FireDemonSiC

More exhaust...

FireDemonSiC

In the meantime, my cats have decided to take up residence in the replacement nose...

chevyboy001

i know you i drive the silver iroc let me know if you need iny thing as for if you got any parts for sale was gonna meet your for the fender and lip but they were worse than i thought sorry bro. good luck with you build
RYAN

FireDemonSiC

No problem man I was wondering what happened to you.

Honestly the front lip I have should work with a little TLC and I'm gonna hit the pick n pull for the fenders. Thanks anyways.

chevyboy001

the stafford pick a part had a clean 91 non t top car i was gonna pull the interior not sure if its still there i think it was hit on one side but pass look good.

FireDemonSiC

What color was the interior? I have been searching like a crackhead for a Camaro that has the console clock.

FireDemonSiC

Thought I would bump this thread as I'm getting ready to do some more stuff.

Gonna replace the master cylinder tomorrow and with the last few weeks of winter hindering all mechanical work due to temps, I got bored and decided to do a mod that to the best of my knowledge has never been done before on a thirdgen. I got the idea after seeing a trans am that had dual 1 DIN head units installed in the factory location. Stay tuned...

BTW Ryan, saw you crusing down Rt.1 past the Dumfries store about a week ago when I was at the light in the HHR.

Ron U.S.M.C.

Very nice as usual, I love it when a build is being documented with such detail and "allot" of photos. Its nice to be able to relive the good times ( and allot of hard work ) just by scrolling through your computer and re reading and looking at the photos. I cant wait to see the prep.to paint.
Keep up the great work.

FireDemonSiC

Here we go. Master cylinder was done with success today. This was a huge PITA and time consuming because I decided to gravity bleed everything but it all got done by closing time.

The "New" master cylinder was a used one I purchased from a guy at a local fab shop that flagged me down on a delivery one day saying he had some camaro parts off a totaled 91RS with only 36k original miles . Paid him $10 for the master cylinder, and for another $10 got a fancier rearview mirror with map lights. Took it home and pulled the pistons out and found everything to be clean with a very minimal amount of gunk buildup and the seals were very soft and pliable. About what I'd expect for a 36k car. Thoroughly cleaned all the internals and put it back together. Sure I could have bought a rebuilt one with zero miles, but I think $10 vs $50 wasn't a bad deal for what I got.

Loaded the master cylinder up on the bench-vice in back at work, looped some clear fuel hose back into the reservoir and began the bench bleeding process. This was the easy part, and besides getting brake fluid all over the floor it was a walk in the park.

Went outside, laid some trash bags in the engine compartment around the master cylinder and pulled it out along with the distribution block. Attempted to install a newer style distribution block that came off the 91 also with rear drum only to discover that for some god forsaken reason GM decided to use a different thread pitch on the new style block , so ended up re-using the old one after shooting it full of carb cleaner.

Now, here is where the time consuming part comes in. Jacked up the rear of the car, removed the wheels and began the bleeding process. I used a small diameter fuel hose, popped it on the nipple of the bleeder valves and dumped the other end into a coke bottle. I figured I could either pay $8 for the one man bleeder kit, or pay $1.20 for a bottle of coke AND have a refreshing drink.

When replacing the master you must bleed the wheels in order from farthest of the master to nearest, so I started with the right rear. An air bubble must have gotten hung up in the body lines somewhere because at one point it simply would not bleed anymore. Some quick thinking had me put the cap back on the reservoir and remove it several times which put a small amount of compression on the fluid, and got the bleeding started again. Worked my way around to the front wheels, and by 9PM everything was sealed back up and ready to roll. I still say it wouldn't hurt to replace my booster, but I can now lock the wheels if I stomp the brakes which is something I couldn't do before.

When I tore the old master cylinder apart, the bores inside had surface rust forming, both pistons were caked with horrid looking black gunk and the seals felt stiff. I'd say this definitely helped.


