Glenn's 2000 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am WS6 M6

[GlennT]

I'm starting to actually do more than just fix wiring bugs, and replacing the radio. Money is going to continue to hold me back, but I have some things on the horizon (I hope!)

I just received 4 Best Brakes blank rotors, and a set of Hawk HPS 5.0 pads from Strano Parts yesterday. I'm still debating whether to paint the rotors, but with as busy as we are, I have a feeling I'll get impatient and just install everything right out of the box.

Have new rubber bump stops as well, since one is missing the rubber part altogether.

Koni Sport adjustable shocks and struts will likely be next, along with Strano springs and a UMI adjustable panhard bar. Doing it all right now would really slow down our efforts to pay down our credit card though. I'm currently considering the purchase of just the rear shocks for now, and at least get that damn rear settled down. It's not a complete mess, but I'm certainly not pleased with how long the tires come off the ground over good size bumps. The front is no better, but the rear is messier when pulling through a curve under hard throttle, especially on wet roads.

I'd love to do the UMI torque arm and relo kit, plus adjustable LCAs after that, but I've fallen in love with Forgestar F14 wheels, and my ZR1 replicas are peeling pretty bad. I don't have $1400 right now though, let alone the tire budget. My fronts are getting bald on the edges, so I may have to bite the bullet and replace them.

Beyond that... perhaps subframe connectors, strut tower brace... we'll see. I may take care of the lack luster speakers somewhere along the way.

[GlennT]

Screw it. I ordered the shocks and springs. Went fully adjustable on car. I can't stand these decarbons any longer.

[MP81]

Koni yellows?

[GlennT]

Yep. That's a lot more than I wanted to spend, but I hate upgrade-itis. I originally thought of this car as a stop gap between finally getting a '70-'73 Camaro RS, but now I think I'll be holding onto her for a while. It's just so much fun to drive.

[MP81]

It happens - but it's worth doing once, the way you want to. I definitely understand that - just gotta keep the "well, I might as well's" in check.

Like how replacing my intake might result in me accidentally buying heads and a cam.

[GlennT]

Ha! Yep. I sometimes wonder if I have bent any pushrods, even though she runs fine and runs strong. But if I'm pulling the push rods, is it really *that* much more work to pull the lifters and swap the cam? It is, but it really isn't. Then there's the rockers, etc... It's too easy to fall down a rabbit hole.

[farmington]

you need to pull the heads to remove the lifters, so....................cylinder heads too, LOL

[GlennT]

Oh, right, GenIII... Hey, don't screw with my logic in validating a cam swap.

[GlennT]

...or that just justifies a head swap!

[MP81]

It absolutely justifies it. They're off, why put them back on?

[GlennT]

May as well pull the whole lump, and put an LSX in then? LOL

At least with the suspension, I feel like I have a hard line. Those springs and shocks are about as good as it's going to get, before going to coil overs. So many other things, you can play that, "Oh, what's just a little more?" game forever.

[GlennT]

Got the rotors and pads installed over the weekend, and flushed the fluid finally. I had a risky idea to use my pressure bleeder to push as much old brake fluid out of the reservoir as possible. That worked, but it got a lot lower than I intended. I ended up flushing more fluid through than planned, just to be sure no air got in. I got the intended result though, without having to deal with a pump or turkey baster. At every corner, it went from nasty to clear very quickly, vs pushing a mixture of old and new through first.

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I have to say, it is nice to work on a car that isn't rusted to hell. Everything came apart with ease, and guide pins were all good. I was surprised the Hawk pads didn't come with new stainless spring clips/guides. Otherwise, the only surprise was that the rear inboard pads were side specific. It took me too long to notice the R on the pad that I was trying to install on the left side.

What do you think these stickers are worth, HP wise? 15HP?

[GlennT]

Shocks showed up Monday. Springs showed up yesterday!

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Our kids had a piano recital, so I didn't get started until after 8pm. I took some quick fender height measurements before I started, and managed to get the rear done in a little over an hour, working at a very casual and purposeful pace. I did it all with the wheels on. Left spring came out rearward, and the right side came out from the front. Taking the wheels off would have certainly made it easier, but probably not faster. Figuring the time to take the wheels off and later putting them back on, with checking lug nut torque before and after driving, it probably comes out about the same. I only wish I took the wheels off so that I wouldn't have forgotten to swap out the bumpstops while I was back there.

FWIW, I didn't have to take anything out from the interior, like some of the guides I've seen stated. I just folded the backseat forward, cut the access flaps in the carpet, and was good to go.

After about a 15 mile drive, it looks like it dropped about 3/4". I'll check on it again in the future to see where it ends up, although I didn't buy these springs with any specific expectation on ride height.

I'm still feeling out the changes, but set at full soft, it is most definitely improved already. The ass doesn't float like a boat, and doesn't hop over every bump. Looking forward to seeing the same changes in the front.

[DynoDave]

Wow, that's some black brake fluid. Glad you got that out of there.

[MP81]

Man, and I thought my 117k mile numbers-matching factory fluid on my Cobalt looked bad!