Hey guys, I finally cleaned out my garage to do some work on the bird.

The steering column had a few loose bolts inside and it had a bad turn signal switch. I wanted to put on a Steadfast security collar. They make them for Camaro’s but not for Firebirds. Sure enough, I ordered one and it didn’t fit. I bought a used Camaro column from a member here. The windshield control switch (what the turn signal arm goes into) is larger on the Firebird and so is the housing. This is why the Steadfast won’t fit. Also, the ignition cylinders are different in the grooves that it rides in. Jeeze, what a lot of work to get all those little parts back together just right but it’s all in and everything works great. After a few weeks of driving to make sure everything in the steering column is good, I'm putting on that Steadfast collar.

I cleaned up a ton of wiring under the dash left behind by an alarm or stereo or radar detector or something. Man what horrible wiring jobs some guys do. What a mess.

I had to check my pinion angle so I got the car up with 12 inch risers under each tire. Yup, it was off a bit.

About my torque arm: I have the Spohn fully adjustable with the rod ends and the needed crossarm. It has a pivot point where it attaches to the crossarm. Does this pivot point move with the suspension? Won’t that change the pinion angle? The UMI stuff doesn’t have this. Should I have gone with UMI instead?

Changed the fuel filter.

Changed the oil & filter.

Changed the rear end fluid. Still dreaming of having the bucks for that Strange 12 bolt.

Finally took pictures of this lovely mess installed by Mufflex last year. Before I even went there, I asked them on the phone if the 4 inch system cleared everything. Sure, plenty of clearance they said. RIGHT! It hits everything. The muffler was installed three inches too far rearwards and two inches too low. With the car on the ground, I can't roll a floor jack under the rear, it hits the muffler. Man, they did a lousy job, the guys really didn’t care if it was a good install. Soon as I have the bucks, I’m pulling into Kooks for a true dual 2½ inch stainless system. The Mufflex stuff is slated for the scrap heap.

I added a pair of 4 gauge ground straps. From the battery to the alternator lower bolt and from the battery to the body ground point behind the power junction. Don’t know if this will help but I have some minor gremlins in the wiring (sometimes the engine will stumble for just an instant for no reason. NO, IT’S NOT THE OPTI...) Can’t hurt to have added this, it’s like ½ a pound. I cut away the stock 10 gauge wire to the body ground point.