Hey all. Bought a 1981 Firebird Esprit in September this year. It doesn't look too bad but needs lots of work.

Originally pretty well optioned, it has 44 years of neglect and misuse to erase. Among other things, it needs fenders and a hood.

It came with a Formula hood and I have some Trans Am fenders kicking around so it'll be a Trans Formula for a bit. lol

Mind the hideous striping. I'm still removing it.

Hello,

And welcome to the group. You have a good foundation to unwind that 44 years of neglect and abuse. Yea, those stripes have gotta' go.

Does it at least run and drive?

Rick

Looks like some good bones. Excited to see what you do with it!

No. Unfortunately the original 305 was hydraulic locked and is probably toast now. Story I was told was a previous owner added an Edelbrock carb, manifold and dress kit on it. Then cleverly connected the fuel return line to the charcoal canister.

Last week I bought a 76 Firebird 400 shortblock with the beloved 557 block code. Been under somebody's bench for a couple decades. Came with a flywheel.

Probably best if I do it right, so I'll get another SBC for the meantime.

This will probably be a slow moving project. Budget, other life goals and priorities. Also, no shop in Canadian winter.

Already collecting parts for the refurb.

Is it odd that I'm starting with the doors? Drivers doesn't open from the outside and the passengers handle is broken but works if I lift the 1" remaining part high enough to take up the door sag.

Eventually a decent enough T/A clone with genuine Pontiac power and probably a 4 speed trans.

Great to see you saving a f body !!!!

yes those doors are fully of steel !!! i bet the hinges need new pins !!!!

down under thats a 75 k car alllllll day !

I bought replacement hinge pins but one of the hinges is bent. I bought the Amazon hinge kit (all 4 hinges). I assume the online restoration parts are also made overseas. I gather the door hinges are NOT a fun job. They're heavy and hard to get right for an amateur like me.

I paid $1500 CAD. If it was a Trans Am it would have been much more. The Esprit was never a flashy musclecar. They don't get big money.

The car almost has good bones. The floors look good. The outer body from the firewall back is decent. The rear frames and trunk floor are problematic. The left is bad. Right not as much but both need me to learn to weld.

The inside has the optional Pimlico cloth seats, the drivers isn't good, the others are weathered. Pimlico is the only pattern not reproduced.

Great looking Bonneville, 64 kiwi boni.

Such a great project mate 🍻

I have to do door pins on my 72 Camaro … I have a plan !!!

Watch this space !!!!!😜

Repairing the original hinges is not so bad. It's usually a new bronze bushing and pin that needs to go in unless the hole is really worn out and wallowed out. And even then, the worn hole can be weld filled back smaller and then drilled to fit the replacement pin. For me, it's the upper hinge on the driver's side that takes most of the wear.

The parts kit for this is not expensive and you have the luxury of a great many You Tube videos to guide you.

Rick

3 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

Repairing the original hinges is not so bad. It's usually a new bronze bushing and pin that needs to go in unless the hole is really worn out and wallowed out. And even then, the worn hole can be weld filled back smaller and then drilled to fit the replacement pin. For me, it's the upper hinge on the driver's side that takes most of the wear.

The parts kit for this is not expensive and you have the luxury of a great many You Tube videos to guide you.

Rick

I have the pin and bushing kits. Cheap at Rock Auto. But looking closer at the hinges on the car the left upper hinge doesn't sit flat against the door. So I bought the 4 hinge kit from Amazon. Also cheap, probably made from Chinesium. I might get to use the pins and bushings on these before long.

Tried uploading a pic but won't fully load.

Any Pontiac is better than no Pontiac! Looks like a good start. Have fun and enjoy!

My love of Pontiacs goes a long ways back. Early teenage me (probably 14 or so) noticed the next door neighbor storing his nephews 1969 GTO Judge. Then (@ 1980) a pretty typical used musclecar not considered particularly valuable and I wasn't yet into cars but that changed with that car.

A 1969 GTO Judge is still on my bucket list to this day. Yeah, probably all of yours too.

I had dozens of cool Pontiacs, GTO's, Firebirds, Trans Ams, an Acadian (like a Canadian Chevy II but considered a Pontiac), various other hotrods like a 1949 Anglia and a 1955 Nash Metropolitan I never managed to cram a 354 Hemi into. My last Firebird was a nothing special 1974 Esprit with a Formula hood and a genuine SD 455 in it. About 20 years ago now and its all gone, I moved away after selling all my stuff.

Now I want to relive my misspent youth. My Firebird and I might have aged disgracefully but the car can be brought back to glory it likely never had.

I feel you will fit it around here very well 🍻

Welcome aboard, that 81 looks like a solid starting point, a low or no rust car is all I ask for anymore, I have 1 last Rusty car I swaer I am going to get to some day, but from now on all my projects will be like your firebird, just needing Mechanical work and TLC!

