Jbuscher69

I just traded an ar15 for a 93 firebird formula . Has the LT1 with a t56 in it. The car was originally an auto and swapped . Unfortunately the guy that had it before me appears to have been a hack of a mechanic. I am a tech for a living and work for Ford so will be doing all the work myself. As far as I know it has long tubes , no cats , egr block off , looks like an off brand cold air intake . Has two air filters . I would assume factory rear gear . Dash is all cracked and didn't change center console when changed trans so the console is all hacked. I would love to make the car back right in all ways and work on making it into a 10 second beast. Supposedly it has been rebuilt and bored .30 over with a mild cam but has no receipts and idles like a stock v8 so I'm not so sure on that. Any advice on programming the ecm for the mods it has and the mods I should do? I like the car and would like to try and keep it and have fun but I am a Ford guy and had great luck with mustangs and a lightning. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also it has a grind going into second of shift fast which I assume is a syncro

BALLSS

...a 25 year old car that has likely been through several owners and modifications....we don't know WTF the car has in terms of engine mods, gears, programming let alone how well any of these potential modifications were done.

you are going to have to dig into what you have and in terms of motor, tear it down to see what it is

rear gear...jack up rear end and turn tire one revolution while counting how many times the DS rotates. Something like 3 1/2 turns would be 3:42, 3 3/4 turns would be 3:73, etc.

Given the mod to T56 and suspected engine mods the PCM likely was re-programed for whatever was done or you would have various CEL on.

If you are looking for a 10 second "beast"....you are going to be tearing into every nut & bolt on that car anyway. Motor, Tranny, suspension, etc

Jbuscher69

The check engine light comes on once it runs for a minute or two . That's one reason i think it hasn't been tuned and judging how the rest of the car seems to have been rigged in some spots tells me alot wasn't done right also . It's just a toy so im in no rush and can take my time getting it right anyway . I plan on doing a good amount of stuff to it in the future but first want to get it right the way it sits . Anyone know a good place for the tune on the car. I believe I read the 93s just had an eprom card for the tune

LT1383Z

I would start with one of these guys, I have not personally used them but have seen tons of great feedback over the years and its where I would start if I was in the market today.

http://www.lt1pcmtuning.com/service/

http://www.fastchip.com/

Also depending on money and your plans with the car you may look into a 24x conversion that really expands the tuning capabilities and reliability of the car.

LT1383Z

Also I found this website to be very valuable when I was first starting with my car.

http://shbox.com/

ACE1252

If it's only grinding in one gear, then chances are it is a syncro for that gear(or something isolated only to it).

I had light grinding in one gear, then it started appearing in two others. Carried it to Tick Performance(their shop is not too far from me). Turns out it was bearing wear. The main shaft had excessive end play causing my issues. All my gears were good, so I had them change all the syncros, bearings, and upgrade one of the shift forks.

I'm not sure if the ECM/PCM would need reprogramming for the auto trans for that year. If I remember, seems like they didn't have a 4L60E. My research suggests that it's a 4L60, which is a 700R4 for the most part.

That year was speed density only....also uses EPROM's that you have to swap in/out to change the tune.

Here is a thread on the subject that should help.....
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...-97-lt1-s.html

Jbuscher69

Thanks for all the help guys. Also I don't know if anyone knows but the speed o doesn't work . I know it's because of the trans change . Does anyone know if you just have to change the pigtail to match the manual trans sensor or what would be the easiest route to go there

ACE1252

Found this....does mention a little on the VSS wiring. However, the title is 4L60E(vs 4L60) to T56...so there still may be a difference not mentioned below.

http://www.afrashteh.com/tranny_pics/T56.htm

The Batman

iTrader: (4)

I followed this on a 93 that I did several years ago. Other than getting a chip to reprogram the speedometer, I followed it almost exactly IIRC.

Jbuscher69

Basically it sounds like the only thing I need is the pigtail for the manual trans vss and the tune. I ordered the tune for it last night

Tbird232ci

iTrader: (4)

This is the most American thing I have ever read on a forum.

Jbuscher69

I do my best lol. Now just have to see if I will like this thing or go back to my mustangs

Jbuscher69

So I got under the car today and was looking around . I found a bunch of wires just cut hanging on the left side of the bell housing that come off the main harness and down the back of the engine . 7 to be exact are just cut . Another single wire connector going to nothing . On the back of the trans there is a sensor with nothing going to it , one up by the bottom of the shifter and one on the right side of the trans . I think I have read the one on the right side midways is the vss. Can anyone help me of what sensors these are and what color the wires are that supposed to go to them

Jbuscher69

ACE1252

I'm not sure of the colors off the top of my head, but here is a link to where you can download the '93 Firebird factory service manual in pdf format. The wiring colors should be in there. Just scroll down you'll see it.

https://www.mediafire.com/?40mfgeoe4ctti

I did just glance at it....

• Page 8A-21-7 is the reverse lockout soleniod(adobe page #1761)
• Page 8A-33-0 is the VSS sensor(adobe page #1784)

Heatmaker

That's hardcore man.... hardcore.... that must of been one helluva AR.

Jbuscher69

I probably had 2-2500 in it . Of coarse selling it outright I wouldn't of ever got that for it so I would guess I came out ahead

bufmatmuslepants

iTrader: (3)

Step 1 is a ful audit of the car. Compression test, spark test, fuel pressure, vacuum leaks, etc. there's no way of knowing what you have for a cam or if it's a 355 so I'd just focus on making what you have run, programming an unknown cam is a crap shoot. If it runs hard to 6000rpm, your opti and ignition should be good. Pull the codes if you can, that'll help find what's unplugged and what's missing or broken. Checking the RPO codes will tell if it was factory 3.23 or 2.73 gears, but counting driveshaft rotations is best incase it's been swapped.

Even if it's a stock Long block, you can get mid 12s without touching anything that touches oil. Get it running solid, to make sure the bottom end is healthy, then you can start down the head/cam path and nitrous to get you into the 10s. Stick to 6300rpm as a max until you get non self aligning rockers. If you get deep enough into it to pull a head and see if the valve reliefs are st you'll know if it's been taken .030 or not, and perhaps pull the pan and look for ARP bolts on the rods. If you find 2 valve reliefs and ARP bolt heads, you'll be in great shape for 7000rpm, but stock pistons had 4 valve reliefs and the stock rod bolts should limit at 6500-6600rpm.