Well, it finally arrived... It sort of got lost from
Thursday till Monday night, but the truck did eventually appear. It took
7 1/2 weeks from the day it was ordered, but its beautiful and was well
worth waiting for. Right now, with its new Raptor hood (not Zaino'd yet)
, its hibernating under a cover, safe from the wicked cold and salty slop
covered minefields we call roads here in the Windy City. Spring will
come soon, and the Cragar's will go back on in celebration, trust me.
The
Deal
I bought it from Howard Pontiac on Grand Ave. in
Elmhurst, IL (630-832-9500). They were quite friendly to deal with and
I'd have no problem reccomending them to others. There was none of the
tricky sales routines that irk me. I almost bought a few Mustang GT Convts.
and even looked at Camaros. If the last Ford dealer hadn't tried to rip
me off on the trade, I might have bought that one. I had other good opportunities
to buy Mustang GT Convts. and Camaros, but I like the Firebird's styling
a lot better than either of the others. At any rate, I went into
Howard Pontiac and threatened to walk out the door and go buy that Mustang
GT Convt. if they wouldn't give me a great deal on a new Firebird right
there and then. I was really tired of looking and needed a change. They
did, and the result is the Red/Tan (Ok, they call it Taupe, but I don't)
Firebird Convt. you see here. I had to special order it. I had never driven
a 5 speed Firebird. I never could find one to test drive, and boy thats
a risk. I drove a '98 T/A with a 6 speed, but the clutch reminded me of
my dad's '67 Dodge Coronet 440 wagon with its midwest gears. I guess I
really wanted the Firebird, because I ordered it just hoping that clutch
would be smooth like my Saturn's or LeBaron's (and it IS smooth, BTW).
I also ordered it with the Y87 Performance package, Traction Control, and
the 12 CD Changer. I originally ordered in in Sport Gold Metallic with
a Black top and Charcoal interior, but the factory rejected the order because
the Sport Gold had been discontinued. I then changed the order to the Red
& Tan.
Zaino Z7 in the wash bay
I asked them not to wash or wax it. I've bought too
many cars with paint problems, and because I never have notice the problems
immediately, they are difficult to get fixed for free (as they should be).
The car still had all the wrapping plastic on it when I arrived. All that
was missing was a bow. We unwrapped it (it was like Christmas for my son
and I taking off all the plastic and foam), then I washed it by hand with
Zaino Z7 while the salesman (Ernie Bell - nice guy, and yes, I'd buy from
him again, too) protested and the porters looked on, probably thinking
me nuts. As Murphy's law would have it, since I decided to wash it all
by hand, myself, at the dealer, there were no paint problems to find.
Problems *OR* Opportunities
One twist, at 1st the CD changer/player didn't work. We had
loaded the 12 CD cartridge with CD's, but nothing happened. By the time
Ernie got the service manager there, I had figured out the problem and
got it running. The problem was that there was a single CD player in the
dash, in addition to the 12 CD changer in the trunk. After thinking about
it a bit, I decided to let it stay that way since I don't use cassettes
much anymore, anyway, and its a hassle to put in a CD when they are in
the trunk. So I have the best of both worlds. 12 of my favorites in the
trunk, and whatever I want, whenever I want, up front. Ok, so I didn't
get the $100 off for replacing the CD up front with the cassette, but so
what, it will cost me $10 per year over the life of the car.
Why don't 4th Gen's have Colors?
Well they don't, thats all. I guess its a '90's thing. Sorry,
guys, I gotta have a little color contrast on my bird. Mybe I don't
need it to be as wild as that '73 T/A with the big bird on the hood, but
having all the emblems the same color as the car seems sort of silly to
me. Well the good news is that for minimal expense and a little bit of
effort, you can buy the emblems for a different color car, and swap them.
I had stripes put on, too, Ok, now the downside. The stripes were
"bubbling up" in spots, so I ended up having them removed. Oh, well,
can't win em all...
The Saga of the Fancy Wheels
I
just got my new wheels and tires for it. I really wasn't excited by the
styling of the stock 5 stars much, even polished or chromed. I'm not really
into the WS6 wheels, either, again the style doesn't appeal to me (but
they do look a lot better than the stock 5 Stars IMHO). I was running a
Group Purchase for Weld Racing wheels (what a waste of time and effort)
and had planned on buying a set of those, but I got so pissed at their
lousy attitude, that I let my taste decide on the wheels rather than my
wallet (as usually would have been the case). Yeah, I know, it seems silly
to spend extra money on special wheels in the 1st place, but if you're
going to live with them for 10 years, you might as well have something
you really like.
