Bought a new toy to waste my money on

[2QuickZ's]

Been a while since I've had a "toy" car.  Decided to buy this 1988 Firebird Formula for my son and I to work on together.  He is almost 13 and not at all mechanically inclined.  Not so much because he can't be but because I am one of those picky people that would never let him help me because I wanted to make sure it was done right.  It's a pretty clean and rust free all original driver but has more than enough flaws (starting with its anemic 305 V8) that I won't feel guilty doing an LS swap on it.  I already sourced the engine and trans as well as a far amount of parts for the conversion but with COVID raging here in Michigan I would feel too guilty to order the rest of the parts I need to get the swap going so it is on hold for now.  I don't have the time or equipment to do the engine swap so someone will be doing that for me.  My son and I will fix up the interior, replace the little work and broken items and install all the suspension components, though.  Should be a fun project once it gets going.

I don't want to turn it into a race car.  Just a fun, reliable street car.  It will be a cam only LS1 with a small stall (2500 rpm) 4L60E.  The goal will be something like a 375 RWHP car that will dip into the high 11's in the quarter.  Perhaps more mods in future years but no plans to go faster than 11.5 as I already went the roll bar route with a different car and don't want to do that again.

 

Edited April 11, 2020 by 2QuickZ's

[oldshurst442]

I had one too. 

Well...mine was an '89 and it was just a Firebird. Meaning it had the 2.8 V6.  It was red and I had the T-Tops. I had the same mags though. Bought it off a buddy back in the day.   I loved the car.  Too bad I wrapped it around a pole. 

 

 

[ocnblu]

Very nice, keep us updated when you can.

[regfootball]

that's sweet!

 

[2QuickZ's]

The old L03 305 is now out.  Threw a cam and springs in the LS1 and it is now ready to go in.  My torque converter finally arrived a couple of days ago after a 6 week wait.  It will be interesting to see how long the trans and/or rear end last.  My budget is already blown so no money for upgrades this year unless I can find a used 28 spline 3.42 rear out of a 1990-92 F-body.

Edited July 4, 2020 by 2QuickZ's

[daves87rs]

Man, and my wife thought I was crazy for looking for a car for my 12 year old! Very nice car....love the color too...

Thanks to me finally working on my cars again, it has started interesting my kid. He is tech crazy, but loves to take things apart . Perfect hobby for him...

 

Enjoy this!!! 🙂 

[Robert Hall]

Nice...just saw this thread.  An old buddy of mine from elementary school through high school has one the same year and color. Saw it a couple years ago, still in great shape, has like 30k miles.

[2QuickZ's]

I put a bigger cam and springs in it before the engine was put in the car.  Got the car back from having all the major work done.  Now its up to me to finish it up.  I don't think I will work on until April or so with the goal to have it on the road at the end of May.  The joys of Michigan winters!

The wire harness was delivered today. I still need to order an exhaust system and get a Y-pipe made.  I now have a 3.73 geared 10 bolt that needs to be installed along with the tubular torque arm, lower control arms and panhard rod that are still sitting in my basement.  The trans that came with the engine was a mess so my already blown budget got blown even more with a rebuild but at least I know it is fresh and was done correctly.  Now I just need to keep my fingers crossed that the engine isn't also garbage.  Lots of little stuff left to do before it will run and drive.  Left the AC bits in there but don't plan to get it working until after I get the car running and drive it around for a while to make sure the engine is good.  Here's a few more pics:

 

[daves87rs]

Looks great!