80 Turbo Firebird

I got this car for cheap, its in great condition body wise, it ran OK but now it is barely starting, i have to hold the gas down or it wont idle properly/ i know it has a wrong carb on it, and needs some other work, so can someone help me...

What kind of Carb will work on this? will a rochester quad work and fix this problem if it is rebuilt?

what other things should i look out for?

it has some sort of leak that is making its way into the passenger side by the feet, it looks like water... where is this coming from?

also some sort of exhaust or something is making its way into the car through the defrost vents (fan doesnt work, so its not blowing in)

any help... please

well if it has a 301 turbo in it , its a good deal, noone seems to care much for the 301 with turbos,
Ive had a 80 turbo bird and a 81 turbo TA, both had 400s, n 350 turbo trans, and they ran as good as any ol 350 chevy, so good in fact, im converting
my 82 TA to a 400 with a pontiac 350 turbo.
did you start with the cap ,button plugs, wires, carb cleaner, oil n filter, anti freezer, if not try that first then do the rest, what size engine is it?

the water sounds like a heater core,as for the exhaust if you want it to really rock go with straight duals

Its the 301 with the turbo. im buying a new carb tomorrow, the proper one, so that will fix that. I will then need hoses and shit, and then fix the water problem...

My heating system doesnt work, no heat, no blowing. i was told the ground wire got fried, how can i fix that myself. where is it located?

also, how can i dry up moisture under the carpet on the driver and passenger side? i dont want it to rust down there, its already got a lil rust... anything that can soak it up?

good luck gettting that hunk of junk turbo 301 to run. If ya wanted a turbocharged TA, you should of bought a 98 TTA

well HYSPI, your right, maybe we should just trash, our old cars,buy new vipers ,hey dad I want a new carrrraaa! can u buy me one please!? oh I got a bug on my windsheild, waa
The 98s who wants one anyway, no room to work on it, besides if he puts as much money as is spend on a 98 in that 80 , hell laugh at it as he waves goodbye

to dry remove it let it dry, probably needs new anyway, right?

It's 89 not a 98. As far as the 80 Turbo TA, nice choice, that easiest to work with. For the carpet, take it out. In fact, take out the whole interior, make sure you keep track for your bolts and screws. While it's check your floor boards for root and rust. I have an 81 TA, have some root in the pass floor due to an exhuast leak.

As far as the engine, the 301 is not the strongest motor, plus the turbo desgin is kinda difficult to work with. You have a blow through desgin, instead of the more common draw through. You can find everything you will need to restore the engine(hose, wires etc) in a factory repair manual. You'll need to go to a pontiac dealership or contact business that deal with auto literauter. At the bottom I will have some contacts for that.

Here's the key to making this work, don't get discouraged. When one thing goes wrong, that doesn't mean give up. You have to find the answer. I'd like to know how the project goes. The car stock isn't the meanest thing in the world, but with enough effort you can make it, with out ripping out the 301 and dropping some hugh engine in.

Hope this helps

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I ment 89 TTA and as far as your tone, I in no way ment to have that comment come off as smart assed as you made it sound. Having an attatude like that won't get you all that far here. Consider this your warning.

Hypsi87

Local GM moderator...

well HYSPI, your right, maybe we should just trash, our old cars,buy new vipers ,hey dad I want a new carrrraaa! can u buy me one please!? oh I got a bug on my windsheild, waa
The 98s who wants one anyway, no room to work on it, besides if he puts as much money as is spend on a 98 in that 80 , hell laugh at it as he waves goodbye


I also don't like people sending out personal attacks out like "oh daddy, buy me a new viper. If you had not noticed my car is from 1987.... 2004-1987=17 years old. not exactly new.

The 98s who wants one anyway, no room to work on it, besides if he puts as much money as is spend on a 98 in that 80 , hell laugh at it as he waves goodbye


Also, I work at a dyno shop that specializes in LT/LS1's the ammount of money you would have to put into that 80's TA is laughable compared to the money you would have to put into the LT/LS1. With an LS1, 2.5k and your making 420HP at the wheels on pump gas, no nitrous. its gonna take more than 3k to do that for your 80's TA

1-800-owned!

Well it sounds to me like your the one, with the
negative attitude,(hunk of junk ?). It seems that you need a little lesson in tact. Would you say things like that to you kids.
It seems to me like what I said did exactly what it was meant to. Want to down someone? Stop look n the mirror and look at your own faults first.

From what I understand the 301 turbo isnt what it should of been. But that doesnt mean that this car is a hunk of junk, or that it needs to be trashed.
Why buy one of those newer TAs with all that stuff on there? If you ( fitseries) want to do something to improve on the 301 drop in a 400 spend a little cash on that. If you are like me your proud of your car. Some of us dont have dynos, or the cash to spend $10,000,$20,000 on a toy.
Ive owned an 80 turbo formula, and 81 turbo TA,
they both had been upgraded to 400s. And they were rough, but I can say that , they were mine.
But they made those Chevs cry. Keep it simple,you want to drive the car, not spend your entire life working on it.

Bottles are for babies!

good luck gettting that hunk of junk turbo 301 to run. If ya wanted a turbocharged TA, you should of bought a 98 TTA


Notice I said Hunk of junk turbo 301 going??????????? Read the post. You seemed to pic up on my mistake of putting 98 instead on 89 ( I mean comeon you had to know what I ment, did you accually think they made a turbo trans am in 98?)


Listen, the fact is, I posted that the turbo 301 is a hunk of junk. Not the car. YOU were the one blowing it all out of scope. I never said to completey trash the car. All I said is that if you really want a turbo trans am, then go get an 89 TTA. Now we can end this, OR you can continue to keep this up and I will lock down this thread and send you on a Nice little vacatioin from AF for constant flaming and personal attacks to a moderator. Got it?


GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW I am a college student living on my own and I don't even talk to my parents. How in the hell am I going to drop 10k into a car. I have 3k tops. Quit assuming that I am some rich spoild kid that has an endless supply of cash. If that was the case, do you accualy think I would still have a stock block, stock internal engine in my car?

i have a 1980 trans am with the 301, its not a turbo, just an se t/a, anyway the turbo 301 cranked out 210 hp when the big block 400's were pushing 215-220 hp. i think thats pretty impressive. the only thing that my car has had done to it so far is an engine rebuild, and a 750 holley, it runs pretty good for stock but the tranny is weak, and needs its starter rebuilt.