Someone
on LS1 had a "Who has the best looking wheels on LS1 contest". Someone
posted a picture of a Ralph's Silver '98 T/A WS7 with these awesome Cragar
S/S 980's. I didn't know it at the time, but they were 16 x 8. Anyway,
I liked them so much, that I ordered a set of Cragar S/S 980's from Discount
Tire. I got a really good deal on them, probably because they are 17 x
8, which is pretty thin, but I'm not going to race it or anything, so as
long as they run well and look great, I don't mind.
Then
I got a terrible scare. The day after I ordered them, my Summit catalog
finally arrived and I found out the sell them in Silver Painted as well
as Chrome. I was *DEATHLY* afraid I was going to be looking at cheapo Silver
painted wheels and crying the blues, bigtime... As it turned out, Chuck
at Discount Tire (in Bloomingdale IL 630-529-2003) remembered me after
all the calls in the past months, and knew I'd want the Chrome, so he ordered
them that way. I ordered B. F. Goodrich Radial T/A HR4-2's in 275/40/17
to go with them for that "Carnivore" look we all like to see on the Firebird's.
Well, the 275/40/17's didn't fit. They rubbed when you turned the front
wheels inward. This was caused by the wheels having a smaller backspace
than the stock ones. To be honest, I love the looks of these wheels so
much, that I really did't care. It cost a bunch of extra bucks, but I had
them put on Michelin Pilot XGT Z4's in 255/45/17 instead. They are a more
aggressive, high performance, Z rated tire, but most importantly, they
were in stock and fit. In the long run, they will stay on the front, and
when they get my pair of 17 x 9's, I'll put matching Michelin 285/40/17's
on in the back. Even with only the 255/45/17's on, they are still awesome
looking. I got an unsolicited compliment from just about everyone that
walked by while they were putting them on the car. I get chased down daily
by people wanting to know what kind of wheels they are. Makes you feel
really good when those kind of things happen.
da Cragar's with Custom Black & Gold Firebird
caps
The
"UGLY" Winter Wheels
You didn't REALLY think I was going to drive on those
Cragar's and Z Rated tires all winter, now did you? Maybe I should
have learned to like those stock 5 Stars, at least for winter use.
It costs a lot of time and effort to change things around. One thing
I learned is NEVER buy used tires. They must only last 10,000 miles or
so if the ones that came with 5,000 on them were any indication.
But after driving 130 miles to get them, and finding one good one out of
4 rather than the 3 perfect ones and one with a scrape, I was too tired
of screwing around with it and bought them anyway. I was going to
repaint the wheels Gold or Black, but snow was flying and I didn't have
the time or inclination. I left the wheels Silver painted, and redid
the centers in Red, Silver, and Black with a Metalflake Clearcoat (click
on the pic above to zoom it) and added a set of Firebird medallions, the
same as I had put on the Cragar's. One person thought they were "fle
market ugly" (hey EVERYBODY has an opinion, but only some can spell it
out), but everyone that has seen them in person has liked them. I like
the looks a lot better than the stock 5 Stars. If nothing else, they
ARE Unique.
I had an RK Sport Ceramic Coated Headers put on by Iggy's
in Chicago. Quite a trek, but they seem to know what they are doing.
The Cat-Back was installed by Don & Butch at KJS AutoBody at 7:15 on
a Saturday morning, Arghhhh, too early for me. At first it was too
loud with the middle sized hole plate in. Then it was too quiet with
the closed plate in (and no leaks). So then I took the plate with
the smallest hole and went to Ace hardware. I bought 2 flat washers,
a big one and a small one. The small one has a 5/8" diameter hole.
I brazed the 2 washers onto the plate and installed it. I like the
sound level now. Nobody complains its too loud unless I open it up.
The custom plate WAV file on my site was recorded with a tape recorder
sitting on the passenger seat. Judge for yourself. If
you want it louder, only braze in the big washer. You might be able
to get away with just using a hi-temp glue and glueing it in, I didn't
try it because I have a torch, anyway, so I did it myself.
