geckolizard

I recently acquired my second firebird, a 2002 WS6. Alas the first one, a 1993 firebird, met a tragic end a long time ago. Timing and luck worked on my side and I found the 2002 for a decent price, excellent condition, and low mileage. Right up front I already knew that the passenger window was not working. Knowing its 16 years old, I figured it was going to need some TLC and after having it out for a couple adventures it was quickly time to start identifying all the stuff I'd need to do.

The first noticable thing was a ROCK that literally 3 days after taking ownership smacked and put a starburst in the windshield. The next was some bump related clunking that got a bit worse and then became a clunk and ting sound. I quickly tracked this down to the back shocks and am in the process of switching those out with some Bilsteins.

Once I had the 'bird off the ground and a wheel off, a bump pad basically crumbled in my hands. So I have a couple new ones to put on now as well. It also became clear that the rotors are probably below minimums for getting them turned and the pads are looking a bit low. Those will need to most likely get replaced next.

I started to swap out the rear shocks. They're the original shocks and after all this time it appears that the top nut has basically fused itself to the shaft of the shock. Hopefully an impact wrench, some vice grips and penetrating oil will solve that problem.

I've been lurking the fourms for a while and have been reading as much as I can, and with the discovery of the brake situation, I'm now looking for advise on how to handle them. It looks like we are kind of screwed when it comes to the caliper bolts. Ive seen the posts about possibly using the somewhat longer (30mm instead of 28mm) bolts with a lock washer, other posts about reusing the existing bolt after it gets run through a die, and other posts about various lower quality third party bolts that you end up needing to calculate proper torquing on.

Is swapping the calipers out for something modern feasible? I have the 17" wheels on it currently, though I plan on getting some of the replica snowflake wheels in the near future so I'm not sure if they'd rub or not with either of the sets of wheels. Has there been any consensus on the best path forward regarding how to maintain the brakes?

JD_AMG

Congrats on the WS6!

The shocks with the rusted nut on top is a very common issue, many times it has to be cut/ground down to get off.

As for the calipers putting on "modern" ones are major overkill for street driving. Good brake pads (not autozone ceramic junk) and some good blank rotors will actually leave you with eye-ball popping out brake power.

98CayenneT/A

I'm a autozone ceramic junk user lol. What pads/ rotors would you recommend?

geckolizard

I should clarify, I'm not going to use it for daily driving at all. However, I also refuse to let it sit and deteriorate and believe that the best return on my investment will come from using my precious. =D I do want to keep the miles relatively low, it only has 37K on it so far. My current intention is on taking it cross country a little bit, maybe hit up the bandit run, one lap of america, and/or the hot rod tour at some point in the future. There are also a couple tracks relatively close by that I can take it to in order dabble in "racing" (against myself) and scratch that high speed itch.

I was planning on getting some blank rotors just being a little bit lazy in tracking down which would be the thickest I can get for a decent price. The brembos look a bit expensive, but if they can get turned once or twice more than a less expensive blank it may be worth it. I'm open to suggestions on the pads, for my daily drivers it's usually been the local parts stores' best lowest priced pads.

How often are people replacing the spark plugs and what kind of oil is everyone running by the way? I'm going to change it's oil soon (supposedly it was just changed before I purchased it, but I don't really know what they may or may not have actually done) and got some Royal Purple, 5W-30 (as per the service manual specs). Since it is not my daily driver and it's not going to see a whole lot of use, the premise of 1 year/12K miles per change sounds perfect for it... Well, that and amsoil was not readily available.

JD_AMG

Its been a while so there might be a better pad for the price now but hawk HPS are great. As far as rotors go, any quality blank or slotted (not drilled, holes = cracks). Stoptech, or best brakes for example. I have had good luck in the past with even autozone blank rotors. A good brake pad is key though.

JD_AMG

Glad to see that you will actually be driving and racing the car.
See post above for brake suggestions.

Plugs are something like every 100,000 miles but it certainly won't hurt if you want to replace yours, or at least check them. Make sure to check the wires and see if they are getting dry rotted if they are original.

