hardtrailz

My ole Impala decided to pop the radiator and get hot. With 260K miles I decided i will fix her and sell her and get something more reliable. Go out to look at the new sonic and spark from chevy to get some good fuel mileage and have a brand new car when low and behold this lil beauty is sitting in the corner of my buddy's car lot.



It is Sunday and IN does not sell cars on Sunday so I text him and he says, I will give you a stupid deal on that. Call me in the morning. I take off work and call him up. We meet and drive the car. Find it has 71K miles on it. Top is like new. No mods other than an SLP Airbox lid. Leather is good, LS1 runs great, for an automatic it shifts really solid, everything works and is there except for minor ding on passenger fender and the loops for the seatbelts are not on the seats. So he shoots me a price and I have to own it. Find out it is 1 of 11 convertibles in 01 that color and was last year for the Blue-Green Chameleon paint. I had a couple LT1 cars and 3rd gens and V6 before, but it is my first LS experience and I am quite pleased.

I drive 135 miles a day to and from work. I am hoping to switch jobs in a year or two and not do that, but for now I am packing on miles and hoping to enjoy it more with this car. I am not looking for speed or power yet...one day down the road with a M6 swap I think So for now the suspension stays stock and no crazy wide tires are needed.

So far is has gotten me 25 mpg as a commuter and is about to get some minor mods, but a few more pics of it.










Mods happening are a strut tower brace cause I do it in all these I have owned(even though I know it is not needed or really even does anything). Sub-frame connectors as well. Thinking UMI bolt-in vert kit and then weld later. Got a deal on a Hooker Aerochamber muffler for it and have some 3.5 inch Stainless tips laying around to put on it. Some black chrome C6 style wheels in 18x8.5 should be at my house today. Got some new rubber on its way as well and should be here in a day or two. Stuck some floormats in it since I think the original factory plastic is still on the carpet and I plan to drive it rain or shine. Possibly tint the windows, find something for the front plate holder(hate that it is missing the cover but 130 bucks is alot for a piece of plastic), possibly badging overlays(not sure with this color but my previous TA looked sharp w em) and HID light conversion are in mind as well.

cheap strut brace is on










And these are the wheels coming in today





Tires in-bound. Just some GT Radial all-seasons in 245 since for some reason they had 3 different branded 225 tires on the stock wheels.



It is nothing compared to many of the rides I am seeing around here, but I like to keep a build thread to document how things move along and see how changes develop over the years. Thanks for a good site and I will keep reading so I cn have one of the really BUILT cars in the future.

BFK86

iTrader: (1)

very jealous! I was looking for a blue green chameleon TA or Formula for a while but realized how rare they are. Looked at one in Minooka IL with 23k miles that was pretty rough around the edges and they wanted stupid money for it and wouldnt budge so I passed on it. There were only 3 TAs in a nation wide search that were currently for sale in that color, one was yours (which I saw on carsforsale.com, and the other two were here in IL) So I ended up buying a black 02 formula a few months ago and low and behold now there's a blue green chameleon Formula that I see around my neighborhood now, go figure.

hardtrailz

Thanks. This one is clean and I got lucky as the owner of the dealership it was at, just so happens to be the best man from my wedding and the godfather to my littlest daughter. He gave me a great deal once he knew I was in the market for another f-body. It was pretty nicely priced to begin with I thought. Surprised it was not gone before I got to it.

I got the wheels n tires mounted up yesterday and had to put them on in the dark last night, but got a few pics this morning. Much nicer overall in driving.

Wheels are 18x8.5 and are wrapped in 245-45-18. Taller for the highway travel and a bit more filling to the wheel wells.

AnotherWs6

iTrader: (17)

Buys cheap car, IMMEDIATELY starts spending money on it to make it better/faster, LOL. It's a sickness. I just spent more on a tranny than my entire pickup is worth.

Good luck. Think about a decent set of shocks and you will have a nice riding car. Perfect for one person commuting.

hardtrailz

Pretty standard for me. Even the wifes old Grand Caravan had 5 star Sport Edition wheels on it when I sold it last week. I dont tend to leave stock wheels on anything.

It is a a bit of a sickness... I bought a trailblazer a few years back and swore it would stay stock and now it has prototyped more parts and been beaten off more trails than most things. Locker, gears, skids, lights, tuned, 35s n such. It is a good toy that surprises jeep guys and still got 16 mpg last week hauling the family across the state to the lake a couple weeks ago.




I am trying to keep this one nice and clean and with mods that add to the daily driver aspect not racecar type stuff. As much as i want to go for power...that can wait. I am not even pretending it will be "stock" for long, but more along the modding with purpose plan.

