1989 Carroll Supercharged 350 Vho Formula 1 Of 2 on 2040-cars

VIN: 1g2fs2189kl204760 Year: 1989
Number of Cylinders: 8
Make: Pontiac
Model: Firebird
Trim: Formula Coupe 2-Door
Warranty: Vehicle does NOT have an existing warranty
Drive Type: RWD
Options: CD Player
Mileage: 30,700
Power Options: Air Conditioning, Cruise Control, Power Locks, Power Windows
Sub Model: 350
Exterior Color: Black
Interior Color: Gray

Condition: Used: A vehicle is considered used if it has been registered and issued a title. Used vehicles have had at least one previous owner. The condition of the exterior, interior and engine can vary depending on the vehicle's history. See the seller's listing for full details and description of any imperfections. ... 

Here is your chance to own 1 of the Top 10 or so rarest (by number built) Third Generation GM F-Bodies ever created. Referenced as a tuner car in John Gunnell's book, "Firebird Illustrated Buyer's Guide, 2nd Edition" with a 4 of 5-star collectibility rating. Buy it before Third Gens take off.

More rare than most of the SLP Firehawks, the Tojans, and the 1989 Turbo Trans Am or Trans Am Pace Cars. See for yourself here in Post #1: http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/hi...re-asking.html (READ ME! Before asking "Is my car rare/Desirable?")

#4 of 4 Supercharged 350 VHO Formulas built by The Caroll Supercharging Company in NJ (now called BlowerWorks) and sold & warrantied through 3 Pontiac dealerships in NJ. Car sold for over $28,000 when new!

Amazing research and documentation!

1 of only 2 left in existence! The other VHO is a Red '88 and was featured on the cover of the June 1988 issue of High Performance Pontiac Magazine with the article titled, "Bird Under Pressure."

History: a 1987 Silver VHO prototype was later dismantled and sold off, the Red 1988 VHO still exists, a White 1988 VHO was sadly totalled, and finally THIS last 1989 Black VHO.

I am the 2nd Owner. 30,700 original miles. I have spent the last year cleaning up and restoring this car to my goal of off-the-floor originality and best condition given its age.

NOTE: Unless the car sells quickly, I will most likely put some miles on this car (a show or cruise) while it is for sale - perhaps 100 or less.

The documentation is incredible: the option sheet is still in the console, window sticker, Carroll VHO option stickers from window at dealership, Carroll VHO owners binder, owners manual, bill of sale between dealer and original owner, original build pictures from 1989, pictures of the other VHO cars, the 1988 HPP magazine that features the Red VHO and so much more that I'll try to capture in pictures.

This Black VHO was featured as the cover car and cover car story for pontiacregistry dot com for December, 2011.

I have hundreds of pictures so if you don't see something in the listing pictures, please contact me and I will send you a picture. I also have a few videos if interested.
 
  
What Came with the Carroll Supercharged 350 VHO Package?

• Paxton supercharger system with mild 5-6 psi of boost giving this bird 400HP and 475TQ! Low 13-second 1/4-mile times off the showroom floor.
• Huge air intake system with a K&N filter.
• A Water Injection System that sprays the intake air when under boost. 50/50 denatured alcohol & distilled water. SS medical pump system.
• Unique VDO Hood Gauges indicating Manifold Pressure, Fuel Pressure, and Trans. Fluid Temp.
• Concealed Whistler Remote Radar Detector with a factory-look strength indicator number.
• Aluminum Roller Rocker Arms.
• Ultra Sound 3003 Trunk Stereo Speaker System with Precision Power PPI 2300M Amp.
• Fram Racing HP4 Oil Filter.
• Remote Transmission Oil Cooler.
• 170 degree Thermostat plus radiator fans turn on at 185 degrees.
• Engine coolant expansion tank mounted under the front passenger side.
• Jacobs ignition computer spark module.
• Jacobs 8mm energy core spark plug wires.
• Jacobs toggle switch to change between factory ignition and Jacobs ignition.
• Spark plugs that are 1 to 2 ranges colder.
• Jacobs Rev Limiter.
• Extensive fusing and wiring.
• OE-look dash switches for water injection system.
• OE-look dash switches for rear amplifier.
• VHO-specific decals and badges all over the car: doors, rear bumper, front bumper, hood, door handles, etc.
• Carroll-specific Mud Guards with badges, front and rear.

My rebuild. Through painstaking research, speaking with Greg Carroll himself and the original owner; I was able to determine exactly what this car had and didn't have, how it was optioned, what was stock, what was not stock, etc. I spent the last year tearing down, replacing as much as I could with OE parts, repairing or replacing broken or rusty parts and making sure the car was put back to as original as possible.

Interior is awesome. Luckily the car was not a t-top car so there were no leaks, no musty smell and the rugs are in great condition. I haven't even shampoo'd them. I did replace the headliner with a whole complete nicely used unit since it was sagging. Sail panels were replaced too. I installed a great condition console lid, I repaired the console which are known to separate over time. Dashpad is original and perfect. All missing or improper screws and bolts were replaced with OE ones. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the interior a 9.

Exterior. Like many Van Nuys cars from this time period, it had paint fade according to the original owner. So, about 3-4 years into ownership, the car was repainted under warranty. Since then, the paint has held up pretty good. I spent considerable time bringing the shine back. The paint is NOT perfect. There are many scratches and gouges that you can see in the pictures but I decided to leave them as-is and not try to hide them nor did I want to repaint the car. There are some minor dings and some wear marks around some molding and edges. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the paint a 6 for its age and for spending its life outside!

