NC01TA

Just wondering how many 'stock' owners are left in the Trans Am world. When I say 'stock' I mean factory exhaust, wheels, tire size, hood, everything. If you have a different brand battery or different brand tire, no problem as long as it's the same size. Let's see the results.

silverformula

I'm a owner of a stock 2002 Firebird Formula.


I have admit it hard keeping the car stock, the only thing I did add was 2-point sub frame connectors.

gerrard8

owner of 2001 ws6 with dual corsa clones tips only

30thanniv

iTrader: (2)

Mine is all stock except the suspension. Does that count?

Roxas

iTrader: (88)

All stock besides ram air hood and z06 rims.

JD_AMG

Far from stock now...
And honestly guys coming from a bone stock car all the way to a built one you guys are missing out BIG TIME on leaving the car totally stock. Im not talking about ***** to the wall build, but replacing the things that should have been done from the factory.
Like #1 being getting better shocks, there is absolutely no downside to that and the car will ride, and handle light years better than the shitty truck-like decarbon shocks they come with. If I were to buy another one of these cars I wouldn't bother driving it much until i installed some good shocks, which would be my first mod.
#2 Better brake pads and quality blank rotors. The factory or factory replacement pads are a joke, cause the rotors to warp and have terrible brake fade. A decent set of street pads (like Hawk HPs) and some quality blank rotors and these things will stop on a dime with zero fade. Would definitely be a second mod.
OP I know you like taking corners and I would really suggest looking to strano swaybars as well. Stock like balance with way less body roll and very little impact on ride quality (rear only I noticed).
And this is personal preference but some kind of exhaust mods really add to the fun. Even an e-cutout on otherwise stock exhaust adds a lot of fun factor. LT Headers really way these cars up and the throttle response difference is huge too.
For 6 speed cars if you guys have the stock row-boat like shifter then you are missing out as well. MGW or Hinson shifter will make it feel like shifting a sports car and not rowing a long paddle on a boat without the notchiness.
May want to look into a tick adjustable master cylinder as well so you can shift at high RPMs without getting a spongy clutch.

NDFORSPD

All stock aside from the !cags....which I added this year. Everything else, battery, air filter, etc is Delco. Oh I did spring for 2 new GY tires, the replacement for the Eagle F1 as they were no longer available.

I did have a Z28 that was lightly modded but was sold unfortunately. I do love my TA for what it is but will probably not go stock for replacement shocks next year

kenyanr1

Stock, because i aint got no monees..

hardtrailz

Just bought stock with only SLP airbox lid. Had three weeks and replaced the dryrotted tires with C6 style wheels and new tires. Plans for next few weeks are Tune, Exhaust, SFC, and visor delete, but I consider it basically stock even with that.

M4N14C

iTrader: (3)

IMO the only reason you should leave one of these cars stock is if you have less than 1000 miles and still have the original price sticker. Otherwise, you'll never get your money back AND you're missing out on what could potentially be a great car. Like JD_AMG stated with a few select (and inexpensive) mods you can transform the entire car into something 10x better than what came out of the factory.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

The above I agree with, but the below I do not:

On my four 4th gens, two of which I bought new, I've had no such experience with the stock brakes under normal street driving or even drag racing conditions. In fact, my '98 still has the assembly line pads and rotors after 18 years. They work perfectly and stop without even a hint of pulsation. Yes, it is a limited use garage queen and it is not raced or exposed to bad weather. Warping/glazing/overheating/etc. has simply been a non-issue for the way in which I use this car. On the other hand, my '02 Z28 was a daily driver and did eventually need new rotors due to pitting/rust after years of exposure to nasty weather conditions.

So unlike shocks, which are a great upgrade for any purpose, I would say that brake system upgrades don't carry nearly as much benefit for lightly driven cruisers. Different purposes will see different levels of benefit from this modification.

Not everyone will agree, and not everyone leaves a car stock/mostly stock due to ignorance of other options. And it's not necessarily about financial recovery or "saving it for someone else" either. I have owned 100% stock 4th gens, heavily modified 4th gens, and a couple in-between. There have been advantages and disadvantages to just about every level of modification beyond the most basic of items, so it's really a matter of personal preference and sometimes those preferences will change as one ages.

