Possible upgrade to a '00 Trans Am?
 

Well I've discovered a 2000 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am close to me. It has 109k miles and looks to be in good shape.(6 speed and t-tops). I currently have a '95 Z28 and I love it but I want more power and more ease of use and tune-ups. I figured I'd come here first and get your opinions. The Trans Am has the LS1 which I'd prefer over the pain in the butt LT1. From your opinions and knowledge would you guys suggest this switch? Is it a worthwhile upgrade to the LS1 because I do plan on mods and upgrades also? I have talked to the guy and I plan on taking a look at it tomorrow sometime.

http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/3228623160.html

5 years newer? T-stops? 6-speed? WS6 with that awesome hood? It would be no question for me :-)

Thats what ive been thinkin lol. It would be nice for an mpg upgrade also since my Z28 musters out around 12 mpg as my city DD.

If it wasn't t-tops, I'd jump on it. As far as value goes, it's not gonna increase any time soon, maybe 10 years from now. But it's still a sexy Trans Am.

Definitely upgrade. Trans Ams are still beautiful cars. I'm jealous of that deal too. Seems like a great price.

Ya I'll check it out and make a decision. In my opinion it looks far better than the Camaros with that styling. Dont like the t-tops. I wouldn't get it if it didn't have the t-tops lol.

Well I checked it out. It was in dang good shape except for this stupid little shifter that made shifting insanely difficult and it seemed very hard to properly get into gears. There was a crack in the passenger side door panel too. There was an obnoxious whining kind of noise comin from under the hood which from what I could tell seemed to be a belt, atleast I'm hoping so. After driving it and stopping I noticed that almost directly under the seats under the car there was some weird noises but other than that no problems. Any opinions? I'm still debating whether or not to pick it up and sell my Z28.

Well, being a 2000 model year car it's 12 years old (which is *really* hard for me to comprehend -- man, the years are flying by) so it's gonna have some bumps that you will need to smooth out. With just over 100k miles the drivetrain should still be solid unless it was abused but little stuff will need to be addressed.

The underhood noise could be an alternator bearing, especially if it is the original one. The noise under the seats could be exhaust expansion/contraction or even something in the seats (does it have the Ultima seats with the inflatable bolsters/lumbar?). The shifter issue is more worrisome. Is it an aftermarket shifter? Why would the wifey driver want something like that? Hmmm...

Frankly, I think that if you bought it, addressed the little stuff, and decided that you didn't like it you could sell it for a profit pretty easily. There will always be a market for a WS6 'bird.

Well it's a really short shifter and seems really difficult to get into gears and you can easily miss gears with it. Might be that I'm used to my Camaros stock huge shifter that shifts through all the gears with zero friction or trouble.

And I think they were the seats with the big lumbar support stuff.

This is tough for me because I love my Z and will sell it if I get this so I want to love this firebird as much as my camaro. But who knows really.

The add is gone, did you buy it or miss it?