Hi Jeff. Thanks!

Its not rust free but better than most that I looked at before buying. The left rear frame needs replaced due to rust and the right I'm not sure as I haven't looked too closely yet. There's a couple places in the trunk that need welding too which probably means the window channel is porous. There's definitely little weeds growing in there now. Actually in nearly every crevice on the car.

I'm probably not going to tear much up until spring. It's cold and rainy here and I don't have a shelter for it. I will get a tarp over it this weekend though.

So I get home tonight and the wife says the mailman knocked and asked if the Firebird was for sale. Typical 'money is everything' woman, she thought I'd sell it for some quick cash just ahead of the holidays. Nope. I'm in too deep now.

Some of the stuff I've collected so far: proper wheel lugs for the WS-6 wheels, 1981 Trans Am gauge cluster, T/A dash bezel, used T/A 6.6 shaker scoop (but not the air cleaner parts and it needs work), used LR wheel flare, new grilles, new outside door handles, door weatherstrips, door hinge pin kits, new set of hinges made of genuine Chinesium, new inside door handles, new bezels (black) for inside handles, new but incorrect clear window cranks for doors, new lock cylinders for doors and trunk, new pedal pads for clutch, brake and gas pedals, new clutch fork, used flywheel for a Pontiac 400 and a Pontiac 400 used short block that needs rebuilt.

There's lots of other stuff thats either been temporarily forgotten or mentioned before.

I have all but a few parts to finish rebuilding a Muncie M20 in various places around here. It was a 65 (I think) but it was blown up bad. All the gearsets including the input and counter shafts were toast. The parts I bought were for a later Muncie and I bought a 661 case to replace the old 325. I also have an Autogear case and billet midplate if I decide to go crazy.

Realized the last time I was in it that it has a leopard print headliner. Its too Peggy Bundy for me, it's gotta go too.

Now to endure through the holidays and winter...

Geeee peg, stop adding things to the to do list so I can work on the car!

This is the what I see in my car's interior now.

I can think of worse......

I thought I'd post another couple pix of my Bird. These were taken by the previous owner and were in the Craigslist ad before I bought it.

The word above the gas door says "Beast" and no, it's not centered. I've removed it as best I can but like all the stickers so far, the outline still shows and beast can easily be read. Eventually a repaint will fix that but I'm hoping a cut polish will minimize it.

The quarters are really clean for a 45 year old car known for rust in that area. I was holding out for a Trans Am coupe (no T tops) with as little rust as possible in my limited budget range. Except for the Trans Am part this met my needs.

I turned up some info today that's making me question using my Esprit to clone a Trans Am.

According to this, (yes, I will get a PHS report on this car) there were only 286 1981 Esprits built at Van Nuys

with the LG4 305 4V. (code H) https://www.firebirdnation.com/threads/1981-formula-production-numbers.220798/ (about 1/2 ways down. post 12)

I know this isn't some special car of any kind and has no real collector value and since the camel tan Pimlico seats aren't reproduced it can't be properly restored, also the original 305 is junk. But learning that its relatively unusual has me questioning if I should keep it somewhat closer to stock.

A 4 speed 400 Pontiac is probably out now. What do you guys (and girls) think?

Edited January 28Jan 28 by Esprit de corps
fix an error

Mod it the way you want it. With the 305 as junk, make it the way you think it should be, but I would never re-badge it as a Trans Am. That would be borderline fraudulent.

Rick

7 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

Mod it the way you want it. With the 305 as junk, make it the way you think it should be, but I would never re-badge it as a Trans Am. That would be borderline fraudulent.

Rick

I didn't intend to decal the car as a T/A. I set out to have a T/A but that's not how things worked out. Back in the day I had a buddy that had a '78 I'm trying to emulate. It was a real T/A but had no markings. I liked the look.

I agree with you, B52Bombardier1. It's my car. I can do anything I want to it. Its not like it'll be any more valuable as a improperly restored 1981 Esprit in future. It'll still exist. If someone else wants to restore it they can buy it and learn it can't be.

I'll still have what I wanted originally. Kinda. lol

Hey guys. Just a quick update.

I just missed out on a '74 400 and a '76 455 and trans. I'm pretty choked. Pontiac V8's are scarce in these parts.

But Canada's west coast is warming up and it's time to get back on this project. I want to move it to the Progression forum though. If that's ok with the mods, of course.

6 hours ago, Esprit de corps said:

Hey guys. Just a quick update.

I just missed out on a '74 400 and a '76 455 and trans. I'm pretty choked. Pontiac V8's are scarce in these parts.

But Canada's west coast is warming up and it's time to get back on this project. I want to move it to the Progression forum though. If that's ok with the mods, of course.

You bet Dan !!

Don’t forget we love pictures around here … allegedly 😜😜😜