Now, for the never done before project I am working on, I have named "WiiTF". Yes you read the title correctly. I got bored and tossed my Wii which never gets used in the house into my car. It sits right ontop of the head unit and will lay flush with the face panel. I had to modify the inside of the console some where the radio goes, but hooking it up was a cinch. Now you're probably thinking how in the hell am I going to play a Wii in my car without destroying everything and putting the controller through the windshield. WiiMotion games were not what I had in mind. I did try playing swordfighting but ended up punching my steering wheel about 10 times . The motion remote does serve a purpose however for navigating around the menus and the web browser, and makes anything requiring text input as simple and point and "click". Out of all the consoles out there that could be put into a car, here is why I chose a Wii:

- Black Wii laying around that rarely got any use.
- Fits perfectly inside the console as if it were a second head unit and hooks up nicely to my flipout.
- Runs natively off 12V. All I had to do to power it was lop the power block of the cord and wire it directly to the car. BTW, it uses so little power I am able to run it through a 5amp fuse .
- In car web through the head unit by connecting the Wii's onboard WiFi to my android phone serving as a mobile hotspot.
- When I first bought my Wii I modded it with Priiloader and the homebrew channel. This not only means that I can run downloaded Wii games through a USB stick, but with the plethora of emulators they have out for the homebrew channel, by tossing a modded Wii in my car I have also added a Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and a Playstation 1. Who knows, one day if they make a linux ALDL program I might even be able to use the Wii for datalogging since there is a linux distro that can be booted on the Wii with USB support.

Now, here are the pics of the master cylinder, as well as a picture of the custom faceplate I fabricated. I'll give a more in depth look at the Wii project once the paint fully cures and I can install the faceplate.

FireDemonSiC

More brake pics, also showing off my Moser axles, carbon ceramic shoes and lakewood control arms

FireDemonSiC

Teaser photos from project WiiTF

Fritomaster

Great storys guys, Theres a special connection you get with thirdgens I tried explaining it once and no one I know understands :P

FireDemonSiC

Well, hung the wonderbar in my backyard and gave it some fresh epoxy paint. Cured it with the torch this time managing to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, and went to install it on the car.

Upon dropping the swaybar mounts, I discovered that one of the genius POs had installed one rubber bushing and one moog thermoplastic bushing . I picked up a set of 32mm universal energy bushing with grease fittings, however no matter how I attempted to modify the brackets I couldn't get them to fit "just right" so I ended up going with two new Moog thermoplastic bushings. The one thermoplastic bushing I removed look like it was holding up well for the past who knows how many years, so I am confident the new bushings should do OK. They're supposed to be comparable to polyurethane.

I did hit a minor snag. When re-tightening all of the bushing bracket bolts, the back one on the drivers side got snug thenI went to torque it down and..."Hey It's still loose...spin...spin...spin...spin...Oh CRAP!". luckily the bolts go straight through the body and the other side is accessible so I was able to thread a nut on the other end, slip an open and box end wrench on it and tighten everything up.

I thought the wonderbar was going to be one of those focus to notice it placebo effect deals and boy was I ever wrong. The FIRST turn I made out of my neighborhood I noticed a considerable difference. The front end of the car feels like it has less body-roll now. I'm working on getting my hands on a UMI strut tower brace, and then I'm done with suspension for now.

But, surprise surprise! We've been having some nice weather here lately, and with the next three days off if the temps are up in the 60s or 70s tomorrow I'm pulling the car around back and yanking the front nose and sideskirts so it can go on the frame rack. That's right. Let the bodywork begin!

FireDemonSiC

Picture of wonderbar and new bushings installed and a posse of thirdgens at a local car meet including Ryan's car above. Anyone in the VA/MD area care to join?

xxZ28xx

iTrader: (1)

Lol, I feel as if I'm just starting on this road :P Im 19 and been working on my car for months now. Only drove it from St pete to Clearwater. But.. just need to replace this flexplate and get the registration and im good .

Sooo much money.. and work... time... lol. I couldn't ask for a better car though. I'm not getting rid of it.. ever.. for anything.

toxik IROC

iTrader: (12)

....

Willsmith305

Very good story. (Bad in a sense but you know what I mean) Glad everything is working out for you. I recently motivated my dad to work on his camaro. He has a 74' camaro with a 350 and a muncie 4-speed in our garage and its just rotting away, a few weeks ago I went to pepboys bought an HEI from Accel and got back home handed him the box and said "Here, now do something useful with that thing." He's been working on it since

Also I think it's cause I finished my project camaro within six months

FireDemonSiC

Hey dudes. Little status update here.

