Ok everybody HEEEERRREEE we go! Last COTM for 2012! Good luck everyone


xpndbl3



confuzed1




406TPI




BOTTLEDZ28



Justin89Formy



kubis_stroinski



Quadgoat



ZZ3Astro

 

Thanks everyone for the nomination, it's an honor to be recognized among so many fine cars.

Here's a list of things that's been done to the car since I've bought it way back in 1995. The car was pretty much factory fresh when I got my mischievous hands on it. It was a stock 305TPI with a 700r4. This car has been an ongoing project since then. It's taken a long time to get it to where it's at now. It's been through 4 different engines and 3 different transmissions though the years.

Body:
Custom fabricated mini tubs fully concealed under factory plastics
Alston Subframe connectors
Mostly factory GM paint with minor touch-ups
Fog light delete
Body side moldings delete
IROC stripe delete
New GM IROC decals
Di-Noc wrapped front grille and hood louvers
Polished taillights with all red lenses
Fully stripped and repainted underside of car GM white

Powertrain:
GM factory crate LS1
D&D performance Tremec T56
LS7 clutch
Hawks stainless 1 3/4" longtubes with 3" collectors
Speartech harness
Walbro 255 with hotwire
Custom fabbed y pipe into GM factory 4th gen cat back
Magnacharger MP112 GTO kit
Fully functioning A/C

Wheel and Tires:
New Gen custom one-off 3 piece forged deep concave 18x9 Front 18x12 Rear
Wheels feature hidden hardware
Toyo R888 265/35/18 Front 335/30/18 Rear

Rear end:
Moser Ford 9" rear housing
Iron center section with Ford Trac-loc posi
Motive 4:11 gears
3" chromoly driveshaft

Suspension:
Koni Red adjustable front struts rear shocks
Factory cut IROC springs front
QA1 2.5" diameter 150# springs rear
Wolfe racecraft adjustable spring perches rear
Spohn adjustable torque arm
Custom fabricated rear offset lower control arms
Spohn adjustable panhard bar
Spohn lower control arm relocation brackets

Brakes:
Front/rear 12" LS1 brakes with slotted and drilled zinc washed rotors
Stainless lines
LS1 Master cylinder

Interior:
Switched from factory gray interior to all black
4thgen Trans Am leather seats front/rear with inflatable side bolsters and lumbar
Custom made door panels
White face gauge overlay
Dual A piller pod
Zeitronix wideband
Hurst billet plus shifter
Hurst pistol grip
Lou's short stick
Grant steering wheel
ACC carpet
All new GM weatherstripping

Performance wise it makes 440/441 to the rear tire. I was really happy with those numbers being how I have never even had a valve cover off the engine since I installed it fresh from the crate. The blower is set-up to 6psi right now. The car still idles like stock and you'd never know there was a blower on it until you get into it hard. It still pulls down 29mpg on the highway. My goal with this car was to be dead nuts reliable and drive as much like a factory car as possible.








This was the engine bay before I put on the Magnacharger



And this is what it looks like now. It was prettier before but I think all the added power makes it worth it...lol





Here's the 9" after I assembled it and before going under the car.

 

18x12 with a 335 series tire...14" of rubber on the road!






Click link for Dyno video

Burn out Video!

 

Wow! Thanks very much for the recognition and nomination!

The car is a '92 Firebird, originally a 305 TBI automatic that I picked up for $800 with about 81,000 miles on the clock when I wrecked my '84 Trans Am due to a blown out Russell steel braided brake hose:



Here's the '92 when I bought it:


I had to fix some rot in the driver's floor and front cowl/rocker areas and I stripped the car down to a shell, sandblasted the engine bay and door jams and repainted them Sunset Orange Metallic to match the color I chose for the body. I also cleaned up the undercarriage and coated the entire thing with POR-15






I transplanted the Stealth Rammed 350 I built from the '84 into the '92 along with the T-56 topped with a Hurst Billet Plus shifter, 3.27 geared 9 bolt Posi (with new cones and springs) with PBR disc brakes, and Commander 950 engine management system.



