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I grew up poor in a wealthier neighborhood in the 80s. My dad had a 5th Avenue for my Mom and he had a company owned E350 work truck.
My grade 4 teacher Mr. Barnes had an early black third gen Firebird, which at the time was close enough to KITT for him to be the coolest person in my 10 year old world. I recall wondering how he could ever allow it to get dirty and treat it like a “car”.
In high school my buddy had an ‘86 Camaro, 2.8 auto. It was his grandfathers car, purchased off the lot on a whim from the local dealer. It had a small incident, and a friend of the family laid down a stack of clear coat on the brown metallic paint. That thing had shine like no other car I’d ever seen, and made me feel pretty humble in my summer job funded ‘85 Accord.
Fast forward 30 ish years. Married, two young ones, house and a yard of my own. I got sick, an immune system disorder disguised as cancer. I got out of the hospital, bought a street motorcycle because it was in the budget and something I couldn’t afford as a younger man. I recovered, and the bike got less and less use. Now my kids are tweens and we’re in a pandemic. On a whim I re-listed my motorcycle on Kijiji, my wife never enjoyed riding with me and threatened my life if I mentioned taking one of the kids with me. It sat for weeks, then was purchased out of the blue. For a couple of months my garage has been empty. My daughter and I started watching old Overhaullin’ episodes on YouTube, or what my wife laughingly calls “Men crying over cars”. Don’t get the wrong idea, her Dad was a front end guy before he passed away, cars run in her blood. We’d talked about selling the bike and buying a classic: she was thinking tri five Chevys and AC Cobras, and this is what I’m bringing her home 😀
A 1985 Pontiac Trans Am.
I’m not a panel beater, I am a heavy equipment tech. A rust free 1980s car in Ontario is pretty darn rare, or so I’ve found. This car is ridiculously clean underneath. It appears ti be collision free. Even the factory brake lines are immaculate compared to my wife’s 2010 Kia ball o’ corrosion.
I’m a by the numbers guy, but it’s not a concourse worthy car. I’ll be looking for tips and tricks to keep it factory looking at least. For now it needs brakes and exhaust, seat covers/foam and a host of smaller mechanical work.
I’m pumped to find an active forum for research and resources. Thanks for the add.
Last edited by theraymondguy; 06-11-2020 at 08:21 PM.
Congrats on your find, that is a nice/clean car. Welcome to the site. You will find a lot of folks that know these cars inside and out, and always willing to answer questions!
From what I can see it looks to be all easy fixes with parts that are readily available. The only thing you'll probably have an issue fixing/replacing due to the separation of the material, is the radio surround, console, and console lid.
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new addition! I'm in Ontario as well and swear I saw that car on Kijiji within the last few weeks. Where abouts are you located?
More then likely it is, but it will still be a fun car to own. Plus its a solid 35 year old Canadian car, which is pretty rare!
Welcome to the forum and remember that this group is a wealth of knowledge!
I’m very pleased to have found it, I was seriously considering a fox body but didn’t want to get a tetanus shot just now...
I hope to start drawing on that knowledge base soon, im not sure if the etiquette is to continue with this thread or to start a build thread? Not only does my wife’s Kia have more rust, but it’s 2.4L 4 cyl pumps out about 20 more horsepower than the LG4, can’t have that!
I could use a couple of hockey sticks if you hosers have some laying around, gas struts don’t grow on trees eh?
Thanks!
Originally Posted by RKeats
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new addition! I'm in Ontario as well and swear I saw that car on Kijiji within the last few weeks. Where abouts are you located?
You may have. The owner had it for sale last year, had nibbles but not bites. I did get it for what I feel is a good price, but having said that some sharp eyes in this thread have already noted some flaws that I overlooked as “old car stuff”.
Originally Posted by Roblaza
Looks like a great starting point! Well done. Where in Ontario are you?
