[theking11863]

Well it's been a few months since I blew the head gasket on my '90 4Runner and I've realized it may be awhile before I get her fixed. I found out yesterday that I blew the oil feed from the block, which according to my source, is common in BMW's too. So some of you may be asking what am using to get myself around in? What am I fixing up instead of the beat up old Mudrunner?

The answer?

This beautiful 1984 Pontiac Firebird I picked up back on Labor day weekend!

This pic is off the original ebay ad (yes I said ebay. There are nice cars if you look!) As you can see the previous owner has a 5th gen 4Runner in the background. Now I'm kind of wondering if he's a member of this forum...


This isn't a super fancy Trans Am with 305 V8 unfortunately but its still a nice car to own. Gets great gas mileage and is still very fast. As far as future plans go with this car I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do to it. I will probably do an engine swap and other performance upgrades but that's far in the future. Other than that I think I'll mostly leave it alone, so this is probably going to shape up to a pretty crappy build thread since I won't do much to it but hey, it's something to keep me busy. Feel free to drop any questions you guys have. I'll probably drop links to other forum pages that this car is on because that'll be the main forum home for this car but I'll try to keep this updated too!

The garage page for the car is located here

[ran]

I think mine was a 83? Same 305 V8 with 5 speed, some T/A numbers. I sold it with 40K on it. It was a weekend car, as I drove my company truck 24/7. As soon as my new wife realized, it did not have air bags she hated it.
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2007 SE V6 Titanium

[theking11863]

Wow that sounds awesome! I wish mine had the 305. I can only imagine how awesome it would be. Sorry to hear you had to sell it. The no airbags doesn't bother me since none of my cars have ever had an airbag. i

[ran]

It was some special edition with a factory numbered plaque on the dash. I want to say it was #38/500. All the same same silver paint and I have only seen one other one. The all carried the same 305 with 4 bbl. The suspension was a T/A number. stupid rims. Seeing I was driving work trucks and vans, slipping down into this every weekend was a blast.

[theking11863]

The Daytona 500 25th anniversary edition?

[ran]

NO. not Daytona. I know I have a picture of the decal somewhere. I sold it before leaving CA and the owner shot it gloss black. Maybe 'Special Edition". that will take some looking. I think the 5-speed and suspension were the only T/A numbers. what years are your generation? maybe mine was a 82.

[theking11863]

Hmm. Maybe it was an '84 15th Anniversary Edition

[theking11863]

Originally Posted by ran

NO. not Daytona. I know I have a picture of the decal somewhere. I sold it before leaving CA and the owner shot it gloss black. Maybe 'Special Edition". that will take some looking. I think the 5-speed and suspension were the only T/A numbers. what years are your generation? maybe mine was a 82.

Did you ever figure out what year/edition yours was? And the third gen firebirds ran from 82-92 but they went through a decent amount of changes. If it had a bumper similar to mine it was an earlier one

[ran]

Not positive, 82-84 guessing, the previous owner is out of the country right now. The Front end was just like yours, except I didn't run a license plate there. Because there was an S/E then, it's hard to find my model listed anywhere. only 500 made, who knows how many are left now.
when he had it, something dropped on the hood, so he got a large Firebird decal to cover it, looked great the first time he was in town and I saw it. When he offered it to me later on, I jumped at it. If I can find a picture, I will know more on what to call it.

[theking11863]

Possibly a "500 limited edition"? Sounds like a pointless special edition but I need to research it. Theres a couple pics of one here

[ran]

Wow, that looks like it. Not sure that is the same body decal. I know I didn't have that 500 sticker on the lower side. All on mine were the same body colour that silver that fades away in fog or rain. great search!
I feel for that guy, putting headers in that tight engine compartment.

[theking11863]

Originally Posted by ran

Wow, that looks like it. Not sure that is the same body decal. I know I didn't have that 500 sticker on the lower side. All on mine were the same body colour that silver that fades away in fog or rain. great search!
I feel for that guy, putting headers in that tight engine compartment.

Did some reasearch on it. The 500 LE doesn't seem to be very special or anything other than the fact only 500 were made (possibly per year. Not sure. I saw links for 83's and 85's) Different spoiler rims and decals seem to be the only difference between it and a regular one. Still a cool car though.

[theking11863]

Originally Posted by ran

Wow, that looks like it. Not sure that is the same body decal. I know I didn't have that 500 sticker on the lower side. All on mine were the same body colour that silver that fades away in fog or rain. great search!
I feel for that guy, putting headers in that tight engine compartment.

Oh and you're right. Working under that hood can be a b*tch. Have you ever done the belts? I did mine the other day and hated every second of it.

[ran]

I remember the rear spoiler was a larger than stock unit. Other Firebird owners asked me about it. So I guess that is it. 4bbl carb instead of the new type injection, 5 speed, stickers and plaque. fun ride after sitting high in work vans.
Because of this and other Toyota truck forums, I know more about my truck than I did about that ride. it sure had some stupid rims.

[ran]

OK! the side decal is the same, got a hold of the previous owner. The lower strange decal was not on those. He misses that 5.0 also. have fun!