I built the engine several years ago with the help of a friend. It's a late '70's truck 4 bolt main 350 bored .030 over with main studs, a cast crank, and forged rods (with ARP rod bolts) and pistons. I topped the engine off with a Holley SysteMax II topend package (aluminum heads, cam, and carb'd intake) when I first built the engine. Heads are nothing super special, but flow decent, have 2.02/1.60 valves and 68cc chambers. The cam has 235/240 duration at .050" and .490/.490 lift. I ran a carb on it for a while but have since switched to a Holley Stealth Ram and Commander 950 management system and put down a best of 295 RWHP/310 RWTQ on a Mustang dyno running on 87 octane.

I had never been a huge fan of the '91-'92 Firebird "banshee" nose and ground effects, but I decided to stick with them, although I added a RAI style hood, 4th gen replica spoiler, and '85-'90 Trans Am front fenders with "air extractors" behind the front wheels.

All the bodywork and paint was done by me with a LOT of help from a very good friend of mine. We took one whole week, tore the car apart, blocked it out, painted it, re-assembled, and did the first stage of wetsanding/buffing:


Here's an action shot of my friend Tom laying down the basecoat!


I got a C5 ZO6 front brake kit from Ed Miller using the C6 Z51 13.5" cross drilled brake rotors. I then wrapped the brakes in 18" ROH RT wheels and fresh rubber.

I also swapped the 4th Gen Trans Am seats and center console into this car that I had in the wrecked '84. I seem to have misplaced my interior pictures, but I will add them ASAP!

The car also has Spohn adjustable tubular rear control arms with poly bushings and UMI subframe connectors welded in.

I was able to participate in the Hot Rod Power Tour in 2008 and the car completed the entire Long Haul from Maine to Arkansas and back with only one issue - a shredded serpentine belt.

The car is currently under the knife getting a bit of a power update. I guess it'd been together too long and/or it was too reliable, so I decided to add a custom single turbo setup using a Turbonetics TC78 turbo, and retaining A/C and all other "creature comforts". Here's a little teaser to give an idea how the turbo setup is built:


Sorry it's kind of a mess in the engine bay right now, but it's still under construction. That picture was right after the hotside had been fabricated. It's now all finish welded and wrapped with lava wrap.

Sorry for taking up all the space here, but I enjoy sharing about my car and all the work I've put into it. I'm very proud to say that all the work has been done by me (either exclusively, or with the help of friends) and I've really enjoyed developing it to the point it is at now. I've also enjoyed learning and sharing a lot with the entire community here at thirdgen.org over the years.

Thanks again for the nomination and opportunity to share my vehicle with all of you!

-Paul

 

A couple more glamor shots:

 

P.S. BEAUTIFUL car 406TPI!!!!

 

Awesome looking car! And thank you for sharing the pics and story.
Hope you get a ton of votes

 

This is my Dream 91-92 firebird only Mine would be my very own Official Firehawk Tribute Car so I'd have it in Triple Black, Ronal Wheels, Magnaflow Twin Dual 3" Catback Exhaust, 4th Gen Wing & Black GTA Leather interior.

 

BOTTLEDZ28



God, I'm Stuck between these Two I can't decide, these are the Baddest of the Bad in Decembers Nom for me.

Quadgoat

 

Thanks for the nomination! This car started out as a $700 craigs list find that was anticipated to be an engine donor to an 81 Z28 I was going to build. As soon as I pulled up to the guy's driveway and saw it though, I knew I was going to be an IROC driver. She was an untouched 1987 5.7 car right down to the a.i.r. pump and factory Bose system. Untouched except for a paint job at some point in its past. If it had been original paint I would have kept this car stock. I've had it a little over four years now and that $700 has been spent many times over.


As I bought it for $700

The direction I went could best be classified as factory-plus. I made every effort to keep the car looking like it is just a garage kept but completely stock Iroc. This carried over into the engine build as well, affecting my engine build and exhaust choice for quite (Magnaflow) and camshaft selection (224/224 on a 114) to keep the idle relatively smooth. Under the hood I retained a stock but polished TPI intake and all accessories except the a.i.r. pump. And most importantly the AC works great!

It has been through several revisions. I bought the car with intentions of turbocharging the stock TPI.. something I'd been planning to do for a number of years. Eventually I painted it, built the transmission and most recently built a new engine for it.

