My "baby" is coming back to me (91 Firebird Formula)

dnoraker

dnoraker

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Messages
262
Reaction score
0
So, I had this weird dream last night that I bought back my 91 Firebird that I sold about 7-8 years ago to pay some bills, and in the dream I caught someone dinging it with their door and I chewed them out. When I was eating breakfast this morning, I decided to see what the old Firebird market was like these days. Lo and behold, there was my car for sale! The guy that bought it from me was letting it go to help finance his Cadillac purchase.

At first my wife was like "NOOOO!!!" but thinking about it more, she decided to give me the go-ahead. It was the car I was driving when we met and dated and we even had pictures taken in it at our wedding. We've heard too many stories of people letting go of a special vehicle and wishing they hadn't, and maybe even tried to find it later to no avail. We didn't want to be in that position again. It's not my dream car, but it's special to us and it's something I can work on with my son as he gets old enough (he's 5 now).

What's funny about the car is that I sold it about the time I started getting on detailing forums and the last thing I did with it was hand polish it, probably with a terry cloth and Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner. It still has little swirls from that because it wasn't clean enough when I did it. I can't wait to get it in my garage and go to town with my current arsenal of 4 buffers and a pile of compounds and polishes, plus the extractor and steamer, and get that thing looking like the day I bought it.

Car info:
91 Firebird Formula 5.0 TPI
5-speed manual
dual cats
level 3 suspension (the stiffest...this thing corners like it's on rails)
t-tops
gray cloth seats
171k babied miles (I owned from 87k-155k; drove it all the time)
lots of dings and some scratches, so this is going to be more of a driver than a show car, but I'll get it shined up nice.

I'll get some pics up when I get it and start working on it.
 
Nice, LB9 WS6 and a 5sp too. They didn't make very many of those. I do believe the Formula being the lightest of all the third gens and the manual being better than the slush-o-matic 700R4 made that paticular car faster than the B2L L98 350 cars. I almost bought a blue one 10 years ago with a similar set up. Looking forward to pictures.
 
The only way this story could get more sentimental is if you could get the same haircut that the guys who bought these cars back in '91 had...business in front; party in back! :D
 
dnoraker said:
We've heard too many stories of people letting go of a special vehicle and wishing they hadn't, and maybe even tried to find it later to no avail.
Click to expand...

That's me... I searched for my Sanger Drag Boat but to no avail...


dnoraker said:
It's not my dream car, but it's special to us and it's something I can work on with my son as he gets old enough (he's 5 now).
Click to expand...

That's all that's important...


Congratulations!


:)
 
flamed03vert said:
Nice, LB9 WS6 and a 5sp too. They didn't make very many of those. I do believe the Formula being the lightest of all the third gens and the manual being better than the slush-o-matic 700R4 made that paticular car faster than the B2L L98 350 cars. I almost bought a blue one 10 years ago with a similar set up. Looking forward to pictures.
Click to expand...

I think there were around 3500 LB9s with manuals. I believe mine has all the options, so it may even be more rare. I've heard that these were faster than the Trans Am because of the weight. Maybe the gearing as well. It certainly is fun to drive and sounds great. Gas mileage isn't bad, either. I used to get 19-20mpg mixed toward the hwy side and I think 24mpg straight hwy.
 
HotRodJoe said:
The only way this story could get more sentimental is if you could get the same haircut that the guys who bought these cars back in '91 had...business in front; party in back! :D
Click to expand...

I could....

I actually bought the car from a retired couple who bought it new. What's funny is that I was pulled over for expired tabs a few months later (they were under the armrest) and they told me the previous owners were wanted for check fraud. WHAT??? DID NOT match the people I bought the car from at all! However, judging by it having the original PCV and a very old, if not original, air filter, I'm guessing they were having financial problems. Oh well- I took care of it, drove the heck out of it, and it still runs great!
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
That's me... I searched for my Sanger Drag Boat but to no avail...




That's all that's important...


Congratulations!


:)
Click to expand...

I think I'll get my boy on a DA soon with the Firebird (with me very close by and a light polish and finishing pad!). He's very good with tools already. He runs the power washer for me when we wash my Suburban.

Down the road he and I can figure out how to swap in some go-fast parts.

He's getting excited about it and keeps asking me when we're going to get it. Though, he keeps associating the "fire" in "firebird" with the Snot Rod in the movie "Cars". He's probably going to ask me where it shoots out the flames.
 
Here is a picture (of a picture behind glass in a frame) of the car on our wedding day. Notice how bald the edge of the tire is. It rained before and during the wedding, but the sun came out right after and I happened to have some terry clothes in the back seat (for when the t-tops leaked) so we were able to wipe the rain drops off and take some pictures.

