I just bought my first car... an automatic, carburated 1978 Pontiac Firebird. 350 engine, Heddman headers, Comp cam, Edelbrock Manifold, Knn air filter, and Moroso Valve Covers.

http://images.craigslist.org/01010801021101030720071026b1ef182d27491a84c800e948 .jpg

Now since I'm only sixteen... I'm not a seasoned auto mechanic. I know enough to get me through but with a 30-year-old car it's a little different than working with my parents' '98 Taurus. Any pointers you guys wanna give me about this kind of car?

Any pointers you guys wanna give me about this kind of car?
Don't wreck it... lol :icon16:


That thing looks clean for its age. Take good care of it and just keep up on the maintenance for now and do a lot of reading. I've found nothing more to be helpful than reading up as much as you can about a specific type of car to learn about it.


This makes me miss my Firebird. :(

Ya nice car , lots of show with lots of go. Don`t wreck it like Black crow said .........lol. Good luck with it and welcome to AF

Nice ride man

Thanks guys... After spending the cash I did on this bird, there's no way I'm gonna let it get wrecked! Haha... but yeah, I've read a little bit on this year Firebird, but I'll start reading more and more now that I've actually got the thing. Thanks again guys!

damn sweet find man.....if i had a car like that at 16 the girls at my school would have been all ove me lmao!!!

Very nice and welcome to the madness.

You will find the 'Bird to be a dream to work with, not requireing 30 hours of diagnostics to find a faulty spark plug like on your previous experience. :thumbsup:

Yes, purdy car! Even if it IS green...(:-

One thing, from an old tech. Don't allow anyone not familiar with the Pontiac V8 (it's NOT a Chevy 350) to convince you to make changes. For many years, we (Pontiac people) have had to hear: "I built a Pontiac once. It was a pig and blew up!" If one is to use the techniques that make a small block Chevy make power on the Pontiac, this IS the result. A pig that pops! But... If you build the Pontiac the way a Pontiac LIKES it, you'll really upset some apple carts! Afterall, GTO didn't earn a reputation for LOSING!

Get Jim Hand's "How to Build Max-performance Pontiac V8s", published by SA Designs. It's a CURRENT study of the old Injun, and available at most book stores. While not a bible by any means, it's got a lot of good explanations for Pontiac-specific performance stuff. Even though it's only 3 years old, some of it is already obsolete. Pontiacs are "back", and developement of the old Injun is at an all-time high.

Feel free to contact me directly, for a more personal approach to this. Information is absolutely free! (if I get my hands dirty, it begins to cost money...)

Jim

mrpbody@centralvirginiamachine.com

Thanks mrPbody... I really appreciate your advice seeing as people have already been giving me tips on how I could tune up my fbird the same way they tuned their camaro and whatnot...