ladiesmanwc

Hey. First post. Been a third-gen fan for a long time, but never actually got own one. Now, I have an 87 Firebird (V6 ) that i'm trying to fix up alittle bit.

My project is working on the interior, which is pretty shot. Now, my question is, what parts are interchangable with what? Sorry if this question comes up alot...on a search I couldn't find it....but i'm just trying to figure it out.

It looks to me from some observation that the 88-on Firebirds have slight different interiors? Or am I wrong?

Also, will any Camaro parts fit?

Currently, the two big things I need are a center console and seats. The seats I currently plan to take out my current dead 97 Grand Am. They've served me well for years, and if all goes as planned, they will continue to serve me. The center console on this car is ABSOLUTELY shot, though.

Dens71TA

iTrader: (5)

Most of the interior plastics and vinyl are interchangeable from '82-92. '89-92 will have rear seat shoulder belt harnesses so there are holes in the rear interior panels.

The dash and console changed in 1985 to the style that is in your car. It was again partially redesigned in 1990 when the driver's air bag was introduced. For the most part 85-92 dash and console parts are interchangeable with the exception of some of the trim panels around the steering column.

Camaro use many of the same interior plastics but the door panels and seats are generally styled different.

ladiesmanwc

Thank you. That was incredibly helpful.

tom3

The Grand Am seats should work ok. Have to take off the brackets/sliders from your Firebird seats and put on the new seats, bolt holes should line up ok. Lots of people are putting fourth gen seats and consoles in the early cars, say 93 to 02 Camaro or Firebird.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=221095

ladiesmanwc

Ah great, thank you. This was one thing I still was unsure of.

I wonder though, how close to the roof do you end up?! I mean, i'm not a tall guy and already there isn't much headroom. Newer seats seem like they would raise you up alittle bit....

I'm not personally going for a fourth gen f-body seat....mainly because I don't HAVE a fourth gen f-body seat. I don't want to spend too much money on this car, since it's only a V6. I just picked it up for cheap, it has (fairly) low miles, especially for an 87 (just hit 100,000, I can trust the seller), and the car just LOOKS great. The body and paint are just about pristine. It's just, somehow, the interior is SHOT. The drivers seat has a....wire....that sticks out of it. It's not fun right now lol.

While i'm here, I have another question. How hard is it to replace the headliner? I'm sure it's no picnic, but that's the worst part of the car. The headliner is almost non-existant. It looks like i'd pretty much to have to take off everything to get to it? Am I correct? And if so, know of any relatively-easy fixes for that? Doesn't have to look show or anything...just...BETTER than it does.

tom3

Pretty good write up here:
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ight=headliner
I've done this a couple times, need to be careful taking off the old material, the backing board is pretty fragile. And use the good glue, the 3M stuff. Really a nice look when it's finished and not real expensive.

ladiesmanwc

Thanks. That looked pretty helpful, and thanks for having patience with a noob.

Stevo

iTrader: (45)

might be a cheaper and lot less time consuming to buy headliner already together used or new somewhere. I got mine for 100$ i switched from red to black and it was just recovered brand new and i managed to get it in in less then an hour. My car is a 92 so i dunno if theres much difference.

Recovering is cheap but takes a lot more time and there room for mistakes, but a lot more self rewarding experiance is involved i guess.

edit- also with the 100$ purchase i recieved newly recovered sun visors and speaker sail panels. So i mean deals are definently out there.

my3rdgen

I used a set out of the bone yard that I pulled from a 1989 Grand Am. They were in very nice shape. Got them cheap, and cleaned them up, bolted them to my stock seat rails and they are perfect.

They are about an identical seat in construction to the originals, and have the same ride hight as the stock seats did. They even have the crummy "Kangaroo Pouch" on the back.

Grand Ams are everywhere too so it won't be hard to find a set.

As for the headliner, I got a plastic one from "Classic Industries" and it is nice, you don't even have to cover it because it has the same grain pattern as the other factory plastic interior pieces, and with the T-Tops it looks good. I don't know how well it would look without being covered on a non T-Top car. They are around 120 bucks.

85f-bird

as far as 4th gen seats go, they're essentially the same as the 82-92 seats...especially the 88+ seats in the Trans Ams, they're basically identical except for the headrests which are different. The reason i've got a set is they look nicer and have better (newer) foam compared to the older seats, and the price (for cloth seats) is pretty competitive and cheap. Got my entire cloth set for 30 bux from a local yard, no rips or tears yet, and they're dark gray.

leather will command a better price, much better, lol.

Not Danny

just put a set of 97 grand am seats in my firebird as well, bolted right up after i changed the tracks. never thought about the fact that they were out of a 4 door so don't fold forward, but the old ones were ripped to s**t so had to go. ohh well just good reason not to have anyone in the back of my car now.lol

ladiesmanwc

Thanks, that's perfect!

Can I ask a (perhaps dumb) question? How do you actually get the old seats out? My Grand Am is sitting in my driveway and my Firebird is sitting in the road, both still with their own seats. Me and my dad (who have both never taken a seat out of a car) were trying to figure out what, exactly, we need to do to pull them out.

85f-bird

there's a set of nuts on the bottom of the seat rails, a bolt essentially goes through the floor of the car, and the nut goes on top of that. The part of the track they're on is sometimes covered with a "beauty trim" so that might need to be removed, then move the seats forward and back to get access to whichever nuts you need to get to.