[cliffhanger]

Dunno originality, a 5-speed tremec f.e. obviously kills the nr's matching on this one, but for one, i dont care, this is one seemingly awesome firebird! hot dang, what a ride! dont know if the BIN is reasonable, but i've seen worse reasonable BIN prices, so maybe this is not so bad at all? haven't checked the vin though, might 'just' be a esprit that is a t/a clone, but even if it is, it looks stunning!

click to ebay link

[superdutybob]

I hope you're kidding!

Screws holding the front flairs on? Enough AmourAll on the interior to preserve it for a lifetime? Stuff missing underhood? Headers all dented up. Crappy looking boot on the shifter which BTW is about 6" too long. I think this is a poor execution of a modified car.

It is a real T/A though and an original 455 Auto car. Way over priced in my book.

[2manyT/A'S]

Initially (at first glance) it looks OK,but there's LOTS to pick at here.

Armourall (Yuk!)

Things I couldn't live with;

Steering wheel,incorrect (splitter) exhaust tips,yellow plug wires,spoilers & door pull cap straps screwed on,bad header panel to fender alignment,shifer boot & no? coolant recovery bottle & fender braces,headers.

[cliffhanger]

wow, did not even see the screws holding the spoiler in place!
that does look horrible, indeed.

to be honest, i'm not up to date on what is a reasonable price lately. i've been seeing value skyrocket around here lately so i was guessing this wouldnt be such a bad deal for a real deal t/a with 455 engine. a tremec 5speed conversion would be something i'd like to do to my bird in the future, too, so kinda like that mod.

where did the passenger grab handle on the dash go? i've never seen one without?! but that could be me....?

apart from stuff missing underhood, (i assume windshield wiper reservoir f.e.?), i actually do see what seems to be a functional original airco, but, taking a look again at the floor,

am i crazy or does it look like the subframe has a 'repaired' (lousy btw) crack across the lenght of the bars??????

anyway, i actually do like the look of it. i've seen far better t/a's, offcourse, but i dont think it's that bad? kinda like a red 73 without the screaming chicken.

[x-bird2]

grab handle on the dash came with custom interior/seating. standard level had no "oh ****" handle for the passenger ;~)

[cliffhanger]

ok! learned something new again

[Norwood]

I find myself agreeing all to often with superdutybob........What's happening to me?......

[superdutybob]

Originally Posted by Norwood

I find myself agreeing all to often with superdutybob........What's happening to me?......

Next thing you know you'll be driving a sweet 74 SD 4 speed car! LOL And........the bird on the dash is in the correct location!

[thefirebirdm@n]

I agree. Way overpriced for what it is. Lots of shortcuts and stuff wrong with this car. Its really just a flipper dealer trying to sell it on the shiny red paint and big engine. First thing that caught my eye was the nose to fender alignment which is way off, screws in the spoiler, steering wheel, most of the stuff already mentioned. The lack of decals is lame too UNLESS the previous owner preferred the clean look. That I could understand is not everyone likes all the decals. Trunk spoiler is also mis-aligned and using the wrong (longer) ends. Most is cosmetic and easily fixed however their is something wrong with the rear bumper look at the gap between the bumper and tailights on each end. Either the bumper needs to be straightened or something is seriously misaligned. I didn't notice the screws in the end caps on the door pul straps. That's kind of funny actually because I usually have to do a little prying with a screwdriver to get the ones off my '73 so I have no idea why you'd need them. The door escutcheons are missing the black plastic inserts. Some of this stuff I just wonder why wouldn't someone take 5 mins to fix some of these things.

It is a nice car overall though just lots of little things to fix. Headers would concern me the most. They probably leak and are probably noisy and would be a PITA to swap. I'd be a buyer in the high teens at the most.

[Norwood]

Originally Posted by superdutybob

Next thing you know you'll be driving a sweet 74 SD 4 speed car! LOL And........the bird on the dash is in the correct location!

The "BIRD" is right where Pontiac wanted it...LOL

[2manyT/A'S]

Jus realized (having another look) WHY there are no fender to rad support braces.

It's got a 70-72 rad support in it!

(talk about BACKWARDS)

It's usually the early 70-72's that have the 73 & later rad support in them.

[Brewster]

Where did that steering wheel come from ?
Looks like the car had a custom interior but had the dash replaced due to cracking thus the lack for the oh **** handle ?
Some other things going on with the undercarriage ? would need to review other pictures to be sure.

So that metal valance is from a frontal ?

[bird72]

I don't mind missing stuff as bad as wrong stuff and buggered up stuff. That car has it all, but looks fixable pretty much. Some stuff is almost unforgivable on it, some is forgivable. The steering wheel hurts my brain and eyes. The interior looks so greasy it is gross. The seat bottoms even have drops spots on them. The screws on door pulls is chimpanzee stuff, yikes. I am not a body man but I have aligned noses better than that.

To be honest some of the stuff that bothers some here doesn't me, UNLESS the car is presented as a dead on correct original or resto. Dash pull straps there or not, that stuff. Stuff like that should be a price deduction but not a huge have to correct it deal. Unless you are going for a high end car like a couple of people are doing photo series here on (NJSteve for example), then dead on is the requirement fo sure.

I am leaving the windshield washer hoses and jug off my car, I have the parts, but got to thinking... I never would use it! I would not wash dirty bug water down into the body channels, I only hand wash the windshield. Save half a pound (more when full) and unclutter the engine bay, and I like it better. Most here cringe at that. But after I pass, next owner can bolt it back, no big deal. I have a grab handle and shouldn't, but hey, my passenger has one now and it doesn't trouble me. But if my car was a numbers matching great survivor, I would have went out of the way to find a no handle dash to put in and not the one I did.

So some on that car bugs me a couple things don't.... enough red flags you should fine tooth that car if buying.

whoever buys it can buy my spoiler end caps....

[CaptCrunch]

The belt on the disconnected AC compressor is a nice touch..........looks shake n bake to me too.........why go through the trouble to paint it nice without getting the panels straight..........

[Transamric]

HACK!!! Sorry,...coughed up a hairball after looking at that one.

[Todd Mullin]

How about the rusty and missing bolts holding on the radiator shroud.

[Batman]

Gotta love that RCSW body panel alignment (Ray Charles/Stevie Wonder)

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by Brewster

Where did that steering wheel come from ?
Looks like the car had a custom interior but had the dash replaced due to cracking thus the lack for the oh **** handle ?
Some other things going on with the undercarriage ? would need to review other pictures to be sure.

So that metal valance is from a frontal ?

Steering wheel, 160 dollars at classic industries, for 20 more dollars you can make it a Road Runner wheel, or a camaro wheel.
I just went EWWWW it stands out SO wrong on a TA.
A repop skinny wheel would have been better.

[Transamric]

Or even a much more common late '70's wheel. It's just one of those areas where you can't improve on the factories offering.

[speedshopmike]

can i get a sweet steering wheel like that from pep boys for mine?
woohoo!