what do you think?

[BashamWS6]

so i was just thinking the other day...
what are your thoughts about buying a Firebird and converting it to a WS7?
Replaceing the Suspension,
LS1 (or whatever) conversion,
body components (bumpers/hood),
interior,
blah blah blah
etc....

WS6s are becoming more rare every week...and its hard to find them anymore... just wondering what everyones opinions are...

[Y2KPewterSS]

If you want a WS6, then buy one. Cloning and trying to pass it off as such is not a good idea IMO.

[98maro]

i think its just a waist of time and you have to put alot of money and time in to it..
like Y2KPewterSS siad.. if u want one, buy one.. not sound mean or anythin.. cuz at the end it still a firebird..

when i had my z, i put everithing from the ss.. it looked like an ss but it wasnt.. i wasnt happy to have a z28 with the ss hood and wing,
what i did,, i sold it after all the money and time i spent on it and i got a real ss now..
thats just my experience.. and my opinion, not all of us think the same

[BashamWS6]

good point. just was throwing it out there. thanks

[98maro]

sorry bro if that wasnt what u wanted to hear,,
but its your money and your time man.. if u think is somethin u wanna do go ahead..

[BashamWS6]

well i was just looking at all the SS clones for the Chevelles and Camaros and it was just something that pop'd in my head. lol like i have the money to do it anyways haha

[purplebat66]

but the only difference is that a regular trans am if thats what you want to call it is the same when i mean the same as a ws6 its the same. A company put a hood rims and suspension parts and vahla its a ws6.I see a big difference in the muscle cars of yesteryears is that there was a big choice of engines big block , small block etc.Our cars have a LS1 period. Its not a v6 its a trans am , be proud to own a TRANS AM LS1. The name says it all.Enjoy the car and mod the hell out of it and remember its a LS1 TRANS AM.

[1998 T/A]

If you have the money to convert a Firebird into a WS6...I'd just buy a WS6 the cost of the firebird and all the parts to go into it will probably cost as much as a decent WS6 plus its not a clone

[9T8W66]

If you want a WS6, then buy one. Cloning and trying to pass it off as such is not a good idea IMO.

Agreed

If you have the money to convert a Firebird into a WS6...I'd just buy a WS6 the cost of the firebird and all the parts to go into it will probably cost as much as a decent WS6 plus its not a clone

Agreed

but the only difference is that a regular trans am if thats what you want to call it is the same when i mean the same as a ws6 its the same. A company put a hood rims and suspension parts and vahla its a ws6.I see a big difference in the muscle cars of yesteryears is that there was a big choice of engines big block , small block etc.Our cars have a LS1 period. Its not a v6 its a trans am , be proud to own a TRANS AM LS1. The name says it all.Enjoy the car and mod the hell out of it and remember its a LS1 TRANS AM.

Valid point.

As the owner of a Std Formula with a Ram Air Hood I can say that I had never intended to pass my car off as a WS6. In fact if I hadn't got the hood for such a deal I never would have considered it. As for the rest of the parts Wheels and suspension can be improved to well beyond the WS6 parts (ask me how I know).
So my point is why clone to look like something that everyone else has ?
Make it your own with a little personalization.

[sjgreen6]

On the other hand, nothing wrong with taking a standard TA and doing all the upgrades you want. Power train is the same the big difference is in suspension and lots of WS6 owners upgrade from stock. For the difference you would pay buying a TA versus a WS6 TA you can do a really nice job upgrading the suspension, brakes, etc and probably be happier in the end.

[MrAFX]

ws6 and firehawks will be more valuable as time goes on, clone cars never really carry the resale value of the originals.

[RyanJM]

Be a waste since ws6's are pretty cheap. I have a aftermarket ws6 hood on my car but didn't put any badges trying to pass it off for one I just needed a hood to feed air to Volant and it was the cheapest option. Won't make the car worth anymore.

[robcas47]

Did the OP initially mean WS6 because he stated he wanted to convert a base Firebird into a WS7. There are Trans Am owners who have badged their cars as WS7's, to each his own though. With the 4th Gens I think it's a bit of a trick to do anything that will be original and set your car apart from the norm.

I was looking at kit cars earlier and thought about this thread, I found a cool project but on a whole other platform,(sort of) google search "Mercy 4", if you've got time and money this might be a fun project and can probably flip a profit if auctioned off right.

For the OP, it's your money and it's your time. The silver lining of the project you posted is that you'll have a fast Firebird and only have to pay insurance for a base Firebird. Win/Win

[Firebirdjones]

well i was just looking at all the SS clones for the Chevelles and Camaros and it was just something that pop'd in my head. lol like i have the money to do it anyways haha

You'll see the classic cars cloned quite a bit, because quite frankly, the real ones are few and far between, and when you find a real one they are getting rather pricey now.

4th gens don't really fall under that catagory, they are still easy to find, extrememly plentiful, and relatively cheap with many to choose from. No reason to clone one when you can find more real ones than you care to look at.

[wicked1]

I had a 2000 WS6 and ended up with a 99 Trans Am. Why? It cut my payment in half. Both cars had all the eact same options except for... The 2000 had 17"wheels. 99 has 16". The 2000 had the ram air package. The 99 has the aftermarket suncoast true ram air hood. I know the suspension is different. But honestly after driving both I cant feel a difference. The oil cooler in all reality really means absolutely nothing. If youre going to mod a car I really dont see a problem calling it a ws-7 provided you dont call it a factory ws-6. How many people really own a ws-6 anymore anyway? If youve changed shocks n springs you dont. In reality even with your stock ws-6 badge you too now own a ws-7. Historicly the ws-6 package is a suspension package. My 99 has 3 point subframe connectors and probably handles better than a stock ws-6. The drive train in both cars is identicle minus the oil cooler. Again, who needs it? Just added weight. I know oppinions are like A**holes everybody has one. But as an owner of both types of cars I vote ++ for the WS-7 option if thats what you want.

[wicked1]

google search "Mercy 4", if you've got time and money this might be a fun project and can probably flip a profit if auctioned off right.

Are you sure its Mercy 4? All I get is links on health care and starving africans.

[Schmalgar]

If you want a WS6, then buy one. Cloning and trying to pass it off as such is not a good idea IMO.

The whole point of calling it a WS7 is that he's NOT trying to pass it off as a WS6. I thought it was accepted as a fair practice that WS7 badging means the owner has done all the same WS6 upgrades but is not trying to falsely label it a WS6...

[robcas47]

google search "Mercy 4", if you've got time and money this might be a fun project and can probably flip a profit if auctioned off right.

Are you sure its Mercy 4? All I get is links on health care and starving africans.

Ok try carkitinc and check out the Mercy4 kit. I'm not a fan of chopping up a 4th Gen but I see a lot of wrecked F-bodies out there th
at would make a good donor car.

[BashamWS6]

Well the car i own is a WS6...not a WS7... I was just wondering because i found a nice 2002 firebird and i was just thinking if that would be a valid idea or not to turn it into a WS7...
So yeah...i guess my money would be better spent on a TA or a wrecked WS6.
Thanks for ur input

[sjgreen6]

I'd say if you have a WS6 that you aren't trying to keep as a museum piece, do whatever you want to it and don't worry about what anyone else has to say. If on the other hand you want to keep a WS6 low miles, like new, great. Go buy a standard TA and mod till you run out of money!