Hi all, I havent been around these forums much at all in the last few years, been busy with a few other projects. But that never stoped me from comming acrossed some good J's that i have been searching for forever and never thought i would find.
first off I came acrossed a black interior which i swaped into my blue 89 bird SE, then i came acrossed a black 90 sunbird 2.0 turbo with a getrag 282 for $200, the plan was to swap the turbo motor and tranny into the blue bird but with how rusted it was and a zillion other issues i'm tired of dealing with i've decided to look for a good shell and strip both cars for all good parts and make one good mint car. And less than a month later i came acrossed an olds firenza hatch! thing is in mint shape not a spec of rust on it, just some fadded paint and a bent up hood.
And thus my J project begins, in a few weeks when i get all the cars in one place i will be striping the hatch to a shell and using the black interior from my blue bird with the sunbird dash and phase 2 cavy door panels (all black) and my sunbird first gen flip up light front end, the turbo motor and 5 speed tranny will also be swaped into the hatch with the sunbird GT swaybars and other GT specific parts with a 92+ brake upgrade and neon rear discs, then its off to paint were it will be going gloss black.
Still undecided on the kit tho, i was planning on a phase 2 Z kit but i dont know about it now that i have a hatch... might not look right.
Anyways thsi is getting a little long, just got all excited about my hatch find and had to share it with the org, lol
lemme know what you think, open to sugestions

Anyone know if they even made a hatch with the first gen sunbird flip ups? I've never seen one before. Also what years did they make hatch's as i have no idea what year my hatch is yet cause i never checked teh vin when i first saw it and wont see it again for a few days.
thanks in advance

YEA!! aother firenza hatch onwer they made them from 82 to 87 i believe frienzas at least...... is it a sx, gt, or base model, they did make a flip up sunnfroof if thats waht you mean, i have a catolouge from 84 like mine and it list all options and stuff.....

i also just read your profile and your dream car is a karmanghia lol, thats my dream car 2 lol...any hatch questions i would be more than happy to try and answer for you. and please get pics!

I know there was an '86 Sunbird GT hatchback with pop up headlights. A few years ago there was a ratty 1.8 turbo 5 speed one parked outside my shop for a few days with a bad fuel pump. I was thinking about buying it but it disappeared never to be seen again. That's the only one I've ever seen. The J hatches are really neat.

For what it's worth I think the Firenzas are cool looking! I passed up a Firenza GT about 4 or 5 years ago for $800 bucks because it was pretty rough. It was basically an Olds version of the Z24 as I remember. Emily's Firenza is beautiful from the pics I've seen.
Incidentally a guy I work with has had 3 Ghias since I've worked with him. Right now he has a Meyer's Manx he wants to sell cheap if any of you VW heads are interested.

Tony


Tony
1987 Sunbird GT turbo convert
Ported intake, Fiero 53 MM TB, 52 lb inj, ported and flowed head, tube header, Mitsu TD06, ARP rod
bolts/head studs, adj cam sprocket, 4" x 12" x 31" FMIC, Paxton AFPR, modified 125 trans/LSD
unit/3.42's, custom chip tuning, Alky Control Methanol injection
13.61 ET at 101.44 mph, 262 WHP/350WTQ

2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP roadster, 2.0 turbo w/GMPP exh, CAI and turbo upgrade, 290 hp/325 ft lbs

1969 Olds 442 convert
400 Eng, 200-4R trans, 3.73 posi, power everything, OAI

I was talking about flip up lights, I'm planning on swaping my sunbird front end from my sig onto the firenza, just curious if they were ever made that way.
Does your hatch have shoulder belts in the rear? i was just thinking about that the other day... my 89 car with the black interior has black back seat belts but there the shoulder style belts and i dont think they will work in the firenza might be out on a search for a new set of black belts... i need new front ones anyway cause there junk.
I have no idea what the car is trim level wise, i was in a hurry when i saw it cause i was in a rush with other things, I just saw it was a j body, it was a hatch and had no rust so i called the guy the next day and bought it, lol
pics in a week or so when i get around to getting rid of my current cars, cant have to many around here at once so i'm striping my 89 and 90 sunbird and scraping them first then the hatch comes here for its rebuild

also whats ur opinion on a phase 2 Z kit on one of these things? you seem like a "keep it stock" kind of person to me, but i want some kind of ground effects on it and i like the phase 2 Z kit but on a hatch might be weird, whats your input on this? And yeh karman ghia's are awesome, nice to see someone else knows they exist, lol to bad i havent got the time space or $$ for any more projects or i'd deffinatly be looking into that.