Removed the sideskirts and have been working on repairing all the damaged mounting tabs using bondo hair.

Parts are beginning to roll in for the manifold. Starting this weekend the car is getting stashed in a buddies garage and the whole top of the motor is being torn apart for injectors, manifold and portwork. Also going to install the solid motor mounts while I'm at it. To get an idea of what's in store check this thread:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tpi/...ml#post5211829

Aside from that, deleted the pointless console fan and did the cupholder mod. Ignore the water in it. Turns out it makes the perfect raincatcher for the slight leak in my T-Tops -___-.

Also rode out to meet up with member toxik iroc and traded for a UMI strut tower brace. Car made the 115 mile trip with no issues other than being stuck in traffic on I-95 and the capitol beltway .

Also been getting some quotes on paint and bodywork. The intake is the last big project left so after that she's finally going to get some exterior TLC! Be patient. At this point I'm just as anxious as you guys are

FireDemonSiC

Rocker panels

toxik IROC

iTrader: (12)

Looks like it fit nice, hope you enjoy the stb man....I'll let you know about the black outs when i go to ma dads house next.... i also might have a spare coolant tank if not just get a 4th gen one from a junkyard

FireDemonSiC

I most certainly will and thanks again for the trade was nice meeting up with you. Once I get my Eibach Pro springs and KYB GR2s on I'll really be feeling the full effects of the STB and wonderbar (Stock springs with 180k and monroe sensatracs aren't exactly the cat's meow). Fitment is good with about 1" clearance of the runners and the plenum. Once I get the solid mounts on I will probably have to adjust it but we'll cross that bridge when we get there and with solid mounts I won't have to worry about the motor moving around and slamming into the STB.

Definitely let me know what the shipping will be on the covers I am for sure interested in them.

FireDemonSiC

Status update for you dudes.

Car has been stored in my friend's garage/carport since Saturday night. I removed everything down to the base manifold for porting and mods. The base will come off last as I want to do a direct swap and don't want to leave the lifter valley exposed for a week.

Took me about 2 hours to remove the whole upper intake and fuel assembly. Put a notch in the distributor base that has to line up perfectly with the top screw of the fuel regulator, and another to mark the position of the rotor after making a mental note that it was aimed perfectly between the tranny dipstick and the bottom rear valve cover T. Yanked the distributor, plugged everything up and took parts home.

I did get a decent surprise when I ran the numbers on the injectors. When I pulled the fuelrail off back at my friend's place, I noticed two of the injectors were different than the other 6. Now I had spoken to a previous owner before who claimed that he had put 350 injectors on this motor. What he neglected to tell me was that he only did it to TWO CYLINDERS . Ran the numbers when I got home and discovered cylinders 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 had the stock 19lb injectors, while cylinders 5 and 7 had 24lb injectors installed .

I disassembled the fuel rails, gave them some fresh paint then cooked them at 350 before re-assembling them with all new o-rings.

I am in the process of modifying the runners. I used my flex shaft tool to smooth the outlets and then matched the gaskets. User 385IN2005 (Darin Dochterman) did a good job of porting the manifold base as it lined up perfectly with the SLP runners. I am now in the process of radiusing the inlets and taking the divider back several inches and enlarging the siamese. This is a very time consuming process so it will be several days before the results are revealed.

In the meantime, I am headed over tonight to swap in my solid motor mounts. I did much reading on the bolts inside the crossmember and picked up a set of open and box end wrenches from work which have the ability to pivot the boxed end 90 degrees in either direction so hopefully it will take alot of frustration out of this job. I'll let you guys know how it went.

FireDemonSiC

Fuel Rails

FireDemonSiC

More fuel rails and r3dneck injector job.

FireDemonSiC

Port work

Trinten

Wow... I imagine having different sized injectors would lend to some interesting issues. Especially with tuning?

At least you caught it and can get it fixed!

FireDemonSiC

Back from my midnight venture. Took two hours to swap the passenger motor mount. I hit that one up first since it looked to be the most difficult.

When people say swapping these things is a real bitch, they AREN'T kidding! Man I almost wish I had two snakes for arms it would have made this job ALOT easier. Never-the-less, you feel like a real pro after doing a job like this. I am sure you know what I'm talking about Ron .

