Geez, I just read this thread from start to finish...what a total bummer for you. It would be nice to hear an update that everything is working great, but you'll more than likely find something along the way.

I don't mean to offend, and I'm sure there's a good reason for you taking your car to various service providers, but have you considered joining a car club, buying some books, and doing most of this work yourself?

My story is far from complete, but I'm a software development geek with precious little restoration experience. I bought my first Firebird about 7 months ago and plan to do as much in my garage as humanly possible. When that is impossible (for lack of proper machines), I have a semi-local Pontiac expert machinist that does discreet tasks (so far, a crank grind) but is not involved in removal/disassembly/cleaning/installation.

I spend a crapload of time reading these forums and searching for questions I have. I've posted several stupid questions in hindsight, but at the time they seemed super important.

There are at least 2 really good books out there for rebuilding Pontiac engines. They are both on my nightstand and I usually drift off to sleep with cam specifications going through my head.

There is only one car-club in my area (a pretty remote part of Cali) but that network is indispensable. I'm sure you have several in Tampa.

And finally, perhaps you have a friend who is a gear-head and lean on him/her for lots of little questions?

I guess I'm suggesting that nobody cares about your car as much as you do and, if you want it done right, do it yourself. Everything seems impossible at the start, but then you realize it's pretty much common-sense applied. And you'll love your car even more knowing that you've touched every square inch of it.

Anywho, I wish you the best of luck.