2002 Pontiac Firebird (93-02 Camaro/Firebird) Buyers Guide

[@willyhwang1059]

i love your channel Captain. please make more videos!!

[@CaptainThirdGen]

thanks, you got it! have a lot of videos planned this summer!

[@Tonyscasa]

Had a V6 in my early 20s. It was so much fun . Green color with t -tops. Used to road trip her all the time . I was living the dream

[@TheDejael]

Love the 4th Gen Firebirds! They are great sports cars! Very futuristic styling like European and Italian sports cars. I always felt that the PMD designers of the 1993-2002 Firebirds designed these as a tribute to John DeLorean and his concepts of what the Firebird should be.

[@TheDejael]

Thank you so much! For those who love Ferraris on a Chevy budget, this 93-02 Firebird is one of the most impressive and futuristic sports cars ever made by GM! If you want to invest and make it a restoration to factory spec, or resto-mod to make into an exotic sports machine.

[@TheDejael]

This is a great car!

[@alexp5907]

Had my V8 before my daily now a 99 W68 and I love the car anything goes wrong with the 3.8 it's 50-100 to fix and your back in the road

[@rick00770]

Finally got mine Cap, Orange sunset, automatic changes great, needs painting to make it sharp, got to replace blinker,washer turn signal arm , front light are up, so to get them working will be a pain, cracked dash, but overall love it, wheels are wide with locking hubs, glad it’sa hardtop, so no leaking, going to go with the Orange sunset color, love it, got to fix loose driver side door , got all the parts, I just had to have another firebird, 222,000 miles, still running, just thought I’d share, I enjoy you channel, love the firebirds tips and reviews. Stay well.

[@CaptainThirdGen]

nice! have fun with it!

[@swron_rules]

I love my 01 z28 auto but have been looking for a manual with the v6 or v8.

[@817_Gomez_]

Got my first car about a month ago love it so far 2000 3.8 camaro , in pretty good shape for 1600

[@CaptainThirdGen]

nice! my v6 was 1600 as well. has been a very good car to me the last 5 years

[@thatguyinthefirebird]

Thank you for another great video. Your car appears to be identical to mine - same year, same colour, same options. The only difference I can find is that I have a t-top which, thankfully, doesn't leak. I think I agree with everything you say about these cars. They have a lot of flaws, but I'd much rather be driving one than a "sensible car!" I get a lot of comments from people about the car - most don't know what it is and are genuinely surprised to learn that it can be a daily driver. Living in the UK, there's an assumption that parts availability is a problem. It's actually quicker and cheaper for me to ship parts in from the USA than it is to source them over here. I can put up with the occasional mechanical issue because most jobs can be tackled by an enthusiastic owner. I've discovered that whatever issue you may have with the car, someone has already posted a video, article or forum post explaining the solution in detail. One more thing, my car has the dreaded plastic cracks on the interior door panels. Does yours? If so, I'd love to see a how to video for fixing the issue. Once again, many thanks and best wishes!

[@CaptainThirdGen]

yes both my fbodys have interior cracks. V6 much worse than the TA. No clue how to fix it. Never bothered me much

[@michaelm3381]

The door panels crack because GM used too many staples in them and the pressure causes them to crack. Only solution is to buy used ones that aren't cracked and remove some of the staples.

[@walterbell2422]

I got a 01 firebird 117k miles steering column is clapped and t top pours water but otherwise I love it. Gonna swap the v6 for a v8 because that’s easy to do and the v6 is 1/4 the price even after the swap.

[@masonpugh3637]

Like it what about rear end lift worth every penny

[@jhill108]

Wow nice car for $1600 I paid more than double that for a rebuilt 4L60 transmission in my 96 V8 LT1. Good project for this car would be to pull out the V6 and drop in a LS3. The body still looks new for $1600 you got a steal amazing condition.

[@CaptainThirdGen]

ive considered a few different LS swaps for this car. Considered supercharging the existing v6, etc. Not sure ill ever go through with it though

[@TheDejael]

I have a 2002 Firebird V-6, 5-speed stick and I love it! Had it for 11 years, bought from original owner. I replaced my front turn signal lights with orange LEDs and they are much brighter like Corvette lights. Thanks for doing the video on that procedure! I followed it and very satisfied with results! I am keeping the car and restoring it. One thing I want to do is replace the Mickey mouse original horn with a resonant horn like the classic Pontiacs of the 1960s. What do you recommend?

[@CaptainThirdGen]

ive never considered messing with the horn. I use the horn so rarely It never really occured to me to modify it

[@jayblow77]

I've got a 97 3.8 5 spd that I drive daily - 116k miles. If you ever do a spark plug change on your 2002, PLEASE FILM IT AND POST to your channel. I've seen a couple of short ones but they don't really show much. I think you might get a lot of views on that topic.