I did manage to remove and re-thread all 3 nuts inside the crossmember with only the 15mm pivoting wrench and a standard 15mm to re-thread the top front one. Torqued the crap out of the bolts with a 3/8 ratchet and called it a night.

The old mounts were TOAST! The rubber inserts are all dried out and shattered and had a ton of movement to them. No question that these were the originals. These new solid UMI mounts should make a considerable difference in shift feel. I am fully expecting the 1-2 shift to snap my neck now. I've always wanted a set of solid mounts. I like my car to have that ***** out savage feel to it!

Going back tomorrow to get the driver mount swapped.

FireDemonSiC

Well, just got back from round 2 a couple hours ago.

Driver side mount for some reason was 3x easier to install. Probably because I knew what to expect. That pivoting wrench REALLY helped speed things up. Never-the-less, the frustration involved with this job prompted a little creative humor with photoshop mobile.



Other than that, I tidied up the engine wiring a bit organizing the routing of the wires ad installing new wire looming. Now begins the portwork and this time next week everything will be getting bolted up!

Ron U.S.M.C.

Man, that photo had me laughing hard, and I do know exactly what you went through ,except I had three wobbler's all wrapped together with electrical tape and a long extension to get the angles right. Nightmare. Keep up the great work!!

NagleMac

iTrader: (1)

Nice picture haha makes me feel better when I hear that I'm not the only one with a thirdgen that gives me problems with EVERYTHING I try to replace haha

Starbug

LOL! I laughed pretty hard at your photoshop pic. I have a couple of cars around here that make it so easy to relate to your pic.

FireDemonSiC

The wrench made it super easy compared to some of the things I've read. All I had to do was pivot the head in the right position, slip it inside the crossmember and position it on the nut. While turning the bolt from above, the wrench would then rotate and wedge itself inside the crossmember. Removal was a tad tricky after re-tightening cause it would get stuck in It's wedged position but a little prying with a standard wrench freed it up.

FireDemonSiC

Got the first of 4 siamesed inlets done. I'd really forgotten how much work this was. I couldn't get it as clean as I'd liked it but I think I fared well considering I was limited to a dremel tool with a flex shaft.

FireDemonSiC

First runner has been completed. Just need to put a smoother finish on the right side inlet then hit it with some fresh paint as what's on there now got totally ruined during the porting process.

FireDemonSiC

Last photo due to lame 3 photo limit

toxik IROC

iTrader: (12)

Hey lost your number man if you still want to the black outs let me know

385IN2005

So far, so good!
I think you'll see a nice gain (both hp and rpm) with these mods.

z28romance

i have been inspired. my first 3rd gen was a 86 z28 that the PO had carbed. all i did was drive it, never had to work on it. when i ran into financial difficulty i had to sell her. i actually shed tears over that (not like "boo-hoo" tears) lol. so over the years i missed having a third gen. finally my wife relented and i bought my 87 z28 i have today. unfourtunatley the MORON who owned it before me made a full time job of butchering every part of the car he could. i have done a laundry list of repairs on it and it feels like i have gotten nothing done. i was feeling kind of sour about my baby but your story has re-motivated me. you can tell by my signature how i feel about these cars.

Trinten

Yup, I love the 3rd Gen Firebird. Probably mostly due to Knight Rider. I'd really like to pick one up someday, just never found the right one at the right price. Plus, I already have a Daily and a 'fun car', so it's tough to justify a 3rd one. If either one of those goes belly-up, though...

FireDemonSiC

If I ever had to start from square one I understand how it could be overwhelming.

Except for the year we pretty much have the same car so feel free to message me with any questions.

FireDemonSiC

The results are in!

I bolted up the ported intake the other night and my car awoke from her 3 week slumber with a vengeance. Unfortunately, while this did improve power across the whole powerband, it did not eliminate the RPM wall I am plagued with. It pulls strong to just a hair under 5k now and then quits. Given the mods I have done to this TPI setup, I am attributing this to still being held back by my stock cam and heads. Those are definitely on the list, but not for awhile so don't anticipate them anytime soon.

