Firebird First Aid Part I

This factory photo depicts a GTA when new, loaded with features. Little did the buyers know how badly their cars would devalue after years of service, when none of them worked anymore.

In a rush of Pontiac goodwill (or a total lack of good sense), we acquired a rather poorly maintained but cheap 1988 Pontiac GTA. These Third-Gen. F-bodies ('82-92) are currently quite affordable, and a great starting point for a younger reader who wants to get into the high performance Pontiac hobby. After using the tips on how to maintain tuned-port cars (April 2002), I found a leaking throttle body gasket and an Idle Air Control valve out of adjustment. The orphan now starts, idles and runs very well, for being bone stock. These Reagan/Bush era Birds make good torque, are very good handlers and are a hoot to drive.

Unfortunately, they seem to suffer from a laundry list of common aging issues that make them seem ratty before their time. These afflictions also make the Pontiacs more affordable, so we'll put our noggins toward curing the ailments while spending less than an HMO's deductible--so we can put our cash into making more power.

What's great about working on these F-bodies on a tight budget is that the junkyards are full of them, and a lot of components are common with the Camaros (that were stamped out like Bayer Aspirin), making the parts selection more plentiful. Unfortunately, the same debilitated pieces you need to replace on your Bird have also degraded on these junkers ... or worse, some other crafty driveway doctor has already performed a successful transplant from the recycled Bird to his own. It's obvious that there are genetic disabilities with the breed when all the junkyard cars are stripped of the same parts, no matter where you go.

Also of note is the epidermal condition of said patient. Our GTA's paint is horrible, as the original mix for the Van Nuys F-body plant on many Third-Gen. cars was an early version of the water-based paints mandated by Cal OSHA and the EPA. You should assume that you will probably have to paint almost any of these Van Nuys cars if they haven't already been resprayed.

Inside, the front buckets need re-upholstering and the headliner is sagging horribly. It could also use new carpet; otherwise the interior is in good shape.

Mechanically, it certainly is hot-blooded given its overheating attitude (more on that later), but it's hard to tell because the temp sender wire connector for the gauge was fried on the exhaust manifold.

The eye test revealed that its driver side headlight will not retract any more, so it resembles a one-eyed Jack. The rear hatch rattles incessantly, and gastrointestinal gyrations result in the smell of exhaust fumes in the driver's compartment.

The driver's door needs to be slammed to make it latch and the heater has been bypassed because the core beneath the dash has been leaking. Someone stole the stereo, and the electric antenna does not work. Despite the fact that the GTA now starts and runs well, the previous owner should have paid us to take it off his hands. As you can see, it will take a patient practitioner to nurse the Pontiac back to health. In Part I, we'll tackle the hot running engine, the headlight motors and the rear hatch latch. See Part II in the next issue for more handy cures.

Fever Cure
I believe the primary cause of junked T/As is overheating. This plague attacks the Third-Gen. Trans Ams like the Taliban does a woman learning to read, and it is equally unnecessary. If you look these Pontiacs in the face, you'll realize very quickly that there is no grille! The cool air is collected under the nose by a spoiler, and ducted up through the radiator by a two-piece plastic duct that smoothes and directs the flow up and through the radiator. Both these parts were missing from the GTA. Though we found the ducting on a V6 Firebird in the junkyard for $6, a search of four junkyards and about 25 Firebirds on the scrap heap netted only a single 4-cylinder car that had a badly mangled version of the spoiler. All the others were missing it entirely.This simple black plastic spoiler that mounts under the radiator of all Firebirds is critical to cooling at speed. Even if this spoiler is tweaked or bent back a little, the Pontiac will run hot and possibly overheat above 50 mph or under load, but it will only run slightly hotter than normal around town. Though these spoilers easily drag and are bent back by potholes and washouts if the driver is not careful, I believe most become victims by getting hung up on parking lot bumpers, which hook onto them and tear them off. Our solution was to buy a new spoiler from the dealer for $25. We drilled holes in the spoiler and the jack points in front of the spoiler, safety wired the spoiler forward a bit and gave it support, while reducing the possibility of a parking lot bumper tearing it off. Engine temperature no longer gets past half the gauge at any time or any speed. 02The preradiator ducting and front spoiler are critical to the Bird's thermal health. Ducting was found at the local junkyard, the spoiler from a dealer.