The original turbo configuration was an EBay T70, non intercooled and the throttle body inlet was something I picked up on ebay many years ago. Engine was stock except for 65 lb/hr injectors and the Megasquirt. It looked very factory in this config and went a best of 8.67 @ 82.8 in the 1/8 at 9 psi. It made about 270 rwhp/380 rwtq.


Completed downpipe


Fabbing up the wastegate return tube.



This was later intercooled and boost upped to about 13.5 psi for a best of 7.87 on Firestone radials on the stock engine. This video gives you an idea of how quiet this thing is


Next up I had some money built up and decided to have it painted. Getting the body work done correctly proved to be impossible. The shop tried to just bondo over dents so I removed the car from their shop. I bought a DF505 and learned how to remove dents and work the metal to minimize bondo on the panels. I wanted it done right and realized I had to do it myself.


How the car looked when I get it back from the hack shop


Gutted!


Dramatic (but improper!) DF-505 pic.. it shouldn't spark, this was caused by paint/primer that wasn't sanded off enough. DF505 is a spot weld dent puller.


Numerous body line pulls were made along the entire left rear quarter

This was my first time doing this.. I made a series of youtube videos on this adventure starting with this one:

Back to normal!

 

Engine bay finished, car primed and guide coated!


Back from the spray booth!


Stickers back on.

About six months later I built the new engine. It's a modded ZZ3. Turbo upgraded to a Precision PT6766 billet. Engine specs are as follows:

Stock ZZ3 block .000 bore, ARP main studs, ZZ3 PM rods, SRP Forged pistons, 8.6:1 compression, pocket ported aluminum L98 heads, Cometic head gaskets, Comp Cams 224/224 hyd roller cam (can't remember lift specs but low .500's). Precision Turbo 65 lb/hr injectors, Aeromotive Stealth 340 in-tank pump and Megasquirt II ecm. Currently putting down 415 rwhp with severe overstall on the converter. Currently tearing the engine down to look at an oil burning issue and sending converter back for a re-stall.


Old vs new!



Also the new engine has only gone a best of 7.87 on Firestone radials, but mph has moved up to a best of 94. I'm switching to a Big Stuff 3 and building new headers for it so hopefully I will finally see some low 7's next year.

And a quick takeoff video for fun.. yes a piece of header wrap was hanging off the crossover tube!

 

^^ that engine bay shot is awesome!!

 

Beautiful ZZ3Astro! You have put a LOT of work into making that car look great!!!

 

First and foremost...A big THANKS to everyone that nominated me although I feel my car is far from "Show Worthy". It's an honor to even be included with these other awesome examples of Thirdgens.

I've been on the board for quite a while, and my Camaro has went through various stages throughout the years. Honestly, the car just "evolved" into where it is now. And by no means, am I ever "finished" making changes to it.

I bought the car as a basket case that sat in my brother-in-law's driveway for over 8 years outside...rain,snow etc....and it took it's toll on it. All the clear coat had pretty much flaked off, but the body itself - aside from rust pitting under GFX- had no rust through anywhere. All the tires were dry rotted and flat..I had to use a sledge hammer just to get the wheels off!! The engine was locked up, the tranny was broke (that's why he parked it) - the T-tops had been leaking, interior plastics brittle etc...but it was an original "HO" car...so I bought it from him for 500 bucks since he needed the cash.

Looking back, I would have been miles ahead not getting this one and instead getting a better example to start with. But I never seem to do anything the smart or easy way...makes too much sense.

But - After a bunch of work, I did manage to rebuild the engine, repaired the trans and got it road worthy - all stock and on it's original CCC computer and Q-jet carb. I still have the engine (with less than 5K miles since rebuilt), computer and ECM wiring harness in my garage. Even though the L69 ran great for a 305...it just wasn't getting it for me. Then I switched up to a 400 small block and a few other "things".

Below is all the "things" I can think of for now:

BODY:
-All original GFX etc.
-4" Steel Cowl Hood (for blower clearance)
-Painted Dupont Pepper Metallic Gray w/Metallic Black striping.

Chassis/Suspension/Driveline
-Moser 9" rear w/Detroit True-trac, 3.70:1 gears, Explorer Drums (I know)
-4th Gen aluminum drive shaft
-G-Force built T-5 Trans with hardened main shaft, Pro-5.0 Shifter
-Centerforce DF clutch
-ES poly bushings everywhere
-Lakewood LCA's
-Spohn Sub Frame Connectors
-UMI TQ arm, relocation bracket and wonderbar
-36mm IROC front sway bar, stock Z28 rear sway bar
-JM CC plates
-Bilstien AK Struts/Shocks
-Eibach Sportline lowering springs
-17" MB "Old School" wheels
-Nitto Extremes P245-45's up front, Nitto DR's P275-40's on the rear

Engine/Etc.
-400 Gen1 SBC, bored 4.155" (.040" over)
-Scat forged crank (3.75")
-Eagle "SIR" rods (5.7")
-SRP forged pistons (-21cc)
-Dart Iron Eagle 200cc heads
-Comp NX276 Retro-roller cam
-Mallory Unilite distributor
-Hy-Fire Coil
-MSD Boost Retard
-ARP bolts everywhere
-Magnuson MP-122H Blower (only 2.5-3 pounds boost...for now)
-Demon 650 CFM Carb - PV referenced
-Edelbrock TES headers, Hooker Cat-back (soon to install Dyno Dons headers)
-Griffin Aluminum Rad
-Chassis dynoed 495 RWTQ, 390 RWHP

Interior
-Circa 1983 -needs upgrading
-140 MPH "Z28" speedo, Camaro quartz clock
-Dual A-pillar gage pod
-New headliner, carpet

A few pics in it's various stages...I don't really have too many:

 

Few more:

 

Must be forced induction month!

Great work on a lot of great looking cars!

 

Now this sparks an idea for coming months. TGO could do forced induction month, carb'd month, N/A month, motor swap month, factory paint color month, all sorts of random ones!

 

Wow, you guys are making it extremely difficult to pick for the month of December. All of them are winners in my book, excellent fabrication skills and attention to detail on all of them...

 

I think your onto something!

 

 

Hmmmm... Might have to add some catagories to 2013 COTM

 

well let's see.....
carbed gen 3 engine setup
th400 with transbrake
I built my own motor mounts, long tube headers and true duals on my back in my garage since when I did the first gen 3 swap there was zero parts available for the swap.

8" ptc nitrous converter with the billet rear half for gen 3 crank snouts

moser 9" with 35 spline axles
5/8" studs
aluminum thru bolt center
4.11 with spool

ls1 front brake swap, 17" skinnies up front

chro moly double rod ended rear lca and panhard bars.

AJE tubular kmember up front
Racecraft engineering coilovers
Wolfe racecraft mini tubs and rear spring swap.

Fourth gen dash swap, and center console

Welded in a 6 point roll bar and jegs subframe connectors in the garage, as well as running a jegster torque arm.


Here's the car at the 2010 world of wheels in chicago


Car was on pinks all out in indianapolis


How I'm tucking the rear tires now, 295/55 m/t drag radial, on a 15x10 6.5" bs billet specialties wheel



I've had the car for 13 years now, been on TGO forever and been to every thirdgenfest there has been.



ALSO: this isn't some garage queen, it probably has more miles on in from the drag strip then it does driving it around.

 

Amazing car! Good luck man!

 

There are some REALLY, REALLY, REALLY nice cars to choose from this month! I must say, though... 406TPI's IROC stole my heart.

 

Beautifully done, I am Seriously inclined to bring my Camaro to get body work done by you after seeing how great your work came out, Awesome Man.

 

Thank you for the nomination...this is quite a surprise!

I've been on the board for over 10 years now, just not with this name. I've had this particular car for about 11 years now. I got it when I was living in upstate NY. I had just sold my Sports Coupe that a friend and I built which had a 406 and th350 and other goodies in it. I felt sellers remorse so I immediately started searching for something else. I got this formula for about $2800 in very good condition, but with a blown motor. The reason I paid so much is because it was a Florida car and there was NO rust which is a huge issue in the northeast. I've had a plan in my head for a thirdgen ever since I was 15. I'm just now realizing that I'm finished my plan

I've been through about 4 different engines, 2 transmissions and 4 axles. I've also had 3 sets of wheels on the car. It's never "done"

Here is a breakdown of my car

BODY:
-Fresh "down to the metal" repaint.
-ASCD Ram Air 1 hood
-Hawks repro spoiler
-Stripe delete
-tasteful decal delete

