Spikester7878's build thread

[spikester7878]

as many know I have been fighting my firebird since I got back from korea in 2011. I got it running pretty well in 2013, but it bucked it head again. I have recently been trying to get it back on the road so the other day I was going to replace the PS pump and it all went to shit from there. The second I removed the tension on the belt the harmonic balancer was extremey loose. I attempted to pull it to no avail so I had it towed to a shop that I trust. Well the balancer is bad, and the crankshaft is toast. Best case is roughly 2k and she is back on the road with the new headers installed. Worst case with me being a college student and living mainly off my post 9/11 gi bill and disability it may be to expensive for me to repair. So if things go poorly it looks like I will be parting out and will be fbodyless for the first time in 10 years. upside is the shop said if things get to expensive or if I choose to back out I can pay them for the work done and have the engine and tranny out of the car which will make parting easier. Still keeping my fingers crossed that this doesnt get too expensive and that I will be able to keep it. Things are very uncertain right now as I will have my BA this time next year and will pretty much be out of my GI bill benefits so I am not even sure if its a good idea to keep the car while I still owe over 16k on my daily. I guess this is more of my way of venting a bit since I am in a sort of shock since hearing about the crankshaft....I will keep this updated as more information comes

[harner]

Sorry to hear! That is a crappy situation.

[spikester7878]

very. I have been debating all day if I should try to fix it or just part it

[rjmarazzi]

Sorry to hear that hope you don't part it out! Especially since you have so much in it.

[harner]

You own one of the few Formulas that I really like. I hope you don't have to part but definitely understand if you do. Is there any harm in sitting on it until you have some funds available?

[spikester7878]

I should be able to afford the new crank, but if it needs a full engine overhaul I might part it. As far as expenses to just hold on to it the future is very uncertain right now. My gf is in medical school and about to do rotations so there's no telling where I could end up. I am also trying to get a job as a law enforcement instructor. If the job works out i should have no problem.

[Fastbird]

How exactly is the crank toast? If it's the threads, you should be able to repair those in car (pull condenser and radiator, lots of room). As deep as the threads are I don't see them all being fubar though unless someone botched pulling it.

[spikester7878]

The snout of it is tapered

[Fastbird]

Hmmm......you should still be able to run that then based off the fact that the crank hub is keyed and there should be a woodruff key installed in the crank/hub, and then you have the crank hub bolt holding things in too.

[spikester7878]

I am going to get eyes on asap. I am going off of what the mechanic said. This guy built some of buddies sub 10 second cars so I know he is good