One-Eyed Jack Cure
Another consistent complaint regarding these Firebirds is headlight motor failure. There are two versions of these motors, the early one using a 3-wire system and the later with a 2-wire system. Our GTA had the later 2-wire version, and our forays saw every single 2-wire unit missing from the junkyard cars. Grumble.However, we found that the 2-wire unit from the '87 Sunbird is the same except for the mounting boss locations. You only need to look for the Sunbirds with the droopy, 2/3 eyelid headlight covers, plentiful in the junkyards. The Sunbird unit is mostly hidden under the plastic cosmetic panel just in front of the radiator core support on top (near the hood latch).Our wires were spliced and badly corroded, so we decided to just swap out the parts. The motor and worm gear must come out before the driven gear and lever assembly can be taken out of the case. Two 8mm screws remove the motor unit, but be careful taking it out since this releases the brushes; also, the springs behind them want to jump out onto the ground. Now you can remove the brush holder/wiring assembly with another two screws if you need to, and use the one with the best brushes and wires from your two assemblies; they are interchangeable. On the "transmission" case, remove the three 8mm screws, and the driven gear will come out. We quickly found the problem with our unit, as the crystallized remains of the drive dampers poured out onto the ground. These go between the nylon driven gear and the drive axle that the lever arm attaches to. If this is your problem, you'll need to pull everything partially off the shaft and steal the drive cushions from the other unit.If your motor runs continually but the headlight door will not move, and screwing in the manual rotator (on the top of the motor) does nothing, this is likely your problem too, and you will not need a new motor. Although I didn't try it, I would use three pieces of vacuum hose, cut to length and filled with a bit of silicone, to prevent total crushing, to replace the drive dampers. Don't be a brain surgeon and try to assemble it before the silicone dries in the vacuum hose, or your motor will be glued in place.

Rear Hatch Latch Attack Cure
Another chronic problem of these Pontiacs is related to the automatic rear hatch pulldown option. This is an electric motor that pulls down the rear hatch for a "soft close." I have owned and worked on these cars for years, and I've never seen one of these working correctly when it came in.

The unit is poorly designed and rather fragile. Upon the inevitable failure of the rear hatch gas struts, the weight of the rear hatch without these gas assists could crush a Yugo. Then, when the rear hatch is dropped (slammed) down on the motor unit, it will break the plastic mounting boss of the motor, which some engineering genius designed at a right angle to the load supported from only one side. This error was compounded by its fabrication out of brittle plastic. When this part breaks, the motor sags sideways and downward, and binds in the tracks, ceasing to function. This problem will now require slamming of the hatch to even get the latch to catch. This is a perpetual problem, and will continue to get worse with further slamming. As the latch droops further and further down, it must be slammed harder and harder to get it to catch.

Our car's rear sheetmetal was actually bent by this, and another Trans Am had the rear window glass totally blown out by trying to get the hatch to latch. Unfortunately the dealer does not sell parts, only entire assemblies. The first step, and perhaps the most expensive, is to replace the gas struts that hold the hatch open. They are about $60 at any auto parts store. Don't even start repairs on the pulldown motor assembly without good hatch gas strut supports.

The pull-down motor assembly is another example of a part almost never seen in a junkyard. If it is, it's usually been gutted or is in worse condition than what you already have. Since GM will not sell parts of this unit, you must focus on the gutted units, hoping to get enough parts to make yours live again.

First, remove the rear panel to access the motor unit. Disconnect the wire connector that plugs into the front of the travel limit switch. Now remove the three bolts on the driver's side of the rail assembly that hold the motor mounting boss (clear plastic) to the rail assembly. There is a large pin that attaches the piston arm to the center of the rail assembly behind the latch assembly. This pin is held in place with a star washer. Give the pin a good smack with a hammer and punch, driving it against the star washer, and the star washer will come off. Remove the pin, and the motor assembly will now slide out of the bottom. Make sure that there are Nylon sliders on the motor rail. If these are gone or deteriorated, you will have to scrounge for them at the junkyard. I found a haggard unit in the junkyard and bought the whole thing for $18, and between the original and the "new" one, had all the good parts I needed, and I didn't have to disassemble it in the junkyard.