Chassis/Suspension/Driveline
-Dana 44 with 4.11 gears
-4th Gen aluminum drive shaft
-T-56 with Pro 5.0 shifter
-MacLeod clutch
-Poly bushings throughout
-Spohn LCA, LCARB, Panhard, Subframe connector, solid strut mounts. TDS Wonderbar. Custom UMI Strut Tower Brace
-36mm WS6 front sway bar, 24mm WS6 rear sway ba4
-Bilstien AK Struts/Shocks
-Eibach Pro Kit lowering springs
-17" Ronal Firehawk wheels with 275-40-17 on all 4 corners
-LS1 Front brakes. LT1 rear brakes.

Engine/Etc.
-355 Gen1 SBC 4 bolt
-Scat forged crank (3.75")
-Polished X Beam rods
-SRP forged pistons
-AFR Eliminator 195 heads
-TPIS Miniram
-30 pound injectors
-Lloyd Elliot custom cam 223 230 .535 .535 109LSA
-OBD2 PCM swap using stock GM Electronics
-Dyno Don headers and Y Pipe. Magnaflow 3" Catalytic Converter, Magnaflow catback
-Champion 3 core aliminum Rad
-Chassis dynoed 370 RWTQ, 370 RWHP

Interior
-1983 Charcoal grey interior pulled from a NEW car that was converted into a race car. An amazing find since its pretty rare to find in good shape!
-New headliner, carpet and 4thgen cloth seats
-145 MPH speedo with MacEwen white face gauges
-Triple A-pillar gauge pod with Autometer Wide band O2, Fuel Pressure, and water temp (all electric)

Here are some videos

Idle clip: (Pre paint)

Burnout: (the day the Dana went in. Had to prove the old posi worked to the buyer of the 9 bolt )

Paint:
The teardown...so sad


Mocking up the new spoiler


Here is the car in June on the Hot Rod Power Tour

with TTOP350



Next few are in Route 66. I'd always wanted to travel route 66 in my car, and it just happened to be my birthday....it was amazing!

My car in front of an old Route 66 gas station.




Thanks again for your consideration!

 

This month is impossible to vote for!! Awesome cars and even better pictures of the cars!

 

I like it. When it gets down to, "raggedy ol' TPI 'verts", I might at least get a mention!

 

These wheels give me wood! Could they be persuaded to make another set?

 

Haha, thanks. Nope they closed shop, but I could be persuaded to sell mine

 

I think Jon might be back at it again. Saw him recently start posting on FB again.

 

Yeah, I see that too...I wouldn't give that crook a dime. He had some nice wheel designs but his business ethics suck.

 

This isnt the guy that sold his business to some new guy, and then the deal "fell through" and he liquidated the company all the while orders were coming in and no one knew which "owner" was getting the money?

 

Yep, that's the guy. As far as I can tell I was one of the last guys to actually get their wheels that was ordered. Luck was on my side for once...lol. He still owes me some money though. I stopped holding my breath.

 

lots of nice cars , but i vote for 406 tpi this month. very nice

 

406tpi - great car! what's the finish on those wheels? almost looks brushed w/clear and polished lip? Looks great against the white, looking for a similar finish wheel on my car since mine is white, thanks!

 

Good eye! The centers are brushed with a clear powdercoat and the rim shells are actually chrome plated. Thanks for the compliment!

 

I voted for BOTTLEDZ28

 

 

How does somebody get 50 votes overnight? I must be doing something wrong...LOL

 

Me too! .....fishy.....

 

holy crap lol. what happend????

 

YEAH no kidding! I asked some friends for votes but that was a week or two ago and only got me like 10 votes lol

 

Not gonna lie that is fishy...

 

I think I had 25 or 26 votes a couple nights ago when I checked. If the mods see something fishy can they put it back to 26 votes?

 

I'm sure you could understand why it was brought up. To get over almost 50 votes in a day or two is a huge jump, and not a single person that voted posted about it.

 

badnblk, on most boards there is a way to see who voted polls, you may want to explore that option

 

At least from my dash board there is not, but I have a PM to JT to see if he can help me explore this further.

 

Vote is in, but all very nice cars. We need more TA's on COTM.

 

Some OTher friends? Nice looking car BTW. I love the sideways picture of it in the rain.