1997 Firebird Y87 5spd

10180 Views 193 Replies 7 Participants Last post by tommy vercetti, 2 mo ago

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · Mar 20, 2019 (Edited by Moderator)

Hey guys,

just starting some kind of a build thread,

bought a few days ago a 97 bird with the 3.8 , Y87 code, black with grey interiors, t-top and manual tranny.

i love it, but it needs major works,

i already left it in a body shop because the previous owner hit a pole coming out of a corner (yup he spun, and he hugghed the pole with a door...).

it has some rust all over the under carriage.

interiors are in pieces, i need a lot of interior parts (gonna open a thread soon) starting from the upper part of the dash (the one that faces the windshiels, to sun visors, radio, ebrake bezel, radio and so on.

i also need to do a full tune up with new fluids.

only mod is the alluminum DS

if you want to follow me on youtube this is my channel (no bird yet on it)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6TtHsgUpcylmfI9r6pyCyw?view_as=subscriber

and insta

https://www.instagram.com/tommyvercettitorque/

238000ish km

any input is much appreciated

thanks!

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61 - 80 of 194 Posts

ZumpTA

· #61 · Apr 4, 2020 (Edited by Moderator)

I doubt anybody thinks bad of you or the speed run. Heck, one or two probably thought "130MPH? That's nothing". I'm just saying that 75MPH could land me in jail, or at the very least cost over $1,000 in fines and revocation of my drivers license. Hell, 9 years ago I got caught going 15MPH over the speed limit on the Interstate while passing a group of semi- trailers. That cost over $1,500.

My wife and son love drifting, so, on rare occasion I'll give them a little thrill if it's safe. No harm there besides burning up expensive tires. When I'm alone, I kick the ass out every chance I have. I live and love the sideways life.

Is your quarantine really so strict you can't even be out on your own property? That's insane. Now is the perfect time to be working around the house or on the car. My state (Florida) has ordered people to stay home and business to close, but, anything retail/wholesale/services can remain open and that's just about everything. Also, religious institutions can remain open and have assemblies, and folks like me are allowed out to shop, bike, swim, walk, run, care for others, visit doctors, walk dogs, etc. More or less the extreme opposite of yours. I'm actually having trouble figuring out what exactly I can't do. State parks are closed, but local government owned parks remain open. It's really stupid how Florida is handling this crisis.

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tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #62 · Apr 7, 2020

technically if a cop finds you at that speed here you are in trouble too, license revoked, super high fine and a you will be charged.

my own house yes, but since the garage where i keep parts car is 6 km from where i live i can not go there.

no this insane, i wish i was in florida now, i have to be honest.

this is like being in prison for no reason.

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #63 · May 8, 2020 (Edited by Moderator)

Hey guys,

got back to work,

got a couple of issues after sitting for a month.

1) a weather strip is falling apart from the windshield

2) car not running fine, looks like it's missing, it skips and jumps under medium throttle input and won't accelerate hard under heavy throttle input. also not precise throttle response.

still no CEL yet.

i cehcked the coils and they are fine (i mean sparks are good)

i think maybe a clogged injector , or bad spark plug or wire.

will wait for the CEL though

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ZumpTA

· #64 · May 8, 2020 (Edited by Moderator)

If you stored it with ethanol blended fuel, test the gas. After sitting, you should only see the ethanol and gas seperate. If you see a second seperation / 3rd liquid, there you go.

I'd lean on fuel pressure and injectors next, then move onto ignition system.

...but if ethanol is involved, my brain goes there first, that stuff has kicked my butt one too many times.

Good luck! Hope it's a simple fix.

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #65 · May 13, 2020

4

Hi Zump,

thanks for the words,

i already run about 250 miles and refilled with new gas, did not change anything honestly.

also here in italy i've never seen anything like E85 in a regular gas station.

i'll open a specific thread with a video...

good news is that the upper dash pad cover came in and the rear speaker covers too.

i only installed the covers so far, will need to clean that leftover shi* on the perimeter, don't even know what it is.

see attached pics

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ZumpTA

· #66 · May 13, 2020

I wasn't talking about E85. I mean E10 or E15. ...10% or 15% ethanol blended gasoline. It's very common, at least it is here in the states. But, if you drove to near empty nd got fresh gas, that's not it. The crap on the sail panels is probably the sticky residue left over from tape. The original grills probably fell out often and were taped in place.