RP is great oil. Stick with 5W-30.
Did you say 12,000 miles on a single oil change? I would highly suggest not doing this, especially if its a daily driver and seeing some racing. Stick to 3K-5K oil changes and check it often to make sure the engine isn't eating any (likely will eat a little through the PCV system, a catch can is a good investment).

one sweet ws6

geckolizard

1 year/12K miles is just what RP claims, I suspect I would end up changing it more frequently just due to the kind of use I am expecting to put it through. =D

one sweet ws6

geckolizard

It's the only one I currently have, but it wont be the last =D

Buryingthesun

I would look into upgrading the brakes if they need to be replaced. CTSV caliper conversions are cheap and effective.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...7-rims-15.html

one sweet ws6

geckolizard

The main reason I've been considering upgrading the calipers is primarily my concern about the lack of proper replacement parts more than performance reasons. It really sucks that they decided to use a one-use bolts and then discontinue them. My thinking was that at least with the upgraded parts I should be able to fix/change them regularly without having to worry if the bolts are gonna pop loose and lock up my wheels on the road or track.

Z28tek

Congrats on the car

BrntWS6

iTrader: (7)

I put on brakemotive rotors about 5 years ago and they have been great. I also used their ceramic pads. I was skeptical due to the price being so cheap but i have had 0 problems. They claim to use GM blanks. Make sure to use their break in procedure, they are on ebay.

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

if you are concerned about the caliper bracket bolts.....check out my thread on using ARP bolts in place of the stock bolts

geckolizard

So, I got that top nut off in no time with an impact wrench today! =D Now I just have to do the other side tonight, and then I'll be done with my first repair on the 'bird. After that, it'll be an oil change, and then I'll have to decide if I tackle the front struts or the brakes. For the front struts, I'm either gonna have to pay a hefty premium to get them fast or wait about 45 days and get them a bit cheaper. Not sure if I care to wait that long, but the brakes will take some time and could probably get done in the meantime.... Decisions decisions decisions...

geckolizard

Got the other shock replaced... Even managed to get all the parts and interior trim put back in place successfully! I'm declaring victory on the first repair job, back shocks and bump stop pads. =D I should have done the rear springs at the same time, but I didn't, and instead I will add it to my seemingly ever growing list of things that need to be done. I'll probably tackle those at the same time I'm touching the brakes. Also found out that I'm missing the passenger side sail speaker, guess that is going to be added to the list as well... The speakers were not the best anyway, I think some of them are might be blown. One of the previous owners probably started to fix it by removing the sail speaker and ran into problems with an "easy" fix since it has the monsoon in it, and that's why it never got put back. Dunno, don't really care, just know I'm gonna have to fix it too. =D

geckolizard

SO! It's been a good while since I posted an update about my firebird. So much has happened in that time, let's see if I can remember it all... After the rear shocks were replaced, I had the front struts done. It also got new brake pads and rotors, and the fluids, belt, and any questionable hose replaced. I also managed to fix the missing sail speaker -- nothing too big, just a single OEM speaker since I didn't want to deal with everything to update/upgrade the sound system at the time. Right after I had purchased it (literally the second time I drove it) a rock had starburst the wind shield, so it's also had a new one but in. Being 17 years behind the times in terms of technology and lacking bluetooth, I've supplemented the vehicle with a bluetooth FM transmitter so it's no longer limited to the single CD or whatever is stuck on the radio. I don't really take or place calls while I'm driving so I can't really comment on how that aspect of the Bluetooth trasmittter is. It's got its own dedicated bluetooth ODBII reader.

And while lots of work has been done, there's been a ton of exciting adventures in it as well as some track time! I'm stuck in the land of minimal curves, excessive straight line roads, and hardly any elevation change known as Dallas. Since heavy traffic driving isn't really enjoyable, we skipped town for a couple weeks back in the fall and made a couple weekend trips to the few curves that do exist here. These excellent adventures have been captured with a Garmin dashcam, and I highly recommend everyone get one if you want to be able to relive your drives.

In the fall, we packed up and took our doggo with us on a rally consisting of the Firebird and a 2001 Mazda Miata. The first destination was related to checking up on a project we have out in Florida, and on the way there we ended up stopping in Tallahassee. As we were pulling into the hotel, a loud THUNK noise started up from the rear. I love Tallahassee -- as a Firebird owner there really is no better city to break down in in my opinion. I made an emergency call to Firebird Depot and even though they had literally just got back from SEMA, they really helped me out and got me in to fix the problem and get back on the road. The problem ended up being my own fault, I apparently did not tighten the rear shocks enough when installing them. After that we continued on to Orlando and then stayed a few days near the beach.