I'm not sure if you're talking to me or Emily Mr. Efficiency but I'll answer like you're asking me.

Pop up headlights, flip up headlights, whatever you want to call them this '86 GT hatchback had them so I'd say there were some built. I've never seen an '87 hatch with the hidden headlight front end but I do believe it was still available. I think '87 was the last year for Sunbird hatches.

I can't comment on hatch seat belts since my car is a convert.

I seem like a "keep it stock" kinda person? Do I really? Have you read my sig, my car profile or my car domain page? I suppose looks-wise you could say that (since I'm not sure what a phase 2 kit actually is LOL) but performance-wise anything goes! I'm no purist trust me!
I have seen a few cars on here that have body kits and they look awesome. There's a red Cavvy convert in one of the people here's sigs that is really hot looking. Maybe you could do a photo shop deal to get a better idea how the parts would look on your car. I think all the J hatches are good looking anyway so whatever you do will probably look good.

Tony


Tony
1987 Sunbird GT turbo convert
Ported intake, Fiero 53 MM TB, 52 lb inj, ported and flowed head, tube header, Mitsu TD06, ARP rod
bolts/head studs, adj cam sprocket, 4" x 12" x 31" FMIC, Paxton AFPR, modified 125 trans/LSD
unit/3.42's, custom chip tuning, Alky Control Methanol injection
13.61 ET at 101.44 mph, 262 WHP/350WTQ

2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP roadster, 2.0 turbo w/GMPP exh, CAI and turbo upgrade, 290 hp/325 ft lbs

1969 Olds 442 convert
400 Eng, 200-4R trans, 3.73 posi, power everything, OAI

thanks 2literturbo, srry i didnt even see your first post, i was typing up my post as you posted and i never noticed what you said until now, lol you definatly dont seem like a keep it stok perosn to me, I've seen you around these forums a few years ago when i was online 24/7 and posting like amad man, lol I know your car is definatly not stock.
btw, a phase 2 Z kit is the ground effects off a phase 2 (91-94) cavalier Z24 its the kit on my 89 bird in my sig.
and next year i have big motor plans for this thing, daewoo DOHC 16v head and a T03 turbo, intercooler, ARP rood bolts, forged rods and pistons, etc, most of the mods involve making it stand up to 17 psi of boost a few guys with this combo are almost pushing 400hp so i need some tranny work to, lol

IMHO it will stand up to 17 psi boost in stock form, providing the engine's in good shape to begin with. It's all in the tuning.

-->Slow

i think he was talking to me i am a stock person somewhat,...but yea i think they are not shoulder ones, and the kit will look nice...i have something somethin planned......well if you if you get me pics or describe what options it has i can tell you the trim level and possibley year, what color is it....thanks 2 liter, my htach is REAL clean i got lucky....i have lots of pics if ya need um...and get yours up soon!

the hatch is and never will be in my posestion.... i was getting it from a wreckers and its been sitting there for two years and i know a few guys who work there and they said i could have it and they would set it aside for me until i'm ready to go get it when i have room, well i show up yesterday to get it, money in hand and the owner says he cant sell it cause the ownership was branded when it came in and thus the car deemed unrepairable and can never be insured again, and there is no way aroundit in this province... so basically i'm f@#ked and out of a hatch... and teh perfectly mint firenza is forever doomed to rot away in teh wreckers until its crushed, what a waste
So i'm on the look for a hatch to do this project with, after this hole thing i really got my heart set on owning one now, i know a lot of ppl in teh car business around here, with friends at three diffrent autowreckers who are keeping an eye out for a hatch for me and they will keep the ownership for me and not brand it, plus i put up wanted adds on every lockla car forum... hopefully i can find one somewere in close to the shape this one was soon.......

sad.......that sucks........well g-luck on finding a new one......

yeh, thanks, i'm gunna need it.

2literturbo, it might handle it stock but i have no idea the history of this motor and how it was treated, so i'm doing a total rebuild, the pistons are already forged and teh crank is ok, but people are always saying these things can throw a rod pretty easily, and i've seen it, so I'm gettinga set of forged rods as well, also just for a bit of insurance cause i'd feel a lot better knowing theres less a chance of things breaking. I also got a copper head gasket for it cause that was another problem with these things. and a bigger turbo and the daewoo head the thing should fly just dont know if the tranny will stand up to it, i hear there only good for around 350hp, I know were i can get a limited slip for it but thats it and its pretty pricey.