Introductions & Greetings - Hello from Ohio and a story about my car.
tony1977
05-20-2012, 11:43 AM
Hey Everyone
I am new to these forums and figured I would introduce myself. I was inspired to join after dusting off my Firebird Formula which sadly hasn't been driven much in the last 7 years. I have finally gotten around to taking it out of the garage not long ago, cleaned it up and plan on takng it to some of the local car shows in my area. Here is a picture of my car:
http://www.twebster.org/firebird/fb2.jpg
http://www.twebster.org/firebird/fb1.jpg
A small story about my car.
When I graduated college back in 2000 I didn't have much of a credit score. I was looking to actually establish my credit so I thought what the hell, why not buy a car? I already had a nice oldsmobile (a 95 delta 88) but wanted a sports car so the Firebird was the obvious choice for me. I was living at home at the time and just landed a good job so I wanted a WS6. Problem was that the color I wanted (Blue Green Chameleon) wasn't avaliable for a WS6 model. I also didn't want leather seats which was a standard at the time for WS6 TAs. (Not a big leather seat guy).
So I decided to go and look for a FB formula which weren't the easiest to come by. I figured I would buy it, give it a ram air scoop and hood, upgrade the suspension and have my own WS6 styled bird in the color I wanted.
I went to a small dealer about 45 mins from me and they located a FB formula in the exact trim I was looking for. Ended up buying it for 24k and paid it off in 3 years. My dad who just retired worked in parts for a chevy dealer for almost 40 years was able to get me most of my parts at cost or slightly above cost so I was able to turn the car into what I wanted to turn it into. I upgraded the suspension with heavier duty bilstein shocks but ended up keeping the chrome 16 inch wheels, as I liked the look of them at the time (and still do). Replaced the stock tires with Goodyear Eagle GSD3s and put on a custom Corsa Exhaust by 2002. I also upgraded the air induction system with some slp
Sadly however things changed in my life quite a bit to where I had to put my car hobby secondary as I was involed with a lot of other things at the time. On occasion during the summer I would drive the car or if my olds took a dump or was in need of any major repairs (had to have some work done sometimes) id drive the car but it was rare if I did compared to the first 3 years I owned it......until now.
Pretty much i have everything on it that I want, however I plan on putting on some high performance brakes (any recommendations?) and some cosmetic stuff like a pontiac rear deck mat, custom furl rail covers color keyed to the car and some other misc stuff.
So now I am part of the forum and am glad to be here.
-Tony
staleycornell
05-20-2012, 03:40 PM
Car looks great! I have always loved the Formulas. They are such sleeper cars and most people think it is just a V6 :)
tony1977
05-21-2012, 10:50 AM
I couldn't find a TA in that color so i had to settle for formula. No regrets here though!
autogeek23
05-21-2012, 10:55 AM
very nice ride. when i read the title and it said hi from ohio i had to read. then i see the first picture and your parked at Coe Lake. i live 3 minutes from there.
brendo389
05-21-2012, 11:17 AM
That Formula is beautiful, great color choice, and the chromed 16's look perfect IMO. Is it a 6 speed stick or the 4 speed auto?
hollywoood
05-21-2012, 05:18 PM
Welcome! Your car looks great! I love the color. You have changed my opinion about blue chameleon green
tony1977
05-21-2012, 05:51 PM
very nice ride. when i read the title and it said hi from ohio i had to read. then i see the first picture and your parked at Coe Lake. i live 3 minutes from there.
Awesome! Well I grew up in Berea and keep the car at my parent's house until I can build a new garage at the house I am currently at. What part of the city do you live in? Do you ever go to any of the local car shows? How long have you had your TA? Corsa's factory HQ is in Berea and that's where I bought my exhaust. if you haven't gotten a new cat yet id definitely recommend them. That cat added like 20 HP to the car and sounds awesome.
That Formula is beautiful, great color choice, and the chromed 16's look perfect IMO. Is it a 6 speed stick or the 4 speed auto?
Its a 4 speed auto. Just took it out today and forgot how fast the thing actually is. I like the look of the chromed 16 inch wheels and I came close to buying the 17 inch ws6 wheels but changed my mind as there wouldn't be much of a difference for me. Plus I just bought the tires for that car a couple years back and they make the car handle great.
Welcome! Your car looks great! I love the color. You have changed my opinion about blue chameleon green
At the time it wasn't popular. In fact 2000 was the last year for Blue Green Chameleon/Mystic Teal Metallic. My car was actually a special order that a customer ordered then didn't like. I love the color personally and at the time I was pissed at the fact you couldn't get a WS6 in Maple Red or Blue Green Chameleon. In the end it worked out great. The extra money I spent amounted to the same as if I had bought the ws6 option on the car when I added all the parts.
autogeek23
05-22-2012, 08:09 AM
Awesome! Well I grew up in Berea and keep the car at my parent's house until I can build a new garage at the house I am currently at. What part of the city do you live in? Do you ever go to any of the local car shows? How long have you had your TA? Corsa's factory HQ is in Berea and that's where I bought my exhaust. if you haven't gotten a new cat yet id definitely recommend them. That cat added like 20 HP to the car and sounds awesome.
