. I can't remember at what value I gauged the clearance-.o4 to .05 I think. I just know that the rockers don't touch the retainers anymore.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/CamSwap54_zps5b174c81.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/CamSwap54_zps5b174c81.jpg.html)

[popo8]

Lookin good. Cant believe ur only catching us up now tho. :(

[New2chevy]

Lookin good. Cant believe ur only catching us up now tho. :(

What do you mean?

[popo8]

This post is started 11/10/14. Is that when u started the work that is in the links?

[New2chevy]

I started the whole project last year in January. I stopped working on it in October last year and only started it again a few weeks ago. I didn't make a thread here but in another forum, so I posted the link to my thread that's on the other forum.

I do have a thread here that shows my suspension work though.

[popo8]

..... I didn't make a thread here but in another forum, so I posted the link to my thread that's on the other forum.....


And that ^^^^ is what I was refn to when I said about u waiting till now to share with US.

[New2chevy]

Ha ha ha yeah I was a traitor. Nah I was just too lazy to have two threads going at the same time.

I'll keep posting my progress here :)

[popo8]

Lol.. ok cool.

[SSlowBoat]

Ah I see, crane retainers. We have patriot gold extremes on the heads with them.

[New2chevy]

Ah I see, crane retainers. We have patriot gold extremes on the heads with them.

Yes. Did you see a post of mine somewhere that said I have Crane retainers, or could you just tell by looking at them?

And yeah I was told by Crane or someone that they would all be the same, no matter what retainers I went with, and I thought that was rather odd.

Oh well...Scorpion told me it's ok to clearance their rockers the way I did. After clearancing the things, I felt it would have been worthwhile to just return the Scorpions and pay more money to get a narrower rocker arm. Grinding them all was a time consuming process, for sure.

[New2chevy]

Made some more progress. Installed my breather canister, for ventilation from passenger side valve cover. Finally installed my injectors (32# Bosch Design III's). The clips are not used with these injectors. I also swapped on the Trans Am hatch. I still have to line up the hatch. It won't latch and the gaps on each side aren't equal.

You can see where I had a bung welded onto the valve cover, for the breather hose nipple. I had AGP Turbo, down in Arizona, do the welding. They did a nice job. I bought my turbo kit for my SRT-4 from them, back in 2007.

And I am pleased to finally have some room to breathe, in the garage. I've gotten rid of 8 old boxes and reorganized all my stuff. So much nicer now!

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[SSlowBoat]

Yes. Did you see a post of mine somewhere that said I have Crane retainers, or could you just tell by looking at them?

And yeah I was told by Crane or someone that they would all be the same, no matter what retainers I went with, and I thought that was rather odd.

Oh well...Scorpion told me it's ok to clearance their rockers the way I did. After clearancing the things, I felt it would have been worthwhile to just return the Scorpions and pay more money to get a narrower rocker arm. Grinding them all was a time consuming process, for sure.
Saw the pic, I had them before. No not all retainers are the same, and you aren't the first that's had that type of problem. Best of luck man

[New2chevy]

Thanks Tubby. I'm making progress. Swapping on the TA front very soon. It will need to be painted sometime, for sure. I am ordering my stall converter tomorrow and then can finally mate the tranny and engine and put it all where it belongs!

I need that plastic part that goes under the car on the very front left (driver's side) of the car. It connects to the other plastic parts under the car. If anyone has this part, please let me know.

[New2chevy]

I did the headlight fix the other night, using Bfranker's aluminum gears. I took off the Formula front bumper and am putting the TA piece on soon. It will need to be painted some day.

When I took the nylon gears out, there were gear teeth broken off of them. I should have no more weird noises on startup and no more problems with my headlights :) I don't like epoxy, so I ditched the epoxy that came with the gear kit and used Devcon plastic super glue. I had great results with this stuff, when I glued parts of my HVAC box back together. I tried to pull the cover off the housing, after using this stuff, and it was on there strong. We'll see how it holds up.

Here's one housing with the new gear in it. I used white lithium grease.
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I love the Devcon plastic glue. It's strong stuff.
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The car looks like a sad old man with a white mustache.
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[New2chevy]

Hooked up the battery power, finally, and checked the headlights. They no longer do that weird grinding noise with key'd power, and they open and close perfectly.

One more annoyance eliminated.

Had fun with my brake lines yesterday. I made the mistake of putting brake fluid into the reservoir and then leaving the scene to work on something else. The line lock solenoid was leaking, and brake fluid got all over the place. It was awesome.

