The restoration was completed last week and it just got off the transport here in sunny CA this morning. This was my first car - I bought it when I was 15 with my paper route money. 19 years later I still have it. She's gotten a face-lift and now it's time for the heart transplant.

Body:




New heart:



Let the games begin! <cue maniacal Dr Frankenstein laugh>

 

that car is SOOO sexy!! And I dont really dont even like that year of trans am

 

Man that is nice. I'll bet the bandit wishes he had an all aluminum V8. lol

 

no kidding

 

And a manual transmission

 

So here's a question for y'all. This car will definitely be a sleeper. From the outside it's going to look stock - no one will expect that it's got something like an LS1 inside.

How far do I go in staying with "sleeper mode". In particular, I'm trying to decide on a license plate for it. One option I was thinking of was "LS1BNDT". I'm sure most people won't figure that out (they'll probably say "Lose One Bandit"?). But those in the the know will understand. And that would take away some of the sleeper aspect ....

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

 

I love it. i almost got my hands on one just like it for 800 bucks. Black, bird on hood, T-Tops, but it slipped through my fingers at the last minute. Woulda restored it JUST like you did. That'd be the perfect candidate for an LS1 swap. "LS1BNDT" is perfect, too. good luck!
olly

 

Very nice...Where did you get the LS1 from?Im shopping for one also.

 

I got the LS1 from a salvage yard in cleveland. I'm not exactly clear on whether I can post their name since they're not a sponsor, so I'll PM it to you.

 

I've got a REALLY BIG soft spot for those birds... First performance car I ever drove Too bad it wasn't mine

 

Very nice.. about the only thing I would change would be the wheels.. and maybe some slightly bigger brakes..

sweet project.. worried about scratching the new paint during the install? Why did you paint the car first? (just curious)

Nice car.. really nice!

 

Ooooh yeaaaa, I agree. Some Fikse FM/10 with gold anodized centers would be sweet and would keep with the T/A look!

 

Yes, I'm a little worried about the paint getting scratched during the conversion. So why was it painted first? Well ... I didn't know I was going to do the conversion when I first started the restore. The restoration began 7 years ago Don't get me started on the !@#$% that was doing the restore.

By the time he was done, the engine needed a bit of a rebuild after sitting for so long, and I'm financially better off now, so I was going to do a nice build up of the engine. Then one of the guys at work convinced me what I really wanted to do was put an LS1 in. I was reluctant at first, but he won me over. I'm still a little sad to see the old Pontiac 400 go. A piece of history and a pretty nice engine (and responds well to modifications).

As for the wheels ... well, almost everyone has said "you're going to change the wheels, right??" Truth be told, I'm pretty fond of the current ones. And they're also somewhat unique, in part because they're old enough that they're actually magnesium (the reason why they started getting called mag wheels ...) which are no longer legal to be made. If you've ever lit magnesium (e.g., in chem class) you'll know why they don't allow it anymore.

Anyhoo ... I may change them. Those wheels you posted look kinda nice. Still not sure though.

 

That is going to be a ton of fun when it is done.

 

Or "GenIIIBNDT" / GEN3BNDT. Some people might think it`s a 3rd gen f-body, but those people don`t deserve to know what it really means anyway. It would be slightly more stealth.

 

Build that motor into a 400cid monster

 

That thing is B E A utiful!
I got an '81 Z sitting in my backyard that i should do that to. Damn. Never really crossed my mind. Lol.

 

That car is so nicely restored to original, that I could'nt change it. It's become a rare find, to see a car in this good of shape, that's still all there. I hate to say it, but I would go through the factory drivetrain & make it as nice as you have with the rest of the car. It will also be worth more, in the end...& appeal to many more Firebird lovers. Find a different fun vehicle for your new LS1 powertrain...just my .02. Gar

 

If you do, do the swap, i'm with brains in punching out the LS1 into a 400. Keep the nostalgia there in the little ways..
olly

 

re: GEN3BNDT - that's 1 too many characters. We only get 7 characters.

As for not doing the conversion ... I literally spent almost a month of sleepless nights debating whether or not to do it. All of the reasons you mention for not doing it weighed heavily on my mind. And after I finally put my money down on the LS1 engine, I had a sudden bout of remorse wondering if I was doing the right thing.

I eventually decided to do it for a couple reasons:

1) I'm never, ever going to sell this vehicle. I'm going to have it 'til the day I die. So re-sale value really doesn't mean anything to me.

1.a) It doesn't matter too much to me who it appeals to. Don't get me wrong, I love it when people say "wow, that is soooooo awesome!!" But ultimately this is my toy and if I'm happy with it, that's all that matters.

2) Yes, it's pretty rare to find these vehicles in this nice condition and there's a lot of cachet involved in having a really nice, all-original setup. On the flip side, it's even more rare to find one of these vehicles with a powerplant like the LS1.

2.a) What a sleeper! To have a good-performing, light engine ... no one is going to expect it.

3) I've always wanted a nice manual transmission. It frustrated me to have a cool muscle car with an auto. With this conversion I'll be able to finally get that.

4) Significantly better gas mileage. When I was beating hard on the accelerator on the 400, I'd get like 5 to 8 MPG. Best I'd ever get is 17MPG freeway. While I'm not that concerned about MPG in general (what V8-loving car enthusiast is??), that's a pretty big difference compared to what the LS1 does.

5) Significantly better emissions. I don't really consider myself a tree hugger, but I consider it a bonus that I'm getting a gross polluter off the road.

6) Better availability of parts and more people that understand this engine well and can work on it.

7) Better reliability

8) Much better performance characteristics and driveability. You can really tweak things by adjusting the computer.

And the most important reason: because I thought it would be really freakin' cool!

On the positive side, I've found someone that wants the old 400, so at least that piece of history will continue on (though that negates reason 5) .... )