what did you do to your thirdgen today?
#1651
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
In the last month put new brake booster, mastercylinder, front and back rotors, brake pads, brake calipers and flushed brake fluid on my 89 Iroc...Ordered rear calipers from Orielly's Auto Parts they will be put on when they come in...A lot of work but this was a fun project done in my garage on my Iroc with 68000 miles...Also had my 16 x 8 wheels refurbished and new Cooper 245 50 r16 tires installed...The wheels look brand new very happy with how they turned out...I enjoy working and installing new parts to keep my Iroc looking good...
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#1655
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
I’ve been struggling with valve setup since replacing the cam (modest 420/443 grind).
Today I did the running valve lash adjustment (at operating temp). So far I’m pleased with the result. The exhaust has a different tone, but dyno says notably more power and no clatter at startup.
Today I did the running valve lash adjustment (at operating temp). So far I’m pleased with the result. The exhaust has a different tone, but dyno says notably more power and no clatter at startup.
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1986BANDIT (11-30-2022)
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#1658
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
For the first time in 2½ years I got it out into the light of day, washed it off, and drove it about three miles (along with a couple of other beaters).
I had to reorganize the space a little to make room to slide my tractor in there.
I had to reorganize the space a little to make room to slide my tractor in there.
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#1659
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
This weekend, I upgraded my alternator to a 130 amp AD244 model..... much much better! The posts on this site made it possible.
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#1660
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Installed. 4th generation rear end
I havent been on much. I was in a motorcycle wreck at the beginning of the summer and I'm just now starting to be me again. My cousin helped me install the rear end a couple weeks back but I had some ride height issues that turned out to be suspension binding. Got that corrected and it was sitting lower than with the original rear end. Looks good though. When I tried to bleed the brakes I found that the front pass bleeder valve had welded itself on. Had to replace that caliper. I feel like the reaR pass drum is sticking a little. I can really feel the difference between the 275 open and the 323 limited slip. Almost wish I had gone 355 or 373 but I think this will be fine.
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SbFormula (11-29-2022)
#1661
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Prime, sand, prime, sand, prime, sand...seems like all I've been doing lately.
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#1665
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Location: Florida
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Car: 1991 Z28
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3:42 Auburn
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
I lowered the rear of the car.
I have had these Vogtland springs sitting in my garage for over 2 years and was hesitant on using them. I didn't like the 2" of rake I had on the rear but was concearned that these would harshen up the ride and maybe be to low and make it a "sagging" look to the rear. It did neither and now sits approx 3/4" higher in the rear.
In hindsight I should have put these on years ago. I also used the Founders Performance LCARB and did not need to recenter the rear.
I have had these Vogtland springs sitting in my garage for over 2 years and was hesitant on using them. I didn't like the 2" of rake I had on the rear but was concearned that these would harshen up the ride and maybe be to low and make it a "sagging" look to the rear. It did neither and now sits approx 3/4" higher in the rear.
In hindsight I should have put these on years ago. I also used the Founders Performance LCARB and did not need to recenter the rear.
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DynoDave43 (01-12-2023)
#1666
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
I lowered the rear of the car.
I have had these Vogtland springs sitting in my garage for over 2 years and was hesitant on using them. I didn't like the 2" of rake I had on the rear but was concearned that these would harshen up the ride and maybe be to low and make it a "sagging" look to the rear. It did neither and now sits approx 3/4" higher in the rear.
In hindsight I should have put these on years ago. I also used the Founders Performance LCARB and did not need to recenter the rear.
I have had these Vogtland springs sitting in my garage for over 2 years and was hesitant on using them. I didn't like the 2" of rake I had on the rear but was concearned that these would harshen up the ride and maybe be to low and make it a "sagging" look to the rear. It did neither and now sits approx 3/4" higher in the rear.
In hindsight I should have put these on years ago. I also used the Founders Performance LCARB and did not need to recenter the rear.