Also got my TA front painted. Just have to clear-coat it. The side skirts have some cracks in them, and the ones that concern me are those that are on the areas where the metal clips mount, and I guess I'll have to patch those up with fiberglass or something else. I didn't know the side skirts were made out of fiberglass. Shoot.

[popo8]

What???? No pics?

J/k sounds like some great progress.

[New2chevy]

What???? No pics?

J/k sounds like some great progress.

Yes here are some pics. I'm happy with the progress I've made. It's weird how the lighting and angles makes the paint look like it doesn't match, when in actuality it does match pretty darn well. I can't ever get the clearcoat to be as smooth and shiny as the original paint. I guess I'm too lazy to keep sanding and sanding, to make it look more like a professional paintjob. It's temporary, anyway. As long as it's close, then I am happy.

Started sanding the rear T/A bumper, as shown in the pic. My little boy decided to grab a flashlight and inspect my work. He's a smart little guy and cute, too.

The bumper isn't fastened completely, in those two pictures of it on the car. And yes I know I forgot to paint the fender portion of the bumper. No biggy.

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[popo8]

Coming together very nice. Looks like u have some good help as well. :)

[LT slow]

Looking great so far. What strip is that going down the side?

[New2chevy]

Looking great so far. What strip is that going down the side?

Hey thank you. The guy who sold me the car had put a Dodge Challenger striping kit on it. I peeled it all off just a week ago. It was drying out and peeling off anyway.

Got my engine and tranny in a few days ago, after my stall converter finally arrived!! Just have some wiring to do and have to install the valve covers and FRC's/coils/ignition wires.

I'm going to change the color of my FRC's, too. I don't think the body color would look too good.

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[New2chevy]

Almost ready for first startup! I got a newer steering column (it STILL has the same "down and to the left" play in the steering wheel that my old one had :angryfire:). Since I have a different key now, I had to bypass the starter relay wire that gets power from the theft deterrent module, and I finally got the starter to spin! It was a small yellow wire with a black stripe, and I grounded it, on the relay side. The engine turns over nicely. Disabling the VATS in the PCM only allows the fuel pump to work. It doesn't bypass the TDM that sends power to the starter.

All the engine needs now is spark, but I still have to put the tranny dipstick tube in and add tranny fluid. Then, I need to install the new braided tranny lines. I've been putting that off, for some reason.

I changed the color of the fuel rail covers:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/NewEngine21_zps08f2cd6f.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/NewEngine21_zps08f2cd6f.jpg.html)

Old fuel rail color:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/NewEngine_zps029c7af0.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/NewEngine_zps029c7af0.jpg.html)

Used VHT "Cast Iron" color, instead:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/NewEngine23_zpsff50b5fb.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/NewEngine23_zpsff50b5fb.jpg.html)

[New2chevy]

Here are some up to date pics of my bird finally on the ground and waiting for a new TPS pigtail. The voltage was stuck at .04, and the % was stuck at 23, and the car drove like crap. I got it to work right, for about 2 minutes, and the car ran like a beast. The paint matches fairly closely. Close enough, until I get a full paint job. I am thinking Cyber Metallic Grey :)

I got all the Trans Am body parts on, except for the passenger side skirt. I'll do it later LOL. Obviously, no full exhaust system yet. I welded a crappy old muffler right at the y pipe, and it makes the floor hot and is loud as f***.

I still have to take it to the car wash and spray the hatch and get the protective coating off of it, from when it was painted. I'm working on my hood right now. I'm going to paint the two valleys flat black, so there will be some black up front, to balance out the black on the car. I painted the center caps of the wheels flat black, and they aren't on the car in these pics. I didn't screw in the license plate light, in these pics. I also took that long decal the PO put on there, and it tore some of the clearcoat off on the rear quarter-panel on the driver's side.

After I drove the car, the ride height settled down nicely, and it seems to be where it is supposed to be, with the Strano springs. I'll take pics when it's cleaned up and with the hood.

I'm also powdercoating the intake tube flat black. It looks kind of cheap and toyish with the polished tube, in my opinion.

Anyway, here she is.

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[New2chevy]

http://ltxtech.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=34518&stc=1

Why is it posting my pic sideways? OK, so now I am pulling the engine again and building a 383 stroker out of it. Heck why not?

[New2chevy]

Went with a Scat 9000 series crank.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/NewBird1%201_zps6bew0efq.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/NewBird1%201_zps6bew0efq.jpg.html)

engine ready to be pulled again.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-11/2D5D3887-BE57-4B98-8D0D-580BD4EBF590_zpslhbhcfnj.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-11/2D5D3887-BE57-4B98-8D0D-580BD4EBF590_zpslhbhcfnj.jpg.html)