Signorelli

I recently picked up a 99 Firebird off of Craigslist. I've been wanting one for many years, but could never find one I liked that was the right price.

Well, I finally found this one:
She's white, V6, Automatic, full leather interior, mechanically sound, and only 120k on the odometer.
Only paid 3k for her because the owner was moving to a state where the bird couldn't pass emissions due to a replaced catalytic converter.

A couple of pics from when I got her:



The previous owner decided it would be fun to run in to someone's trailer hitch. If anyone has a door lid that they'd be willing to part with, let me know.



Eventually I'll be buying a fiberglass replacement and then putting an overlay over it to protect it. As is, I have wrapped vinyl around it, but my glue isn't holding.




Ho! Ugly tan interior!

And now after having her for a month, I've started my conversion to what I want her to be.



Fixed the headlight door lid for the most part, but it still has a small crease.



Can't really tell in this picture, but I've brought the original shine back to the not-well-maintained white paint.



Painted the door panels gloss back (temporary) with a white vinyl insert and fixed the broken door panel issue.
Eventually I'll be doing the whole interior in black vinyl, but until I can find some glue that can hold up to the Florida heat, everything will be painted black.




Found a guy on Craigslist near me who, unfortunately, wrapped his pewter Trans-Am around a tree and was parting out his perfect interior; brand new black leather seats: $400.




And ending it with a blurry photo of the rear.

Just figured I'd share my project and love for my Firebird with the many forum members here.

There isn't much that I really aim to do to the car from this point, I'll finish my interior some time soon, and I am trying to find a WS6 or Firehawk hood for ~$300. Once I get my new hood, then it's repaint time!
Going with a metallic white pearl over factory white.

The Mighty Texan

iTrader: (4)

Not bad. I love pearlescent white that would look great.

FinallymyT/A

iTrader: (1)

I have an arctic white t/a. I like what you did to the doors with the white vinyl inserts. Where did you get them?

scj

iTrader: (89)

You need to ls1 swap It First.

stevesfbody

not everyone wants power...for some weird reason

9WhiteCamaro9

Looks good and you've done some tasteful stuff to it. Aside from it being a V6, it looks good and better after you spent some time and money with it.

That's what I don't understand is why people downs the 3.8's cause you can take one like what you have, give a good clean up job, throw a good tune up on it and sell it to some kid who doesn't know any better and they think there gold. Sad to say but true and in that case, you could probably get your money back and then some and just do that a little while and get what you actually want.

carlos64030

iTrader: (5)

Uhhhh... I think he already has what he actually wants.

Signorelli

I bought the vinyl from Hobby Lobby ($10 per yard, only need one yard) and tore the door apart then glued the insert in and put the door back together after painting it.

As for an LS1 swap, I'll pass. I had a 96 Z28 with the LT1 a couple years back, and yeah, the power was fun and all... But I could hardly afford to drive it.

My V6 is the perfect combination of power and fuel efficiency for me.

FinallymyT/A

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info, I will be doing my inserts in the near future. As far as the 3.8L, I test drove a 2000 firebird T5 back in 2006 and loved how "peppy" it was for a v6, and like you said, had the added benefit of mpgs. I didn't buy it because one of the headlights didn't pop up and it was at a shady dealer.

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

I love those white inserts for the door panels. I've wanted to do that for a while now, but I've had other projects lol

Signorelli

I followed a tutorial on here on how to do it, but they left out one key piece of information:

When cutting the tabs that hold everything in place, shave the sides of the tabs down instead of cutting them across. This gives you a lot more to work with and holds the door panel and insert together much easier.

scj

iTrader: (89)

I couldn't even tell the difference between my 3.4l firebirds, and lt1 z28's gas mileage, especially with the 6speed. I think it was actually better with the v8.

Nathan C

I love the interior!

Signorelli

What my Z28 got for highway mileage my V6 gets for city, so my personal experience differs from yours.

Signorelli

Thank you Nathan C

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

My '97 v6 averaged 25-26 mpg with mixed driving. My ws6 averages 19-20 mixed driving of the same nature. You must've needed a tune up or something.

Signorelli

Just finished wrapping my sub box with vinyl today. Was sick of having an eye-sore in the back of the car, so I decided to have it match the rest of the theme until I get a better box.

fatride99

Looks great!! Love seeing people who take care of their cars. I need to do some interior work on one of my cars, but it isn't the ws6. Keep up the good work. You going to get the ws6 hood?

Signorelli

Once I can find one in my price range, yeah.

9WhiteCamaro9

I apologize, I should have worded my statement a little better. I wasn't referring to the OP in my last statement. I was giving my opinion on the 3.8 and to the guy that was saying something about dropping the LS motor in the car.

I agree, he got what he wants and that's all that matters.

OP, car looks good, it really does. You won't get any knocks from me about it.