#1667
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canada
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Car: '91 Firebird Formula
Engine: SP383 Deluxe FIRST® TPI Intake
Transmission: Tremec T56
Axle/Gears: Moser 9" Eaton Truetrac Motive 3.89
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Getting ready for UMI Subframe Connectors in a couple of days. Had to remove the exhaust. May as well investigate tinny oil leak... Yep rear main seal. Transmission came out without removing center console. Did the shifter from under. Thanking the Lord for the Hoist!
#1668
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Car: 1984 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
Engine: 5.0 Liter 4-BBL V8 High Output
Transmission: 5-Speed Manual
Axle/Gears: 3.73
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Did A Temporary Fix To My Intermediate Pipe Until I Decide What I'm Going To Do Unfortunately The Major Exhaust Companies Have Discontinued The 4 Bolt Intermediate Pipes
#1669
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Car: 1986 Trans Am
Engine: 5.0 LG4 4BBL
Transmission: T5 5-Speed
Axle/Gears: 3.23
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Tightened up the steering box a bit. Total of five individual 1/8 turns. Still a bit loose, hesitant to go further but hey, 37 year old steering 😁
Last edited by Carlos89; 02-07-2023 at 01:20 PM.
#1670
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Car: 1989 IROC-Z 305 LB9 AT Convertible
Engine: LB9 305
Transmission: AT
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Good work!
Make sure the steering wheel "returns to center" after coming out of a typical "Surface street" (around the neighborhood, 90* turn) turn. If not, it's adjusted too tight.
Make sure the steering wheel "returns to center" after coming out of a typical "Surface street" (around the neighborhood, 90* turn) turn. If not, it's adjusted too tight.
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SbFormula (02-07-2023)
#1671
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Car: 89 Firebird
Engine: 355 TBI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 10 Bolt.Posi-3.73s
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Added these letters from Screaming Chicken.Com Nice added lil detail in my opinion.
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#1672
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Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Canyon TX
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Car: 1992 RS
Engine: L03 / MSD / 2½" "hacksaw" catback
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: What did you do to your thirdgen today?
My 92 TBI was my daily, off and on, for almost four years. Then my son blew up his Civic, I let him daily my car for a couple months, and last night it developed rod knock. Sure enough, no oil.
Edit: He wants to be a mechanic, so he'll be fixing it for me. He swears he learned a lot by rebuilding his K20 (even though he ran out of money during the 2nd attempt), so I'm willing to risk a broken 305 on him.
Edit: He wants to be a mechanic, so he'll be fixing it for me. He swears he learned a lot by rebuilding his K20 (even though he ran out of money during the 2nd attempt), so I'm willing to risk a broken 305 on him.
Last edited by Moonlight137; 02-12-2023 at 05:32 PM.
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91banditt2 (03-02-2023)
#1673
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Finally fixed that wobbly tilt steering. What a pain.
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dmccain (03-01-2023)
#1676
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Car: 1991 BandittII Firebird
Engine: 5.7 HSR
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.27 9 bolt
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
After sitting in the garage for 15 years with the last 4 working on everything from suspension, interior, exhaust, engine and everything in between she goes into drive and reverse for the first time in a very long time
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#1678
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
After sitting in the garage for 15 years with the last 4 working on everything from suspension, interior, exhaust, engine and everything in between she goes into drive and reverse for the first time in a very long time https://youtu.be/c1O2gAGo41w
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91banditt2 (03-02-2023)
#1679
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Car: 1991 BandittII Firebird
Engine: 5.7 HSR
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.27 9 bolt
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Sometimes it’s the little things……
Broken old
Cheap new knock off
The black replacements didn’t look right, they made the sun faded belts look even more bluer. Returned the black ones bought a set of grey used ones from Hawks. Even thought the interior is black the grey ones blend in better.
Broken old
Cheap new knock off
The black replacements didn’t look right, they made the sun faded belts look even more bluer. Returned the black ones bought a set of grey used ones from Hawks. Even thought the interior is black the grey ones blend in better.
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Moonlight137 (04-03-2023)
#1683
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Car: 1992 RS
Engine: L03 / MSD / 2½" "hacksaw" catback
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 2.73
Re: What did you do to your thirdgen today?