[@CaptainThirdGen]

ill add it to the list. Sounds like something i may get around to this summer. Car is going to be getting some updates this spring ill make videos on as well

[@rogerrabbitonpcp6021]

It's really frustrating how much money people want for these 90s bodies now like I'm sorry I'm not going to spend five figures on a car that's over 25 years old when I could get a newer Camaro for the same price

[@CaptainThirdGen]

I agree. I also considered going the new camaro route. Unfortunately, getting your hands on a new Camaro is very difficult these days. Time will tell if it works out or not.

[@anthonyrick9750]

I bought my 98 standard for 3k blew the motor in 2 days and have spent 4K+ rebuilding the motor with forged internals and built heads with a gt2 cam

[@CaptainThirdGen]

sweet. i hope to get a mild cam in this car someday to pick up some revs

[@firebird5288]

What are the odds you made this video. Just last night I found a 2000 Firebird W68 t-top bout an hour from where I live. It has 7,800 miles on it. And has been garage kept. The whole car is mint. They're asking $12,500...but it's black. If it where red or white, I'd be all over it. When I do get another Firebird, it'll be a car that rarely gets driven...maybe 400 miles a year if that, as I work from home and I have 3 kids. No big deal because I wouldn't be comfortable having my kids in a car like this. But it would be nice to own one again and keep it in a garage/shed.

[@CaptainThirdGen]

very good deal at 12,500

[@dannyalexander2241]

Diggin the channel, subscribed, but I was just wondering if your car is a Y87 by any chance? A fair amount of the hard top V6’s with sticks were. Cool cars…. Had a ton of fun back when these were new.

[@CaptainThirdGen]

thanks! this car is an original y87 car

[@TheUnknown-mg8fv]

Does 94 firebird v6 3.4l hatchback 2dr is it worth buying or worth anything in the future even with high miles? Im 5'8" 240 pounds i have a hard time coming out

[@speedfiend925]

Where did you get the Bird decal? I have been looking at these again and I think the first mod I would do is the Bird decal. HELL YEAH! 💪😎👊🐦

[@CaptainThirdGen]

etsy, i dont believe they are produced quite like this anymore, especially not for the $60 I paid. Screaming chicken has somewhat similar ones for $150 though

[@kyles1255]

So I'm thinking about getting one of these Firebirds. I was thinking an automatic, T-Top, 3.8-liter V6. Is that a good choice? I am thinking about using them as a daily driver, I live in the South so this shouldn't matter as much.

[@CaptainThirdGen]

@@kyles1255 an auto 3.8 fbody would be a great daily driver. Just set aside some money and time for maintainence and repairs

[@kyles1255]

@@CaptainThirdGen Alright, thanks!

[@michaelm3381]

Nice video! Just be careful pulling on the seat belt guide because I have seen several broken by pulling the seat forward. Also the latches in the back are actually car seat anchors. What year TA did your dad have?

[@CaptainThirdGen]

2000 he bought new. still has it

[@TheMainMan318]

What are some of the "minor modifications to do to the V6s for more power?

[@CaptainThirdGen]

headers intake and exhaust are easiest. Cam and ported heads will gain u real power. To make REAL power you need forced induction though

[@TheMainMan318]

@@CaptainThirdGen awesome thanks!

[@dannyalexander2241]

Also…. Just so you know the 98 and up cars came with the WC-T5 they are rated to hold like 400 or 450 pound feet if I remember correctly. Just fyi

[@CaptainThirdGen]

wc t5 rated for 300ft-lbs last I checked. non wc (80s thirdgen fbody spec like my 88 trans am) were 275ft-lbs i believe. Which is funny cuz the 305 TPI still put out more than what the trans was rated for

[@workingshlub8861]

take your time and find one with the V8....you will be glad you did and helps if you can do your own repairs because these are going on 20 years old and a low mileage mint one can run 30k.......i picked up a 99 trans am for 7k that had 140k but the body was straight and was overall taken care of.....not a daily driver and completely useless in winter but that LS1 is a hell of a ride..

[@CaptainThirdGen]

with gas the way it is, 3800 takes the win LOL. My ls1 has an expensive drinking habit compared to my 3800

[@workingshlub8861]

@@CaptainThirdGen i hear you..thats why mines only gets weekend use......chevy astro for work

[@msh6865]

Good LS1 cars are $10K+ in 2023. The prices are going up, even on the V6 cars. Think people are buying them to hold onto and eventually make money on. Kinda like the 77-81 cars have gone out of sight. I'm looking for a 2001-2002 V6 Firebird in blue or black with t-tops and preferably a T5. Lots of junk out there and too few cars that haven't been ragged out.

[@trick6109]

Patriots hat... I'm out 😂 J/k man. Fun cars

[@arthurkurtzhall5369]

I have 3000 mile 02 firehawk and have never had any issues, never been in the rain, only driven in the summer. . . .I do believe these cars turn into shit boxes in trailer park conditions however. I wouldn't own a muscle car with a V6!