1997 Pontiac Firebird

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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Maverick
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Maverick »

I like to stabilize rust before covering it with paint or POR15. OSPHO is good but it should be cleaned before painting to avoid acid working under the paint. I used lacquer thinner to get treated rust ready for paint.

https://www.amazon.com/Ospho-605-Metal- ... 0422&psc=1

I know POR means "paint over rust" but it's a rust preventative, not a rust stabilizer.
Maverick
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

Hopefully we won't need to use anything like that anymore. Given the nature of the car, we didn't bother with metal prep, we just cut out the bad stuff and welded to something solid. And since it's probably not going to rust any further, I'm not too worried about it getting worse. This poor car sat outside most of it's life, I'm sure, and T-Tops given their leaky nature, caused this problem. Michigan salt didn't help much either.
Good tip for the future though. I've also used Rust Oleum's Rusty Metal Primer before painting and that stuff is awesome. We're coating the floor with bedliner material so it should be sealed pretty well.

-BP
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Fred32v
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Fred32v »

Spent some of the day in the 32V Garage. Outside temperature in the thirties, the paint can said apply at 55+ degrees.
Turned on the heater, by the time I finished caulking, sanding and prepping, it was 60. Put first coat on before lunch.
When out again at three and heated the garage again for the second coat, paint seemed pretty dry.
Driver side
Driver side
Passenger side
Passenger side
Rear view
Rear view
I just went out to check after 5 hours, temperature in the garage is at 45, the car's steel has felt cold all day,
and sadly, the paint is still very tacky. If not dry by tomorrow am, I'll heat more directly into the Bird.
Fred32v
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

Between yesterday's activity and a couple hours this morning, we were able to get the driver's seat mocked up and installed using the existing seat frame that came with the sparco seats. There was drilling, welding, and grinding, but we got one done so far. Unfortunately the floor on the passenger's side is different than the driver's side, so it will be like starting all over next week. At least we know we can do it.
The seat does fit well, and has lots of travel for short and tall people. We made sure to test fit Fred with his helmet on to make sure he'd clear the roof before we started welding things. Just sitting in the garage it feels like a HUGE improvement over the stock seat. Between the new steering wheel, the sweet shifter, and the seat, the car has a real cool "feel".

More to come...

-BP
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seat install2.jpg
seat install1.jpg
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Fred32v
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird Paint issue

Post by Fred32v »

When I left the the 32V Garage Sunday in the late afternoon,
I had just applied a third coat of Bed Liner on the floor repairs.
This morning was the first time I've check and the floors are final dry to the touch.
Driver's side
Driver's side
Passenger side
Passenger side
Also removed the tape.
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

Today's activities revolved around getting what's left of the dash area put together. First up was the ducting for the heat and vent. That went into place relatively easily, and with a few we'll placed sheet metal screws, it was secured solidly.
Next was the gauge cluster. After a few different theories, we decided to cut apart the mounting area from the original dash, and mount that to the ductwork. Then installing the cluster was simple using factory screws. This also helped with routing of the main wiring harness.
Last up was the radio and HVAC controls. The radio was super easy as we decided to just not use it at all. This saved us 5-6 lbs for just the radio, and probably another 5-6 once we pull the speakers out. So then we just had to mount the controls. With the center air duct hanging right out there, it was an easy go-to. We took a page out of the cluster book and cut apart more of the original dash to make a solid mount. A few more drywall screws later, and that was done.
I tidied up the wires all around the passengers footwell, and we called it a successful day.
Next up will be the driver's side wiring cleanup, and the passengers seat mounting.

-BP
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IMG_20200201_125518012.jpg
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Fred32v
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Fred32v »

After a quiet afternoon in the 32V Garage,
the door panels have been removed and the speakers are out.
no more door panels or speakers
no more door panels or speakers
The switches have been retained and the armrests are a little long.
Once the seats are in they will be trimmed back.
Fred32v
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

Today we cleaned up almost all the wiring except what's between the seats. That will get done once the seats are in and should only take 5 minutes. With the need for 12V power for GPS and anything else, we robbed more parts from the old dash and now have two 12V outlets with easy access.
Then it was on to the passenger's side seat bracket. This went really well (no pics today) as we were able to use the front two factory seat studs just by cutting one bracket off the Mustang seat frame and drilling only one hole. Then on the rear of the frame, there were two brackets attached the the Mustang frame that we cut off, repositioned, and rewelded on in a more advantageous position. This all went really well and took us a lot less time than the driver's side. 32V will do a little paint work, and by next Saturday, we should have the interior done.

