hi, im bryan.. i belong to a few other popular forums (kawasaki forums, kawi speed, creative illusions c/bc) and just a few days ago i traded my car for a 97 firebird formula. and first off, id like to say I LOVE THIS CAR! i traded even for a 1999 chevy lumina with the ltz (L67) engine in it. only catch was that it needs a pinion bearing. however today i was driving around and a mid 90's ford probe gave me "that look"... so i dragged him from the light.. im confident i would of won but my water pump blew and the temp went through the roof it still runs just gets real hot real fast... typical craigslist car, but im not quitting... im gonna fix that bs and really beef it out. but for now im just a 16yo with a beatn' formula looking for some ppl that know a thing or 2 about the model... and im confident ive come to the right place

I feel hero even in my slo-mo 89 305 TBI T/A. I've had several Firebird's thru the years. My 97 will be here for someone after I kick the bucket,till then it's mine.

Go get yourself a decent manual and learn to do most repairs on your own,like the water pump. If it leaked on the Optispark (distributer) you might want to go on and replace it to if you can swing the $$. The Opti does not like to get wet. Kinda like a cat.

Congrats on your trade.

thanks, now that ive looked closer at it and gave it a bit more thought it may be a bad thermostat. i can drive it as much as i want at speed, but once i stop and idle it just cranks out the heat... i dunno. ill run the computer at the shop and see what that says, then take it from there

To the source Bryan. These are Awesome machines, trust me you'll never tire of it. Sounds like you got yourself a diamond in the rough. Good luck with your Bird. Dave

Sounds like the fans are not coming on.

i considered that to... i hope its that but i wont know for sure til monday. either way its gonna take me a few hundred bucks to get it up to par bit i know its definitely worth it... considering my luminas bluebook was $2020 and this is $4280

other than the pinion the only motivation for the trade was that the previous owner was like 7ft tall and 3ft wide and he hated it cus its so small inside

Hey welcome to the site man! Yeah you're right, this is definitely a great place to come and seek answers to whatever questions you may have. But I agree with what Tyler said, if it runs at normal temp while driving but only heats up when you are sitting sounds like the fans aren't coming on. I had a 95 Formula and i had my waterpump go out as well...replaced it myself with a bit of help from my father. It wasn't too bad, you do have to take a bit off the front of the car to get to it. But as long as you know where to put everything when putting it back together, you'll be just fine.

Oh, and get some pics up! I wanna see that thing!

lol, i aint got any (decent) pics of it yet... but just to prove it actually exists i snapped a quick one from the window next to my comp.



turst me, there's def more on the way

Haha, i hope you didn't think i didn't believe you had a bird!!! I just love seeing pics of them. Btw red is the best color for a firebird

i like the red but i think im gonna paint it flat black, cops have a hard time seein that but if i go against the black ill just redo the red, it got a hand full of scratches and dings... and im a perfectionist, so im not likin any of that

Haha! Black is really nice (my 2nd favorite color) but if you are a perfectionist...the black is gonna drive you nuts. You'll see every scratch and will be outside washing it every day hahaha. What about Sunset Orange Metallic?? Gunmetal Grey is nice too.

LOL! you should see my car... the other day when it died () i spent almost 6hours washing it. full wax, tire shine, armor all, windex... i mean i get to the point of q-tips and whilst doing that i found the one thing i dislike about this car (other that a raped headgasket) it takes me 4hours to armor all the interior.. theres so much plastic, my lumina took 20minutes and i even did the door seals and stuff... i skipped all the little things on the bird and it still took 4hrs but its worth it... it looks new inside:D:D

edit: black is fine.. i know ill be washing it 24/7 but again... i work for an end result

^^^haha yep, that's the usual reaction to Sunset Orange haha!! And sounds like you are just like me, i am out washing my car AT LEAST once a week...once i see the slightest layer of dust on it, it's out with the hose

^^^haha yep, that's the usual reaction to Sunset Orange haha!! And sounds like you are just like me, i am out washing my car AT LEAST once a week...once i see the slightest layer of dust on it, it's out with the hose

oops...double post haha

That's Sunset Orange Metallic eh, I can see it now...

ugh.. i need a good pic of my car and someone that pwns at photoshop so i can see flat black and sunset orange on my car...


btw.. id kill someone for a 98

i seen the other day a formula that was flat black with black wheels and blak out tailight covers and tinted windows..it actually looked pretty good.

when I first looked at the pic of bryans formy i thought he totalled it into a rock...the branches in the trash look like big cracks hahahaha....scared me for a sec