Nathan C

Good deal! You might want to paint the stb a different color and I would deffinately get subframe connectors.

AnotherWs6

iTrader: (17)

Trailblazer is awesome!!

I wasn't going to say anything about the color of the STB, but since someone else already did........
Your car is one of those colors that almost nothing really goes with. Even a standard red would prob look a bit off.

hardtrailz

It was cheapest one and will likely be black in the future, but I did not want red sticking out like a sore thumb under there and that was other option at price.

I am hoping to hear back on some SFC I asked about in the classified before buying new elsewhere.

JohnR

iTrader: (1)

After 15 years, you might want to take a good look at the rubber parts under the hood. On my '09 Formula, I just replaced both serpentine belts, and both radiator hoses. I also flushed the power steering fluid and replaced it with some quality synthetic fluid. Next up is a brake fluid flush with some DOT4 fluid. All these things are relatively cheap and I don't want any problems with simple stuff when I'm far away from home.

BTW, in 1999 I tried to buy a blue-green Firehawk, but SLP told me they stopped making them because the hood was so difficult to paint match.

Enjoy the new ride,
John

BFK86

iTrader: (1)

do you know if any 98 blue green firehawks were built? that would be my all time favorite fbody right there..a blue green firehawk formula

hardtrailz

Will be doing fluids and rubber parts soon.


I found out how expensive this paint is when I just a quote to do a hood. DAMN. GM does not have the paint so it is custom made and the hood needs to also have the fenders blended n such. Maybe down the line, but for now I doubt that expense happens.


Found out the 3 point SFC are far too expensive w shipping so the 2 point will be ordered in the morning.

JohnR

iTrader: (1)

I would love to see one too! If there really is one, then maybe a Blue-Green Firehawk owner will chime in and post a picture.

hardtrailz

Got two point UMI 2 point weld-in connects coming with the optional bolt-in hardware.

AnotherWs6

iTrader: (17)

Former bodyshop owner here..... Nobody gets paint from the factory. Shops all have a paint system that is made up of 50 - 100 or so "tints". They have either books, microfiche or computer systems that tell them how to create paint for every paint code under the sun. Basically, the paint itself isn't really all that expensive unless it heavily comprised of metallic bases or something. It's really the labor that makes it expensive, especially if you are going to a quality shop that cares a lot about the finished product. I would say roughly $500 to just paint a used hood and maybe $100-$150 to blend each fender.

bleepster

iTrader: (2)

^^ well said. I bought a used TA hatch last year, and the local body shop guy I trust charged me $450 to remove my old deck, touch up and paint new deck, and tint back glass and reinstall. very pleased with my results. and he did an awesome job matching the paint

AnotherWs6

iTrader: (17)

Thanks. Could also save money by not blending the fenders. If they are good they can play around with tints and get it pretty damn close. Bumper isn't going to be blended anyway. Just throwing it out there. And tying to spend your money OP, lol.

wu6fiend

No such thing as a 1998 Firehawk officially. SLP never got all the approvals done to permit sales for that year. There were a small number of pilot cars built, which have subsequently slipped out into the market. The 1998-on Firehawk was intended to have fixed headlights, and SLP spent a lot of time and money working on that project, only to abandon it in the end. The first year for the LS1 Firehawk was 1999.

Your new daily driver is a very nice car indeed!

__________
1999 Trans Am Firehawk #C08

hardtrailz

Thanks.

I got quoted by GM dealer to paint a fiberglass hood and fit it plus blending fenders for $475. Seems like a good deal if I can find some cash for a hood and paint sometime.

hardtrailz

Got the UMI connects in, but need to tighten rear LCA bolt on the pass side for sure. Got the clunk. Nice product and good fit for sure though.

Trying some ebay seats and low pro brackets, but the passenger sits high still and they did not slide back any further like I hoped. Also was misled by a youtube video and have the sliders installed upside down so the lever does not slide with seat. I do like sitting in them and they offer some better shoulder support hip feels nice to hold you. They may stay or may go, but the cost to run em for awhile is low enough I am satisfied.




Few pics of it half clean...

hardtrailz

Got the UMI connects in, but need to tighten rear LCA bolt on the pass side for sure. Got the clunk. Nice product and good fit for sure though.

Trying some ebay seats and low pro brackets, but the passenger sits high still and they did not slide back any further like I hoped. Also was misled by a youtube video and have the sliders installed upside down so the lever does not slide with seat. I do like sitting in them and they offer some better shoulder support hip feels nice to hold you. They may stay or may go, but the cost to run em for awhile is low enough I am satisfied.




Few pics of it half clean...