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93-02 General Tech/Discussion 1993-2002 Firebird/Trans Am General Tech/Discussion

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  #21  
Old 06-26-2014, 10:44 PM
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LS1, I presume?

As for that socket, it resembles a regular impact socket but it has hardened, sharp, left hand, coarse threads that cut into the outside of the locking lug nut and then you slowly use a breaker bar to remove the lug. Never use an impact as that just turns the socket into a lathe and shaves away the outside of the lug nut.
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  #22  
Old 06-26-2014, 10:49 PM
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I gotta say, I am liking these forth gen cars more and more. The car just screams! It rides and handles so nicely.

The new Auto Custom Carpet set arrived today. I'll let it sit a week or so to regain its shape before we gut the interior and replace the cigarette-smelling, original carpet set.

Do these cars have a broadcast sheet under the carpet or in the seats like the second gen cars?
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  #23  
Old 06-26-2014, 11:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by njsteve View Post
LS1, I presume?

As for that socket, it resembles a regular impact socket but it has hardened, sharp, left hand, coarse threads that cut into the outside of the locking lug nut and then you slowly use a breaker bar to remove the lug. Never use an impact as that just turns the socket into a lathe and shaves away the outside of the lug nut.
Yeah that's a LS1 block.

I have taken off dozens of sets of them with a hammered on socket and impact and never had an issue with it.....if the lug nuts stuck on there hard enough to round off the sides with a socket that's too small for it to start with (which I think is actually impossible the way I am talking about doing it) then you WILL twist the stud off before you round off the sides of the lug nut.
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  #24  
Old 06-27-2014, 07:13 AM
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There are a whole series of special lug removing sockets for the different styles of locks. My local mechanic sent me home with 8 of his to take off the lugs on my BBS wheels. They would also hammer on but had reverse threads to them so they would bite the lock - all you had to do was pick the one with the correct taper angle and the right diameter.

Cats out of the bag on the LS1/LS6 blocks now! Is there an identifying code on the RPO tag or were they just used as they came down the line? I understand quite a few of the 02 collector's editions got the LS-6.
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  #25  
Old 06-27-2014, 09:33 AM
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Quote:
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There are a whole series of special lug removing sockets for the different styles of locks. My local mechanic sent me home with 8 of his to take off the lugs on my BBS wheels. They would also hammer on but had reverse threads to them so they would bite the lock - all you had to do was pick the one with the correct taper angle and the right diameter.

Cats out of the bag on the LS1/LS6 blocks now! Is there an identifying code on the RPO tag or were they just used as they came down the line? I understand quite a few of the 02 collector's editions got the LS-6.
There's no rpo code they seem to have just been used at random. I have had 50 or so 02s and about 10-15% have had LS6 blocks. People say (mostly people with LS1 block cars) say there's no difference performance wise but there absolutely is...those cars are what a lot of people call the factory freaks because they are a noticeably stronger. I think GM Hitech did an article on them in 03 or 04 and dynoed two identical z28s and the ls6 block car made about 20hp more. Again the counter is it's the same heads cam and intake so it should make the same power but I can tell you you can feel the difference.

As for CETAs having more ls6s than average...total BS. They are just as random...I have had 5 and only 1 had the ls6 block. In fact if you look close you will see the pic below with a ls1 block is of a CETA.
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  #26  
Old 06-27-2014, 06:59 PM
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The new bump stops arrived today from Hendrick Motors in NC. They had a pair on the shelf down there. You can see that they are made of some weird, yellow, hardened foam. The originals just crumbled away after 13 years.

At least the bolts loosened nicely with some PB Blaster. The aluminum spacers were part of the modifications done by ASC during the factory WS6 package upgrade. The WS6 cars came with 17 rims so they had to use the aluminum spacers to lower the bump stops, in order to prevent the tires from bottoming out in the wheel wells.

Here you can see how the original foam section is gone, leaving only the metal backing bolted to the spacer.



The new snubber next to the spacer.



And after the boy installed it. Another successful afternoon project.


Last edited by njsteve; 06-27-2014 at 07:28 PM.
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  #27  
Old 06-28-2014, 07:34 AM
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Look at all of those original line tags! A surprising amount of pitting on some of those parts considering how well she cared for it - damp basement garage Steve? You're going to have to get your kiddie pool and sprinkler setup back out!

These 4th gen birds are blazingly fast cars - hard to keep your foot out of the pedal!
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  #28  
Old 06-28-2014, 08:08 AM
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Damp ground actually - always parked outside in the pine barrens. Yeah, it's gonna take some derusting after we hand scrub the underside. Can't use a pressure washer as we don't want to lose all those tags.
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  #29  
Old 07-10-2014, 06:15 PM
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Default 😎 GLAD IT'S 6SPD 😎

I'm crying tears of joy, as you got a 6 SPD !

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  #30  
Old 07-10-2014, 08:08 PM
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It's incentive to make the kids want to learn how to drive a manual transmission.

