History of Angel

Angel, such an appropriate name for the one whom had made such a positive change in my life during a time when all I could see darkness but first let me set the stage for the time by which Angel was found and the condition in which she was in when I found her and the condition I was in when I found her.<br><br>
I was a soldier, a specialist in the US Army stationed in Fort Carson CO. I had been such for two years after having served a year and a half in Iraq to return and marry a woman who didn’t appreciate me and in fact was cheating on me the entire time we were together and later abandoned me to move in with another guy in Texas. Having little to go on and little beyond my job to work towards I had found myself in a slump with a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am SE. grey A four cylinder four door family car with almost nothing of value in which to speak of besides constant mechanical problems and a tire that kept leaking.<br><br>
In April I was cruising the streets of Colorado Springs CO one day passing by a used car dealership, as I had passed many others, when this blue apparition seemed to form in the parking lot hidden amidst ricers that had been ill cared for and abandoned. Other cars, of newer years, I had seen were priced at ranged exceeding 7000$ so I kept going. Weeks later I was passing this dealership when I saw the car was still there hidden between a 240 and a Corsica.<br><br>
In July depression set upon me then as my birthday was approaching quickly and I found myself feeling more and more alone in a place where I felt as though I had few friends and with my wife having left me and the debts she left me with at the time due to sheer stupidity on my part I mostly just wanted to end it all. I had gone to one dealership to see about an auto loan for a restored supercharged ford crown Victoria police cruiser which they were more than willing to trade out for the grand am due to the economy and the crown vic not otherwise selling but my thoughts were disturbed more by the apparition at the dealership down the street so I told this dealership about it and they said if I got the car that they would check it out.<br><br>
So I went to the other dealership that had my apparition hidden amidst cars that I know, like the apparition, hadn’t moved in months. There she was, Angel, a 1994 Pontiac Firebird Formula that one wouldn’t even have suspected looking at her with her peeling and bubbled stock paint and stock rims. There was nothing at all about this car that really shined out amidst all of the ricers in the yard, of which the dealership tried to show me three of if I would trade the grand am for it but I asked about the firebird.<br><br>
Angel had been acquired with a document signed by the boyfriend of a woman whom had been arrested for possession and sales of narcotics in Colorado Springs whom needed money and knew his girlfriend wouldn’t be out in time to care or do anything about the car. He didn’t know where the title was or anything of remote value beyond the keys which meant it was a salvaged title if I bought it from the man which made this diamond in the rough priced at half the blue book value but I wanted her despite the fact that every panel was broken due to the drug runner hiding drugs everywhere in the car possible.<br><br>
The grand am, in the condition it was in, without the salesman noticing the leaking tire was priced at 4000$ while the firebird would be sold at 3000$ with all the paperwork and such done and an additional 500$ given to me if I signed the paperwork on the spot which I did leaving the lot that very weekend after the dealership got the salvage paperwork and I went with the money in hand and the car under my backside to the other dealership which was paid 250$ to look over the car and take care of everything that needed to be done. Filters, Belts, Fluids – everything.<br><br>
This dealership, which fortunately no longer sells consumer cars but deals with business vehicles, had shown me some shoddy spark plugs and told me they did all the work within the 24 hours but I should have known something was up with this situation. They said they did everything short of putting in a reman distributor which admittedly I knew little about the mechanics of such vehicles (I had never even heard of optispark until I found out in truth the start of their lies.)<br><br>
The rest of the 250$ was spent on the head unit for a stereo, new headlights, and an ebay cold air intake kit. I felt I was on top of the world and now had something to put money into. After 650$ in a paint job, I put 500$ in a stereo, 750$ in an exhaust system, and 500$ more in tires figuring everything was good.<br><br>
As it turned out it was only longating the problems that would occur as a year later I would have to change out the spark plugs and wires during a tuneup when I found out that the old wires had burned through 4 of 8 ends and the plugs were stock along with most of the filters, lights, and fuses in the car. Which I found out while bringing the car for the standard oil change type services in Phoenix AZ.<br><br>
A year after that when the firebird broke down in California after driving from Phoenix AZ to San Jose CA and beginning to head towards Santa Rosa CA I found out that the radiator had blown out which took out the ECU and ruptured the head gasket. Which I fixed up in a hurry, 2600$ later I was on the road with her again but the problems hadn’t ebbed as from Santa Rosa CA to Eureka CA the transmission missed a shift into 3rd on the automatic. Driving her limping at high rpm back to Santa Rosa I turned her in the next day to Santa Rosa Transmissions to get worked on and found out the transmission had never been serviced and that extreme heat had roasted the magnet and warped the innards destroying 3rd and 4th gear leaving 2nd damaged and 1st mildly touched in the ensuing chaos as metal shavings filled the tranny. Which is where I am now, paying off the 2700$ debt to get the transmission replaced with a remanufactured tranny and getting that fully upgraded. I had also asked them to check on what situations might be causing the overheating issues and asked them to check for vacuum leaks in the areas mentioned to me by a new friend on the fbody forums.<br><br>
The restoration of Angel would have to begin which would have to include interior work, exterior work, and mechanical work which I could begin to study after getting an original 94 Firebird GM shop manual (Yes, the big bastards not the little Autozone one.)<br><br>
I have hopes of fully restoring the firebird from the ground up and then upgrading and establishing something with her in a way that I was unable to establish with myself throughout my wasted life. Angel would rise as the angel that she had proven to be for me, rising into the heavens and showing me there was hope out there.<br><br>
To date, I wish to thank Charles O’Toole for his help and guidance on the project of restoring the car and building her up as I know I will continue to annoy him with amateur questions and learning more about the car type and the capabilities it holds if it is taken care of.<br><br>
Similarly I would like to thank all of you who help me and guide me with answers and advice about things that I otherwise would not have thought about and the patience you have all showed to me to this point in regards to my rather ignorant questions as I try to learn absolutely everything possible on limited income in order to not look like a complete idiot and also restore my car to what it could be.<br><br>

September 2007: Angel, newly acquired…

Yes, I do suck at this and cant figure it out.

Very long but a good and heartwretching read. God Bless you man for bringing yet another precious Bird back from the brink of extinction. A lot of cash spent, but you just can't put a price on the kind of passion these cars bring, not to mention just plain fun! We're all one big happy family here, and will try to answer any question you throw out there. Ask away, and remember the only stupid question is the unasked one. By the way, thank you for your service to our country. Dave

added pics of angel to my gallery since i couldnt figure out how to get photobucket photos in here.

October 2008: Angel, newly painted…

May 2009: Stereo installation…



June 2009: Angel in Phoenix…

There you go Fallen. That was a great story. The pictures only help it along so I thought I would assist you.

Matt

Thank you I felt so stupid not being able to figure out how to get it to work.

Angel is Canadian!!

94 Pontiac Firebird with the 4L60-E

VIN: 2g2FV22P8R2232668

19 records about my car, but im not paying 50$ to find out about it.

Cant afford that right now.

Stupid carfax.

Actually all 4th gen Firebirds, both LT1 and LS1 cars, are Canadian. They were all built there.

Yay Canada! You birthed an angel which turned me into an indebted monster

I hear some five iron frenzy in the background rocking out 'Lets go to Canada'