- Drained the oil. No metal in the oil nor the filter. (It was not dry, just low. )
- Took off the intake. Nothing wrong with the lifters either.
- Cleaned the valley and the pushrods while we were at it.
- Took off the oil pan, and discovered the "knock" was a loose flywheel cover banging around.
- Cleaned and painted the oil pan.
- Clean and painted the intake.
- Replaced the leaky oil-pan gasket and front seal.
- Replaced about 10 feet of 30-year-old brittle plastic vacuum lines.
- Replaced both brittle, yellow, broken TBI injector connectors.
- Replaced the brittle A.I.R. bypass valve, that had broken apart when my son yanked off a hose. (It was a cheap part, and I wasn't ready to worry about deleting stuff.)
- Reamed and reinforced the oval hinge holes in the steering column. We didn't do it perfectly; there's still a slight wobble, but I'm a lot happier.
- The hi-beam actuator rod got a little bent disassembling the column, so I fiddled with it and got it bent back so it didn't hang up the ignition actuator.
- Replaced the broken signal / cruise lever.
- Pinched the distributor wires under the edge of the cap, so it shorted to ground while I was trying to set the initial timing.
I didn't have time nor funding, and my wife didn’t have patience, to start troubleshooting by buying parts. I entrusted it to my mechanic.
EDIT: New distributor + 3-4 hours of troubleshooting = $600. I may or may not have come out ahead by not doing it myself.
Last edited by Moonlight137; 03-23-2023 at 03:19 PM.
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WildCard600 (03-21-2023)
#1684
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Bought a 1984 Trans Am! About 55k original miles and in great shape. Some light hail damage on the hood, some bad clear coat in spots, but mechanically excellent. It had a busted AC compressor but came with factory air. It has the 305 L69 paired to the 5 speed manual. WS6 and Aero package.
What I've done so far:
Pic for attention:
What I've done so far:
- Replaced the floor mats.
- Replaced the AC compressor and dryer.
- Flushed and refilled AC system. Works great now!
- Got an alignment after the previous owner replaced the steering box. The wheel was about 45 degrees off but the alignment fixed it.
- Replace the steering shaft with one from an Astro Van (currently a lot of play)
- Some body work to get rid of the hail dents.
- Repaint the hood and re-apply the Aero decal. Might end up doing the whole car.
- Install Vintage Sound radio since the current, original one is busted.
- Needs new rear tires.
- Fix a rear seal leak. It's minor, but a little annoying.
Pic for attention:
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#1685
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Car: 1988 Trans Am
Engine: L03
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 10 Bolt 2.73 Open
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Welcome aboard mattcalt!
That's a great looking T/A. Don't see many in silver.
That's a great looking T/A. Don't see many in silver.
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mattcalt (04-03-2023)
#1687
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
You can’t see in that picture but there is some rough clear coat damage as well. May just try the pointless on the dents like you said and just do some extreme polishing to minimize the look of the clear issues. Paint will probably be my last resort.
Not sure about the hood decal though, it’s pretty scratched up. Not sure if I could get it off to replace it without damaging the paint. Might try though, or just leave it as is. The previous owner had already purchased the replacement decals.
#1688
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Car: 1988 Trans Am GTA
Engine: 5.7 L98
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: Borg Warner 9 bolt 3.27
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
That is a perfectly equipped 84’ IMO, very nice find and looks to be in great shape.
I would check the rest of your steering components for wear before going to the Astro shaft. My GTA didn’t like the Astro shaft as I picked up a dead spot and clunk when steering off center. Also no real gain in steering either but that’s just my own experience.
Also if you haven’t already that would be a fun car to start a build thread for.
I would check the rest of your steering components for wear before going to the Astro shaft. My GTA didn’t like the Astro shaft as I picked up a dead spot and clunk when steering off center. Also no real gain in steering either but that’s just my own experience.
Also if you haven’t already that would be a fun car to start a build thread for.
#1689
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
That is a perfectly equipped 84’ IMO, very nice find and looks to be in great shape.
