This is how the Firebird looked when it arrived in 2007.

Message forums can be a place for many things. They’re a place for technical insight, an online corral somewhere to sell your “lightly used” cars or parts, and even a place to meet car guys and girls just like you. A common trend with automotive message forums these days are build threads.

A “build thread” is when an forum member takes a on a new or existing project car, and documents the the entire transformation process over the course of a few weeks, a few months, or in some cases like the one you’re about to learn about, a few years.

One board member, known as “y2k_ta” on the LS1Tech.com message forum is just such a person who falls in the third category. But before you’re too harsh on him, you should know that he didn’t start out with a pristine, mint condition F-body, but rather, a beat to death ’95 V6 Firebird. 

After having fun with his stock-ish 2000 Trans Am, y2k_ta decided he wanted to build an all-out drag car and this derelict Firebird fit the bill perfectly. In fact, we couldn’t have found a better candidate ourselves. It was a salvage-titled car with 157,000 miles on it, and it was used as, get this, a maid’s service vehicle. 

Over the course of these last six years, he has swapped the body panels from an LS1 Trans Am to give the Firebird an updated and more aggressive look. He’s done such an excellent job putting this car together, that it looks like a legit ’98-02 Trans Am.

From the front to the back, this former maid’s chariot of choice has gone from three wheels in the junkyard to an almost complete, ready-to-do-battle LSX race car. He’s relying on a boosted 4.8L LS yanked from a 2004 Silverado to handle the dirty work. 

He’s documented each step of the build quite well with plenty of photos and information, although the project is currently on hold as he’s planning his wedding at the moment. But if you want to follow along with the endeavor, check out the build thread over on LS1Tech.com