1997 Pontiac Firebird

[s0apb0x]

I wound up with TrackBird a couple years ago. She's still tracking in northeast ohio. Added a roll bar, full containment seat, and removable steering wheel. Minor upgrades, new bearings, longer studs, 18" wheel, steering rack & pump (still dealing with overflow issues, looking to move cooler).

Working on upgrading the front to LS spindles to add 4 piston brakes. Going back and forth on adding some UMI control arms. Maybe add a oil cooler.

[MostMint]

Sounds like some good upgrades. Where does it get on track? Autocross? Track days?

[Basement Paul]

Wow, glad to see it still in action and getting better in the process! That car was super fun for sure. With my Vette back in action, hopefully we'll see out in the world too.

-BP

[TireSmoker]

Its super cool to see one of the projects return under a new owner.

[s0apb0x]

Sounds like some good upgrades. Where does it get on track? Autocross? Track days?

Nelson Ledges, Mid-Ohio, unfortunately not PittRace, If I can fit it in this summer, hopefully get up to Watkins Glen.

[s0apb0x]

Wow, glad to see it still in action and getting better in the process! That car was super fun for sure. With my Vette back in action, hopefully we'll see out in the world too.

-BP

Thanks BP, I'm wondering by some chance do you still have HP Tuner file you flashed into the ECU?

[s0apb0x]

Sept 2025 Shake Down. Testing new steering gear and 18" wheels from a C5 Corvette. Hit 1:23 at Nelson, hopefully for 2026 I think she can hit the high teens with some bigger brakes, figure out why she dies on power a bit after coming out of turn 13, and adding some more neg camber.

[Basement Paul]

The bog out of 13 is low fuel. It gets away from the pickup and dies. I never ran it under 1/2 tank at any track. A real common problem with these cars. I had some 1:23s there too. I thought the brakes were great, but more is better as they are on the small side.
I never did anything with the tune, that came from the previous owner. I remember him telling me he raised the rpm limiter so he could hold gears longer on a couple autocross courses, set the fans to come on sooner, but I don't think he did anything to tune the engine.

-BP

[s0apb0x]

The bog out of 13 is low fuel. It gets away from the pickup and dies. I never ran it under 1/2 tank at any track. A real common problem with these cars. I had some 1:23s there too. I thought the brakes were great, but more is better as they are on the small side.
I never did anything with the tune, that came from the previous owner. I remember him telling me he raised the rpm limiter so he could hold gears longer on a couple autocross courses, set the fans to come on sooner, but I don't think he did anything to tune the engine.

-BP

Thanks, that low fuel makes perfect sense, this run was in the afternoon and I know was below 1/2 tank.

[MostMint]

If you do some digging you can probably find someone who has fashioned a baffle in the tank - assuming you want to run it with less fuel to save weight. In my Saturn we took an STP gallon oil jug (very rectangular), cut off the top, and drilled 3/8 holes in the front and back at the bottom of the jug and that really helped us run the tank low and not suffer pickup issues. It fit perfectly in the little rectangle in the bottom of the tank under the fuel pump assembly.

I've also seen setups where a small (1-2 quart) tank is put in line with a separate fuel pump.

[Basement Paul]

There's several cures out there, but more gas is the simplistic solution.

-BP