. Thank you, I’m in Niagara. I don’t know if I’ll have the car road legal this year, I had planned on spending this summer getting it “right”, then licensing it as Historic.
Last edited by theraymondguy; 06-12-2020 at 06:10 PM.
Congrats on a very cool car! I kinda like LG4 cars because they make for an easy 350 upgrade
So I’m already agonizing the bolt on now vs Built engine swap later, and the car hasn’t even left my driveway.
The temptation to do Sensible transferable bolt ons is overwhelming. I’m already into replacing the entire exhaust system, so 3” is guaranteed. Snorkel intake, electric cooling fan, maybe even electric water pump. Am I missing anything?
I done a cam, headers+ 3in exhaust, intake+ carb swap on an LG4 and was still a touch slower than my 305 TPI car??? I wouldn't do anything to the car except maybe exhaust, posi+ gears, and torque converter- things u can use on a 350 swap later.
Sub frame connectors, get rid of some rattles and tighten it up. Maybe a wonder bar too...
Welcome to the forum!! Glad to hear memories of your youth caught back up with you, very nice car. Also nice to hear a story of a person's health that is positive!!
Honestly with the right exhaust note, you'll probably be alright with the power. If you want to wake it up, give it a full tune up, exhaust, and a better set of gears and you'll have plenty of fun until an LS or 350 comes knocking. Appearance wise, a wrap around T/A spoiler, better wheels (probably GTA's), and the original Trans Am decals put back on would really get that pu**y poppin' IMO. She looks really clean though, which as you know is almost impossible to find in our area. I'm really looking forward to following along
I done a cam, headers+ 3in exhaust, intake+ carb swap on an LG4 and was still a touch slower than my 305 TPI car??? I wouldn't do anything to the car except maybe exhaust, posi+ gears, and torque converter- things u can use on a 350 swap later.
This is the kind of input I’ve been looking for, thank you. I’ve already got my mind set on a Vortec 350, I’m not even going to bother with putting a cam into the LG4. I’ll go for the exhaust and gear/diff upgrade but that’s it until I do the swap.
Sub frame connectors, get rid of some rattles and tighten it up. Maybe a wonder bar too...
Welcome to the forum!! Glad to hear memories of your youth caught back up with you, very nice car. Also nice to hear a story of a person's health that is positive!!
I’m going to have to google wonder bar... you know, just the other day I had the most vivid memory of a 3rd get Trans Am model that I built as a kid, black with gold decals. Man, I can’t wait to get thus thing built!
Honestly with the right exhaust note, you'll probably be alright with the power. If you want to wake it up, give it a full tune up, exhaust, and a better set of gears and you'll have plenty of fun until an LS or 350 comes knocking. Appearance wise, a wrap around T/A spoiler, better wheels (probably GTA's), and the original Trans Am decals put back on would really get that pu**y poppin' IMO. She looks really clean though, which as you know is almost impossible to find in our area. I'm really looking forward to following along
i found a sample of the original decal set in the “glove box (they don’t call it that do they?). Red and gray, and yes, those I’d like to get back on the car.
Progress report: when purchased I had the drivers motor and head lamp only. Some percussive maintenance on the passenger relay, new fog and main bulbs and cleaned the drivers side fog socket, and the excitement returns to the forward driving lights.
Congrats on your purchase, it looks to be a really clean example, and it's always nice to see fellow Ontario Thirdgenners on here. Would love to see it in person at a meet up this summer.
The wonderbar that Buddy referenced is a brace that runs between the front frame rails, and braces the area on the chassis that the steering box bolts to, which can develop cracks over time without a wonderbar. I bought mine from TDS, and you can take a look at it here: http://www.top-downsolutions.com/ste...or-firebird-(a
Thirdgen is a great resource for these cars, and you'll find all the information you could want on these cars here.
Congrats on your purchase, it looks to be a really clean example, and it's always nice to see fellow Ontario Thirdgenners on here. Would love to see it in person at a meet up this summer.
