starfire

Well, it took a long time, but I finally got my Starfire. 1978 Starfire Firenza. Chevy 305 2 bbl V-8 from the factory (Lordstown) mated to a 4-speed manual transmission. Does not have A/C like I wanted, but there's not enough of these around to be choosy. Silver exterior with a red interior. I might change the silver to white someday. I'm definitely putting an Olds powerplant in it someday. For now I'm just going to get it as nice looking as possible and have fun driving it. So.... who's got some parts for me? (I took the ground effects/wheel well cladding off to paint them and did not get them put back on before I took these pics).

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oldcutlass

Alright an Oldsmobile Vega Swap that lil 305 for a 383 stroker, an M21, and tub it.... Wooo hoo!


Just kidding!

It's a clean rig.

Grace Stinespring-Welch

looks like a good car

starfire

Ha, Ha!

That was one of the things I kept running into when searching for this car. I'd see a lot of ads of Starfires for sale...."Already tubbed and ready for your driveline" or some such line. That would be great if I was looking for a race car, but I wanted a driver.

I was thinking it might be cool to have an Olds 215 Turbo out of a Jetfire in there. I was intrigued (no pun intended) at the idea of a first gen Aurora engine (a friend of mine has one he wants to get rid of) but I think the thing is too wide to fit in the engine bay. I'm also interested in how difficult it would be to make a HO Quad 4 work longitudinally. Lots of things to think about...

starfire

Thanks Grace, it seems to be. Runs real well, when it's half warm it wants to stumble a little. Cold or hot it really moves out. Get it above 65 and it has a little shake to it. I suspect wheel balance. Plus it's been so long since I've had an 80 mph speedo (and when I did have one the speed limit was 55) that there may be a little psychological thing at play as at 70 or 75 I've almost pegged the speedo .

Oldskeeper

That's a nice car, my sister in law had the buick version of this and it was a blast to drive.
Are you sure you can't shoe horn a 455 in between the front wheels?
Steve

starfire

I think the 330 that's in my Cutlass is even too wide

ent72olds

Real nice and real cool! Was that the one on eBay?

ent72olds

Just answered my own question.....nope!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Oldsm...190a10&vxp=mtr

tru-blue 442

Nice car!
You just don't see them anymore.
How about an LS. Might fit...
A Chebby is a Chebby?

Koda

Fuel injected 403 is my vote. Aren't they the same size as the 307?

mid60soldsfan

Wow, you don't see those very often--nice ride!

starfire

Nope, I'm going to equip it the way it should have been from the factory. With an Olds engine

starfire

I know it's technically a SBO, and it will fit in a G-body, but I don't know if it will fit in an H-body or not. If it will that's not a bad idea.

copper128

I know it'd cost a lot more money, but I can't help liking your idea about the aluminum 215. Maybe stroked with a Buick 300 crank, bored & sleeved. A lotta power in a very light package.
Since the H-body came with a Buick V6 option, the 215 might be somewhat of a bolt-in with the right mounts & brackets.

Incidentally, a girl I knew had one just like that way back when my Omega was near-new. We traded cars for a weekend once since she liked my "big" Omega SX and I was curious how the little Starfire ran with a V8. Hers was an automatic, but it was a Firenza in the exact same color combination.

firefrost gold

It looks so clean and stock the way it is , I vote keep that way. looks like a great little car !

1969w3155

Same color package as the one my buddy bought new in 1980.

Robin's car

Congratulations on finding that!! I had a '79 just like it that I bought new, 305 w/auto, which I immediately had a glass sunroof put in.

Beautiful car!!