I bought a 2001 Firebird showing the pandemic. It was originally ordered with the upgraded suspension, traction control, Monsoon stereo system, T-tops and leather interior. Basically a Trans Am without the LS1 and the different body panels. I love that car and plan on keeping it forever. One of these days I'll get another Trans Am when the right opportunity presents itself (I owned a 1978 Trans Am back in the 80s). Thanks for the awesome video!
Good video! I will say I've had the pleasure of owning both cars. My 1st one was a 2001 white firebird v6 drop top. So that was black. It had the premium speakers so it rocked. I really loved that car. Over all it was a good daily driver. It was garaged but over time the cloth top shrunk making the back window unseal. And of course it had the typical cracking on both doors. "I do know the reason they do that now". The door panel cracking is due to the windows being rolled down all the way.. If you look at the windows they're curved enough that it pushes against the panel when its down. I had a love for these cars and one day I came home after looking at some for sale on a break that there was one in Dallas that had just over 16k miles and was a 2002 trans am ws6 collectors edition.. I told my wife what I saw that day thinking nothing of it "we're in Utah" and she said.. you should go get it... And I was like what??!! You should go get it she says.. "Oh by the way we just reached our 15th anniversary last week!" So long story short I asked my boss if I could get the time off.. called the dealership and they had it.. I put it on hold and went and saw it and bought it.. I had both cars for a couple years but the daily driver was getting old and I wound up trading it in for my current commuter. Funny fact.. It's a Lincoln mkz hybrid.. Its a fantastic car as far as smooth, kick ass sound speakers "people look at it funny when they hear death metal blast beats from a Lincoln" But like the Pontiac firebird they quit making cars last year!! WTF! I try to buy American.. "at least north American I think they both were Canadian built" but jeezz!! Buy a fantastic car "In both cases" and they quit making em!.. Go figgure..
I had a black 98 Firebird from 2002 till 2007 when I came across a black 98 Trans Am at a car lot and gave him my Firebird and $2800 and had the TA for about 9 years so almost 15 years riding the black T-tops. It was a nice trade up although my Firebird was in a little better shape than the TA.
How i found 2 uncracked door panels for my WS6 in the pic and pull i will never know but there they were in a busted and beat V6 firebird. I now prolly have the only T/A in Tennessee with beautiful door panels. Gotta love the boneyard!
I found all your videos about the 90s f-body Firebird useful I'm on a hunt for one right now myself unfortunately used car market is still stupid inflated and I don't feel like paying over 6 grand for an early f-body Firebird with over 160,000 miles on the engine
this is a rough time of year to look. Late summer/early fall is ideal time. id imagine prices will start to become more reasonable this summer as our economic situation worsens
@@CaptainThirdGen honestly I thought winter time would have been a better time to find a sports car because all these people want to sell them to get four-wheel drive vehicles but then again I'm just going to keep saving up and holding out to find a deal
Currently looking to swap a v6 into a TA. This helps allot so i can finally get it picture perfect and historically correct. Except i plan to out the classic style ducktail spoiler on it. This vid helps allot. Thanks man
I just bought a 99 trans am same color in and out as yours. Mine is an auto, has power seat joystick and tabs for controls. I don't have power lumbar. I have the same exhaust tips and was wondrring is I have a magnaflow exhaust as it was completely redone. Mine does not have traction control but does have ABS as I beleive it is a standard feature. I have the same hood which makes it look like a V6 model. I wish it had a Firehawk hood style. Not a fan of the WS6 hood but it does give it a muscle car character. It is mostly stock down to the rims althought I wil buy 18's deep dish chrome star pattern and will probably stagger them easier steering controls. Saying that, I csme from owning a Mazda 3 and the diffrence in controls are amazingly different. Especially when jumping in each car after driving tbe other. TA steering and brakes are heavy and turning radius is large . I hop in the Mazda and it's like handling video game controls. It helps that I have 18 inch Mazda RX7 square stance wheels. I notice a few things on yours..... you don't have a baffle chamber setup on your intake. Isn''t that for harmonic resonance do facilitatte the intake valve air delivery for efficiency? I imagine that was installed from factory. The other thing is the coolant pipe that is connected to the block right under the air intake. I noticed on mine that the pipe was not seated all the way on the connector pipe. I first thought it was not installed right but the noticed that the round bell shaped pulley was so close that it may rub the coolant hose if it is intalled all the way in. Then I see yours is intalled the same way. Was it a part GM did not design to be long enough to clear pulleys I wonder? There is absolutly no rust on mine except a huge flat spot under the battery area. Perhaps an acidic splash but really, it's a big flat spot with no drain hole. My TA is currently in Canada and was since 2003. It ws made in Quebec, Canada and first sold in Florida as a US car with miles for gauges. It belinged to a Quebec resident all these years and I beleive that they don't apply salt on the roads there which is a big plus for buyjng older cars and mine was never winter driven. I changed the intake air filter with a WIX brand as reviews and stats shows performance pkus efficiency in filtering particles. I was shocked to find