I would check the rest of your steering components for wear before going to the Astro shaft. My GTA didn’t like the Astro shaft as I picked up a dead spot and clunk when steering off center. Also no real gain in steering either but that’s just my own experience.
Also if you haven’t already that would be a fun car to start a build thread for.
I would check the rest of your steering components for wear before going to the Astro shaft. My GTA didn’t like the Astro shaft as I picked up a dead spot and clunk when steering off center. Also no real gain in steering either but that’s just my own experience.
Also if you haven’t already that would be a fun car to start a build thread for.
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mattcalt (04-05-2023)
#1691
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Thanks! I've always wanted a 5 speed Trans Am. My last F body was a 1981 Z28 but I've always been drawn to third gens. I feel super lucky to have grabbed this one.
Today I swapped out the busted stock radio with a RetroSound unit. I'll keep the stock one, may try to fix it, just to have it. Easiest radio install I've ever done, took about 45 minutes total. Next I just need to figure out what to do with the built-in subs in the sail panels. The stock speakers sound surprisingly OK but definitely lack in the low end so I definitely want to swap them.
Today I swapped out the busted stock radio with a RetroSound unit. I'll keep the stock one, may try to fix it, just to have it. Easiest radio install I've ever done, took about 45 minutes total. Next I just need to figure out what to do with the built-in subs in the sail panels. The stock speakers sound surprisingly OK but definitely lack in the low end so I definitely want to swap them.
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#1694
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Car: 1991 BandittII Firebird
Engine: 5.7 HSR
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.27 9 bolt
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Started to figure out the mounting of this factory spoiler, I got it really cheap compared to a in great shape OEM piece or a aftermarket one, it was damaged and needed/still needs a quite a bit to get it back into shape.
Driver side
Pass.side
Driver side
Pass.side
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91banditt2 (04-14-2023)
#1696
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Car: 1991 BandittII Firebird
Engine: 5.7 HSR
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.27 9 bolt
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Yeah, rather my friend in our machine shop at work did. We reversed engineered it base on measurements I found online which I think it was designed for a factory radiator, The Champion 2 core rad that I have is a really close direct replacement. formed a test piece to check to see if the shape would work, formed the full size piece then test fitted it to the car, I used some 1/4-20 rivnuts, brought it back into work as we also do powder coating here, I really like the textured black as you might be able to tell, it hides dirt and if it's scratched it doesn't scream look at me like a gloss black powder coat.
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#1697
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Dad and I fixed vacuum leak late last night. Got done at 11 pm and drove z28 65 miles today to work and to pick up camaro parts. Problem fixed.
You do not want to know what caused it. Dork move I did when replacing the fuel pressure regulator a few months ago.
You do not want to know what caused it. Dork move I did when replacing the fuel pressure regulator a few months ago.
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#1698
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Location: North Carolina
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Car: 88 IROC Clone
Engine: 305 TBI
Transmission: Auto
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Started to burn the thing to the ground! Having issues and can not figure it out. You can see my post about map iac,tps.
#1699
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Car: 91 Camaro RS
Engine: V6 3.1L
Transmission: Auto
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
I've been trying to Fugger out my rough idle, I think it's the dizy but not sure. When I checked the with a timing light I was around 20 degrees in timing. wlp time to get back at it.....
#1700
Junior Member
Re: what did you do to your thirdgen today?
Replaced the center link, inner and outer tie rods (with new non-OEM style connectors), and idler arm.
Proforged for everything except the idler arm. Initial idler arm was wrong, got it from Autozone. Saw a thread here about wrong idler arms. I rolled the dice on one on Amazon and it was a perfect fit! Search MAS IA6249
Steering is great now. I eyeballed the alignment and did a pretty damn good job, but still going to get it done more precisely.
Proforged for everything except the idler arm. Initial idler arm was wrong, got it from Autozone. Saw a thread here about wrong idler arms. I rolled the dice on one on Amazon and it was a perfect fit! Search MAS IA6249
Steering is great now. I eyeballed the alignment and did a pretty damn good job, but still going to get it done more precisely.
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