My new 1988 T/A

[DynoDave]

Made it up to Lapeer for their Monday night car cruise in the downtown area. Nice evening out.

[MP81]

Definitely was a nice night out!

Is it just me, or is there something funky going on with the "RS" badges on that '67 there (the first Camaro picture)?

[DynoDave]

Too high on the fender, and too far apart?

[MP81]

Yes - and perhaps even crooked?

[DynoDave]

Slow but sure, I did spend 4 hours in the shop Sunday night. And another hour or more this evening. I'm getting there. Should be able to put in a few minutes tomorrow night and have that RF caliper refreshed with new hardware and O-rings, maybe even get the pads slicked up with the included compound and installed. Then it will be back to the drive side to change the strut and bearing/mount, and I should be able to put the wheels back on and put the car back on the ground for the first time in 6 or 7 months. An appointment at a cooperative and CAREFUL (watch those newly refinished wheels please) alignment shop, and she should be ready for action for the rest of the summer and fall.

[MP81]

Excellent progress!

[DynoDave]

Yes, the strut and bearing are installed, bearing loosely tightened, but the strut upper is good. The lower two bolts are in, but they call for 200 lb. ft., and my old beam torque wrench only goes to 150. I got "more" with the impact, but have no idea where I'm at. My good torque wrench failed last year, and I've had my eye on a replacement. Caught it on sale over the weekend, so I pulled the trigger, though I really didn't want to spend the money at this time with work like it is. It supposedly arrived at the post office this afternoon, so I hope to pick it up tomorrow.

[MP81]

200 ft-lbs?? That seems awfully high for that car...

I've been very happy with the 250 ft-lb Husky torque wrench I bought a few years back for not a ton of money at all.

[DynoDave]

Well, she's back on the ground.

New shocks, new struts, new strut mounts, new front brake rotors, wheel bearings and Hawk pads, new rear wheel cylinder, brake fluid flush, new fuel filter and refinished bracket, new front sway bar end links, new front wheel well liners, replaced LR marker lamp that required removing half the rear compartment trim to do, new TDS "Wonder Bar" added, new rear wheels (an extra set of front offset wheels to use on the rear), all wheels refinished, new tires, chrome valve stems and caps, ceramic coating for the wheels, K&N air filter cleaned and recharged, LOF. And maybe a few other things I've forgotten.

A lot more I did NOT get to, but the Trans Am Nationals are looming,and my son is going with me for the first time. This will be his first time attending a show with me, let alone a national level show with concourse judging, seminars with Pontiac engineers, vendors, etc. I hope he enjoys it.



Took it for a short drive to break in the brake pads. Went well. Drove much better than I had expected after changing the struts and mounts (the new J&M mounts eliminate the rubber bushing of the factory mount, and are double adjustable for a bigger range of alignment settings, and come unassembled). I had taken a total swag at the "alignment", but there was no pull, the wheel was straight, certainly good enough to drive to the alignment shop (I had thought I might have to trailer it).

Re-torqued the lugs, and took it Friday morning for an alignment. They called back, and it was so close to the specs I had asked for, they said if it drove good, leave it alone, that everything looked good. So that's what we went with. They just charged me for a 1/2 hour of labor for setting it up and checking it.

But she still needed a longer shakedown cruise, some highway speeds, harder corners, etc. So we took her down to Woodward Friday night. Varying speeds on the highway, and no vibrations. So the guy who refinished the wheels, mounted and balanced the tires for me appears to have done a good job.

Just put Bilstein Gold shock on the motorhome. The difference isn't so much in the ride that you can feel, but you know it''s less harsh because there are far fewer rattles and bangs. Same with the T/A. While it still has plenty of rattles, and will never ride like a Cadillac, it's ride is much improved, with far fewer bangs over potholes, and far fewer noises form the chassis and trim. Very happy. The steering great, just very happy with all of it. With the car apart so long, I was afraid I might have forgotten to put something back together right. But the shakedown drive could not have gone better, and gives me great confidence going into the trip.

The only slight disappointment is the brake pads. Chose this particular Hawk compound for it's low dust (the task of cleaning PW7s is no joke). And after break-in and a short cruise, the front wheels are noticeably dark.

The only setback was that during the 15-20 minutes the T/A was on the alignment rack with the key on to unlock the steering wheel (and probably the cooling fan running), the battery went flat enough that they had to jump start it. This is the AC Delco battery (still USA made back then) that was in the car when I bought it 11 years ago, and it was not brand new then. So I'd guess it's about 13 years old. It leads an easy life, and has a Battery Tender on it when not in use. But still, it's been a good one. I knew the end was near, and had bought a small AGM battery to put inside it's gutted case this past winter. Sadly, that was one of the chores I did NOT get to.