out that there were no cabin filters installed back then.....not sure if they installed it later. Features like child seat achors were installed in 2000. I enjoy the car but need to address tire vibrations, squeeky rear springs, upgrade the radio (monsoon system with only a few speakers working which sounds crackly) , trunk lock seized plus change a few things like install iridium spark plugs, fuel filter, serpentine belt which is cracked and chunks missing (yikes). I've seen on youtube a non WS6 TA owner adding like 20hp by removing the air intake mesh, ported the intake housing, modified the throttle cable to attain 90% opening which was a GM design trick to add restriction in order to pass emmissions tests I figure. Grinding the throttle limiter for the butterfly valve assembly is also another built in restriction mod. This mod is explained on the internet. You need a multitester to measure max opening. If not it could trow a CEL. I figure GM engineers designed these in mind that they can easilly leak that they did this and it can be modified to get max power back after buying it. Fun summer car. That rumble sound..... very addicting. I may install electronic exhaust cutouts. I don't want to change the cam in order to keep it stock as it has been kept stock all it's life. I love the idea of owning a car that goes up in value while your drive it, instead of losing value. I may change our other vehicule to do the same,
Good info, but the first half of the video is really more about the differences between Firebird and Trans Am, not V6 and V8. A Firebird Formula would be the same as the Firebird V6 with the V8 drivetrain and 155mph speedo being the only differences. The way Pontiac did the build options, all cars started as Firebirds. When the V8 option was added, you then chose either the Formula or Trans Am packages to determine the body style it would come with.
i got the v6 with the automatic transmission, got lucky it came with t-tops and I have the cable throttlebody but mine is 97 with a different front end set up along with the intake. Im going to change it where I have the ram air set up along with the hood as well. Later in the future LS swap it.
I don't need a 4-speaker system in my T/A. I just want to hear the engine. I need to make sure it's running properly. I even listen to the engine in my minivan while driving. The sound of the engine changes but the songs on the radio don't.
By the look of this one of the previous owners of mine decided to make my base v6 a little more like the Trans Am. I got their spoiler, seats, and doors.
its a factory option on late model! call the aero package. its should be there on youre rpo list! ive parted out a 2000 with that option that was 3.8 AT!
0:39 Those are 96 to 02 models of firebird I have a 95 and my front end is completely different along with my hood and headlights there's actually a lot different between mine and those but that would be the most noticeable difference the tail lights are also a different design same shape just different design mine has rectangular backup lights with a horizontal line pattern to the mold whereas those should have a round backup light with a honeycomb pattern to the mold
I have me a 2001 red Firebird convertible with black top and 6 speed auto 3.8L with black leather seats. Repainted it and had rearend rebuilt. Looks, runs, and drives like it is new.
@@Wixom2200 When I bought the car, something that drove me nuts till I figured it out. Sometimes it would start and sometimes it wouldn't start. That damn computer chip in the ignition key was sometimes shorting out and keeping it from starting. I just had a new key made and no more problems.
2:32 mine has vinyl panels and old school hand crank windows and a four speaker system with two front and two rear with 115 mph speedometer and a completely different center console
I just Bought a 99 firebird trans-am v6 for $2000 factory bone stock, and only has 121,200 on it And it runs and drives like new . I plan to make it shine like your cars , for the price I paid and the condition it’s in, no rust at all and I live in upstate New York. I pretty much won on this car .
sounds like a good deal! I found my v6 dirt cheap on craigslist because the car had to move the next day. So i damn near stole it with 95k miles on it. at 101k now still having fun with it
@@CaptainThirdGen I bought my v6 Firebird for $700 when I was 14 LOL. I'm in the process of saving up for a new cam shaft and then Going to buy the TA raised spoiler (since water pools in the stock v6 Firebird and runs off into your trunk interior when you open it).
on the v6 body kit, I like the smaller v6 spoiler. Ive seen people put the big trans am wing on the v6 cars and I dont think it fits nicely. Trans am wing definitely looks good on the trans am body kit cars though
That’s not true at all a v6 firebird isn’t nothing special it’s not fast your lucky to get 170 hp out of the original engine you can’t make a v6 firebird loud talking exhaust and if you try your a dumbass nobody wants a v6 car especially when your talking about trans am and fbody cars
I'm going to look at a 98 trans am tomorrow, it looks pretty clean & has a few aftermarket parts ( cold air intake, flow master exhaust & slotted brakes) has 140,000 mi on it. He wants $8,000 but I think that's a little high
the manual is 3.23 whether its a y87 or base. the y87 manual just had the torsen LSD with the same 3.23. The base model automatic cars had an open 3.08 diff. the Y87 automatic cars had 3.42 LSD
I had a 96’ formula, cayenne red, hooker long tubes and built Crate performance 355 LT-1. 400 crank horsepower and ran mid eleven’s at 125, but mostly just drove it as a fair weather weekend car. I miss it more than any of my ex-wives 😢😂😢😂
Observations: *Firebird rear bumper has a long horizontal opening for a European number plate. The Firebird was designed for the export market??? *Trans Am has steering wheel radio controls.
