i just bought my first firebird, a '81 Esprit. it needs a lot of work and i was thinkin in doin all this work if i could make it a stick. also anyone know what engine came in these? mine's blue if that makes a difference.

Conversion to a manual transmission is not trivial, but can be done. Most or all of the parts are available from Performance Years or Ames Performance. These two companies sell ONLY Pontiac parts. They won't "sub in" Camaro parts unless they are truly the same part number as the Pontiac.

ALL GM engines in '81 Firebirds were blue. "Corporate Blue", actually. There should be an "emissions" sticker under the hood. It will tell the displacement of the engine. 4.9L - 301 Pontiac. 5.0L - 305 Chevy. As far as I know, those were the only two V8s available for '81. It's not a straight 6, is it? That would be a 250 Chevy...

Jim