1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

[79TA]

finally got around to posting what I drive

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/8526/1001912an5.jpg

(Gold 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am . . . not the Carrera GT)

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3584/1001949es7.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2359/1001951of6.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1873/1001950xo5.jpg


That should be enough proof for that car. Here are some shots of my other car, a 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera . . . no proof yet. Is that really necessary for my Olds?

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6497/im000264cdzy6.jpg

[TransAm]

Unless the rules have changed, it doesnt matter what type of car it is...

Nice Trans Am though, a proper one. I had an orange plastic thing when I lived in the US, there are some pics of it in this part of the forum.

ETA: http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15121

Welcome to JW, I've not been around much this year so hello from me! :)

[yg60m]

Thanks for the pics mate, nice ride :wink:

[Zot09]

Nice rides dude! Was the first picture from Cars & Coffee?

[ARMAN]

It looks like its in a mint condition :shock: Any pics of interior? Any vids? :P

[dutchmasterflex]

Sweet ride. Looks great and must be a blast to drive.

[79TA]

Thanks for the compliments. :)

I'll start with a little background on the car. I bought this car from a dead guy (of course I actually dealt with the widow, but the official records indicate otherwise :lol: ). The local salvage yard had offered the little old lady 25 dollars for the car, so I offered 100, bought it, and took it home. 3000 dollars later, I had an operational car. I would keep upgrading and restoring from there.

The body -
Yes, it is in very good shape, but this wasn't always the case. The car was formerly covered in dings and scratches and dogs had chewed the polyurethane corners. The car was hit by a van in Sept '06 which prompted me to seriously address the bodywork, which otherwise, would have been the last thing on my to-do list. I hired a bodyman to splice in a new rear quarter panel and address some other issues. The following parts are in excellent shape: doors, quarters, roof, front fascia, and rear bumper. The front fenders are pretty good while the hood has a ripple and the rear trunk could have been sanded more evenly (my fault).

The engine -
My car is an automatic, so 6.6 litre in this instance stands for the 403 CI Oldsmobile which is essentially a Olds 350 small block bored over much more than it was ever really supposed to be. The engine is oversquare meaning it has more bore than stroke. Usually that kind of geometry would give great revving potential but the stock oiling system can't keep things on the top end up under high rpm. Of course, you want the numbers. Like any smog era engine, they're disappointing, however, like smog era engines, they're easy to modify to make big power.

Stock Olds 403 - 320 ft-lb’s of torque at 2200 rpm
- 185 bhp at 4800 rpm

The engine shows it has potential with its effortless low end torque but the torque curve pretty much falls on its face after 2500-3000 rpm. This is due to really low compression (7.9:1 static), a lame camshaft, and some of the least desirable cylinder heads of all time. At least the low end torque results in decent average horsepower which allows stock TA's to post fairly decent performance numbers. A common remedy is to bolt on a pair of heads from an earlier Olds 350 (with much smaller combustion chambers). A pair of 64 cc heads will bump the compression up to 91 octane-friendly 9.5:1. Accompanying more compression with a cam to let things get some air results in about 350 horsepower.

My engine -
The engine currently in my car is an Olds 403 with a little bit more cam than stock. The previous owner used it to pass smog with before dropping his (not smog-legal) Olds 455 back into his car. It was a great deal as I paid only 575 dollars for a solid running motor and TH350 transmission, both of which I use in my car today. I figure the engine makes about 200 peak horsepower as the car posts slightly better numbers than stock TA's of the period.

Also, I theorize that the automatic TA's were actually faster in the quarter than the manual ones tested in the magazines . . . everybody knows automatics rule drag racing.

I'll get more pics up in order to show what has become of the original Olds 403 :twisted:

[79TA]

Here are a couple pictures of my Olds 403 under construction. It's been bored 0.030 over so it now displaces 409 cubic inches. I've gone for a fairly conservative build (1 bhp per cubic inch, hopefully a little more) so the engine will be reliable and will last a long long time. It's one thing to make good power. It's another thing to make it in a way that doesn't reduce the life of the block . . . that's another reason V8's rule.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4725/im000868uo0.jpg

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1135/im000264lf8.jpg

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1045/im000266xl1.jpg

I still haven't put the intake manifold on:

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8664/im000274se8.jpg

I won't be assembling the valvetrain until right before I put the engine back in the car. Otherwise, all the oil would just drip into the oil pan.