only 93-97 cars were exported. GM heavily slowed down exports after 96. The firebird just has a weird bumper for impact ratings. Firebirds could also have steering wheel controls when optioned
I hope I can find another clean pewter Trans Am from 2000-2002 if not a pewter one either black sunset orange navy blue silver or red it has to be an automatic with t/tops they are just hard to find not beat up
5:57 mine also has a completely different setup for the air box and the V6 motor and all the wiring is completely different setup for the entire car along with an older style OBD1 brain box where as those have an OBD2 brain box
does anyone know if the 3800 V6 version of the Camaro suffers from engine fire? this engine was used in Pontiac and some of their models were recalled due to engine fires.
I believe the drive by wire on the V6 cars started in 99 or '00. 96-98 or 99 they were drive by cable and the intake where the throttle bodies connected were angled down a little. Never was sure why they angled them down, but they did nonetheless. I myself have an 02 Firebird with the V6 and 5 speed manual. And from what I learned all the V6 cars that had manual transmissions have the Y87 trim package, as it was optional on the V6 cars with automatics. Except for 1 thing. The cars with 5 speed manual didn't have the dual exhaust outlet that the Y87 packages came with. Other than that, all the Y87 features were there. By the way, I'll trade you mine for yours. I want the hard top lol
most manuals did NOT have y87 package. and my v6 did have dual tip exhaust from factory that came with the y87 package. And yeah in 99 i believe they took the v6 from cable to electronic throttles.
@@CaptainThirdGen not the y87 trim itself, but most of the features. All 5 speed manuals v6 cars have the limited slip differential that non y87 cars didn't have. The larger sway bar as well. Having spoken to GM about these things is where I've learned about it. Check your VIN. Do you see Y87 in it anywhere? I didn't just say what I said by pulling out of thin air. I trust the people at GM that know there stuff.
My '98 V6 5sp manual is drive by cable, 15 mm rear sway bar (very thin), 28 mm in the front, 235/55R16 (from the door jamb sticker) and single exhaust outlet...
@mike romano yes, thats RPO code W68. It still used V6 bumpers and spoilers, but added a body kit that consisted of ground effects on front bumper, side skirts, and rear bumper. Utilizing the normal smaller v6 spoiler. This kit was unique to V6 cars though, as it technically shared no pieces with the Trans Am.
Question: *Did the last year Firebird and Trans Ams come with a large double-din radio opening? *Has anyone swapped over the series two 3800 V6 into a gen 3 formula? If yes, were they successful? Note: The salvage yards are full of these series two engines.
all 93-02 firebirds have the same 1.5 din radio opening. And i have not seen a 3800 in a 3rd gen yet other than the 1989 turbo trans am which used the older GN 3.8. But im sure it can easily be done
@@CaptainThirdGen Thanx for sharing with us your wealth of knowledge. What I had in mind was to pull a FWD Supercharged 3800 (type 2?) Buick engine and install it in a late '80s gen 3 Formula. Tranny would have to be changed (?) as well as the drive shaft. OBD2 install upgrade would be a must as well. Note: As a professional junkyard dogger (LOL) I see many Supercharged 3800s in the wrecking yard and cringe at the thought of them being destroyed.
3800 engines can bolt up to 4l60e (as they came in 95-02 v6 automatic fbodys). So if you got a supercharged 3800 and hooked it up to a 4l60e, it would slide right into a 82-92 fbody as long as you had engine mounts that would work.
if you use a 4l60e transmission, or a t5 or t56 transmission, you could use a stock driveshaft from any 82-02 fbody, theyre all interchangeable driveshafts
then checkout a firebird Formula! its legit a factory sleeper! base model look and interior but you have the WS6 suspension package could have the LS1/T56 setup!
I've owned 2 v6 firebirds one a 95 the other 97 and 1 69 v8. Why on the v6 did these motors blow around the 140 mark on miles? Why no issues ever with the motor on a v8? Still looking for a firebird where i won't have to replace the motor in 3 months of purchase.