An added plus is that the 6-speeds get around 30 mpg highway!
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  #31  
Old 07-11-2014, 01:53 PM
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I'll admit that I am jealous.

Beautiful car and I am currently looking for one but I did not get enough cash from the sale of my '81 and we have a baby arriving anytime in the next couple of weeks.
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  #32  
Old 07-11-2014, 09:24 PM
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We got back from camping a couple days ago. Nothing like spending a week in the middle of no-where in the July heat, with no A/C and then have the A/C go out on the truck the moment you start the 300 mile trip back home. Ugh! It was like a Clark Griswold family vacation nightmare from the 1960's. I ended up ordering a new condenser from rockauto while on the road and it was delivered just in time for our arrival at the homestead. I then spent an evening at my buddy's garage installing it. After 19 years, the original condenser sprung a leak at the factory seam. The new AC/Delco unit bolted right up...after some modification to the original brackets.

So the next day me and the boy tackled the smoke impregnated factory carpet. I had him remove everything and he did very well. I'm glad we pulled the old carpet since it appears that the prior owner must have tried to clean the driver's foot well area and soaked the carpet so badly that the jute and the foam padding was too wet to reuse.

Here's the boy hard at work removing the rear seat attachments. He spent most of the day with me (9:00 AM to around 4:00 PM when he dumped me to go to a movie with his sister). The kid has no stamina.




And here is the old carpet once we pulled it out. Many cups of coffee found their way onto the floor by the cup holder area of the console. And the driver's foot well section was just as nasty. We ended up pulling off and reusing all the factory jute backing sections from every spot but the driver's seat area, since that was soaked and moldy smelling.



And the nice clean floor area...after vacuuming. We found $1.95 in change!


Last edited by njsteve; 07-11-2014 at 09:43 PM.
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  #33  
Old 07-11-2014, 09:25 PM
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That new carpet from Auto Custom Carpet weighed a ton with the optional rubberized backing. To add to the grief is the fact that the Firebird used a one-piece carpet that goes from the dash to the rear hatch area. It took a very long time to get it centered and then installed. I quit at 9:00 PM after getting the carpet in and the surrounding moldings.




I pulled out the factory foam backed headliner and gently scrubbed it with a damp cloth soaked with dishwashing detergent and water. I let it dry overnight and Fabreze'd the heck out of it the next day. That seemed to work to get the smoke out.
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  #34  
Old 07-12-2014, 07:00 AM
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Lots of work, but real nice condition underneath!

I've found that most of these I've looked at were far better protected from the elements than the old cars. Coatings in most cases, even on the 80's cars, protected them well. Paint is another story however.
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  #35  
Old 07-12-2014, 02:44 PM
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Here's the finished product. After scrubbing all the seats and applying leather preservative, my son and I spent the afternoon reinstalling it all. The car actually smells nice now. No more smoke residue.





I was able to salvage the cracked polypropylene seat bolster by using the plastic welder and extra polypropylene welding rods. The repair is underneath and on the back side so it is invisible unless you remove the seats.

I also used some flexible bumper repair material, supported by wire mesh, along with a couple zip-ties, to the pull the two large cracks together on the driver's door panel and then permanently repair the cracks. There is still a visible repair spot but not nearly as visible as the original 1/16" fractures.

We pulled the passenger side panel to reconnoiter the condition and found one tiny crack about to start in the same locations - the 90 degree angles that are cut into the panel where the inner weatherstrip attaches. We removed the factory staples, reinstalled new staples in a non-stressed locations and then used the flexible bumper repair material to form a layer of internal bracing to the area.

All is well now, until we can find a nice unbroken (and inexpensive) driver's side panel.

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  #36  
Old 07-12-2014, 07:36 PM
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We went out to the local cruise night tonight and the Firebird and Camaro just so happened to be tonight's featured car. There were several dozen first, second, third, and fourth gen Firebirds there. Another black WS6 pulled in and parked next to me right after this photo was taken. (It was an 2002 with an automatic...and a baby seat in the back.)



Thanks to 97ramsst, I now have an original black front license plate filler panel in place. The car looks so much nicer with the giant ugly plate area filled in.
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  #37  
Old 07-15-2014, 04:43 PM
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Just picked this up today off of a 1997 Firebird in a local salvage yard. If the paint was a little bit better I could have used it as is, but the clear coat is crackling from sitting out so long. Now comes the fun part of carefully removing it from the steel frame.

BTW, what is the small triangular trim piece by the lower edge, held on with?

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  #38  
Old 07-18-2014, 12:14 AM
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I have those exact same Ebony seats in my '72... I really like them.. Cool car I have a had a couple 4th gen.. Awsome cars, and yours/his in sweet shape! So, does it get to sleep in the garage??
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  #39  
Old 07-18-2014, 06:13 AM
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They sit side by side. I posted a garage photo on the prior page. That blue ragtop is a rare piece. Looks like a 99? Wasn't that the only year for that blue color?
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  #40  
Old 07-18-2014, 12:50 PM
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The rare one is the Purple 88U code car in '98, I know a girl who has one in a ragtop.
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