1977 Pontiac Firebird Formula with Pontiac 400 motor and OEM Paint & Graphics

1977 Pontic Firebird Formula

Very Original

OEM Paint and Graphics. Pontiac 400 engine, non-numbers matching (car came from the factory with a Pontiac 350). OEM Factory number 11 Cameo White paint.

This is 10-20 footer as it has never been restored; it is a nice, sharp looking and fun driver that gets a lot of attention. This is a real Formula, not a base Firebird or Esprit with a Formula hood and deck lid spoiler. Drive and enjoy it! If you ever watched The Rockford files, the producer took Trans Am’s and Formulas and dressed them down to standard Firebird appearance. The other Firebird models did not have the suspension that would hold up to the show’s hard driving.

It is a solid, very nice running and driving Formula. It starts right up every time as long as the gas has not evaporated from the carburetor. The 400 sounds so nice. Engine is a 1973 Casting number 481988 L78, Block code X5, factory rated at 230 HP and 325 lbs. of Torque. Heads are 4X-7H’s which are similar to the 6X-4. This engine is rated at 50 more HP than a 1977 L78 400, 30 more than a 1977 W72, and 10 more than the 1978 -1979 W72. Change the cam, add a larger carburetor and you can easily add more HP. Miles on the engine are unknown; it was purchased used based on a receipt. There was a receipt that came with the documents for a new timing chain and gear dated the same time a prior owner installed the 400. This 400 seems very solid.

This car has no road salt damage as salt was not used in this State. Rockers and frame rails are solid.

I did not locate the build sheet.

Odometer says 49K, but very likely the miles are at least 149K.

I bought the car almost 4 years ago in dry Southern Oregon, then drove it over 4 hours non-stop home on a late Fall night to the Portland area for about 270 miles with no issues. After that I drove it off and on for a few weeks then put it into storage, starting and moving it every so often.

I had a professionally installed exhaust system put on with Trans Am chrome exhaust tips shortly after I purchased the car. Included was a hi-flow modern catalytic converter as I live in an emissions zone.

Automatic Transmission – works fine. It may need a new pan gasket. The transmission was leaking, the pan bolts were loose, I tightened the bolts but the transmission is still leaking fairly bad…looks like it is the pan gasket but I am not 100% sure.

Open rear-end. It appears to be a ratio of 2.73. With the torque of the 400 it still moves out well.

Rally II rims. Rear tires are Cooper Cobra’s. Front tires are standard passenger tires.

The car has not been butchered up by someone trying to modify it into a hot rod of some sort. It is very, very original.

Disclosure: Car is sold as-is. Please review photos for condition of car. Please review the following. The car is 40 years old and without a complete disassembly I cannot know the entire condition of the car. You may inspect or send representative to inspect the vehicle. The car is sold as-is. I have not driven it on the road for over 3 ½ years, and to the best of my knowledge it still operates the same.

Interior is in typical shape for a non-restored 40 year old Formula and will require some new items. The driver’s seat will need to be rebuilt as you sink down pretty far. These are the correct 1977 seats, appear to be the ones that came with the car from the factory, and are the deluxe seats same as used in the upper-end 1977 Y82/Y81 Bandits. The rear plastics panels are crumbly with cracks, seat backs are very aged, the headliner is missing allowing some rust to form on the inside of the top, the dash is cracked as is common (partial and complete plastic dash caps are now made), and the carpet is after-market. I disconnected the horns under the hood as the horn button sticks.

There are small dents and dings on the car such as on doors, hood, deck lid, and other areas that may not show in the photos. There is paint de-laminating on the passenger front fender and above the driver’s rear wheel. I have shot some white primer to help curtail this in those areas; also there is some white primer on various spots on the hood, driver’s door, and elsewhere. The deck lid paint and top is in before de-lamination stage but with proper care it should hold-up for a while. But this is OEM paint on a 40 year old car. If you park it in too much in the rain some tiny rust spots will eventually form on the paint. With the OEM paint you know what it is and that the body is not filled with bondo. It is still a nice looking Formula.

The passenger quarter panel is rusted at the bottom which is very common.

Floor pans appear sold except I found 5 very small pin- holes on the driver’s floor pan that are plugged with bondo from underneath and from the top – see photo; under the rear passenger seat there were 2 very small holes that were plugged with same. The trunk pan had a small rust issue on the left side and was patched with the same – see photo (grey primer over spray over the bondo makes the repair look larger). The deck lid had 2 small holes inside where the rubber seals; car needs a new trunk seal after 40 years.

Passenger door only opens from inside.

The front corners on the dash have typical rust, and the driver’s side may go past the metal dash plate. There is one very small rust hole on the cowl area under the hood - see photo with keys pointing. The core support has some damage from battery acid but is still very solid. The car is very solid and a great driver.

Door windows have scratches. Will need window sweeps - driver's window will rattle until sweep installed. The windshield has several internal bubbles in a non-critical area by the driver’s A-Pillar, and also a gravel-hit on the lower passenger side.

Tail lights are in nice shape.

Brakes seem to work OK but the system will need to be inspected. New professional exhaust system installed when I bought it and the car sounds very nice! No salt damage. Rear frame rails are solid. New spark plugs. No old gas in the tank.

If you are into Bandit clones this Formula is a great starting point for someday down the road. It also looks very cool in factory Formula mode. As stated earlier, it gets a lot of attention.

Please see photos to appreciate this non-butchered up Formula. There were not that many Formulas made compared to the other models. Formulas are following the Trans Am’s increase in values.

Sold as-is with no warranty express or implied, including merchantability and fitness of use. Buyer to perform own safety inspection prior to use. Buyer to arrange and pay shipping.

$250 non-refundable deposit via paypal, balance on a cashier’s check from Well’s Fargo Bank or US Bank (US Bancorp) only (only from these 2 banks), sorry, but there are a lot of these throughout the United States. I will release the car to your shipper once the check is confirmed cleared by my banker.