Process (haha):
- wash with whatever I had
- wax with whatever I had
- wipe rain off with dry terry cloth

don't laugh...you don't know what you don't know. This was June 28, 2003. A couple years before I owned a DA.

IMG_8675.JPG
 
Cool history with that car.

Good luck with the new project. I hope to see it around town!

Randy
 
Congratulations! My father was a GM dealer for 25 years and I used to order cars for a period of time. I would always order in a Formula for myself to drive. 5 speed, 305, 3:73 rear end, T-bar roof and a stereo with a sub-woofer. I thought those were the coolest cars on the road. You could rev it to about 2 grand, pop the clutch and just smoke the tires with that rear end too! Man, talk about memories!! That brought back a flood!
 
Very Cool Story! Glad your getting her back.

I love the fact that the tux vests and the Bridesmaid dresses match the color of the car!:dblthumb2:

Have fun with it....and with your son. Look forward to some new pics.
 
dad07 said:
Very Cool Story! Glad your getting her back.

I love the fact that the tux vests and the Bridesmaid dresses match the color of the car!:dblthumb2:

Have fun with it....and with your son. Look forward to some new pics.
Click to expand...

What's funny is that the dress color was picked without trying to match the car. It was a happy coincidence that provided a very cool picture to hang on the wall. :xyxthumbs:

On a side note, we've been married for over 9 years now. This is a great early 10-year anniversary present for me. She wants another band on her ring. That will be much cheaper! :dblthumb2:


richy said:
Congratulations! My father was a GM dealer for 25 years and I used to order cars for a period of time. I would always order in a Formula for myself to drive. 5 speed, 305, 3:73 rear end, T-bar roof and a stereo with a sub-woofer. I thought those were the coolest cars on the road. You could rev it to about 2 grand, pop the clutch and just smoke the tires with that rear end too! Man, talk about memories!! That brought back a flood!
Click to expand...

Nice! I've missed the t-bar every summer since I sold it. There were so many days where I said "man, this would be a perfect day for the Firebird".

I think mine has a 3.42 rear end, at least according to thirdgen.org. It sure pulled hard from a stop. I don't know that I ever truly smoked the tires on it, but I got a little squeal here and there. Enough to have to replace them every 20k!
 
Here is me pulling in the driveway for the first time in over 7 years:

Firebird Homecoming - YouTube

I can't wait to get working on this thing, as it needs a lot of help. I spent over an hour just on windows tonight. They were covered in paint overspray or something. The paint is pretty shredded up. The guy had no clue how to take care of the paint and I saw him wiping it with a dry terry cloth.
 
Congrats! You must feel like a million bucks :D can't wait to see pics
 
its always great to bring an old car home!

I did the same with an old subaru several years ago. For all the parts I replaced and cleaned, one of the best was replacing the drivers seat foam!

Sounds crazy, but having my bum nestled in a depression of another person just made the car feel foreign. After replacing the seat foam, I was "home" again.

chris<pixelmonkey>:D
 
Congrats Dan!

I know I wish I could have my Monte Carlo SS again. :(
 
Cool story. Hmmm...a 5 year old running the power washer...I'm guessing you've been wet a few times. lol
 
pixelmonkey said:
its always great to bring an old car home!

I did the same with an old subaru several years ago. For all the parts I replaced and cleaned, one of the best was replacing the drivers seat foam!

Sounds crazy, but having my bum nestled in a depression of another person just made the car feel foreign. After replacing the seat foam, I was "home" again.

chris<pixelmonkey>:D
Click to expand...

I may need to re-foam the left side of the drivers seat. The interim owner was fairly large. I always lifted out over the edge so that didn't happen. The cloth is in great shape, though.

RaskyR1 said:
Congrats Dan!

I know I wish I could have my Monte Carlo SS again. :(
Click to expand...

Ya dude. That would be sweet. My step-grandmother had an 84 SS and it was the first sports car I ever rode in. My step-dad still has his dad's 74 Monte with a 454. It's a hog, but it sounds cool.

DaveT435 said:
Cool story. Hmmm...a 5 year old running the power washer...I'm guessing you've been wet a few times. lol
Click to expand...

I usually steer clear, but I'll sometimes get sprayed underneath my truck or occasionally over the top. Thankfully, it's only an electric washer with a lower flow rate and I use the 40 deg tip. He's actually pretty good with it, though. I had him power wash my front steps and landscaping block as well. I had to touch it up, but he got most of it clean.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top