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So I decided to pull the trigger, and bought my Dad's 1979 Pontiac Trans Am. The car has been in my family since 85, Dad has owned it for about 15 years. In that time, hes put about 500 miles on it, and it hasn't left the garage in three years. Despite that, we dropped a new battery in it, changed the negative battery cable, and she fired right up. She is a cold blooded BIATCH in the mornings. Either the carb doesn't have an automatic choke, or it isn't working. But once she warmed up, she was raring to go, though the idle is set WAY high.
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She IS a beauty though. Needs a good scrub down and polish after three years of storage. But she did have a cover on her, and was in a garage. T-topped of course.
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Under the hood, we have the original 403 thats a little more than original. Has 70k on it, at 50k they modded it to include a hot cam, forged pistons, ported and polished heads, headers... all the goodies to make her move. Then dropped that POS carb back on top. Why? Maybe back then it worked right.
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No rust in the usual areas. Rockers are solid, pillars are flawless, trunk is rock hard. There are a few minor areas under the hood and along the underbody where the paint and rustproofing have started to flake, and some surface rust has just started. First stop will be to get that blasted off and re-rustproofed to keep it from doing any real damage. Frame is perfect.
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Bleah. The only thing I don't like about this car... red interior. Luckily, interior parts for these cars are cheap and plentiful. I can redo the entire interior of the car for roughly what it would cost me to redo the seats in my 2000. Around $1800.
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The first sign of real trouble. The trunk lock was frozen up, so I pulled out the rear seat so I could pop it. I leaned against the side molding... and my hand went right through it. You can see the hole in the top left. The panels are so dry rotted, they are basically tissue paper with plastic powder on them. Good thing I didn't plan on keeping them anyway.
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Rims and tires are in surprisingly good shape, given the car hasn't left the garage in three years. Need a good scrubbing and some polish, but they will look sweet when done. Who knows, maybe I can actually be a contender for a trophy or two next year at the Meet and Greet! I am a bit confused though. Dad says these are the original rims for the car. I didn't think they made Rally IIs in 79?
spider.jpg
The custom artwork on the shaker. I'll probably end up either painting over it, or selling it on Ebay as a custom part and buying a new one. Not much for spiders, myself.
So whats next for her? First, a trip to the rust proofing booth, then a complete new interior in camel tan. I want to experiment with two toning it, kind of like my 2000. Eventually, it will get repainted. The black isn't the original paint, though it is the original color. I'd like to go with something like this.orange.jpg
A nice deep dark burnt orange. I always thought one of this generation Trans Ams would look sweet in that color.
main.jpg
She IS a beauty though. Needs a good scrub down and polish after three years of storage. But she did have a cover on her, and was in a garage. T-topped of course.
engine.jpg
Under the hood, we have the original 403 thats a little more than original. Has 70k on it, at 50k they modded it to include a hot cam, forged pistons, ported and polished heads, headers... all the goodies to make her move. Then dropped that POS carb back on top. Why? Maybe back then it worked right.
side rear.jpg
No rust in the usual areas. Rockers are solid, pillars are flawless, trunk is rock hard. There are a few minor areas under the hood and along the underbody where the paint and rustproofing have started to flake, and some surface rust has just started. First stop will be to get that blasted off and re-rustproofed to keep it from doing any real damage. Frame is perfect.
interior.jpg
Bleah. The only thing I don't like about this car... red interior. Luckily, interior parts for these cars are cheap and plentiful. I can redo the entire interior of the car for roughly what it would cost me to redo the seats in my 2000. Around $1800.
crumble.jpg
The first sign of real trouble. The trunk lock was frozen up, so I pulled out the rear seat so I could pop it. I leaned against the side molding... and my hand went right through it. You can see the hole in the top left. The panels are so dry rotted, they are basically tissue paper with plastic powder on them. Good thing I didn't plan on keeping them anyway.
rims.jpg
Rims and tires are in surprisingly good shape, given the car hasn't left the garage in three years. Need a good scrubbing and some polish, but they will look sweet when done. Who knows, maybe I can actually be a contender for a trophy or two next year at the Meet and Greet! I am a bit confused though. Dad says these are the original rims for the car. I didn't think they made Rally IIs in 79?
spider.jpg
The custom artwork on the shaker. I'll probably end up either painting over it, or selling it on Ebay as a custom part and buying a new one. Not much for spiders, myself.
So whats next for her? First, a trip to the rust proofing booth, then a complete new interior in camel tan. I want to experiment with two toning it, kind of like my 2000. Eventually, it will get repainted. The black isn't the original paint, though it is the original color. I'd like to go with something like this.orange.jpg
A nice deep dark burnt orange. I always thought one of this generation Trans Ams would look sweet in that color.
Gorgeous! Can't wait to see what you do with it. 
357ci LT1, cammed, stalled, and driven. 
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