While I had everything apart I changed the heatercore hoses, trashed the crappy looking TPI lines and swapped in braided steel lines and also took the time to redo the waterpump seals which were leaking. Turns out the driver side gasket has split in half when I torqued down the bolts. Lesson learned this is the last time I will EVER use cork gaskets!

I sealed the china walls with a big thick bead of RTV, as well as applying some RTV to both sides of the gaskets at the crossover holes. Due to the gasket trimming involved and a few spots where the mating surfaces got really thin, I used high tack gasket sealant on both sides of the plenum to manifold gaskets and a very thin layer of RTV on the plenum to runner gaskets. Absolutely no vacuum leaks! I also FINALLY installed the sending unit for my autometer oil pressure gauge at the port in the front of the block and ran the wire to the dash. Motor fired right up and I then proceeded to adjust the fuel pressure to 45psi and the base timing to 8*BTDC.

Here are a couple quick videos of me starting the motor for the "first" time as well as setting the base timing and fuel pressure. We had originally planned to do a full length video, however I forgot I had my phone set to MMS mode at the time and it kept cutting the recording off at 30 secs, plus the crappy video/sound quality. The very first video You can actually see me shut the car right off and say something about crossed wires because I was not expecting the sudden feel of the solid motor mounts, which BTW are one of the most badassed mods I have ever done to this car




I gotta admit, at first I was seriously disappointed. The car did not feel any faster whatsoever and I noticed a considerable loss in off-idle power. I attributed it at first to the way I had ported the runners, shifting the powerband higher up in the RPMs. But I couldn't stop thinking about it all day the next day at work. Something did not feel quite right. It felt like more of a hesitation rather than a loss in power. Then halfway through the day it suddenly hit me. I was so anxious to test drive the car the night before, that I completely forgot to unplug the timing bypass wire while I was setting the distributor which means the ECM was still able to set It's own timing. As soon as I clocked out I grabbed a distributor wrench off the shelf and pulled the timing gun from the trunk. I unplugged the wire, aimed the gun at the balancer and pulled the trigger.

Turns out, instead of the 8*BTDC I was aiming for, it was actually set to 4*ATDC . That's right, in my haste I had retarded the timing by 12*

I set it to the correct mark, hit the road and was immediately aware of the difference. I'd say I gained around 20hp/30ft.lbs from mod. I'll be using 89 octane from now on but then again I didn't buy this car to save on gas money . Oh nad the best part (Knock on wood), not a single leak from ANYWHERE!

I'm talking to the local shops about paint and bodywork, and think I've found one I'm comfortable with. It's coming in the next month guys. That big moment that EVERYONE eagerly awaits.

Stay tuned...

FireDemonSiC

Intake assembly

FireDemonSiC

Portwork

FireDemonSiC

More portwork

Trinten

Nice. Did you have the intake and runners powdercoated, or did you paint them with something? Details would be great!

FireDemonSiC

More assembly

FireDemonSiC

Devil Machine powerplant version 3.0

FireDemonSiC

The runners I rattlecanned with VHT gloss epoxy then clearcoated with 500F engine paint and cured them in the oven.

They were black before, but the paint had taken a beating over the past few years plus it got destroyed during the porting. The plenum I was VERY careful with because the paint was still good and masking off the base coat to paint the stripes is a nightmare!

Trinten

Well they came out really good looking, at least in those pictures. After you put on the VHT, did you let it dry completely, or just get tacky before putting on the clearcoat? Any sanding?

FireDemonSiC

Giving everyone a heads up to watch this thread closely through the month of May.

I've been busy behind the scenes making a few changes and peddling stuff like a crackhead and am only $270 away from the $3500 mark. The car is going to the bodyshop THIS MONTH!

Also came to the conclusion I must have been tripping on some pretty good stuff when I put the Wii in the car. Was a real fun project to do but once finished just didn't sit well with me. Took the Wii out and sold the Jensen flipout. The good news is I broke dead even on a used (But good condition) Pioneer MVH-P8200BT head unit AND a HUMount! A few scratches on the face of the 8200BT once I got it but some brasso and a microfiber cloth + a steady hand made quick work of them. HUMount is in the mail. Will post pics once everything is installed!

Also, got a few more go fast goodies. Custom tuned chip is on the way as well