1997 Pontiac Firebird

[Fred32v]

The TrackBird's new to her 3.73 posi rear end is cleaned of the junk
and ready for the install.

Junk gone

Posi

Just glad to see that it is a real posi.

[MostMint]

Me too!

[Fred32v]

The 32v Garage was a very busy place Thursday afternoon.
BP arrived shortly after lunch, the plan was to swap out the 3.90
for the 3.73 rear-end that we acquired a short time ago.
I told him I'd help until 4pm, then I would leave on a dinner date
with his Mom. He was the under-the-car guy, at 4pm we had the
3.90 out and the 3.73 was barely hanging on it's shock.
When we arrived home after dinner at the Brown Barn,
I found BP putting the tires on, so I got to go along on the
successful test drive.

3.90 on the floor next to the Vette.

Sadly, while he was dealing with all the assembling details,
he discovered cracks in our bell housing. That's a bad thing.
We have scheduled an appointment at MostMint garage,
also know as Big K's Welding bay.

[Fred32v]

Drove the TrackBird to the MostMint garage,
the Big K arrived on time and in no time the
the TrackBird's bellhousing cracks were welded up
and now she's ready to fly. Thanks.

[Basement Paul]

The welds survived track day, but I haven't checked them since the drags. That will happen in our next work session. But there was still the annoying oil leak that happens whenever the car is getting abused, but during normal driving stays dry. Turns out the culprit was a missing bolt in the block just above the water pump. I'm not sure what was supposed to be there originally though. A quick dig through an old coffee bin and the hole is plugged.
We are also experiencing a slight brake drag from the left front caliper. So today I ordered two reman AC Delco front calipers that will eventually get replaced. I could NOT find real new ones anywhere. But these should be fine.

-BP

[MostMint]

That is a weird thing. Obviously it was not in the regular oil drainback path and the only time it leaked is when vacuum and is low and PCV is not pulling. Hope that fixes it!

[Basement Paul]

I think it's actually oil splash from something rotating at high speed, along with the low vacuum situation. But at least I won't smell the oil either.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

On Saturday we replaced both front calipers. One was hanging up slightly, so I bought two rebuilt AC Delco ones. The swap went without incident and bleeding the brakes went easily too. At this point the car seems ready for our trip to Mid Ohio in a few weeks. We'll top off the oil, put the sticky tires on, and away we go.
No pictures, but they looked like brake calipers look.

-BP

[Fred32v]

Loaded up and ready for Mid-Ohio Track Day.

BP giving the 'Bird a look.

Loaded up and ready to go.

Well, 4:45 am can't get here soon enough.

[Fred32v]

Having survived Track Day at Mid-Ohio with no serious issues,
it was time to have the TrackBird run through e-Check. Passed!

[MostMint]

and it won't have to go again.

[Basement Paul]

Today the Trackbird got a Mobil 1 oil change, a tire rotation, and a good old fashioned once over to make sure it was ready for whatever comes our way this season. The brakes are still good enough for this year, all lube points are lubed, and we tightened and checked all sorts of things that might come loose.
32V will give it a bath this week, and it should be good to go. I would like to try a track day at Pitt Race, and maybe get to Mid-Ohio and maybe Nelson at least once this year. I'm thinking an autocross or two at 42 also.
Gonna be a busy summer.

-BP

[Fred32v]

Just finished, a fun way to spend a Sunday.

Passenger Side

Driver Side

Even cleaned the vanity mirrors.

TrackBird's ready!!

[Basement Paul]

After having a good outing at Nelson Ledges a couple weeks back, we got the TrackBird cleaned up and decided it might be time to sell it and move on to something a little faster. Not sure what that might be just yet, but one step at a time. Todd Suszynski and his son expressed some interest as they're just starting to get into going to track days and such, they even test drove it, but they weren't ready to pull the trigger just yet. So I'll probably snap some pictures this weekend of the car and all the parts, and put an ad out there to see what happens.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

Tonight Tyler and his wife drove in from Sandusky and ultimately drove home with the Trackbird and a pickup truck full of parts. They were real nice and I'm glad they got the car. I expect to see them pop up here on TS in the not to distant future.

-BP