Topic: My 88 T/A

[78&89TA]

Haha yeah I got the wrong pistons for my hatch and got the ones for a GTA and I only have the straight spoiler. My rear hatch flies up so fast you would think it would fly off the car. That GTA spoiler must be heavy!

That's funny and yeah the wrap around aero spoilers are super heavy , I still have the original rear hatch shocks on and they were in need of replacing but with the fiberglass spoiler they will last much longer.

[Nexus]

Looks cool , I have had a 3rd gen for over 20 years now , currently have a 89 GTA that I bought in '94 and love it , just sent a aero wing fiberglass spoiler to the paint shop , took the original rubber one off, much much lighter than original.  Good luck with yours !!

Thanks!!!

I'm torn between the aero wing or the standard spoiler...I like both...depends what I do with the car I guess

I'm also looking at picking up a 400 SBC for it...buddy of mine has just the block and wants $100.00 for it

seems worth getting at that price!!

I'm in no hurry to build it so I can gather parts over time and put something together later on... just need to pickle the block until then!!

[Nexus]

400 block out after some good advice!!!

here is what I was up to on Saturday!!

went and did some work on the car today with my boy. It is at my grandparaents place.



I had Rohen pull the wheels off, and while he did that, I was able to pull the drums off, with little effort, and give them an inspection. You can see the black paint still on the metal parts of the shoes



Shot of the under carriage up and to the rear



Front passanger











Rohen removing headlight assembly



Headlight pot is mint







Motor taken apart



crumbles mess inside motor assembly





kind of an odd picture but down in the crushed rock is a tiny ball bearing that goes inside the motor assembly...needle in a hay stack...solution...



Big magnet



lookey what I found!!

[grenggli]

My next project I have is a 88 GTA t-top 305 tpi 5spd restore.  Now if I can find the money for working on it with three kids in college and one getting married this next summer.  Good luck on yours!

Greg

[Nexus]

ooh...that's going to be a busy year for ya!!!

[78&89TA]

I just fixed both my headlight motors , all the bushings were shot like yours. They work perfect now
I still have a set of the original Gatorback  tires in my garage , they were the rear tires and are shot ,  I just can't part with them

[Nexus]

lol...I know what you mean when you get attached to things!!

Well yesterday I had done some research as to what people were doing to fix the bushing idea, and  I come across an idea I thought was pretty ingenious, and cheap, we shall see how it holds up to regular use!!

what I did was find the large size glue gun stick I had lying around the house, cut them to size, and put everything back together...I manualy went through the cycle and voila, it worked!!

I just need to put it back on the car and test it out!!!!

[78&89TA]

Thats good idea , Ive seen people use  rubber pieces , I bought a kit for 25 that took care of it.

[Nexus]

So just a quick update on whats going on with this thing.

I fixed the:
headlight motor
wiper motor
fog lights
door poppers
passanger seat rail
Hi/Low beam switch
removed the flex plate (looking for a replacement as we speak)
spent $300.00 on a nice set of wheels that won't work for my car
picked up the PMD seats for it but they need restoring
picked up new chrome air cleaner assembly

waiting on:
flex plate (12.85"...153 tooth I think is what I was told it needs to be)
remove and reinstal heads and intake/replace gaskets
instal temp driver seat
reinstall door panels
instal a set of wheels
bring it in to see what it needs to pass mechanical

[Nexus]

Since my last post, I have

Installed a new flexplate and put all that back together
Installed chrome air cleaner
installed center console
Installed door panels
reinstalled the taillights
Installed what interior panels I have
Installed the GTA wheels
And Sunday morning I managed to get it running and drove it around the block several times

My son I were pretty happy about that

I still have to find a drivers seat for it
Adjust the drivers window
and get the horn working

[NWW-79 T/A]

Good work. Third gens are cool in their own way. You should post some more pictures

[Nexus]

Well I am having no luck finding a drivers seat around here so I decided to go ahead with my last rest option and mount the passenger seat on the drivers side.

I also tested the power seat mechanism and temporarily have mounted it in the car to give me mobility.

All this is just in place until I get the PMD seats restored.

I still need to come up with arm rests, door handle pockets and rebuild the door panels...the interior is rough but that doesn't bother me.

When I was done with the seat, my son and I took the car out for a good drive and I'm really pleased with how it ran

In the next few days I am going to get the temporary permit put on it and get it home...shortly after that i will get the mechanical put on it

I do have some pictures coming but I am having trouble finding the time to sit in front of my computer

[Nexus]

alright so here is an update on the photo department and one video

rims I scored for it





center caps I already had from a previous screw up about 10 years ago







I want to play with the carbon fiber on the interior

















that's all I have for now but I will update the thread when I have done something new

[Nexus]

I haven't had time to do anything to the car lately but I was able to get it liscenced and on the road

fall seems to be coming early this year around here so I'm not sure how much more time I'll have to enjoy it

At least it will be ready to go next spring

[4saken]

Nice bird. My very first Trans am was a 85. I love this car. I was already hacked on before I bought it, but I didn;t care I finally got a bird! It had the original engine out of it and instead had a 350 vortec out of a 99 surburban in it. very fun car, lots of torque! I have only rebuilt the tranny and replaced the clutches with kelvar cluches. I also put on a 97 ram air hood on it and briefly painted it all balck instead of the two tone blue/gray it was. I will professionly pain it sometime in the next five years. I also have a 79 Trans Am that is going in the shop this Feb. So since picking that one up I parked the 85 and it sat for about a year in my drive way. Just yesterday I went in there and pumped the pedal three times and turned the key and he came to life instantly. I was so happy. I realized just how much I missed him. See I use the 79 for my summer/fall car and the 85 for spring/winter. Surprisingly enough the 85 will get thru just about any snow drift I point him to. Very fun car and has never let me down. Glad to be driving him again. Good luck on yours and keep them photos coming.