Having said that, what is currently my only 4th gen does have a few basic modifications and I wouldn't want it any other way. Some people would find this boring, but I've gone down other roads with these cars in the past so I'm well aware of the potential (and also issues/downsides). That just wasn't the vision I had for this particular example, and after many, many years of ownership I don't regret my decision at all.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

My brother's 2002 WS6 is stone stock except for a FM catback.

My 2002 SOM Formula is the same except for shocks, lid, a homemade Maxflow "catback" and a leather interior I swapped in. All the originals (except the shocks) are safely stored in my basement in case I sell to someone interested in it being completely stock.

red04montels

iTrader: (1)

My 2000 WS6 has 9500 miles, has an SLP lid and a short stick on the short throw. Have both originals as well.

wu6fiend

I've tried to stick to a formula of "it looks stock..." except for a recent decision to replace the factory wheels with Torque Thrust M's (the OEM chromes were starting to look tired, and I confess I've never liked them very much anyway).

The Firehawk has a lot of suspension bits (which are basically invisible), and few odds and ends under the hood (Blackwing air lid, smooth bellows, LS1 covers for example) that look stock to most people. The interior is 100% stock, and the exterior is too, aside from the addition of the front plate cover and "Firehawk" decal added to the right headlight cover.

Over the years I've added a few OEM parts the car didn't originally come with (CD changer, Hurst shifter), along with all of the available SLP options (using OEM parts too). So everything looks stock until you look closely at the window sticker.

Overall, I feel Pontiac/SLP got the car about 95% right, so I feel no need to make any significant changes to it.

__________________
1999 Trans Am Firehawk #C08

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

only thing left stock is the body and the heater core

JohnnyBs98WS6Rag

iTrader: (1)

Original owner here, rolled over 20,000 miles a few weeks ago. My drivetrain, suspension, and interior are still "bone stock", so that's what I voted. The mods I have done merely take some of the rough edges off from the factory (like the shifter and SFCs) and enhance breathing a bit (lid). Knowing that these cars would be well supported by the aftermarket long after they ceased production leads me to be in no big hurry to modify it significantly. I'm a "wear it out THEN upgrade it" kind of guy, and prefer to perform upgrades in batches rather than one piece at a time (I'm not going to install headers, then later a ORY for example). Ultimately, I'll have a 9" (w/ complementary suspension upgrades), H/C/I, headers/ORY and better clutch. Planning on engaging my 6-y/o son on helping with this work as he grows up in hopes of instilling some enthusiasm for cars, so I have a little time on my side.

NC01TA

...and this is why I created the last category

dojob

Modifications to date:
-Koni Sport (yellows) shocks, (rear on-car adjustable)
-Strano springs
-UMI panhard bar (on-car adjustable)
-Speedline 18x10.5 Z06 argent wheels
-285/35/18 Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires
-SLP Skip Shift Eliminator

All OEM pieces on hand still... so within an afternoon, I'm 100% stock again

ghardester

Mine is still mostly stock.

With all due respect to RPM WS6 I did have problems with warped brake rotors on the 2 Firebirds I had before this one so I did the C-5 Corvette front brake conversion. Best mod ever. But I think that both times the rotors warped on the previous birds were hard emergency stops in wet weather, avoiding deer. That'll warp 'em.

Bilstein shocks. An SLP air lid. A few cosmetic things like custom Trans Am fuel rail covers. TCS reverse switch. 107,000 miles and heavily maintained so a lot of the original parts are gone like link pins, coils, push rods, a window motor. But that is to be expected.

Stock wheels.

The exhaust broke away near the cats so it has new cats and Y pipe but the rest of it is still stock, no headers and the rear is still stock. I've got a great pipe guy who does great work.

Got a bent rear axel or bad bearing with a "whub, whub, whub" sound but it has been like that for a couple years and I am still waiting for the noise to change for the worse before we address that. So still about as stock as can be for a car I have been daily driving since 2005.

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

feels good to be in the minority

im sure there is more stock stuff left on the car than that, but I have made some kind of change to nearly every component of the car.