1979 Dirty T/A-

[thisisthewayilive]

Gotta love the bumps in the road. Still making good progress though!

[Dirty T/A]

Man.....Bad news......

I took out the rear end, suspension and gas tank on the T/A yesterday- and it wasnt good....where the 3 bolts in front, on the leaf springs, on both sides are completely rotted. Like gone rotted. Bolts just spun and tore right out with very little persuation, taking a good section of both layers of flooring with them. The drivers frame rail is much worse that I knew too, after pulling the gas tank and getting a better look back there. Its a gonner. The floor, pretty much everywhere is toast also.

Fixing this is going to be a HUGE undertaking......one that I dont think I am capable of doing. I thought about cutting out the parts car and rewelding, ect, but just dont see myself having the know how or ability to do this.

Looks like I am going to have to find out if a '79 front clip, doors, dash and tail lights are a direct change over to a '80 chevy berlinetta. My fingers are crossed.....The frame and floor in the berlinetta are solid, but the rest of it is pretty much all gone and parted out....

Any help/advice is appreciated.

[Dirty T/A]

I have a welder/fabricator freind from work come to the rescue. Hes confidant we can get it all fixed and back together with some welding and sheet metal, along with reinforcing the bad frame rail and tying/boxing in the frame.

Back to putting this car together. The rear might just be temporary. Thinking, down the road, replacing the entire floor.

Pinked up a starter, alternator, power stearing, all the brackets and pullys, and a fan today for the motor. Got the master cylinder too- waiting to get it bead blasted.
Going to get a chrome dress up kit here really soon too.
I picked up A high rise intake, polished aluminum, last week too! Pretty sure I am going to grab my freinds Holly carb to fit it.

Still on my needs list-

Distributer
Radiator
Headlights w/ brackets
Fuel pump
Water pump
Paint

The list just got much smaller! Its getting closer.

[Dirty T/A]

My next 2 steps-

Get the 2 rear ends and suspension apart, put the good shocks, leafs and rear end all together, with the traction bars, clean them up and paint what needs it, and re-install them on the T/A.

Get the motor cleaned up, one more time, put the trans on, headers on, intake on, chrome dress up kit installed and paint the heads and block black.

[Dirty T/A]

Took my little bro in law and my fther in law and a freind out to woodward tonight, and got a surprise at dinner.....

My father in law and bro in law replaced the floor and rear frame rails on my T/A!! I still dont beleive it....

I will see it with my own eyes sunday. I should be able to get some pics too.

They cut out the floor and frame rails out of the Camaro, which were all in damn near perfect condition, and replaced the entire floor and frame in my T/A. Cant wait to see it.....

[camaro42]

Awesome news. post some pics of what they did, if you can. Keep the updates coming!

[Dirty T/A]

Awesome news. post some pics of what they did, if you can. Keep the updates coming!

I will get some pics soon- its still a work in progress.....by the sound of it, the other night, it was all done. I also found that the old frame rails were just reinforced and not completely replaced. Just the bad sections of floor were replaced too and not the entire floor. I misunderstood....

But so far, it looks great and will function well for at least a few years, where I will undertake the project professionally or be finished with the car.

[Dirty T/A]

I made some progress in the rear and and suspension areas of the car today.

Got the rear end/axle, leafsprings and traction bars all cleaned up and ready to be put back together and installed. Also found out, under all the crud, was a chrome cover on the rear housing.

[hoogiesngrinderz]

Keep chugging along, try not to lose motivation!

I noticed myself becoming less interested in the cars...I need that to change!!

[Dirty T/A]

I am determined to drive this car before it snows.....

I usually only have about 6 hours a week available to work on it, unfortunately.

Slowely but surely, and learning something new each week. I have enjoyed everything about this project so far, even the bad bumps. I can see the finished project in my head. Looking forward to getting there.

[Dirty T/A]

Rear end is together and the frame/under body structure work is almost complete in the rear. Next day I have free to work on the car will see the rear, suspension, ect. installed and the car will be rolling again-






Still gotta get the U-bolts-





Also, got a couple pics of the intake I picked up. No clue what brand it is......but I know its made to fit a Holly carb-







Should be a nice replacement for the old one.

[Dirty T/A]

^ Trading that intake for something better suited for my cars needs and paying off my motor with the $$ I get extra out of the deal. Going to pick it up tomorow.

Got alot done today-

Cut out some rot from under the car
Sanded/wire wheeled the underside of the T/A from the back seats back down to clean metal
Rust coated it with http://www.duplicolor.com/products/rustFix/
Cleaned up my motor and got it painted
Installed the headers
Cleaned up the trans to attatch to the motor tomorow.
Wire wheeled the gas tank for future instalation.

Hers a few pics-


















Still gotta order some chrome valve covers, pick up the new edelbrock intake, wrap the headers, attatch the trans, but its getting close to being dropped into the car.

Got a distributer w/ cap and wires, fuel pump and holley 600 carb on the way soon. Its getting close!

[deeznuts94]

Pretty cool project! It has come a long way since you got it.

[meissen]

Awesome job so far!

[Dirty T/A]

Valve covers shipped quick!!