Click
Click on IMAGES
to ZOOM, please
Where in the heck is that '99?
The
Deal
One twist, at 1st the CD changer/player didn't work. We had
loaded the 12 CD cartridge with CD's, but nothing happened. By the time
Ernie got the service manager there, I had figured out the problem and
got it running. The problem was that there was a single CD player in the
dash, in addition to the 12 CD changer in the trunk. After thinking about
it a bit, I decided to let it stay that way since I don't use cassettes
much anymore, anyway, and its a hassle to put in a CD when they are in
the trunk. So I have the best of both worlds. 12 of my favorites in the
trunk, and whatever I want, whenever I want, up front. Ok, so I didn't
get the $100 off for replacing the CD up front with the cassette, but so
what, it will cost me $10 per year over the life of the car.
Well they don't, thats all. I guess its a '90's thing. Sorry,
guys, I gotta have a little color contrast on my bird. Mybe I don't
need it to be as wild as that '73 T/A with the big bird on the hood, but
having all the emblems the same color as the car seems sort of silly to
me. Well the good news is that for minimal expense and a little bit of
effort, you can buy the emblems for a different color car, and swap them.
I had stripes put on, too, Ok, now the downside. The stripes were
"bubbling up" in spots, so I ended up having them removed. Oh, well,
can't win em all...
The Saga of the Fancy Wheels 
I
just got my new wheels and tires for it. I really wasn't excited by the
styling of the stock 5 stars much, even polished or chromed. I'm not really
into the WS6 wheels, either, again the style doesn't appeal to me (but
they do look a lot better than the stock 5 Stars IMHO). I was running a
Group Purchase for Weld Racing wheels (what a waste of time and effort)
and had planned on buying a set of those, but I got so pissed at their
lousy attitude, that I let my taste decide on the wheels rather than my
wallet (as usually would have been the case). Yeah, I know, it seems silly
to spend extra money on special wheels in the 1st place, but if you're
going to live with them for 10 years, you might as well have something
you really like.
Someone
on LS1 had a "Who has the best looking wheels on LS1 contest". Someone
posted a picture of a Ralph's Silver '98 T/A WS7 with these awesome Cragar
S/S 980's. I didn't know it at the time, but they were 16 x 8. Anyway,
I liked them so much, that I ordered a set of Cragar S/S 980's from Discount
Tire. I got a really good deal on them, probably because they are 17 x
8, which is pretty thin, but I'm not going to race it or anything, so as
long as they run well and look great, I don't mind.
Then
I got a terrible scare. The day after I ordered them, my Summit catalog
finally arrived and I found out the sell them in Silver Painted as well
as Chrome. I was *DEATHLY* afraid I was going to be looking at cheapo Silver
painted wheels and crying the blues, bigtime... As it turned out, Chuck
at Discount Tire (in Bloomingdale IL 630-529-2003) remembered me after
all the calls in the past months, and knew I'd want the Chrome, so he ordered
them that way. I ordered B. F. Goodrich Radial T/A HR4-2's in 275/40/17
to go with them for that "Carnivore" look we all like to see on the Firebird's.
Well, the 275/40/17's didn't fit. They rubbed when you turned the front
wheels inward. This was caused by the wheels having a smaller backspace
than the stock ones. To be honest, I love the looks of these wheels so
much, that I really did't care. It cost a bunch of extra bucks, but I had
them put on Michelin Pilot XGT Z4's in 255/45/17 instead. They are a more
aggressive, high performance, Z rated tire, but most importantly, they
were in stock and fit. In the long run, they will stay on the front, and
when they get my pair of 17 x 9's, I'll put matching Michelin 285/40/17's
on in the back. Even with only the 255/45/17's on, they are still awesome
looking. I got an unsolicited compliment from just about everyone that
walked by while they were putting them on the car. I get chased down daily
by people wanting to know what kind of wheels they are. Makes you feel
really good when those kind of things happen.
The
"UGLY" Winter Wheels 
Headers & Cat-Back
Hear
it w/custom plate (5/8" hole)
Hear it w/closed plate
The people have spoken, its Birds for the Cragar's
Gallery of Birds
My
Other Cars
Ok, you won, No Hood Stripes