I've never owned a brand new one they were always used. Im sure the previous owner never took care of them, or they might of been rebuilt. Im still looking for one. But prices are too high.
both ur cars are missing the intake baffles or it wud not look like theres alot of room in front, also some of ur differences are just factory options offerd to either cars for instance my y87 97 v6 had dual exhaust, monsoon and same front end as the tA of that yr, but had diff shaped fog lights and came with GU6 3:42 rear and automatic...the pro am came with the ws6 hood ect...anyways luv these cars had about 10 of them including a super rare 78 TA triple blue shorty t top factory 4 speed hurst edition ws6 with M21 trans its in my profile pic on facebook Currently, Im sporting a low prod number 2002 WS6 convertible with all options in NBM with Camel top and camel/graphite leather interior..btw im in SC down the road from Hawks 3rd Gen do you know him?
ive bought many things from hawks. Im up in detroit. And yes i have deleted both intake silencers on both cars, frees up a lot of space in the engine bay. And for the v6 it sounds cool haha. The v8 is so loud now i dont hear the intake, but when it was stock you could hear the intake a little bit. My v6 is a 5spd y87 hardtop with no options, making it an unusual combo, but my trans am is a pretty common color combo.
@@CaptainThirdGen for 1 yeah a hard top is rare and it having the performance package prob makes it worth more than a lot of 4th gens what yr is urs again? When Hawks got started we met at atlanta dragway where i ran my 95 all black convertible lt1 auto with nothing but bolt ons and got a 8.7 1/8 and a 13.9 on 1/4....my car ran out of motor for the gear 3:73.... but it gave me a 4.9/5 flat 0 to 60 as long as it didnt shift too hard and leave me chugging in 3rd...Hawks car was a green firehawk and it ran a 13.4 I think...I know it was alot faster than mine and may be faster than I quoted...I know it is now but this was 15+ yrs ago...anyways both his shops are 35 mins from me in easley and im in greenville
@@CaptainThirdGen I had a 2002 white convertible firebird that I put a Thunder Series Cat Back and at idle it sounded the same a a stock v8..tho I had a hpertech power programmer k&n full sit on top radiator intake no baffles aluminum 1 piece driveshaft 3:42 rear end and 180 thermostat...didnt get to run it before a kid fell asleep at the wheel and almost hit my wife head on she ended up getting sideswiped ive got pics on my facebook but I need to sell my v6 parts like intake and hypertech programmer hopefully it got put back to stock b4 the battery died bcuz right as i fishished the last part it said error ive got to test it on a v6 so i dont sell it and cheat someone..still need to sell driveshaft but im going to keep the 342 as mine came with the 323
same powertrain for the two cars. Formula ever so slightly lighter. So in a perferct world, formula should be faster scientifically speaking. However in the real world it comes down to drivers and condition of the car. A beat up formula against a well maintained trans am could lose. Age and maintainence and milage has just as much of an effect as a few pounds. If I remember correctly the formulas weight difference isnt very much either. So in reality, theyre about the same.
also options start to play a role more than trim level. Formulas could be had with ttops, 10 speaker stereo, power leather seats, etc just like a trans am could. If you took a trans am (usually every option) against a loaded formula, the weight difference wouldnt be much. However a loaded trans am vs a base model formula (manual seats manual transmission hard top, 4 speaker radio etc) i bet the weight savings adds up
i had that same thing happen on my 02 v6 as well. That means the headlight gears have teeth broken inside of them and need to be replaced. Theres a cheap pair of brand new motors with new gears in them already on Amazon for $92. Thats what I did on my v6. My old 95 LT1 trans am I replaced just the gears which worked fine as well, but after just doing the whole headlight motor swap thats what I recommend.
question do they have different interior sizes because my firebird feels small and when i see the trans am they look like they have more leg room? and it looks bigger is it the seats or is it just how pictures are?
yeah id love to see an alpha platform trans am. Id love to be able to buy a camaro brand new before they stop making them in a couple years, but I dont think ill be able to swing it by then.
this does in fact have a y87 package. It has the steering rack, the rear gears, the torsen LSD. the lot of it. It was just a really rarely optioned car having no other fancy options. It is definetly a y87
@@foolwithatool2052 ws6 is just a package. Could be had on a formula or a trans am. So either one could have had a ram air hood if it was optioned with ws6 package. firehawks had their own special hood that was 2 larger nostrils versus the regular ram air hoods 4
if you buy a complete trans am hatch with the glass and everything you can swap over. But unless you remove the entire hatch, you cannot remove the base firebird spoiler
I pay $85 for liability on my 98. Hate to risk it, but as a 19 yr old, it’s the cheapest option I had. Other insurances wanted like $150 on liability alone, can’t even imagine how much in full coverage. Sorry if I didn’t help much, though. I guess I got lucky. Hope you get lucky with insurance too lol
@@CaptainThirdGen Oh that's good news, I had no idea- I quit paying attention all together when they got rid of Pontiac. Now surprise me and tell me they brought Pontiac back and I missed that too.
You should have done a v6 Firebird against a Formula Firebird, unless you are pretty car illiterate its easy to tell the difference between the Trans am and a Firebird
