New to the J-body scene. - Newbies Forum

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New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 9:38 AM
Well i came across a poor 97 Pontiac Sunfire convertible 2.4L stick. Its in rough shape but with the right amount of work can be brought back to life to be a good DD.
IT has a Short ram intake, LT header, catback of some kind, roll bar (dont ask), racig seats, some kind of hidious front body kit, good tires, and a drop top that doesnt have any holes.
Got some brake stuff on the way to replace everything, new plugs, and a rear tail light thats cracked.
Heres the red headed step child nexted to its bigger brother




somebody threwup yellow under the hood lol


and my first mod lol notice anything different ?lol


So where should i start first? Im an F-body guy so this little guy is new territory for me.

Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 9:54 AM
Well so far this is what ive found to fix or change.

New brakes all around. I do this with every used car i get. I dont care what the guy selling it says. Ive had a guy tell me he put new brakes on it and come to find out all he did was put pads on but the rotors were warped and gouged horribly on the insides.

Paint or replace the fenders.
Fix the head lights, i think its a fuse or lightbulb thing since those dont work but the tail lights do.
Get ride of the hood pins.... seriously tacky
I already got ride of the stupid front splitters, but need to smooth it out alittle more and paint.
freshen up the drop top to keep it from cracking.
fix theright rear taillight housing.
Fix the Ebrake. Not sure if its the cable or the bracket. Ebrake doesnt work.
Car shifts fine, but not sure if i should get a new clutch or just replace the tranny with a Muncie that handles power better.
Tires are fine for now. Rims I think they are 15s but id like to go 16s or 17s.
The lugnuts need to be changed cause the last idiot put those gorrilla nuts on it. why, i dont why. fortunately the lug key was in the car.
Drivers window motor is on the way out and I think it need a new regulator but not sure until i tear it apart to inspect it.
Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 10:06 AM
nice! rare front bumper u got there.



Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 11:57 AM
azncav wrote:nice! rare front bumper u got there.

? really?
Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:10 PM
pretty sure it is.. rk sport as i far as i know. BEst looking front bumper for the sunfire IMO



Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:16 PM
it is a rare aftermarket front bumper... also... I would check behind that bumper. looks like it has had a front end collision at some point. The condenser is bent to hell...









Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:19 PM
you think so i think the stock 00+ SE bumper with the RK lip kit tops all options ofr sunfire.

anyone else chime in to confirm this but is that an ICEMAN short ram intake. little info if it is ICE was a brand of intake that back in the day was expensive to buy considing the gains could have been acheived with less money so whoever had the car did spend money on the car



JBO since July 30, 2001
Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:34 PM
NOTa2_4 wrote:anyone else chime in to confirm this but is that an ICEMAN short ram intake. little info if it is ICE was a brand of intake that back in the day was expensive to buy considing the gains could have been acheived with less money so whoever had the car did spend money on the car


Wow old whale penis intake haha. Yeah, It's an iceman.



That bumper looks awesome without the bottom attachments. Do some evil eyes and it will be tits

This is Jeff's red cavfire on the right.



Oh yeah, Killer T/A



Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:41 PM


Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:52 PM
Well at least the last guy that owned it put a few good stuff in it. I might replace the intake with an entire CAI from the throttle body out. I made a custom one for my wifes 99 Grand Am back in the day with the same engine.
I like the evil eyes. Thats kind bad ass. Alot of guys do some thing simular around here with some of the Beemers around here.
Anything i should worry about with the drop top? Its in decent shape and it works fine as long as the engines running. Draws alot of power to put it up but thats understandable. What can i use to recondition it and bring a bit of shine out of it at the same time. Im pretty sure Armoral is a nono since it loves to dry out everything it touches.
Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:53 PM
There is plenty of potential here, bring this thing back to what it should be!!





CAR IS FOR SALE...Saab Kit, GM Reflash, 10 psi
Re: New to the J-body scene.
Sunday, February 27, 2011 2:33 PM
droptop FTW




Re: New to the J-body scene.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011 10:20 AM
Well im waiting on the insurance to hit and then i can take it out for a spin. In germany if your insurance hasnt sent the info to the registration, you dont get tags, not even temps. But the cars in my name. Its considered "inop" until i get the tem tags then I can get it inspected to have them tell me what exactly is wrong with it mechanically so I can fix it. The only thing i know is that it needs brakes, parking brake adjusted, right rear tail light replaced, and headlights need to be fixed. But all in all shuold be fun to fix up and get runnning. THe motor is strong and I believe it only has 054000 miles on the ODO so im guessing its only 54000 but I gotta check it out again once i start fixing it.
ANyone have any recommendations for anything else i shuold keep an eye on? Other then the obvious like fluid changes and brake stuff (like im doing)
Re: New to the J-body scene.
Friday, March 04, 2011 1:25 PM
cars all mine now waiting on parts now to help it back to life
Re: New to the J-body scene.
Friday, March 04, 2011 1:57 PM
I love that front bumper....looks way better w/out the cunards, as well......though, I used to love the cunards; it looks much cleaner w/out them....good find, and good luck with the build..



Re: New to the J-body scene.
Friday, March 04, 2011 6:14 PM
First of all I just want to say thank you for picking up the old girl and bringing her back to life.

As for your plans, everything sounds good. Personally, I'd ditch those fenders. But they aren't my style, so I think they look ugly.

Keep an eye on the oil pressure. Quads have an issue with oil pumps, and cause the motors to blow out main and rod bearings. There is a conversion to the 2.3 oil pump, but I don't remember what forum it's in.

Good luck with it!




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