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1979 Pontiac Formula Firebird 455 Restomod Clone on 2040-cars

Year:1979 Mileage:108000
Location:

Wilmington, Delaware, United States

Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Advertising:

Hello

I am selling my 1979 Formula Firebird Clone. Guess some would call it a restomod, however the car was made to look original right down to the 1977 Formula stripes, 1974 455 Super Duty spec motor, 1977 Formula Orbit stripes etc. I built this car from the ground up and have over 300 hours in it. So here goes the description.

I am the third owner, and have watched this car since 1984. In 1988 the 301 engine locked up and it sat on a street by my families house. It was a factory Zeebart seal job when it was sold new at a local dealership. The car had zero rust which you rarely see. The car was factory silver but was changed to black base coat clear coat back then. I watched the car change hands three time to friends of mine who had hopes of restoring it someday (the title was never transferred by any of them). It was stored inside most of its life from garage to garage.

I finally had chance to purchase the car a few years back and so began the restoration..........The car was stripped, the entire drivetrain including the rear thrown away. The interior was completely removed for restore. The shell was then sent out for strip and paint (absolutely no rust). Upon stripping the drivers door was found to have light bondo in it from a deep scratch. We skinned it. The car was stripped due to clear peeling. It was then painted in base clear (jams, engine compartment and trunk included). I then spent numerous hours wet sanding and buffing the car out. The pictures tell no lies, as there was even dust on it as I was taking the pics. I then floated on Pheonix Graphis stripes for a 1977 Formula. I chose the Orbit scheme that was on the GTO's. Flawless install, super straight no air bubbles. Brand new wheel package included custom offset rear PMD's, approx 10 inches wide tucked perfectly under the quarters with 255/6015 BFG,s. The front PMD,s are 7 inches wide with 225/70R15 BFG,s. Bobo tires are unacceptable.

The drivetrain took on a old school approach. A 1974 Pontaic Wagon motor built to super duty specs which I had in my 1974 Trans Am at one time was installed. Forged internals, steel crank, 9.85 to1 compression. Ported and polished heads (forgot casting number), Hydraulic cam by Butler Performance, roller rockers, modified 850cfm quadrajet, cast 4bble intake, Hooker Headers etc (this motor with a wide ratio 4spd M20 ran 12.8 in the quarter with 3.42 gears).

Exhaust is 2.5 inches into Flow Masters, and 2.5 inch Pontiac Hockey stick tailpipes like that of 1974 and earlier Firebird's. Underhood looks factory and unmodified other than the air cleaner for clearance and MT valve covers to clear the roller rockers. The AC system was the only thing saved and reinstalled. All brackets for alternator and power steering are OEM, no cutting or rigging.

I then had a turbo 350 built up with all the good stuff including heavy duty spragg and 2900 stahl converter. The rear is a 10 bolt, all new including axles, trutrac posi, richmond 3.42's, bearings and seals.

The drivetrain is turn key, the choke horn modified so no choke. Can't say enough about how well this car runs and drives. Just roasts the tires with a touch of the pedal. Stops and handles amazingly, with no shakes and / or rattles.

The interior is for the most most all new. I recovered the seats, new carpet, new headliner, restored center console with plate, new inner door handles, door sill plates , rear packagae tray. Absolutely gorgeous original dash with no cracks. The interior is beatiful with all factory gauges working. No funky tach or gauges, again factory original look and operation.

Serious bidders only please. I will not release the reserve..................I can tell you however 10000.00 will not get this car. I believe the reserve is reasonable. You may see the car any time with an appointment. Thanks for looking 302-229-0844

NO OUT OF THE COUNTRY SALES

 

 

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Junkyard Gem: 1992 Pontiac Firebird

Mon, Dec 18 2023

Last spring, this series featured a 1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS in a Northern California junkyard, an example of the final model year for the highly successful third-generation GM F-Body. On a later visit to that yard, I spotted the Pontiac sibling to that car, a Firebird that was born the same year at the same Southern California factory. When the Chevrolet Division introduced the first Camaro as a 1967 model, the Pontiac Division got its own version of the F-Body called the Firebird. While the two cars were built on the same chassis and looked very similar, the first-generation Camaros got Chevrolet engines while their Firebird colleagues got Pontiac engines (including the innovative SOHC straight-six). The 1970-1981 second-generation Firebirds still had some Pontiac-only engines, but Chevrolet and Oldsmobile power crept under some hoods during that period. The third-generation Firebirds first appeared as 1982 models, and they drew from near-identical stockpiles of GM running gear (including the distinctly agricultural Iron Duke four-banger, which could be considered a Pontiac-derived engine). When the Camaro got the axe after 2002, the Firebird's neck was put on the same chopping block. When the Camaro returned for 2010, the Pontiac brand was sputtering to an agonized halt during its final year and there was no chance of the Firebird's return. This car is a fairly ordinary coupe, though it does have the mid-grade 205-horsepower 5.0-liter Chevrolet small-block V8 instead of the base 140-horse 3.1-liter V6. A 5.7-liter small-block was available as well. A five-speed manual transmission was base equipment, but few Americans wanted a three-pedal setup by the early 1990s. This car has the optional four-speed automatic. The MSRP with 5.0 engine, automatic transmission and air conditioning (which this car has) started at $14,304. That's about $31,868 in 2023 dollars. It was built at Van Nuys Assembly in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County. By the dawn of the 1990s, the Camaros and Firebirds made at Van Nuys Assembly had become known as the worst-built GM cars made in North America, and the plant was shut down forever soon after this car was built. Today, a shopping mall lives where the factory once stood. This car managed to drive more than 150,000 miles during its life, so it beat the odds. The thrid-gen F-Body was pretty antiquated by the early 1990s, but the fourth-gen cars handled better and looked up-to-date for the era.

Junkyard Gem: 1997 Pontiac Sunfire SE Convertible

Sun, Mar 5 2023

For the entire 24-year production run of the GM J platform (best known for the Chevrolet Cavalier), the Pontiac Division offered new J-Body cars for sale in the United States. First there was the J2000, followed in quick succession by the 2000, 2000 Sunbird and Sunbird. The Sunbird stuck around until the Cavalier got a major redesign for the 1995 model year, at which point Pontiac changed the car's name to Sunfire. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those early Sunfires, a top-of-the-line SE convertible with the optional big engine and manual transmission. The Sunfire was an extremely close sibling to the same-year Cavalier (by the late 1980s, all the other US-market GM divisions had dropped their J-cars, which meant no more Skyhawks, Cimarrons or Firenzas), quite difficult to distinguish from its near-twin at a glance. The base engine for the 1997 Sunfire convertible was the pushrod 2.2-liter straight-four that powered so many J-bodies of the 1990s. That engine produced just 120 gnashing, valve-floating horsepower, not much by late-1990s standards. For a mere 450 additional dollars, however, the 2.4-liter Twin Cam engine and its high-revving 150 horses could be had by '97 Sunfire buyers. That's what's in this car. This is one of the members of the Oldsmobile Quad 4 family, though some fanatics will yell at you if you apply that name to the versions that don't have big QUAD 4 lettering cast into the valve cover. This is the most powerful engine ever used in production Sunfires. For 1997, Pontiac offered a four-speed automatic transmission for no extra cost in the Sunfire convertible. Buyers of all other Sunfire models that year had to shell out either $550 or $810 ($1,026 or $1,511 in 2023 dollars) for a two-pedal rig. That means that the buyer of this car really wanted the five-speed manual transmission (or just hungered for the $810 credit offered in the fine print for takers of the manual). Plenty of free-breathing engine power, five-on-the-floor driving enjoyment and the open skies above. What a fun car! This one made it to nearly 180,000 miles. For this car with the Quad 4 under the hood and a clutch pedal on the floor, the MSRP was $18,539 (about $34,584 today). Its Cavalier LS convertible twin with the same engine/transmission setup cost $17,365 ($32,394 now). This car has a bunch of options, including the 15" Rally aluminum wheels, so the out-the-door price would have been higher. The last year for the Sunfire was 2005, same as the Cavalier.

Looking Back At Oprah's Free-Car Giveaway 10 Years Later

Fri, Sep 12 2014

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