The Official H-Body Internet Community • View topic (2024)

1980 Pontiac Sunbird with a V-8 350 conversion. Turbo 350 auto 3 speed tranny and Hurst shifter. Upgraded 5 bolt rear end, maybe Ford? Newly rebuilt Edelbrock 600 cfm 4 barrel carb. New battery, cables, and clamps. Centerline solid 15” drag rims- skinny in front and wide in back. Rear window louvers and rear trunk lip. Big fiberglass hood scoop with an equally big hole in the hood. MSD ignition and distributor, and Accel wires.

However, the car has floorboard problems (they are pretty much missing), and serious rust on the inner wheel wells. Seems also that the rear axle is off about a ½ inch from center. And the exhaust needs to be replaced since it has a few rust holes. All 4 tires need to be replaced. Needs a tie-rod end and a ball joint. Starter works mostly sometimes, probably needs to to be replaced. Some rust bubbling on the body mostly around the fenders. The power steering was disconnected so now you could never parallel park. And I am having a hard getting an inspection sticker since April.

It may have problems, but it’s a fun hot rod for banging around in for beer runs.

Here’s the debate-
I’ve got about $2,000 in this car.
My wife’s opinion- sell it for $500.
My mechanics opinion- keep the motor and scrap the car.
My opinion- fix the sh*t as cheap as possible and have fun until it falls apart.

So what would you do? Of course I want to keep the car. But if you were to buy it from me, what would it be worth? And seriously, I might sell it. Better and more photos if you ask.

Sounds to me with the rust issues you have that the rear suspension mounting points might be the next to go and that could be a bad surprise on one of your runs. I'd start looking for a sound body and use yours for parts.

Dick

I would agree with a couple people here.
Rust is like that old adage about ants, For every one you kill there are another 1000 you don't see.
If the rust looks bad where you can obviously see it, it could be much worse in places you can't see to well.

I have only owned Vegas, But find yourself a nice solid Monza and swap all the parts needed to transform the new Monza into your new Sunbird.
Your Sunbird will live on in a new body, You'll make it faster, better, stronger.....Oh wait....that's the Six million dollar man

Doug

doogiediamond@hotmail.com

74 Vega wagon

I am always saddened to see an h-body bite the dust, especially a Sunbird. You did not post any pics of the rusted areas, so it is hard to tell if any of it is repairable but, if your mechanic and others say no, then I would go by what they say. My $00.02 worth is to find another 'Bird or 2nd gen h-body. You can find a lot of really god bodies with 4 bangers in them because they were maintained and driven by mom, pop and grannies. You have ALL of the conversion parts that you need on your current car. Just transfer them over to a new ride. The recyclers will give you something for the remainder to help offset your rebuild costs.

GL...............John (John and Richard)

I am in the find another one camp. I have seen more than a few good solid cars go recently in the $500- $1000 bracket. Its just not worth messing with rust when you can buy a solid body for next to nothing.
Heres a spyder on ebay now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1978-CHE ... 2eb74da3bc

Roy

Doug

doogiediamond@hotmail.com

74 Vega wagon

Pontiac created a unique look with the Sunbird that really differentiates it from the other H-bodies.
It's a cool, rare Sunbird Hatchback. So, fix it. Or just drive it.
It really depends on how bad the rust is. Do you have some pictures?
If you live in the rust belt, finding a 'rust-free' car in your area may be VERY difficult. And you'll have additional costs to ship a car from another area.

The wheels, rear spoiler and louver are worth a few bucks. What condition is the rear urethane taillight panel?
All of the other problems you described are common things with all older cars.
First thing to 'fix' is to lose the fugly hood.

Roy's link above to a Monza is a good candidate car for that engine swap, but if you don't live in Florida you have shipping costs. And you'll need a new spoiler - wow that is wavy!
NOTE 1: ONLY 5 HOURS LEFT ... hurry!
NOTE 2: looks a LOT like my 78 Monza Spyder, except it has a complete interior.

--Tom
76 Vega GT - Blog | 181 I-4 Stroker | 60˚ V-6 | Easy 350 V-8 Swap | Pontiac V-8
DARE 2B DIFFERENT!!!!!

I'm in Vermont, so not so many old cars at all around here for sale, let alone any H bodies. Stupid salty roads to blame. But my friend does have a nice gold Cosworth Vega stored away that I would love to have. He also has a 67 Chevelle SS for sale for $12,000- a little too much for me. Maybe I could get him to part with his AMC Pacer, drop a 350 into that and have some fun!

I'll take a few pics of the rusts and post them here after the hurricane ends in a few days. Yeah, we get hurricanes in Vermont! Hopefully a tree doesn't fall on the car, which I know my wife is hoping for.

Personally, I think I'll drive it for now and have fun with it until I need a tow truck. If I get pulled over I'll suck it up. My 1986 motorcycle hasn't had a valid inspection sticker for the last 4 years and I haven't had any trouble with the law.

Doug

doogiediamond@hotmail.com

74 Vega wagon

Astre-mutt wrote:Sounds like the perfect car to back half. You don't see a Pro-street Sunbird every day.

^^this^^

Justin Kill

http://www.overkillracecars.com

some H-body stuff here More to come:

http://overkillracecars.com/H-body_Parts.html

check me out on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Overkill- ... 6064096959

overkillrc wrote:

Astre-mutt wrote:Sounds like the perfect car to back half. You don't see a Pro-street Sunbird every day.

^^this^^

Yeah. Don't scrap it. Big ol' Tars.

If it don't scare me, I don't want it.

the growing collection
1977 nighthawk
1979 Monza hb