Topic: 73 Firebird Formula 400 - Ready for Spring!

[CBJoe]

Hey Honda folks....tell me about classic pontiacs 

May become an owner of a '74 Formula 455...All these years of buying bikes has caught up with me and the wife wants her old high school car   

This would be my first pre 90's car.  Can anyone point me towards the better Pontiac Forums and maybe help a guy out with the better service manual recommendations?  Something tells me I wont find downloadable PDFs as easy as for old hondas.  But i'm gonna start looking.  I dont mind paying for good manuals.  But i'd like to know what the better ones are.

Going to look at the car this Thursday or Friday.

[Stev-o]

Love old Pontiacs Joe!  I had a '68 Firebird in high school and recently helped my good friend buy one for his classic car collection...



Obviously, this is a Gen 1 F-bird, but has a 400 small block and runs great!

Condition is everything when considering buying a vintage car.  Do a little research and see what others are listed for, I listed a couple below.  We typically search out cars that have good paintwork, painting a vintage car is very expensive these days  [easily $7-10K].   

Internet pricing such as Kelly Bluebook is nearly useless, bottom line the car is worth what someone is willing to pay. Matching numbers is a premium, if it is advertised as such, learn how to check for it.
Bring a big magnet and check for thick bondo. We nearly always get it on a lift to check the undercarriage for rust. 

Most auto repair shops will do a pre-purchase inspection for $50-100 bucks. Worth it.[found a '69 F-bird that had a swiss cheese frame! Obviously, we didnt buy]

Go see the car, get a good feel for it and the seller. Has it been maintained and have service records? Take a long drive, at least 30 min, many issues may pop up within this time frame. Overheating, not re-starting, alternator not charging, transmission slipping, etc.

The '74 is a very desirable car, especially with the 455! 

Here's a couple that I found rather quickly. I personally wouldnt pursue the first red one..

https://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/cto/d/poughquag-1974-pontiac-trans-am-455/7118584647.html

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1974-Pontiac-Trans-AM-Super-Duty/124195211636?hash=item1cea9c8974:g:1koAAOSw3PpexpBw

Good luck!

[Bankerdanny]

That should be a pretty easy car to work on and there are a number of companies that can sell you almost an entire new car one part at a time.

[seanbarney41]

Maunual situation is the same universally...factory manuals are THE correct source for proper service information.  Chilton and Haynes, etc. may be useful for generalized stuff you probably should already know anyway.  Also look for model specific rebuild guides published independently by expert authors.

[CBJoe]

Thanks for the advice Steve.  I hadn’t thought about checking for thick bondo, that’s a good trick with a magnet.

If this all works out I’ll have Husband points for at least 20 years


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[CBJoe]

That should be a pretty easy car to work on and there are a number of companies that can sell you almost an entire new car one part at a time.

You're not kidding...I never really looked before this, but it indeed seems like just about everything is available.

[scottly]

Personally, I've always been intrigued by the first gen SOHC 6 cylinder Firebirds.  

[mrbreeze]

The last few months I've been watching a few of the shows on the Motor Trend channel. Some of the shows are pretty good. I like the one that mostly deals with Mopars. That dude seems to know everything there is to know about them and has a large boneyard with nothing but old Chargers, Challengers, etc.
As far as wrenching goes the older cars are simple to work on but like Steve says you have to pay close attention to body damage & rust.

[dave500]

yeah time marches on!all the good stuff is 50 years old now,#$%* my dailey driven car is 1973!had it forever,i just never bought another car!

[Bailgang]

It's been over 20 years since I last had my '70 GP and still have a set of ported 455 heads in my garage. I also have pretty much have all the literature you need ...... unfortunately I don't want to sell it, the heads maybe but not the literature even though I'll probably never build another Pontiac again. I've had 2 '70 GP's, a '78 TA and a '65 GTO in the past and I used to got to classicalpontiac.com but that site seems to have gone through some major changes and doesn't seem to be nearly as informative as it used to be.

