newest project

I sold off my 80 malibu christmas eve because I really wanted a t-top car.
Last week on sunday my son and I drug this thing home:

When I went to pick it up the guy said it needed a fuel pump.

So after unloading it off the u-haul trailer monday morning we got it into the shop with carb cleaner.  Went through the basic diagnostics and ordered a fuel pump.
We took the tank down to find that the inside of the tank was covered in rust scales including the sending unit.  I ended up going to a local 3rd gen stripper and picking up a used tank and sending unit.  after close to a week of messing with the car.  We got it running and driving.  It surprisingly ran perfect with the new pump.  From the looks of the tank the car had been sitting for several years, the gas was almost orange, we strained it through a coffee filter before pouring it back into the new tank to be burned off.
The important part is my son LOVES the car.
Now it's onto suspension upgrades and building the L31 that was supposed to go in my brother's Z, but is now going to go into this bird

 "3rd gen stripper" made me think of chlamydia

3rd gens rock!  Nice save. I had an 87 camaro i like the 3rd gens interior better than the 4th gen. V6 or 8?

AngryCorvair said:

 "3rd gen stripper" made me think of chlamydia

so you know her!

Agent98 said:

3rd gens rock!  Nice save. I had an 87 camaro i like the 3rd gens interior better than the 4th gen. V6 or 8?

V8 TBI for now, I'll probably go 350 TPI in the fall if I can find the Vortec intake for it.  I'm ending up with my brother's L31.

got these babies earlier today.  Tomorrow I pick up tires to go on them.

set of 4 Goodyear eagle asymmetric as all seasons.  Mounted and balanced.  Waiting on spacers that should be in on Monday to mount them up.

I'm also probably going to eliminate the airbag wheel for an earlier leather wrapped 3 spoke wheel I have laying around.

Having owned just 1 t-top car in my life, I never expect that I will utter these words, "...because I really wanted a t-top car."

Cool car though and great project. 

In reply to John Welsh :

It's at least my 3rd.  And I've driven several others.

I like the open feeling and the fact that I can still open the doors even when it's on a lift.  Can't do that on the convertibles.

More parts.  "wunderbar", larger (hopefully) front and rear sway bars, quick ratio gearbox too.

3.23 posi with 12" rear discs

Couldn't afford adjustable shocks and struts so these will have to do.

Brian said:

In reply to John Welsh :

It's at least my 3rd.  And I've driven several others.

I like the open feeling and the fact that I can still open the doors even when it's on a lift.  Can't do that on the convertibles.

I've noticed my SN95 convertible is stiffer than my hard top 3rd gen. I can't imagine how awful a 3rd gen convertible is. But nice get on the Firebird. I think you can still get the Vortec TPI base manifold new but it's not cheap.

Daylan C said:

Brian said:

In reply to John Welsh :

It's at least my 3rd.  And I've driven several others.

I like the open feeling and the fact that I can still open the doors even when it's on a lift.  Can't do that on the convertibles.

I've noticed my SN95 convertible is stiffer than my hard top 3rd gen. I can't imagine how awful a 3rd gen convertible is. But nice get on the Firebird. I think you can still get the Vortec TPI base manifold new but it's not cheap.

It is available new, $400 last I recall.

I am going to keep my eyes out for some subframe connectors.  Those should help the car significantly in the stiffness department.

In reply to Brian :

Oh they definitely helped with the '92 Camaro I helped put them on.

Also you may already know but you're going to need like 2.5-3" spacer to use those C5 wheels. If that's a 4th gen rear axle that will make up the difference on the rear, still a very large offset difference between 3rd gen and Corvette wheels on the front though. I can check with my friend and owner of that '92 to see what he's using on the front with his C6 wheels 

Daylan C said:

Also you may already know but you're going to need like 2.5-3" spacer to use those C5 wheels. If that's a 4th gen rear axle that will make up the difference on the rear, still a very large offset difference between 3rd gen and Corvette wheels on the front though. I can check with my friend and owner of that '92 to see what he's using on the front with his C6 wheels 

That is a 4th Gen rear.  I'm hopefully picking up C5 front brakes on a modified 3rd gen spindle this week with spacers already installed.

I did buy a set of spacers already (2").  That's what I thought was needed.  If I need wider, I'll have to order them.

I'd appreciate your checking with your buddy to confirm what size spacers I'll need.  I've got about 1week to get it all together.

In reply to Brian :

I sent him a message, I'll let you know when he gets back to me. Google seems to suggest 2" should work for that style wheel. He's running a C6 Z06 replica setup but I don't know if they are the actual Z06 size.

Apparently the only picture I can find on my phone of his car is the one where drove it to my house a couple weeks ago with the fender, hood, and bumper off, which doesn't really show fitment of the wheel in the wheel well very well...

Daylan C said:

In reply to Brian :

I sent him a message, I'll let you know when he gets back to me. Google seems to suggest 2" should work for that style wheel. He's running a C6 Z06 replica setup but I don't know if they are the actual Z06 size.

thanks.
My google fu showed me the 2" so I have the 2" spacers sitting and waiting because I hadn't expected to get the differential (or front brakes) this quick.  I just got impatient and the brakes just popped up so I'm blowing money way faster than I had planned.

In reply to Brian :

Oh, I did remember he's still running a stock style brake setup, if you're going to C5 rotors too that will probably change it a bit.

Daylan C said:

In reply to Brian :

Oh, I did remember he's still running a stock style brake setup, if you're going to C5 rotors too that will probably change it a bit.

I guess I'll find out the hard way.  
 

oh, and I'm going to do the heavier spring in the prop valve mod to hopefully increase the rear brake bias a bit from drum to disc.

He said he's got 2.25" on the front. I'm thinking the C5 rotors and 2" spacers is probably gonna be pretty close. Picture of his car stolen from Instagram for reference. 18x9 front wheels. Rear is 19x10 with a 305/35 if you ever need to know how much room you have in the rear.

Daylan C said:

He said he's got 2.25" on the front. I'm thinking the C5 rotors and 2" spacers is probably gonna be pretty close. Picture of his car stolen from Instagram for reference. 18x9 front wheels. Rear is 19x10 with a 305/35 if you ever need to know how much room you have in the rear.

is he running the 4th gen rear?
I'm guessing he's lowered a bit.  I'm going to stock height height with new springs all around, need the clearance for speed bumps and driveways.

In reply to Brian :

4th gen rear, and yes he's got it very low. Can't get it out of his shop with another person in the car sort of low. Too damn low in my opinion and my '87 will never be that low while under my watch.

New springs, brakes, rear end, front struts, wheels and tires.  Now it's waiting for a wheel alignment.

Very nice.