The wonderbar that Buddy referenced is a brace that runs between the front frame rails, and braces the area on the chassis that the steering box bolts to, which can develop cracks over time without a wonderbar. I bought mine from TDS, and you can take a look at it here: http://www.top-downsolutions.com/ste...or-firebird-(a
Thirdgen is a great resource for these cars, and you'll find all the information you could want on these cars here.
Thank you for the link, I’ll definitely look into it.
We’ve taken to calling the car “Rocky”, and fittingly so. It may be late in the rounds but this is one tough mother, and he don’t know when to quit.
Thank you. I changed the oil and topped up fluids last night. Every time I’ve started the car it’s filled the yard with blue smoke, but not tonight. Is it plausible that changing the (filthy) oil has resolved the issue? I’d have sworn valve seals, but this works for me too!
We had a huge night tonight, the rear brakes are worn but in good usable condition. I was certain that The hand brake and cables would be a debacle. New plugs (of questionable heritage) a tank full of fresh gas (no leaks!) and its running on all 8. This thing wants to be back on the road. If the hood and hatch struts suddenly rejuvenate that’s be just fine too.
guys who have experienced the excitement of a new toy can recognize how full of it you are. welcome--and remember--the only stupid questions are the ones that you are afraid to ask (that has a double meaning drew.....)
Thank you. I changed the oil and topped up fluids last night. Every time I’ve started the car it’s filled the yard with blue smoke, but not tonight. Is it plausible that changing the (filthy) oil has resolved the issue? I’d have sworn valve seals, but this works for me too!
We had a huge night tonight, the rear brakes are worn but in good usable condition. I was certain that The hand brake and cables would be a debacle. New plugs (of questionable heritage) a tank full of fresh gas (no leaks!) and its running on all 8. This thing wants to be back on the road. If the hood and hatch struts suddenly rejuvenate that’s be just fine too.
Sound like the bird might have been sitting for a bit not seeing much use. Changing out all of the consumables and giving it a full tune up should alleviate most of the issues you've brought up. The hood and hatch struts are never going to come back to life though lol. I have owned a lot of these cars and have had to change them out on every one!
Sound like the bird might have been sitting for a bit not seeing much use. Changing out all of the consumables and giving it a full tune up should alleviate most of the issues you've brought up. The hood and hatch struts are never going to come back to life though lol. I have owned a lot of these cars and have had to change them out on every one!
There’s always hope (and gravity).
i did forget to mention that I had run some aerosol seafoam through the carb prior to the oil change. Perhaps that had some bearing on it as well. The car had an odour of gas under the hood that didn’t seem to be present last night either.
I’m going to drain the gas out of it and run it in my work truck (Ford transit, doesn’t care what you put in it as long as there is lots of it), top off the T/A with more fresh stuff.
I’d lay money that at least a set of wires are in order, or I could leave it as is and have my very own portable AED machine.
Last edited by theraymondguy; 06-19-2020 at 09:29 AM.
Reason: Gweneth Paltrow
I think I'm most impressed by the fact that your windows still go down! The fact that your smoke went away with an oil change is encouraging too. My 91' TPI smokes when it starts and though the valve seals are a common fail point on any GM motor of that generation, my oil hasn't been changed in god knows how long so HOPEFULLY a flush will tighten that up.
Welcome to the Forum! If you haven't already, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE change out the rubber brake lines and flush out the old brake fluid. You do not want to lose your car because you blew out a brake hose that was manufactured before the fall of the Soviet Union, or when Madonna released the song Like A Virgin.
I think I'm most impressed by the fact that your windows still go down! The fact that your smoke went away with an oil change is encouraging too. My 91' TPI smokes when it starts and though the valve seals are a common fail point on any GM motor of that generation, my oil hasn't been changed in god knows how long so HOPEFULLY a flush will tighten that up.