This project has been on the backburner for quite a while because of the accident and body work. Hopefully, I'll have the original 403 (now 409) back in the TA before Christmas.

[79TA]

The old engine came out and the "new" original engine went in on Saturday.

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/7794/1004688gy1.jpg

Despite making good progress on Saturday, the whole operation will still take a while. I still need new intake manifold bolts (I was just going to use the ones from the other engine), different push rods (my machine shop bought ones that were too short! so much for having them "match parts"), and I still need decent valve covers (the ones on the original ones don't really seal well and the pair of edelbrocks are crusty and I don't like chrome.)

Anyway, this is just the beginning. Exhaust work and hopefully a new radiator will come soon after the swap.

Other slightly further off to-do's include repairing my Holley 3310 carburetor (to replace the rochester) and finding suitable headers.

Then next years project will be swapping in a 700R4 (it doesn't just drop right in) and some 3.42's in the rear. There's much much more to do after that, but that's the plan right now. Availability of money will affect the rate at which things are accomplished.

about to go in . . .

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/6929/1004692clw0.jpg

Here's the built original engine going into place with its lack of intake manifold, unfinished valve train (no pushrods or rockers), and (temporary) crusty valvle covers (they have rust on the inside, hence the excessive use of taped paper towels.)

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/7641/1004709yu6.jpg


and for kicks, here's a photo of me dropping in the lifters before I tried to set the valve lash and then realized that the pushrods were way too short . . .

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1227/1004655kf7.jpg

[silentm]

yay for your new motor. but boo to the problems :(

i hope you can get this stuff sorted soon and have some fun with the TA :thumbup:

[pagani]

What are you planning suspension and brake wise?
I love your car.

[graywolf624]

Then next years project will be swapping in a 700R4
Just make sure its not a stock 700R4. Get a built one, as they break easy.

Otherwise good looking car.

[79TA]

yay for your new motor. but boo to the problems :(

i hope you can get this stuff sorted soon and have some fun with the TA :thumbup:

thanks, I'll get back to work on it with some more parts and time after the Long Beach Grand Prix is over.

Just make sure its not a stock 700R4. Get a built one, as they break easy.

Otherwise good looking car.

Yea, thanks for the advice. I've been planning it for a long time and know how notorious some of the 27 spline units were in slightly built applications. I'll likely order a built unit from B&M. I reeeally want that extra ratio so I can run some decent gears without ruining freeway cruising (I'll be going with fairly modest 3.42's, not unlike a stock 4th gen)

What are you planning suspension and brake wise?
I love your car.

I addressed the suspension (November 2005) and brakes (November 2004) a while ago.

The brakes aren't anything too special. Just Duralast discs and pads up front with new drums in the rear. Surprisingly, the car brakes really well. It doesn't have ABS, but it seems to grab better than my fox body (. . . . more on that car later when I have more pics ready. I just did the rear drums on that car 3 weeks ago).

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/8302/im000639gf2.th.jpg (http://img136.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000639gf2.jpg) http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2779/im000643qx0.th.jpg (http://img136.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000643qx0.jpg)

I'd like fancier brakes, but I don't want anything that will force me to get rid of the stock 15" rally II wheels. My understanding is that high performance brakes make a bigger difference at higher speeds and on track days (much less fade.) So the current brakes will stay for quite a while.

