T.J. Harrell's 1980 Firebird Esprit

Update!!!

On July 8, 2006, I took possession of a 1977 Pontiac 400 short-block! The project is now underway!

I acquired this car in January 1988, when I was a senior in high school. After graduation that May, I swapped the old, tired 231 Buick V6 for the 301 Pontiac out of my old 1977 Bonneville. It ran all right for 80k miles or so but finally succumbed to a blown head gasket. By then the rest of the car had fallen into a state of disrepair (poor college student syndrome) so I decided to park it for a year or two until I could afford to drop a real motor in it. That was in 1994...

From what I can gather, the car was licensed in Louisiana before I got it, and lived a pretty tough life in those eight years. By the time I got it, it had 135,000 miles, pinhole rust in both floorboards, and a rusted-out trunk floor. It was originally white, but seems to have been painted black just before I acquired it.

This is basically what the car had (er, has) on it:

• B&M Megashifter
• Grant GT steering wheel
• Suntune mechanical gauge package (ammeter, water temperature, oil pressure)
• 1977 Firebird tachometer
• P235/60R15 BF Goodrich T/A Radials
• True dual exhaust (no cats)

After it's running again, I plan on changing the interior's color from dark blue to "Camel Tan" (since the interior's shot anyway, it's not like it's an extra expense), upgrading the suspension with WS6 parts, and eventually painting it (maybe the metallic green from the '95-'96 Impala SS, can't decide). As far as the engine goes, I'm planning on building a stout 400 Pontiac. I just couldn't bring myself to drop a small-block Chevy in there.

Actually, the 400 short-block may be on par with building a small-block Chevy, as far as cost is concerned. I also picked up a set of #15 heads ('70 big-car) for $40, and depending on their chamber volumes, might use those. I need to find intake and exhaust manifolds, but I should be able to reuse the 301's accessory brackets, distributor, starter, and maybe even the flexplate. Either motor would have required a new transmission - that TH-200 back there won't cut it - and thanks to Buick and the Grand National, the 200-4R bolts up to the 400! Overdrive, w00t!

This isn't a "numbers-matching" car, so I can pretty much do whatever I feel like with it!

Look here for the story of the 301 swap I did in 1988.