Here are my two birds outside of the shop. Had to pull them outside so took a couple pics.

 

Sweet looking rides!! I miss my '96 Formula that I owned for 9 years (bought it new) but there just wasn't any garage space. Sold it back in '05 with just 40k miles on it.
Tell us about your two cars (history, miles, anything interesting) since LT1's are going by the wayside.

 

Thank you for the kind words. They are both 1994 cars. My father and I bought the red car back in late 1995 with 13,000 miles, it now has 22,000. My son Tucker used to call it his "too loud car" when he was a baby. He is now 14 and the car will be passed onto him down the road. It has the LT4 Hotcam, AS&M headers, 2400 stall. I used to take it to the track before I became a father and it ran 12.4-12.5 down at Rockingham and Darlington.
The SOM car was bought as a parts car, the engine was missing and the transmission was sitting in the back seat. This car was a Trans Am but I sold the T/A bumpers and ground effects and filled in the rocker holes. It has a clean title but also 157,000 miles on the title. My original plan was to build a daily driver but it escalated from there. I fabricated in an IRS from a 96 C4 Corvette and many other mods. It was an automatic but I then swapped in a 6speed. It has a 355ci LT1 with hand ported heads and a GM847 cam. It made an even 400rwhp and 378rwtq. Alvin at PCMofNC tuned it for me. I can send more pics of the custom interior and engine bay if you are interested.

 

Beautiful cars!

 

Thank you

 

Very nice cars! Love the history of the red one. One question, what brand of hoods are those and how do you like the quality and fit? At this late date I've given up on finding a OEM ram air hood.

 

Thank you, my father passed away November 1st of 2008 so the red Formula will always have a sweet spot in my heart. My son Tucker will inherit the red car and my son Preston will get the SOM car but he's only 7. They go to shows with me and it's fun to pass on the love for cars. The hood on the red Bird is a SLP HO hood. They are actually the same hood that they used on the WS6 when SLP converted them for that short time. Mine was high in the corner between the bumper and headlight door. When I get it repainted I am going to see if my body man can correct it for me. The hood on the SOM car is an original hood from a 1993 Firehawk, it still has the SLP supplemental sticker on it. We masked it off before it was painted and then clearcoated over everything so its "preserved".

 

Here are some pics of the sticker. I also did a paint mask and put SD-355 under the clear coat. I thought it would be pretty neat for the Pontiac people. I used an actual SD-455 sticker and shrunk it down to 7/8 scale then changed the 4 to a 3. I think it goes real good with the fender vents out of the 74 T/A that I put into the fenders.

 

Thanks for the info, the hoods look great! I was hoping one of them was aftermarket and I'd get some real world advice on fitment. Nice touches, SD355! didn't even notice the fender vents in the first pics.

 

I didnt release the car that always gets posted whenever there was an IRS car was

A. yours
B. an lt1 car


beautiful cars would love to see some more pics!

 

Here is a pic of my next project. It's heartbreaking really. It's a 93 Firehawk #10, they only made 201 that year.

 

Yes its my LT1 car, the original posts with my car had American Racing 200S wheels. I have since changed to BS Streetlites and I made vinyl insets for the spokes in a gunmetal color to match the SD-355 on the hood. It also gives an optical illusion that its a split 5 spoke from further away. I'll try to get some better pics with my camera instead of my old iPhone 4.

 

It truly is a shame that people would take a car like a 93 Firehawk to such a dismal level and major credit to you for taking on such a restoration. Hopefully you are able to locate a Hood and some of the other pieces to restore it back to its glory.

I am not sure if SLP cars will ever retain any value but for the shear nostalgia sake I hope many more people such as yourself come along that are willing to rehabilitate these cars that have been beat into the ground.

Edit: If you don't mind try to keep some updates regarding your progress as I would definitely be interested

 

Both really nice cars, but the SOM car is terrific! I love the 2nd Gen TA vents, and the SD 355 decal on the hood. Some more photos of the interior, wheels and particularly the IRS from the Corvette would be welcome.

And, a thread on your resurrection of that poor, incredibly neglected Firehawk would be really interesting. You definitely have your work cut out for you. Do you have the missing parts, or is that all that is left?

 

Thank you for the kind words. The SOM car was in about the shape of the Firehawk when I bought it. It had no engine, transmission in the back seat and bumpers hanging off the car. I bought it from another shop that had done a mechanic lien. I have most of the parts for the Firehawk. Just don't know which direction to go with it. Do I build it wild, stock or do things that aren't really noticed. Here is the plan I'm leaning towards. Unlike the factory, I will base/clear the engine compartment but use flattening agents in the clear so it will look stock but won't wear out like the factory basecoat does. Powdercoat or ceramic coat all the engine parts so they look clean but stock. Bump compression in the engine with a little headwork and possibly a stealthy cam. Port and extrude hone the exhaust manifolds. Then ceramic coat them, then paint them. That way they don't rust. You get the idea, what do you think?

 

Great looking cars, I followed the IRS build on the SOM car. Glad to see you still have them.

 

Thank you. Some things have changed underneath since the original pictures of the IRS install. I made different shock brackets, changed over to Koni DA's in the rear and added a 25mm sway bar. I've also changed it from an automatic to a six speed. It's a blast to drive. I've thought about selling the SOM car but I know I couldn't get the right money for it. I added up what it would have cost to build the car and it's near $50,000. I would be giving it away at $15,000 but who would pay that for a 94 Formula. The paint job alone was over $10,000 so I will just be hanging onto it whether I want to or not. LOL

 

Probably some of the nicest LT1 Formulas on here. Sure make me miss my red 96 WS6

 

there is a 1993 for sale right now at copart in atl ga with 12000 mils and some change the bid ends in 2 days Lot #20100245 bid right now is $1550.00 i would like to see the right person get it