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #67 · May 15, 2020

nope, refuled and still got the same exact issue

https://www.firebirdnation.com/forums/topic/566558-38-shaking-really-bad-and-down-on-power-with-video/#entry1546988

opened this, with a short video

yeah, i hope cleaning won't be much of an issue.

thanks though

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #68 · May 18, 2020

4

Hi all,

interiors are "complete", poor man's garage, but came out almost nice.

also, started to do some detailing as you can see.

I'M STILL LOOKING FOR A STUPID HOOD, I FOUND A WAY TO SHIP IT FOR CHEAP TO ITALY. IF SOMEONE IS SELLING SOMETHING LET ME KNOW (see attached pic ). i need it black.

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tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #69 · May 23, 2020

i bought the prothane toatal bushing kit. tomorrow i'm gonna try to install the easiest ones.

anyway, if someone has some tips and tricks i'll be happy to read them

thanks

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #70 · May 25, 2020

4

Hi guys,

made some progress:

-kn cone filter

-started to install prothane bushings, rear sway bar

-tried to solve the "jumping" issue, but go nowhere after swapping some spark plugs and wires.

attaching pics

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tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #71 · Jun 3, 2020

2

hi guys,

i tried one of those cheap ebay "dent remover kit", i friend of mine had it laying around and i decided to gave it a try to repair the dents from a hailstorm...IT DOES NOT WORK, DO NOT BUY IT.

attaching pics

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tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #72 · Jun 21, 2020 (Edited by Moderator)

4

hi guys,

lil more progress,

installed front sway bar bushings from the prothane kit.

about 256000km on it

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tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #73 · Jul 13, 2020

3

Hey guys,

tried some body repairing.

dents, hail and missing fiberglass is all gone, came out super good to be a garage job.

paint looks so damn bad though.

it's matte and porous...i'm very pissed about this paint.

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ZumpTA

· #74 · Jul 13, 2020

I wouldn't say the paint looks bad. In all honesty, that looks like the orange peel effect I expect to see when I paint mine. So many things have to be just right when painting and any one of them being off a little results in this. You might be able to take it down with just rubbing compound, or you might have to wet sand. Polish when done. The end result could be pretty nice.

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #75 · Jul 14, 2020

ZumpTA said:
I wouldn't say the paint looks bad. In all honesty, that looks like the orange peel effect I expect to see when I paint mine. So many things have to be just right when painting and any one of them being off a little results in this. You might be able to take it down with just rubbing compound, or you might have to wet sand. Polish when done. The end result could be pretty nice.

yeah i was reading something about that, i'll give it a try.

i also asked for a complete wrap with shiny black,but the quotatuon is a lil above 1000 euros, which way too much for me.

Injuneer

· #76 · Jul 16, 2020

1996/97 factory Ram Air hood for sale:

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/parts-sale-14/oem-ws6-hood-w-air-box-96-97-style-888406/

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #77 · Jul 22, 2020

Injuneer said:
1996/97 factory Ram Air hood for sale:

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/parts-sale-14/oem-ws6-hood-w-air-box-96-97-style-888406/

that is out of my budget, but thanks though :rockindude:

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #78 · Sep 10, 2020

hi guys,

sorry , long time no see, i rear ended a freaking huge truck with my jeep.

so i decided to swap in rebuilt and cammed 360, which meant the firebird did not get any attention.

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ZumpTA

· #79 · Sep 10, 2020

Sorry to hear about the Jeep. ...but glad you weren't in the 'bird.

Reactions: 1

tommy vercetti

Discussion Starter · #80 · Sep 13, 2020

3

thanks,

yeah luckily i have another identical jeep as a parts jeep, so no big deal...just a major pita.

btw, today i had the chance to go on a lil bit with the bird.

took down the track bar, got all the damn rust off, changed the bushings with prothane ones and welded a pipe in it in order to get it a lil bit more track firendly.

gonna put red antirust paint on it later this week.

ps: yeah, lol, i broke the freaking vise while getting those MFs older bushing out

car is around 259500 km

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61 - 80 of 194 Posts