[dusterdude]

I know a guy that has been into pontiacs since we were in school together,many years ago.if you have any specific questions,let me know and ill ask him

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[dave500]

i had to knock on the door of a house about a skip bin i was about to collect as it was over loaded,no one home but this in the driveway sideways on?pontiacs are really rare here in australia,they used to sell chevys during the 60s here,dunno if this is left hand drive?

[jlh3rd]

Hey Honda folks....tell me about classic pontiacs 

May become an owner of a '74 Formula 455...All these years of buying bikes has caught up with me and the wife wants her old high school car   

This would be my first pre 90's car.  Can anyone point me towards the better Pontiac Forums and maybe help a guy out with the better service manual recommendations?  Something tells me I wont find downloadable PDFs as easy as for old hondas.  But i'm gonna start looking.  I dont mind paying for good manuals.  But i'd like to know what the better ones are.

Going to look at the car this Thursday or Friday.

check out OPG ( original parts group) , classic industries, National parts depot....etc., when you get to that point.....they might even have original dealer manuals, or reprints.......as stated ,those are the best...

[Stev-o]

pontiacs are really rare here in australia,they used to sell chevys during the 60s here,dunno if this is left hand drive?

Looks to be a '69 model Dave, you should go back and save it!

[dave500]

i could say i found it in the skip?

[bear]

As a matter of interest Dave, I have a mate that owns a 1970 Electra I think it's called.
A lot of it's front end components are a direct swap for your HQ.

[scottly]

In the US, there was a Buick Electra, IIRC.

[dave500]

yeah Bear i got moog ball joints from rock autos usa,same as some chevies,worked out bout 20 bucks more expensive than buying the #$%*ty non greaseable chinese ones on all the auto places shelves over here!several small parts are the same on the older cars,headlight switches,door keys locks and ignition switches stuff like that,good old GM parts interchangability.

[CBJoe]

I know a guy that has been into pontiacs since we were in school together,many years ago.if you have any specific questions,let me know and ill ask him

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Thanks Mark...much appreciated.  I will probably have some questions soon.

[bear]

In the US, there was a Buick Electra, IIRC.

Yep that sounds about right Scottly.
It's a big green land yacht and as you can see I am no great expert on my North American cars so forgive me for not knowing the difference between a Pontiac and a Buick.
It's not like me to go off on a tangent.

[CBJoe]

So....the first car i looked at didn't work out as it failed with too many red flags.  But checked out another one we've been watching for a while and it checked all the boxes and made a deal.   

Numbers Matching 1973 Formula 400 w/ ram air and TH400 Auto.  Its got a decent but not perfect respray of the original Navajo Orange color.  Straight as an arrow body and no filler as far as I could find.  Some rust indication on a few of the lower corner panels, but not rotted.  Since its a 10ft paint job anyway we'll probably just deal with it as time comes after we shake out all the  mechanics. 

Under-body and frame is in fantastic condition. interior is also in great shape with just a few things that are easily repaired.  But to be honest, we aren't planning on this being a show condition car...but a road trip fun driver.

Thanks stev-o for the advice.  I got to experience a cold start, and let it warm up and idle till good and hot then start/stop a few times.  Then took on a nice hot day drive through the gears and started and stopped randomly through process.  Engine purrs and no tranny slip experienced.....

Will provide more pics once it gets shipped back to Indiana and we do the requisite tune up and shake down.

I'm sure not everyone will like it....but its Roses car and shes freaking ecstatic about it.  So happy wife is all I could ask for....and as her mechanic I get to tweak it and drive it too 

Cheers, Joe

[bear]

I'm pleased for you both Joe and looking forward to some pics.

Cheers,
Brian

[scottly]

Happy wife, happy life.

[CBJoe]

Happy wife, happy life.

Truer words cannot be said 

[dave500]

nice one!