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Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Mon May 04, 2020 4:24 pm
by Basement Paul
Agreed. Hopefully we didn't mess up the pinion.

-BP

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 1:17 pm
by Fred32v
I jacked it up a little, could not tell much, but it is the U join that failed. :)

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 5:11 pm
by Basement Paul
We'll, that's something...

-BP

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Tue May 05, 2020 6:05 pm
by MostMint
time for a GoPro, a stick and a trouble light ;)

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Wed May 06, 2020 8:25 pm
by Basement Paul
I made a trip to 32V's to assess the damage. We knew the u-joint came loose, no surprise there. But why? Once we pulled the driveshaft out, then removed what was left of the ujoint, we determined that we didn't burn enough of the plastic out of the grooves from the original factory u-joint and the clips weren't seated properly. Although we did do some slight damage to the rear u-joint area from all the banging around, we were able to manipulate the aluminum to make it work safely we think.
Two of the cups were still in tact and attached to the rearend, so 32V went to his stash and found a couple good ujoints. He greased up a couple caps and installed them on our current ujoint that seemed otherwise in tact. After reinstalling the shaft, I took it for a spin and it seemed good up to 90mph. There were a couple small dents in the driveshaft, but it didn't seem to affect it's operation at all. Keeping in mind this is aluminum and not steel, I'm not too concerned, especially after the test drive.
Now we have to re-figure out the brake lights not working again (only the 3rd light works) and I have to pull the blower fan out as something fell into the fan area during the autocross and now it makes a ton of noise when the fan is on. That one will be pretty easy.

-BP

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Sat May 09, 2020 5:23 pm
by Basement Paul
U-joint destruction.

-BP

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Sat May 09, 2020 5:32 pm
by Basement Paul
After some online searching, I only found one guy posting what I thought was a definitive solution to our brake light situation.

https://youtu.be/wgTsvdVAS20

According to him, the multi-function switch is the culprit. I priced one at AutoZone for $29. I figured, if that wasn't it, it was going to die eventually and it would eliminate it as a problem. And after maybe an hour + of screwing around, it was installed and damn if it didn't fix our problem!

Next session will be taking care of the noisy blower motor, but that one won't require much thinking.

-BP

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Sat May 23, 2020 4:40 pm
by Fred32v
The louvered hood has been ready to be painted for awhile.
Well today was the day!
A Little of this & some of that.
A Little of this & some of that.
Start
Start
Moving up
Moving up
Typical spray booth
Typical spray booth
looks good
looks good
Ready to assemble & install
Ready to assemble & install
During the week it will be reassembled, this louvered hood will be on the TrackBird for Track Day.

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Thu May 28, 2020 10:28 am
by Fred32v
The false inserts were painted black. The hood is completely reassembled.
front view
front view
VERY Shiny, old hood in background
VERY Shiny, old hood in background
rear view
rear view
Ready to be put on the TrackBird.

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 2:59 pm
by Fred32v
BP and I installed the freshly painted louvered hood onto the TrackBird.
Driver side view
Driver side view
Front end
Front end
Passenger side view
Passenger side view
Then it was time for me to test drive the new hood,
it just adds to the fun!

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 10:07 am
by Basement Paul
Outside pics.

-BP

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 12:37 pm
by wxo
It looks too good to be a race car. 8)

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 4:39 pm
by Fred32v
The TrackBird Team has added Simpson Neck bracing to our safety wardrobe.
So I took some time to practice putting on the helmet and neck bracing.
Then I practiced getting in and out of the TrackBird so I would look really cool going in and out.
Riding Shotgun
Riding Shotgun
Behind the wheel
Behind the wheel
Sure looking forward to the MostMint One's Nelson Ledges Track Day.

(Maybe been sequestered to long.)

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:13 pm
by Basement Paul
How could you NOT look cool?

The weather is supposed to be really nice.

-BP

Re: 1997 Pontiac Firebird

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:44 pm
by wxo
Fred, it looks like you might get a little taller after wearing that neck brace. :mrgreen: