So I guess this is my Trans Am build thread now...

[akchevrolet]

Im more of the early 70s TA's. If i go for TA's I like the Camaros more. my dad was suppose to give me his 78 Camaro but he sold it because he didnt wanna have to work on it if it broke down. But that is a nice car there man wish you woulda got a clip of u driving it and doing burn outs ha.

 

[RecklessWOT]

Im more of the early 70s TA's. If i go for TA's I like the Camaros more. my dad was suppose to give me his 78 Camaro but he sold it because he didnt wanna have to work on it if it broke down. But that is a nice car there man wish you woulda got a clip of u driving it and doing burn outs ha.

I did get a little clip, was actually the first thing I tried to upload but can't figure out how to do it. Not a high quality video anyway, just farting around in front of the house lol

 

[AuroraGirl]

inserts joke about sealing a T top

 

[AuroraGirl]

Im more of the early 70s TA's. If i go for TA's I like the Camaros more. my dad was suppose to give me his 78 Camaro but he sold it because he didnt wanna have to work on it if it broke down. But that is a nice car there man wish you woulda got a clip of u driving it and doing burn outs ha

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mind my bias, but I wish they werent unicorns, a 73-75 grand am would be cool as hell, this is similar to what my carcass of a 75 looked like new, similar.

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be one of the hundreds ever who got a 4 door with a 455 and a 4 speed muncie and youre literally driving something rarer than almost any muscle production number LOL
or a column shift auto

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[78C10BigTen]

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mind my bias, but I wish they werent unicorns, a 73-75 grand am would be cool as hell, this is similar to what my carcass of a 75 looked like new, similar.

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be one of the hundreds ever who got a 4 door with a 455 and a 4 speed muncie and youre literally driving something rarer than almost any muscle production number LOL
or a column shift auto

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YUUUUCCCKKK!!!

 

[Goldie Driver]

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mind my bias, but I wish they werent unicorns, a 73-75 grand am would be cool as hell, this is similar to what my carcass of a 75 looked like new, similar.

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be one of the hundreds ever who got a 4 door with a 455 and a 4 speed muncie and youre literally driving something rarer than almost any muscle production number LOL
or a column shift auto

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So close - make that a Can Am and you got something!


But, with the 455 and 4 speed combo it would be a nice sleeper.

Poncho 4-4 ... - 4 ?

 

[RecklessWOT]

inserts joke about sealing a T top

well the whole thing is stripped down bare bones due to the recent paint job (which I thoroughly intend to re-paint), so it needs all new gaskets anyway. I'm sure I'll get the tops to seal with everything new and meticulously adjusted by me.

I've owned two other cars with T tops over the years and one that was a straight Targa top. Only ever had one that leaked and even only barely, and it was right where the window met up with the rear of the seal so unless I was actually driving and going around corners, the few drips that came in would just run straight down the window and out the drain holes in the door, never had a wet carpet even.

 

[AuroraGirl]

well the whole thing is stripped down bare bones due to the recent paint job (which I thoroughly intend to re-paint), so it needs all new gaskets anyway. I'm sure I'll get the tops to seal with everything new and meticulously adjusted by me.

I've owned two other cars with T tops over the years and one that was a straight Targa top. Only ever had one that leaked and even only barely, and it was right where the window met up with the rear of the seal so unless I was actually driving and going around corners, the few drips that came in would just run straight down the window and out the drain holes in the door, never had a wet carpet even.

I think the joke that about them is because now after time, those original seals dont seal well ofc and I think new sets are insanenly prohbiitive? It could be for a certain year or gen and if you use them or not they also like to wear quickly orsomething

 

[RecklessWOT]

I think the joke that about them is because now after time, those original seals dont seal well ofc and I think new sets are insanenly prohbiitive? It could be for a certain year or gen and if you use them or not they also like to wear quickly orsomething

you could be right, we'll have to see. It's getting all new seals, hopefful they last. if not, I guess I'll just have to change them every few years. Not like they're hard to replace lol, probably the easiest type of gasket to replace on a car

 

[ford]

I mean how often do you plan to drive it in the rain? I never even roll the windows up on mine anymore.

 

[RecklessWOT]

I mean how often do you plan to drive it in the rain? I never even roll the windows up on mine anymore.

This thing is gonna be a driver. I'm not planning on commuting in it just because I have a long trip to work and I don't want to spend all of my money at the pump, but around town this is essentially gonna be my daily with the exception of winter. It will not see salt, but I'm not going to try to keep it out of the rain.

 

[Redfish]

That piece of crap edelbrock on top of it not only looks terrible, but is also tuned really sh!tty. I think the secondaries are opening up way too early or it's just jetted too big, the thing likes to stumble then shoot a 2' flame out the carb before it revvs up after any quick stab of the throttle whether under load or not. There's not a single wire connected to anything that isn't directly engine related. No gauges or lights work, there's 4 miles of old wire harness balled up in the trunk, unlabeled of course (gonna be so much fun... nope). Glove box isn't attached yet so I can't find the RPO codes, but from what the VIN tells me it is a real trans am, was a 301 turbo car (thank god that's gone) and was built in Norwood, OH

I am not an expert on Trans Ams but I do play with one from time to time. If that was actually a 301 Turbo, I think those didn't show up until 1980. They didn't have the shaker hood like your car has, the scoop was off-center on the driver's side. Your wheels appear to be from a '77 model.

In 1979 there were some Trans Ams with the 301 but it was not a turbo...as far as I know. I do know that in '79 if a Trans Am came with a 4 speed manual it had a 400 Pontiac rated at 220 HP. They were actually dynoing higher than that. The 3 speed automatics had the 403 Oldsmobile engine at 185 HP.

I drive this one sometimes and had to learn a little bit about it so I could show it properly at some local shows:

 

[bucket]

I am not an expert on Trans Ams but I do play with one from time to time. If that was actually a 301 Turbo, I think those didn't show up until 1980. They didn't have the shaker hood like your car has, the scoop was off-center on the driver's side. Your wheels appear to be from a '77 model.

In 1979 there were some Trans Ams with the 301 but it was not a turbo...as far as I know. I do know that in '79 if a Trans Am came with a 4 speed manual it had a 400 Pontiac rated at 220 HP. They were actually dynoing higher than that. The 3 speed automatics had the 403 Oldsmobile engine at 185 HP.

I drive this one sometimes and had to learn a little bit about it so I could show it properly at some local shows:

Looks great!

 

[RecklessWOT]

I am not an expert on Trans Ams but I do play with one from time to time. If that was actually a 301 Turbo, I think those didn't show up until 1980. They didn't have the shaker hood like your car has, the scoop was off-center on the driver's side. Your wheels appear to be from a '77 model.

In 1979 there were some Trans Ams with the 301 but it was not a turbo...as far as I know. I do know that in '79 if a Trans Am came with a 4 speed manual it had a 400 Pontiac rated at 220 HP. They were actually dynoing higher than that. The 3 speed automatics had the 403 Oldsmobile engine at 185 HP.

I drive this one sometimes and had to learn a little bit about it so I could show it properly at some local shows:

The car is an '81 (has the newer style master cylinder and other clues, plus having a standard 17 digit VIN, 10th character is an A, she's an '81 trust me) was originally a 301 turbo but someone swapped it out with a 400, I'm assuming the hood was changed at the same time. Not original by any means. I have at least two full interiors for it, a few different suspension parts, couple steering columns, extra body panels, etc. I do like the wheels, I'm gonna keep them and paint the insides gold but polish up any outer facing surface nice and shiny. The block is from '73 and the heads are unfortunately '75 smogger heads. It is not a '79, but I'm gonna buy the '79 graphics kit and make a proper black and gold bandit with a very much non factory combination mismatched red and black interior because as much as I love the red, too much is too much. I will also be swapping in a 4spd because A) automatics are no fun, and B) this one is pretty much shot

 

[Redfish]

The car is an '81 (has the newer style master cylinder and other clues, plus having a standard 17 digit VIN, 10th character is an A, she's an '81 trust me) was originally a 301 turbo but someone swapped it out with a 400, I'm assuming the hood was changed at the same time. Not original by any means. I have at least two full interiors for it, a few different suspension parts, couple steering columns, extra body panels, etc. I do like the wheels, I'm gonna keep them and paint the insides gold but polish up any outer facing surface nice and shiny. The block is from '73 and the heads are unfortunately '75 smogger heads. It is not a '79, but I'm gonna buy the '79 graphics kit and make a proper black and gold bandit with a very much non factory combination mismatched red and black interior because as much as I love the red, too much is too much. I will also be swapping in a 4spd because A) automatics are no fun, and B) this one is pretty much shot

Ahh, I was pretty certain that if it came with the 301 Turbo it had to be newer than a '79. Regardless of which heads it has, a true 400 Pontiac should be plenty strong. The gold car I posted pics of has the 403 Olds/3 speed auto. That motor didn't have the power of the Pontiac 400 but still moves the old car pretty well. Tire smoking burnouts are effortless.

The rims are personal preference. The rims that came on most of the Turbo Trans Ams were wider than what you have and actually looked really good. They were also used on the Silver Anniversary Trans Ams in 1979. The rims on your car appear to be from the '77 T/A which would be correct for a Bandit replica. Most folks prefer the slightly wider rims on the '79, like the ones in my pic, but it depends on how "correct" you want this car to look.

FWIW, the original Bandit Trans Am had a completely different nose than your car. The Bandit car had the nose of a '77...but in reality was a '76 with the nose caps of the '77. They used pre-production cars for the movie and Pontiac fitted the new nose cap from the '77 to the '76 model cars just for that movie.

I am looking forward to following your progress on this project.