Body and frame. Please look at the pictures and judge for yourself. There is minor rust here and there, mostly in suspension, rear pumpkin, etc from sitting outside for years. Overall, the body and frame are in really good condition. Anything I could repair myself, I did. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the body and frame a 7. The car was never in an accident that I can determine, nothing showed on any reports, and I've spent considerable time to this day with the original owner to think anything to the contrary.

Engine compartment. Pretty amazing. I went through and took apart everything, replaced what was missing, routed everything to its proper spots, repaired what needed it, replaced anything broken, rotted, cracked, etc. I took great care at replacing parts with either OE parts or parts and builds that exactly matched what Carroll used when he built the VHO. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would given the engine compartment a 9.

Sound System. Once again, I opted to keep it original. I had the optional factory GM Delco AM/FM/CD player repaired to perfect working condition. All nice OE factory speakers were put back in and all wiring was spec'd and run exactly like Carroll did it for the VHO package. I got many of the parts from Carroll himself. The sound system sounds good. Perhaps not how we would build one today but for 1989, this sound system was ear blowing. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the sound system a 9.

How does it run? Great. Once again, whether it was a new battery, a fuse, new plugs, a solenoid, etc, I made sure to get this car in excellent running condition. She starts great. Runs great. Runs very cool for a Formula 350. Trans cooler works great. The idle is excellent thanks to brand new Bosch III Corvette injectors. On a scale of 1 to 10, for running and driveability characteristics, I would give it a 8.5.

Transmission. Having owned several GM sports cars from this era with auto transmissions (which I always despised), this one is awesome. It has a B&M shift kit that really helps. It does not jerk or bang. The shifts are smooth and precise. I am actually amazed by how well the transmission feels in this car. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the transmission a 10.

Performance? It's a beast. 400hp/475TQ and 3500 or so pounds.....what do you think? Smokes the tires at will which I've only done honestly to make sure there was enough fuel pressure and air being fed to the car under all driving conditions. I have not and will not race or beat this car.

What does it need? An alignment, it could use two new rubber valve stems, struts/shocks and maybe some new bushings if I were to keep the car. That's it.

Is there anything from the original Carroll VHO package that does not work? After 22 years, the "brain" on the Jacobs ignition has gotten iffy. Some days it works, other days it does not. Fortunately, there is a nice connector near the distributor that allows you to easily switch between Jacobs and stock. I have it on stock ignition and the care runs great. Because of this, the toggle switch mounted on the front end filler panel does nothing when its on factory ignition. The solenoid valve for the water injection system was replaced with a modern valve spec'd and sold to me by Greg Carroll himself.

Is there anything from the original Pontiac Formula 350 that is not stock? The original owner installed a B&M Shift Improver Kit. Anyone who has any experience with a TH700R4 auto transmission from this era will tell you that this mod was a great move on the owners part. Additionally, the factory torque converter was replaced with an aftermarket B&M torque converter. I have the original TC also. The original owner does not recall the stall rpm but after my driving and testing of the car, the car is so streetable and tame that it must only be about 2800 or so. It's not noticeable to me at all. Car has about 5,000-10,000 miles on it with this TC.

Fluids. Mostly all synthetic. Mobil1 for engine oil. GM Dex6 for the trans. RP Max Gear Oil for the rear. New trans gasket and fluid. New rear diff gasket and fluid. Under visual inspection, I could not find one sign of damage or abuse to the trans or the rear gears. Original owner took care of this car.

Why are the miles so low? Car was driven by original owner's wife for about 4-5 years. There was a divorce. Car was then driven for about 2 years. A medical issue, then the car sat in a driveway for 15 years!

How was the Formula 350 equipped, anything to note? Dealer installed RARE CD player option, Front and rear disk brakes, G80/GW6 limited slip with 3.27 ratio, rear shade still in great shape, power mirrors, rear defogger, cassette holder, WS6 package, WX1 two-tone DELETE i.e. all Black, fixed antenna.

How is the tail? The original rubber OE tail was bad. It disintegrated as many of them do. I found another OE rubber tail, had it repaired and refinished and put on the car. The rubber tail is in great shape. The paint has some bubbles. Given its age and having an original OE rubber tail, I am going to leave it that way. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the tail a 8.

What else was repaired, replaced or rejuvenated? Intake and plenum were cleaned, all supercharger aluminum was polished, engine and bay were cleaned, exact VDO fuel pressure gauge was replaced, original hood gauge bezel was replaced with another original one from Carroll, VHO-package coolant expansion tank was replaced with the exact match, many hoses (rubber and cloth-braided) were replaced with exact matches, battery tray was replaced with OE replacement, Jacobs ignition was rewired, OE coil was replaced with OE, headlight motor internal wear parts were replaced so they now work flawlessly, water injection pump was restored, K&N filter replaced, air intake hose replaced with exact match, any rusty metal part in front end bumper or engine area was either replaced or repaired, a used but original and rare hood blanket was installed, original front and side speakers installed, nicer tail light center "bird" piece installed, I replaced the exhaust pipe that runs from the cat to the muffler, the OE muffler is like new because the owner took it off but kept it and ran a flowmaster that I took off when I got the car, new spark plugs and all new fluids, new rubber/felt outer lower door window sweep moldings and much much more.

I have all receipts and records of my restoration work.

You will also get any spare, original or extra parts I have for the car - I have a couple boxes of parts.

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I strive to deliver exactly what you expect but please ask if you are uncertain about anything.