Welcome to the Forum! If you haven't already, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE change out the rubber brake lines and flush out the old brake fluid. You do not want to lose your car because you blew out a brake hose that was manufactured before the fall of the Soviet Union, or when Madonna released the song Like A Virgin.
lol, yes way high on my must haves list.
speaking if must haves, I’m developing quite a list!
is the marketplace link on the site dead or is my iPhone fussy?
im in search of:
- windshield washer pump
- headlight isolation relay (I know, but maybe someone will take pity on me?)
- Gauge bulbs
- battery hold down, battery
- seat belt latches, grey front rear x 1 each
- hood and hatch struts (lol, again looking for a miracle)
- turn signal / wiper stalk (tilt column, 2 wire wiper motor - not sure which I need, has 4 wire connector on position switch head? Current has cruise switch and delay wiper switch, car has no cruise and wipers don’t work on delay?
- wiring harness for aftermarket head unit (1985 and it’s still Not cut, I’m not cutting it).
Ive found a few parts sellers on Kijiji, we’ll see how that goes, but not holding out much hope.
Last edited by theraymondguy; 06-20-2020 at 08:26 AM.
Awesome car and seems to be coming along quite nicely!
it’s coming along. I spent some time on drivability today, tinkering with the carb. I gave the exterior a thorough clean after leaving the seafoam on it for a couple of days. I inadvertently created an issue flushing a bunch of junk into the carb, causing it to want to stall at idle. A couple of applications vacuum cleaning (Engine running, part throttle, rag over intake, let the vacuum suck the junk through the jets), and it is running its best yet.
i managed to break the dumb cover for the wiper control board taking out the pump.
Most of my want list is at Rock Auto, conveniently located in two different warehouses for double the shipping fees. I’ll have to pick and choose carefully for what makes the most sense and just pull from one, get the rest locally.
Another big maintenance day. Removed both door cards and lubed the power window tracks. Setup the latch on the hatch (dr suess) and took my first real look at the exhaust.
The extension pipe and muffler are done, but otherwise it’s serviceable. I can go 2 1/2” from the cat back with walker/DynoMax 47638 intermediate pipe and 17739 muffler hopefully.
big improvements in the interior as well. I repaired the delaminates console lid and the main section of the console itself. I also repaired the console ashtray flip lid.
How do I remove the shift stalk to get access to the boot?
From what I can see it looks to be all easy fixes with parts that are readily available. The only thing you'll probably have an issue fixing/replacing due to the separation of the material, is the radio surround, console, and console lid.
loctite 404 seems to hold the delaminated parts quite well. I’ll update this post if it fails.
Looks like it may have of had some kind of painting done at 1 point. There is still tape on the door covering up the specs. Yellow tape.
regardless, nice car and welcome!!
Welcome to the site and congrats on your new ride, looks like a really great find! I’m a new guy to the site as well, just picked up a really nice 89 T/A myself in March, like you have been wanting a 3rd gen since I was a kid of about 12 when they were first new. Not sure If this is what you’re looking for but pretty sure if you want to remove the shifter handle there is a clip on the front of it towards the radio that you pull out towards the radio that will release the handle. Hopefully someone else will chime on this but pretty sure that’s how that works.
Welcome to the site and congrats on your new ride, looks like a really great find! I’m a new guy to the site as well, just picked up a really nice 89 T/A myself in March, like you have been wanting a 3rd gen since I was a kid of about 12 when they were first new. Not sure If this is what you’re looking for but pretty sure if you want to remove the shifter handle there is a clip on the front of it towards the radio that you pull out towards the radio that will release the handle. Hopefully someone else will chime on this but pretty sure that’s how that works.
Looks like it may have of had some kind of painting done at 1 point. There is still tape on the door covering up the specs. Yellow tape.
regardless, nice car and welcome!!