Now we have the guts of the issue. First, get a few test wires and run them from 12V (your battery will work) to the first and second or the first and third pins (going from the driver's side) of the connector receptacle on the limit switch. This will confirm that the motor is working and if the gears in the gearbox are good. If it does work, you can skip to the start of the next paragraph.

If it doesn't work, first check to see if the limit switch is all the way down on the contacts on top of the motor. If it is, it's possible that the motor is burned out or the gears are locked up. A single screw in the top of the limit switch will take it off. Now put your wires directly on the contacts on the top of the motor. If it works now, the limit switch is bad; you'll need to scrounge another. (Warning: do not run the motor all the way up or down without the limit switch or the piston rod will bottom out and you'll strip the gears!) Now unbolt the three bolts on top of the steel cover that attach it to the top of the clear plastic motor mounting boss (they are under the limit switch) and remove the steel cover. You will gain access to the gears, piston rod, and motor. The piston rod threads into the driven gear, which is turned by a worm gear from the motor assembly. Inspect this driven gear very carefully; clean it and look for problems. If it has just one tooth bad, find another since it will strip the first time you try to use it. You should now have everything critical apart and inspected, and know what you need to get it working again. You can now also swap motors if yours is bad. Ours suffered from water damage from the bent rear sheetmetal letting water past the rear seal.

Inspect the motor mounting boss for cracks where it mounts to the rail assembly. These are always cracked or broken, and responsible for binding and stalling the entire assembly. You will never find a perfect one in the boneyard, so it will need to be repaired with high strength super glue. If there are pieces missing, a better one must be scrounged from a junkyard and repaired similarly. Drill small holes in the cracks into which you can squeeze the super glue, but don't put the glue in yet. Wait until it's all assembled and held in proper position.

We have one last modification, to make sure it stays working. This is both cheap and simple, and will insure we don't have to go through this again in a few years. Remove the wiring and the rail assembly (three bolts into the body of the car). Mark the area shown with a marker; this will be for our support strap. Cut this area out with anything that you can. I had an electric Sawzall type reciprocating saw that I bought to get a stock exhaust off to put on a cat-back. It's perfect for this job too. Cut the notch and go to any auto or hardware store and get a band clamp (hose clamp) that will go out to a minimum of nine inches. A bit more is better, and if you can't get some that big, you can screw two end to end, to make a bigger one. Now you'll need to re-assemble everything in the exact order that you took it apart.

Before reinstalling, put the band clamp through the notch, and use a two-sided tape to keep it on the end of the motor. Note: the band clamp does not need to be tight! It's only there to support the bolts on the other side and keep the motor mounting boss from cracking and drooping again.

Now mount your fully assembled pulldown motor and rail into the Pontiac. Adjust the band clamp just snug, not tight, or it will bind in the opposite direction and break the motor mounting boss in the other direction. The clamps should be tightened just enough to align the piston rod with the rails (you can eyeball this; the tracks and piston rod should all be vertical). Now reassemble everything, and apply liberal amounts of the super glue on the motor mounting boss holes that we drilled earlier, and along all the cracks that you can get at. It doesn't really have to hold much; just keep the cracks from "walking" from vibration and shock.

Plug in all your wires and your hatch should be gently dropped into the latch, which will catch it and slowly pull it down into place and stop automatically. Check alignment of your rear hatch with the body panels of your quarters. You'll have to adjust the entire assembly on its three bolts to get the hatch to align correctly. If it's sitting too high or too low, try screwing in or out the rubber snubbers in the far edge of the hatch. Make sure that your rear sheetmetal that supports the weather strip is straight. If your weather strip has been cut or has a big gap, use black silicone to build up the spot, and a melting ice cube to shape it and finish the surface (remember to not close the hatch until the silicone dries! If the hatch sticks out too far to the rear, you will need to make an adjustment to the hinge bolts where the hatch bolts to the car body, just behind the headliner.