So what to do now? Gamble that I can nurse the current battery through the rest of the season, and risk spoiling part of the upcoming shows with a trip to a parts store? Buy a cheap used battery and hope it doesn't leave me walking unexpectedly? Buy a new battery, and plan to gut it or replace it with the small AGM sometime soon? Try and rush and complete the gutting of the current case and install of the small AGM this weekend? This small AGM isn't getting any younger sitting on my shelf.

While I'm pretty certain I could milk the current battery for the rest of the season, it's clearly on it's last legs and could leave me walking at any time (not to mention the wear it's putting on the alternator), and I don't want to risk spoiling the trip. So that option is out. And buying a used battery is just as risky IMO. I have the gutted case of a MOPAR repro battery for the Chrysler, and gutting that thing was not easy, or quick. So I think a quick conversion to the small AGM is out for this weekend, and thus this trip. So I stopped and bought one of Mao's Best brand batteries today. The one upside is that it has a totally flat top (the AC Delco has a handle moulded into the top), so when it dies, I can more easily convert it with another AGM, and some repro stickers I have to make it look like the AC Delco that would have come with the car when new. I'll use the current AGM in the Chrysler I guess. Timing is everything.

Re-torqued the lugs one last time. I'll get the battery in this evening. Got the 20 black plastic lug nut covers cleaned, coated in Back to Black, and reinstalled. New WS^ wheel centers are waxed, and will go back on too. Tomorrow I hope to get the serpentine belt replaced, and the P/S fluid flushed and a conditioner added. Then she'll be ready for the road I think, aside from waxing, packing, etc. Still have to finish the van and trailer.

[MP81]

Man, that's a lot of work, but glad to hear it drove well after all of it!

[DynoDave]

Last few details done for this trip. P/S flushed and BG additive added, serpentine belt on, wheel centers snapped into place, rear seats bolted down (oops), etc. Car hauler is washed, battery charged, air pressure checked, and I'll hit the tires with some dressing after this meeting I'm in. Van is all set, just need to pack and go!

[MP81]

Nice, sounds like you are all set!

So it's this weekend and thus you will probably not be joining us out there tonight watching all tens of cars that are out.

[DynoDave]

Correct. We left last Thursday night, got into the hotel around 2:00am. Nice cool temps and empty roads at least.

The show weekend was great. Clear skies, warm on Friday and Saturday, pretty hot on Sunday (92* and 85% humidity), but it all went pretty well. Photos below.

Up reasonably early given the late arrival. Here we are just finishing cleaning the car up.













Mid-day Friday. Maybe half or a little less of the ultimate show field. Lots of folks pour in on Friday night.









In the afternoon, setting up an aerial flag photo.



2 Jack Russell pups...too cute!









Then across the street to the Wandering Griffin micro brewery. For the last few years, Friday night has been an event organized by the county at the local mall with all Firebirds welcome (not just show attendees), stage, live band, 10 or so food trucks, beer garden, some vendors....a nice event. They had some construction at the mall this year, so the brewery stepped up, also with band, our own show beer on tap and in cans, food, Smokey and the Bandit on the big screen, and cars in the parking lot. A very nice event, and good food.

[DynoDave]

Saturday















Herb Adams, GM/Pontiac Chassis engineer, privateer racer and all around good guy, pushed for Pontiac to offer the Fire Am for sale...a still streetable (go get the groceries) weekend club racer package. When GM killed the idea, they offered it through Cars and Concepts. Only a handful were built. Herb later offered the parts through his company VSE (Very Special Equipment), which his son Matt carries on to this day. I'm hoping to get some of their control arms, which will lower the front end a touch.



One of this years guest speakers was Brandon Vivian, Executive Chief Engineer at Cadillac. Who owns both of the Fire Am vehicles below. The blue car is a clone that he races, and the white one is a 5700 mile original (VIN #2 and the first offered for sale to the public IIRC). Brandon bought it from the original owner, who was also on hand during the seminars. My son and I had a few moments to speak with Brandon on Saturday night...a very nice man, and just a fellow car guy (though a very accomplished one).













































Concours judging.



Sorry if some of this is repeated, but forgot to mention, mid-day we took in several seminars. Jim Mattison from Pontiac Historical Services (or PHS), Brandon Vivian with a panel that included Reggie Harris (GM PR, Pontiac PR and SLP), Herb Adams (Pontiac chassis, suspension and special projects engineer), Bill Davis (Pontiac Studio 2 designer) and John Schinella (Head of Studio 2). We also heard from the gentleman who was the first owner of the first customer delivered Fire Am.

[DynoDave]

Off to the Tipp City cruise.









































L-R, my son, John Schinella (Head of Pontiac Design Studio 2), Bill Davis (Studio 2 Designer), Me. Son and I stopped at a Pilot truck stop on the wee hours of the morning Friday while driving to the show, and picked up a couple of bargain cowboy hats.



Mr. Schinella was nice enough to sign my car. Bill Davis got away! I'll catch him next year.