Yes, the whole car was sprayed apparently, 2004. It’s holding up okay, some spider cracking around the antenna. There’s one small dent and a crack on the front right aero. These issues are for next year 😀
Yes, the whole car was sprayed apparently, 2004. It’s holding up okay, some spider cracking around the antenna. There’s one small dent and a crack on the front right aero. These issues are for next year 😀
Right now it’s exhaust. I’m not putting good parts up against the stock manifolds and tiny 2.25 cat.
The elephant in the room is money. Anyone can drop $1500 and have a full 3” Stainless system for this car.
I’m not doing that.
From what I’ve read, 86-90 single pipe 3” provided the best value. I’m still getting close to a grand with headers, y pipe etc.
I’m not doing that.
I’ve found a used set of 5.7 TPI manifolds and dual cat pipe for reasonable money.,. The problem with that plan is the intermediate pipe. I can’t source one to bolt on, so I’d have to cut a new pipe to make it work. A sacrifice, but now I’m down to $550, 750 if I have to replace the cats.
Do I Go for it or will the forum Talk me out of it?
Last edited by theraymondguy; 06-23-2020 at 05:18 AM.
Reason: Gweneth Paltrow
I’ve agonized over my exhaust parts order for a week. I got what I think will be the best compromise, DynoMax stainless 2 1/2” intermediate and muffler. I’ll reuse the remainder of the system until next year then upgrade the manifolds and cat.
I went through the front end, the center link is whipped, but otherwise it’s ok. I’ll grease the wheel bearings and retorque just for the sake of doing it. New washer pump and hood supports made the list too.
A hand made shift boot made from one my wife’s old purses will have to serve.
Driveway exhaust is possibly one of my least favourite jobs.
I dropped the walker stock replacement stuff today, had to drop the brace for the rear frame, it all came apart like it was installed yesterday , even the tiny screws for the little panel behind the gas tank. I love this car,
im going to salvage the tips for now, I’m trying to get the car on the road and the bills are piling up.
the exhaust is coked up badly. I’ve noticed the choke seems slow to come off. Curious about adjusting it, having it come off a little earlier.
Ok, so it’s not just the heavy equipment world struggling with logistics issues, parts delayed for the 3rd day, with continued promises of next day delivery.
i have a new center link and idler arm, what better day than Canada Day to install?
I also went with the Dynomax exhaust for my '87. Since it's just going to be a driver and never see any harsh weather ever again for as long as I own it, I just couldn't justify the cost of the other kits out there. Only issue I ran into was fitting the Flowtech y-pipe (post #20 in my build thread), the exhaust went in beautifully. Since I'm not required to have cats I just clamped in a 2-1/2" dia section of exhaust pipe in the cats place.
Finished up the console and went through all the lamps in the cluster. I need two of the tiny bulbs for the Hvac controller, maybe someone has a part number?
My Daughter stitched up the new shift boot, A splash of Red never hurts on a Pontiac.
intermediate pipe, muffler, some clamps, washer pump and hood struts. I’ll miss not having to hold the hood open with a piece of stray abs pipe - no, no I won’t.
The intermediate pipe does appear to be quite a bit larger.
... and just as you’d expect, nothing fits.
I believe most of the issue is caused by the catalyst being installed too deeply into the y pipe. The intermediate pipe hits the heat shielding under the passenger floor pan, the heat shielding over the axle (the vertical section) and the subframe brace.
Im hoping I can separate the cat from the y pipe, pull it forward an inch or so - that’ll clear the passenger heat shield, push the intermediate pipe toward the rear which will eliminate the contact for the heat shielding over the axle, and elevate the pipe to clear the brace.
To make it more of a challenge, my service truck is at our shop for a new windshield, so I’m working out of my small job bag.
Last edited by theraymondguy; 07-02-2020 at 08:17 PM.
New exhaust on. Not very impressed with the fitment, I have well over 8 hours in the install. Nice to be able to run the car without upsetting my neighbours.
06-11-2020, 08:13 PM