Then there should only be a few things left to do:

Install tow straps
remove catalytic converter
install new pcv and new P/S cap
change break in oil in rear diff
get Hutter tune to fix rear gear, no cat converter, and make sure the tune we have is safe

-BP
Attachments
interior2 2-8-19.jpg
interior1 2-8-19.jpg
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

Yesterday we went to work putting the seats in. We started on the passengers side and although what we thought we be a drop in at this point required a little more work with the die grinder and now it's done for real.
We started thinking about the four point seat belts and went to work on figuring those out.
After some screwing around we got lap belts mounted and made some plates to mount the shoulder belts to the floor behind the seats but didn't finish the install on those. That will happen on our next episode. In the meantime we were also able to remove the stock front seatbelts.

-BP
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IMG_20200215_124735041.jpg
IMG_20200215_124755334.jpg
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MostMint
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by MostMint »

I suggest doing some research on seat belts before bolting those to the floor. I think the geometry is all wrong and will not be safe in some situations.

The Saturn was like that when I got it and I remember getting some flak about it but I can’t recall the reason it was bad
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
-BP[/quote]
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

According to the instructions that came with the belts, it was do-able. But I've been rethinking it a little bit which puts the mounting surface about a foot off the floor and a little further back. I have a 1" x 2" piece of aluminum that would theoretically bolt in all the way across the back seat area with little modification that I might use as a mounting surface for the hooks. It would be more sturdy than the floor, and not be excessive weight.
We'll see how it looks next weekend.

-BP
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

After more research, the floor mount was not recommended. So we found a relatively convenient location much higher along the back seat area that could house our mounting plates and began drilling. By the end of the day, both seats were installed, and all the seat belts were at their final resting place.
With the weather as nice as it was, we were able to take the Bird out for a spin. The things we learned during our trip was that we needed to reinstall the black cloth dash pad because the reflection was nearly blinding. The directionals don't work, and we'll need to reinstall the relay under the dash, accidentally removed during the dash removal. And the passengers window doesn't work now, most likely happening when the door panel was removed.
We have a few other things left to do, but we're getting real close to being ready for all matter of racing activities.

-BP
Attachments
IMG_20200222_133550959.jpg
IMG_20200222_112836287.jpg
IMG_20200222_111955129.jpg
IMG_20200222_134014362.jpg
Last edited by Basement Paul on Sat Feb 22, 2020 9:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

Today was another good day at 32V's garage. We were able to quickly fix the directionals by simply finding the only round relay in our pile of leftovers and plug it into the only L-shaped plug with nothing in it. The passenger's window repair was almost as simple. The plug for the passenger's window control, although a little tricky, was just not plugged in all the way.
The next thing we went after was gutting the cat converter. After some clamp removal and cutting the pipe and converter hanger, and a couple careful slices in the slip fit pipes, we were able to get the middle parts of the exhaust apart, only to find that the converter is already empty... :shock: This was good and bad. It was bad that we just spent an hour and a half tearing everything apart, but good that the computer must already be tuned to have a dummy signal to the 2nd O2 sensor, as we passed e-check this way. So we rewelded the pipe and hanger that we cut, and reinstalled everything the way it was. Having a welder and sawzall makes things faster sometimes.

Once those things were done, we did a couple more small tasks. The first was installing the fire extinguisher between the seats and the second was mounting a cupholder to the driver's door. Simple tasks, but both very important. Where would I put my coffee otherwise??

What we decided to do now, is to not bother taking it to Hutter's for a tune. That was going to be for eliminating the converter signal and fix the speedo because of the new rear gear. We also planned to have a quick tune done, but I believe the tune that's in there is safe enough, and there's no need to blow $400 on something that's not really necessary. I'm thinking we'll put some of that money toward subframe connectors. And for the speedo problem, we're just going to go drive with a GPS unit in the car to figure out how far off the speedo is reading and let it read fast.

As it is, the car is very close to being ready to run. We still are going to put tow straps on the front and rear, remove the fog lights and brackets behind them which will open up some air supply under the car, and change the rear differential fluid to synthetic. The subframe connectors still need to be investigated.

-BP
Attachments
Extinguisher 2-29-20.jpg
Cup Holder 2-29-20.jpg
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MostMint
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by MostMint »

hmmm are there different size gears for the speedo sensor or is that all computer controlled by this model year?
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
-BP[/quote]
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Post by Basement Paul »

By '97, it was all electronic. We're stuck.

-BP
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