Thats cool. i live down the street from the new grindstone elementary school. i go to the local shows every once in a while just to look around. my car is no show car. i like the brunswick car show better than our berea one. i have had my car for just over a year now. i already purchased a magnaflow catback system, a used one for my budget build.
SweeTbone
05-22-2012, 08:40 AM
Welcome to the site. Nice car, but I'm not sure about the mudflaps though. :judge:
216StealthSS
05-22-2012, 08:49 AM
:usa: ohio is alive! good to see! clean ride bro! looks good,
yea i would say mudflaps optional.... overall car is clean!
Nathan C
05-22-2012, 10:35 AM
Welcome from the Dayton area. If you don't mind a 2-3 hour drive check out the Trans Am Nationals in Dayton at the end of August. As for brakes Baer are nice but somewhat expensive. Beautiful Formula!
black79transam
05-22-2012, 03:34 PM
Wow I absolutely love that color. That may now be one of my top 3 color choices very very nice looking car
tony1977
05-22-2012, 06:03 PM
Thanlks for the complimwnts everyone!! Some people give me flak for the mudflaps. Honestly when I first put them on I wasn't super happy about them. They were a birthday present from my dad. However I grew to like them and not many people really put them on their cars so to me its unique.
I still get flak for them. Though:).
The flipside is that I wanted the color from the start. At the time it wasn't popular.
-Tony
Adam L
05-22-2012, 06:54 PM
Welcome car looks good.
black79transam
05-22-2012, 07:36 PM
Thanlks for the complimwnts everyone!! Some people give me flak for the mudflaps. Honestly when I first put them on I wasn't super happy about them. They were a birthday present from my dad. However I grew to like them and not many people really put them on their cars so to me its unique.
I still get flak for them. Though:).
The flipside is that I wanted the color from the start. At the time it wasn't popular.
-Tony
I have mudflaps on my 79 TA and had them put back on after it was painted. I think they make the car look better myself
tony1977
05-22-2012, 08:50 PM
I have mudflaps on my 79 TA and had them put back on after it was painted. I think they make the car look better myself
Yeah I like them now. At first I wasn't too keen on them then I almost decided to take them off then I decided not to. In fact I like the look with the firebird logo. Fits my car well I think.
-Tony
tony1977
05-22-2012, 08:58 PM
Thats cool. i live down the street from the new grindstone elementary school. i go to the local shows every once in a while just to look around. my car is no show car. i like the brunswick car show better than our berea one. i have had my car for just over a year now. i already purchased a magnaflow catback system, a used one for my budget build.
Awesome man. I haven't been to the Berea car show since 2002. The one in Brunswick is nice but I checked out the show in Solon which is the city I work in and damn......like 500-600 cars every week from model t's to ferraris to firebirds etc. I saw a guy with a 64 GTO which are extremely rare and I have even seen some Buick Grandsports from the 60s that were rarities there. I think this year I will take my car to a couple of these. Maybe even the one in Berea.
Magnaflows are good, my dad has one on his 08 impala ss, very nice system
-Tony
GhostRider98
05-22-2012, 09:30 PM
Welcome
FirstYrLS1Z
05-24-2012, 06:55 PM
July 31 is f-body night at the solon cruise-in.
if you're into driving,a gathering of f-bods in Michigan, June 9, about 300 cars
http://ls1tech.com/forums/midwestern-members/1507359-8th-annual-michigan-fbody-meet-greet-2012-a.html
the Cleveland thread from the midwest forum
http://ls1tech.com/forums/midwestern-members/178187-who-cleveland-oh-area.html
the eastside group,we cruise/run to QS&L sheffield and valley view,to some of the 'Sonic's
our social forum for ohiolsx
http://ls1tech.com/forums/groups/ohio-lsx.html
01 CamaroSS SLP
05-24-2012, 07:51 PM
Welcome nice formula... Just curious since you have barely driven it how many miles are on it? Looks great.
BOBS99SS
05-24-2012, 07:58 PM
Op ill pm you my number, it looks like we will have a decent gang this year, also join ohio lsx, they have a few good meets a year, i live in lorain, and im in berea alot,nice ride
thatoneguybriz
05-24-2012, 08:07 PM
Welcome buddy. Nice ride
tony1977
05-26-2012, 06:43 PM
Thanks guys, id love to meet up with Bird/Camaro owners around here. My car has just over 50k miles on it. for some reason I kept thinking 48k but sadly in the last 3 years I havent even put 600 miles on it.
I took a good cruise around town and saw a few 98-02 birds out on a nice saturday before memorial day.
I have to take the car in this week to get a pinion seal fixed and the back cover of my rear axle replaced. Not a big deal but my mechanic said the car is pristine aside from that :)
A lot of people ask how the hell my car shines the way it does, to be honest I have used a lot of blue coral pain sealer and now I use Meguiars Ultimate Liquid Wax......
http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4840
This stuff works awesome and I also use liquid glass. Two years ago I gave the car the clay bar treatment....came mout beautiful.
-Tony