Topic: 1979 T/A restoration Progress

[1979T/A6.6]

hey all, im 18 years old and i inherited the responsibilty of restoring my dad's T/A.  Some history, we bought the car back in 99 and it was in fair shape, it ran and drove, tranny was ok, seats were stained, leaky t-tops, etc. just the general things a 25 year old car has wrong with it.  so we drove it around and about 2 years ago the can decided to crap out. dove it around for a while and then i decided it was time to to rebuild and have a mehanically working car.  well i was all exided with my 2500 bucks and all the parts i though i needed listed out so i went about taking the car apart and then my moral was slowly erased. things where placed where they were, wiring was all riped to shreads, everything was rusted together, braking bolts left and right.  and now my budget is 3800 and maybe i can squeeze the parts i need out of that so its drivable.  id like to list whats wrong but i think it can be summed up as everything needs a little fix'n up.  so on to the pics in chronolgical order dont think i need i explain whats in them.























so there it is, ive got alot of work cut out for myself but i plan on working on it every spare minute over the summer so it shoudl be done.
im looking for a 450 hp/tq split and i dont think it will be to hard, im going to mod the rochester to open the bypass ports like hpp did on a older t/a and it helped alot so im going to buy the book the suggested for rebulinding and modding quadrajets. as soon as i learn the true identity of my car ill be putting the right stuff in it. 

[RENOVATIONS]

Looks like the wiring harness has seen better days for sure...but don't despair, we've all been there (or are currently still "there" ). At least you have a plan and have gotten a good start.
Keep us updated and ask any questions you may have...thanks for the pix. 

[Rick]

Looks like the wiring harness has seen better days for sure...but don't despair, we've all been there (or are currently still "there" ).

Yes, but he has GLASS in his...

It looks like you're doing a bang-up job!  Thanks for posting and like Jeff says, keep us updated as you go along!

[1979T/A6.6]

Yeah, but behind the class hides a rusting drivers side pilar thats not hanging on by much But I'm saving up right now and when spring Carlisle comes around I'm dropping about 2500 at Performance Years Pontiac booth and saving myself the astronomical shipping costs cause as it turns out 9/10 of the stuff I was buying from them isn't covered under the free shipping/discount policy. And now it seems like I'm going to need to keep a close eye on the car cause when i came home from college for a doctor oppointment, it looks like someone looked under the tarps and tried to take one of my headers (don't know why, they are all rusted paper thin and have holes in them) but hopefully with winter coming people aren't nearly as curious as they are cold.
maybe you guys can help me, I've been able to find most of what i need except for a few things, i need a replacement bolt kit for the entire car, I've seen ones for the firewall and up and the interior, but cant find anything else and I'm planning on taking the entire drive line apart and rebuilding it so i need all the bolts for the rear suspension and such.  Also I'm looking for the assembly manual for my car, not the shop manual I've already got that but I need to one thats tells you how to build the car from the ground up. I know it exists but its just kinda rare and everyone i go to says they don't carry it and good luck finding it.

[RENOVATIONS]

The assembly manual is very nice...Brett sells them here  http://www.78ta.com/sale/cdsale.htm  and he also lists the info (bottom of page) if you prefer the book format instead of CD.

[1979T/A6.6]

Thanks i need that illustration manual, I've already got the other 2 books.   

[RENOVATIONS]

Yeah, the illustration manual is there also...listed as "1980 assembly manual"..but works fine for 79 also. You can order either the CD or print format. I have the print format myself.

[1979T/A6.6]

Yeah I need books so i can look at it as I'm working on the car. Ah i didn't see the 1980 assembly manual, guess ill be getting that too.

[1979T/A6.6]

O wow I didn't know there was a whole section of the forum dedicated to this.

[RENOVATIONS]

Yeah, the forum is just to lure in the customers 

[1979T/A6.6]

Hey i got a question, I've been debating on what clutch system to get since mine is worn out. I was looking at a centerforce dual plate system and the hays dual plate, but I don't know what to choose, I see alot of people running both.  I wanted to know what other people are running, think.

[1979T/A6.6]

even though right now im not doing paint cause i just dont have the cash. i want to do something to make the car standout. i was thinking on the same nocutrne blue and the gold bird (i really like that colors sheme the best) but i wanted the bird airbrused on instead, but i was going to make the bird bigger where the head will end up on the shaker and the wings will hug the fenders and streach onto the door panels.  then on the back im going to put trans am on the spoiler. but in the letter style like decals are. (for those to know what car not to mess with ) i just was wondering what you guys thought of the idea, if i get my hands on photoshop ill make a nice rendering.
 

[LOMILETA]

It sounds good in theory A bunch of years ago there was a red 78 with a bird like you envisioned. In my opinion, it was way too  much, made the car look tacky. It was silver and grey and stretched from the nose to the middle of the doors. efinitly photoshop it first, cause if you like it then you can paint it, but if you paint it then dont like it its gonna mean a whole repaint. Oh yeah, to make matters worse it had a whail tail on it too.

[J-Train]

You got a z-code 79, a pretty rare car, I would paint it stock with stock decals and maybe do some stuff that can be easily reveresed for show or sale, maybe some lowering springs and some year one wheels.

[1979T/A6.6]

i know the z code is 1 of 2197 but what i was describing is what i like, in reality i probably one be able to do that for a long time, but it would be nice to havre something original. depends on the budget. and i dont plan on selling this car, ever. i do like the year one wheels but they are too flat, if i can find some nice repo snoflakes or have someone make them for me id rather go that route.  i have the 15x8's (which was standard for 79 i think) but i cant find a pair at the swap meets, i always find 15x7's and i like having the extra rubber make the car look mean.  but i need to have mine refinished and stored away cause they  are scuffed some.