During that time, we headed over to a place called The Firm. They teach road and rally racing, and we had a private session that was absolutely wonderful. We chose the road racing course since we were not planning on off-roading our vehicles and figured it might be the harder of the two courses. The road racing course was great and we got to take both our cars out on the track for almost 3 solid hours of racing! For me, that was one of the most valuable experiences as I actually learned to *properly* drive the Firebird -- the instructor was *not* impressed with my self taught shifting skills learned on a '74 mercedes. After that, we chilled out for a day and took in part of the Ormond Scenic Loop and enjoyed the coast.

Departing Florida, we headed up to Chattanooga where the really fun driving was about to begin. The next day, we ran the Cherohala Skyway and Tail of the Dragon. Cherohala is wonderful and a lot of fun to drive, especially as you go around Lake Santeetlah to connect to Tail. The Tail of the Dragon (US-129) was crazy fun! "318 turns in 11 miles" is it's claim to fame, and while the number of turns prevented getting the Firebird going too fast, it was a really nice drive at sunset. The dashcam footage is even a lot of fun to re-watch too! The next day we made our way over to Pigeon Forge and took the Great Smokey Mountain Parkway down to Gatlinburg. We had missed most of the leaves by a week, but it was still a nice ride. Leaving Gatlinburg, we then headed up and over towards The Snake. Unfortunately, we got to the start of the loop part of The Snake at sunset so we were not able to complete the loop and instead just headed north to Bristol.

The next morning, we made our way up towards Lexington, Kentucky and passed through part of Daniel Boone National Forest. A couple days visiting a friend up in that area and it was time to start heading back towards Texas. We ended up taking the Cumberland Gap Parkway on our way towards Memphis, but we ended up having to stop in Bowling Green for the day due a winter storm that was passing through the area. The following day had us completing our leg into Memphis, and then the next morning we passed by Graceland, hit the Mud Island dog park in Memphis, and then finally made our way back to home. In total we have something like 55 or 60 hours of dashcam footage from our drives.

After a couple weeks back at home base, we took the Firebird up towards Oklahoma in search of twisties and fun driving, and ended up finding TX-197 which is part of the Texas Lakes Trail system. It wasn't a horrible drive, but it was dark by the time we got to our turn-around point, so we didn't get to see as much of the scenery as we would have liked. That road wasn't in the greatest condition for the first few miles, but then it cleared up and lead to some fun faster curves than usually found in Texas. On that trip, we did almost take out Bambi and Thumper about 2 minutes apart from each other, but both were smart and got out of the way fast enough!

Life then started to demand more attention with the holidays and the what-have-you along with a couple unexpected family deaths, so it was a little time before I could get back out on the road. That time returned recently, and we ended up making 2 trips to San Antonio with the intent on running a few ranch roads known as the Three Twisted Sisters as well as visiting an ill family member. The first trip was a wash when the Miata decided it didn't like charging its battery on the way down, and after a couple weeks waiting for it to get repaired and scheduling to allow, we made the second trip and completed the Twisted Sisters.

Which catches me up to now basically... Last night, I was checking out the headlights because I was feeling my low beams at night were too weak. Nothing had been done to the Firebird other than a good washing, and all of sudden the passenger headlight decided it did not want to go up. If the hood was open, they'd go up just fine, but hood down was a nope. The cover was pushing against the hood and prevented it from going up. After some research and inspection, I've tracked that down to the hood bump stops being shot. It looks like one of the two previous owners ended up replacing them, most likely with reproduction parts, but at least the passenger side outer bump stop is worn out. It almost looks like a slinky! A quick pull on it to straighten it out and a test of the lights showed it was properly activating.

New bump stops have been ordered and will be getting replaced promptly. In addition, I've got some new lift supports for the hatch door on the way as well since I don't want to play "pull up on the hatchback while i press the remote button" anymore. And, finally, literally while I was typing this up, UPS decided to deliver my SNOWFLAKE WHEELS! Those will be going on tomorrow or Saturday.

The future is bright and exciting too! We are already planning on going back up to drive some more twisty, awesome roads again this fall with a group of like minded drivers. We will also be getting a couple hours of track time at some rather famous tracks, and we are going to some time on a drag strip. It's going to be crazy fun and I absolutely love this car. =D

Edit: typos

Nathan C

You've put some miles on that TA! Sounds like a great time. As far as the back hatch not popping open, you might want to try to piggy- back the spring.