2002 Pontiac Firehawk - Modify 'Til You Die

The Chassis And Suspension
The suspension upgrades are race-quality, employing many components from BMR Fabrication of Thononatassa, Florida. A tubular K-member up front cuts weight and a tunnel brace and welded subframe connectors increase the torsional rigidity of the prone-to-body-twist F-body. The special-ordered Firehawk shocks have given way to a QA1 24-way adjustable coilover setup and BMR tubular control arms up front with Prothane bushings complimented by Eibach Drag Launch springs, Airlift airbags and CE shocks in the rear. Full-length adjustable torque arm, adjustable panhard bar, and rear tubular lower control arms replace the factory components. BMR stabilizer bars are used in front (32mm) and rear (1.25-inch).

Brett Rockey, the owner of BMR Fabrication says, "Elie Bejjani has chosen a well-matched list of suspension and chassis components for a street/strip car. The full length adjustable torque arm allows great street manners, yet provides the adjustability and strength necessary for drag racing."

Bejjani upgraded the Firehawk's front brakes to a Stainless Steel Brakes (SSBC) disc brake kit with Force 10 Tri-Power 3-piston aluminum calipers and 13-inch rotors, which bolt to stock GM spindles. The modification plan left the GM rear calipers and rotors alone, although they are now outfitted with EBC pads.

The Paint
With the mechanical modifications complete, Bejjani decided that this Firehawk needed to stand apart from the other Firebirds in Texas. He told HPP, "Every T/A looks the same, and unless you know what you're looking for, a Firehawk doesn't look that different. I wanted my car to be an eye-popper." Elie took over two months on the paint alone. "We went through four different styles of flames before my painter, Brent Lyndamood, and I decided on this one," he said.

"Because the car was originally black, we masked off the vehicle except for where we planned on applying the custom flames. Then we painted from the front bumper to the rear quarter with a dark charcoal pearlescent color faded to a light silver as it went farther back on the vehicle. The entire paint job was hand-outlined and hand-painted in red striping. Even the Pontiac emblem on the Firehawk's front bumper is painted freehand."

The Results
Elie told HPP that the most significant Pontiac he remembered as a teenager was a '79 6.6L Trans Am on his dad's dealership lot. He says that because of this Second-Gen T/A he fell in love with Firebirds and all of the modifications he has made to his '02 Firehawk have been because of his passion for the F-body. "I love my Firehawk," Elie says, "The torque of the stroker motor is phenomenal, as is the attention I get when I go racing. It's everything I could ever ask for."

With current modifications complete, according to HPE, the Firehawk now outputs 523 hp to the rear wheels in its naturally-aspirated state and 801 hp with nitrous. That's three times the rear wheel horsepower the Firehawk left the SLP conversion factory with.

Elie tells us that the Firehawk runs mid-9s and in the 130 mph range on a 225 shot of nitrous in the quarter-mile and a consistent 10.40 in the 120s on motor alone. Yet with all the attention spent on speed upgrades, the Firehawk cannot compete in sanctioned events because it does not meet the NHRA safety requirements for its ET. On the street, too, this Firehawk skirts the legal limits of state motor vehicle inspection requirements.

As we mentioned earlier, the Gen Y crowd has a motto, "Modify until you die." Elie now has his '02 Firehawk back at Horsepower Engineering for another round of modifications. We hope that these future upgrades include all of the required safety equipment mandated by the NHRA and the changes to meet state inspection requirements. With the resources to keep going, it looks like the improvements to this Firehawk will never stop. Bejjani doesn't mind. "I'm building the baddest daily driver around," he tells HPP.