I replaced the coil springs, leaf springs, and bushings back in November 2005. I've got Eibach coils upfront and Hotchkiss leaf springs in the rear. I love how the Eibachs settled but the Hotchkiss springs actually raised the car up despite being "lowering springs" (a result of the old springs being pretty well shot.) I realy love how the car rides but hate the fact that it has a slight rake. I'll get some lowering blocks to get things even again although some people have told me they liked the raked look.

before
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/7253/im000406re9.th.jpg (http://img73.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000406re9.jpg)

after
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/3097/im000416bi1.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000416bi1.jpg)

stock vs Eibach
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/6480/im000408ra8.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000408ra8.jpg)

no more old rusty leaf
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/5650/im000386al6.th.jpg (http://img136.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000386al6.jpg)

[79TA]

and you'll notice the car looks different. I explained that in one of the above posts, but here's a brief pictoral history of what happened. This was last summer's project.

Ominous picture I took of the rear quarter exactly 14 days before the accident:
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/8395/im000838pz7.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000838pz7.jpg)

the ouch:
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5272/im000919xp8.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000919xp8.jpg)

the nitty gritty:
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5696/im000495rt1.th.jpg (http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=im000495rt1.jpg)

further along:
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/8370/1021287ml5.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1021287ml5.jpg)

bare bones, but painted:
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/8508/1000883qr0.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1000883qr0.jpg)

nowadays (pre-engine swap of course):
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7739/1004453za3.th.jpg (http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1004453za3.jpg)

When I tell people that it was in an accident they often try to find ripples in the paint etc to guess where it was hit . . . the affected fender is never guessed. Instead they point out the hood ripple or actual body lines of the car . . . :laugh:

[HeilSvenska]

When I tell people that it was in an accident they often try to find ripples in the paint etc to guess where it was hit . . . the affected fender is never guessed. Instead they point out the hood ripple or actual body lines of the car . . . :laugh:
Yup. That happens. People are amazingly simple minded sometimes. :-P

[graywolf624]

Yea, thanks for the advice. I've been planning it for a long time and know how notorious some of the 27 spline units were in slightly built applications. I'll likely order a built unit from B&M. I reeeally want that extra ratio so I can run some decent gears without ruining freeway cruising (I'll be going with fairly modest 3.42's, not unlike a stock 4th gen)
Just dont go much more then that. For a while the iroc had 4.56s (as a temporary thing). That didn;t go to well. The 4.56s are still sitting in my garage, no one would buy them.

[79TA]

quick update on the TA

It's been running for a week now and I'm currently breaking the engine in. That means I have the idle set high and I have to resist the urge to tryout WOT or any really high revs. At any rate, the car feels, and sounds, great now. I had exhaust put on not long after things were running. More details on headaches and delays to come later. For now, random pics of the TA in its current hood scoop-less form (high rise intake manifold necessary for big block aluminum heads messes up shaker hood clearances . . . I'll modify it to work or else buy something from a guy that makes and sells such things online.)

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4120/1007138ag7.th.jpg (http://img503.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1007138ag7.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/1871/1007217em8.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1007217em8.jpg) http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/4489/1007225cdes0.th.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1007225cdes0.jpg) http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8804/1006309xt5.th.jpg (http://img503.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1006309xt5.jpg)

[dr vinyl]

Yeah.. what a car
as a kid this also was probally the first thing i reconized as Sexy.
Then came the girls a close second.
Big up the remaining firebirds..

[79TA]

Just a heads up. If any of you happen to receive Car Craft magazine, or just see it sitting on the stands, check out the latest issue (the "August" issue.) You can see my car on page 72. It's not the primary subject of the photo, so it didn't "get ink" like it did last year in Popular Hot Rodding (July '09, page 102.)

[nthfinity]

Sweet!

I've got photos in the DuPont Registry this month myself :)

[79TA]

Wow, I forgot I ever chronicled anything about the Trans Am on this forum other than owning it.

So, as an update, the Olds is gone. :frown:



I now have a '91 Miata as a daily driver. :happy107: The Mustang and Trans Am are still around.



https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash2/575998_10100155698091770_477677325_n.jpg




While I prefer to think of the Trans Am like this:

https://scontent-b-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/229778_10150268665047462_3036907_n.jpg



I'm back to this stage:

https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/418105_10100248984954150_1988731671_n.jpg

[Shaggy]

I man, was loving the Trans am until you showed the last pic. That is(or was) one clean car! Whats your plans with it?

[79TA]

"Just" another engine rebuild. The thrust bearing was eating away at the crankshaft (and no, not the other way around!) If I were smart I'd have used this as an opportunity to have gone to an LS engine and a T56. But I've almost got the 403 back how it was.

Once it's all the way back together, I'll get the car back in its usual schedule of autocrosses. Eventually, I'd like to get it out to ordinary track days in place of my Mustang.

[Shaggy]

Nice. Do you have any videos of it in autocross action?

[79TA]

http://www.youtube.com/user/Firebert79TA

I never did have a good GoPro, and by that I mean I never had one without corrupted sound. As a result, I kind of stopped taking onboard video in recent years. I still have some older stuff though.

[Wilson]

I have a few dd main is 91 f250 11 can-am 12 ford raptor I run e-30 ethanol in everything except for the diesel.

[Regency]

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg598/Regencyyukon/FCF88884-955B-4E47-8C9F-BCF7C5C225A2-2268-000003E6D708D836_zps9d0910bf.jpg

WK1 SRT8

[gman2207]

Never heard them called a Miata before! Mazda mx5 over this side of the Atlantic.

Nice looking motors though.

[Shaggy]

Yep, the call them Miatas here in the US.

[79TA]

Never heard them called a Miata before! Mazda mx5 over this side of the Atlantic.

Nice looking motors though.

Thanks!

Well, the complete U.S. market name was MX-5 Miata. Then, years later in 2006, they dropped the Miata part leaving just MX-5. I generally refer to all MX-5's (or Eunos Roadsters or whatever) as "Miatas."

I always make sure to call the NA's and NB's Miatas as they all officially had Miata in their model name when sold in the U.S. market.

[Shaggy]

What made you decide on getting the mx-5 for your DD?

[79TA]

The Miata is just an excellent option for a daily driver. It's small, nimble, light, easy to park, and gets excellent fuel mileage (I get 27.5 mpg driving fairly hard). The only thing it doesn't do is get me HOV lane access by using some alternative fuel.



After starting to do track days in '09, I saw how capable low power Miatas could be. I began to subscribe to the train of thought that it was more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow . . . ESPECIALLY in commuter traffic. Even the Mustang with only 225 hp and 300 lb-ft is quick enough in a straight line to be thoroughly frustrating in traffic.


The Miata does everything well in stock configuration. It brakes well and corners well with nicely controlled body motion. The steering is direct giving instant response, especially compared to my very body-rolly Mustang. It does all this while still having stock springs that let me drive over normal bumps without cringing. The stock ride height and short wheel base make speed bumps and driveways a non-issue. The narrow overall width is great for snaking around traffic.

The hard top makes the car livable on a day to day basis. The wind noise and lack of security means no soft top for me.


Lastly, these cars are very affordable and cheap to insure. There are lots of aftermarket parts available should anyone get the urge to change things. I keep meaning to get a bolt in roll bar and maybe a wider set of wheels for a wider set of tires. The car already has pads and fluid for higher temps so the brakes can take some heat while on a track.

When I bought this car, I never would have guessed how much time I could save myself by parallel parking into spots too tight for 15+' cars.

[nthfinity]

Whoa! 79TA!

You and Heilsvenska still hang out? I was just out in SoCal in early September. Next time we'll have to meet up!

[79TA]

Whoa! 79TA!

You and Heilsvenska still hang out? I was just out in SoCal in early September. Next time we'll have to meet up!

Hey! Yea, we still do. Send me a PM if you'll be in SoCal again soon and hopefully I'll check it in time.

Will you be at SEMA? I'll be there on Tuesday the 5th, wandering the show for a day with co-workers.

[nthfinity]

Hey! Yea, we still do. Send me a PM if you'll be in SoCal again soon and hopefully I'll check it in time.

Will you be at SEMA? I'll be there on Tuesday the 5th, wandering the show for a day with co-workers.
Not SEMA this past year, but I was there with my last job a few times. I may go again in 2014 now that I'm with one of the OEM's aftermarket division. Unfortunately, I've been extremely busy since my last post, but I'll do my best to keep checking the forums.