Hitman's Pontiac Trans Am Forum

Trans Am Photos => Restoration Projects => Topic started by: snake_eater on March 23, 2011, 05:36:22 PM

Title: snake eater
Post by: snake_eater on March 23, 2011, 05:36:22 PM
hi i have a 78 trans am with a 455sd that my uncle put about 12 grand into in 1992 shortly befor he died the car was taken by a freind later to be recoverd by my dad who restarted the project only to hit a hard spot forcing him to park it in the pasture at our house and i made a deal with him that if i restore it i get the car (with the exception that he gets to use it when ever im not) so after sitting for 8yrs it has finaly moved to a garage i will post pics of the car as its being rebuilt from how it sits to finish. the cars interior is rotted completly (az sun) and the starter wont turn the motor over but when placed in 4th gear i can get the motor to move im planing to remove the motor and drop the oil pan (part of the dip stick broke and i fear its in the oil pan) and inspect the bottom end the dyno sheet that i have says 650hp@7200rpm but im told that was with a borrowed carb a ignition set up but it should still have alot of go it is a nitrous motor all the plans i have says it should take a 600hp shot :o but i think this is unrealistic sbut im am going to use a 350hp shot as for exterior work the car is going to be stock looking as possible black with orig decals. ill post pics tonight  to show you guys what im working with
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: Justin on March 23, 2011, 06:19:35 PM
Good Luck. Welcome to 78ta. Please do keep us posted and updated with pictures.
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: kjkjkcjkcj on March 23, 2011, 06:23:42 PM
good luck it right those fields do a number on the under carriage.  Would love to see some photos. Welcome to the site.
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: ShakerBreaker on March 23, 2011, 06:42:39 PM
Looking forward to seeing your project.
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: Nexus on March 23, 2011, 08:42:02 PM
Welcome to the site, and I look forward to the build!!
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: golfswithglock on March 24, 2011, 09:59:06 AM
Welcome aboard. I've never done any work with nitrous. Looking forward to seeing pics. Any mods to the rear end and tranny that you know of?
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: snake_eater on March 25, 2011, 11:15:39 AM
Welcome aboard. I've never done any work with nitrous. Looking forward to seeing pics. Any mods to the rear end and tranny that you know of?

it has a rock crusher tranny and a really tall gear in the rear end 2nd taps out at 70mph in a old vid my dad tookl with a freind it is a 4 speed i cant wait to drive this myself if only half the stories are true then itll be a pretty quick street car. Does annybody have an idea on where to get the resvers hood scoop (shaker?) that goes into the hole in the hood sorry my language might not be right on im used to motorcycles this will be the first car i really build my self
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: Frode_skj on March 25, 2011, 04:21:00 PM
Good luck with the project :) Post some pictures when you get a chance :)
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: kentuckyyeti on March 25, 2011, 05:34:36 PM
You're gonna do nitrous shots in an SD block?  That's some very expensive iron you're trying to stretch with NOS. 
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: Trevon on March 25, 2011, 06:20:19 PM
A 350hp shot of nitrous is still absolutely massive for a street car.  I though about putting a real small shot it my car (50~) but decided against it, I would probably not ever use it and it wrecks a manifold and looks ugly on the engine.  I can't even express how spectacularly large a 600hp shot would be; I've found one online and the car made more than 1300hp.  If the engine made 650 hp without it, the most I would consider going is 200 but some facts seem fishy here, those numbers are outrageous.
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: snake_eater on March 29, 2011, 12:08:01 PM
got it running sorry my phone has something wrong with it when i figure it out ill post pics i got it to idel nice and relize it wont idle below 800rpm and at that i sounds like its barly running and falling apart it idles nice at about 1200rpm and it doesnt even sound like it ive been informed that it because of the cam and the current ignition is not enough for this motor deffintly gtting a msd set up and as forr nitrous im going to use a progressive nitrous controller at 350hp the goal is to break 200mph i still havent driven it as the tires on it are a scary enough to put air in much less put some power to them the motor is far from done i still have to get a new dip stick tube (the one on the inside of the motor) carb, ignition, still want to pull the cam and check the numbers and i also want to check the tollerance on the whole motor before i drop the hammer
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: snake_eater on March 29, 2011, 12:12:27 PM
good luck it right those fields do a number on the under carriage.  Would love to see some photos. Welcome to the site.
it was put on a gravel pad that sat 8inches above the actual pasture so the irregation did rust it out and its been in az its whole life so very little rust just lots of sun damage
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: xmoney on April 03, 2011, 08:59:30 PM
I would verify that is a SD block ! If indeed you have an SD engine the last thing you want to do is spray it! Those are Rare engines ( very rare ) And I would'nt even chance a catastrophic failure on a jewel like that! w/ a good re-build by an expert in those engines , good carburetion and good ignition y ;Dou will have monster on pump gas that will flat stand your hair up when you nail it! Nitrous is not the way to go w/ that particular motor. I would build a HO motor ( 455) or a strong 400 In my opinion.  Good Luck ! :o
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: 4SPEED on April 03, 2011, 09:17:00 PM
You're gonna do nitrous shots in an SD block?  That's some very expensive iron you're trying to stretch with NOS. 


thats what I'm screeming....    are you sure it a SD .  theres tons of 455's , only a hand full of SD's.
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: xmoney on April 03, 2011, 09:19:07 PM
I am not trying to pee on your parade, I am concerned w / the 200 MPH goal . These cars @ about 160 get to be a complete hand full right before you lift the nose off the ground and the steering loses response. I know this because I wanted to push my TA back in the day w/ a 455 HO 4 speed I hit 155 + or -  And it was all I could do to keep it straight and narrow And my car has upgrades in the suspension to  accomadte hi- speed driving believe me!   You should read the articles in HOT ROD mag. about all the body mods done to even approach breaking that barrier. Our cars get too much under them. You have to devise a way to split the air over the nose and under the car ( full Pan under the nose and a spiltter . You are going to have to make down force and lay that rear blade down also. You will have to think safety equip. and speed rated tires and a huge brake package w/ cooling also. There is all kinds of demons that show up around that 150 mark. You are going to have to upgrade every wheel bearing in the car and  really do your home work. I don't want to see any one get hurt or worse!   Just my opinion. Good Luck in your endeavors!!> Jeff
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: ShakerBreaker on April 03, 2011, 09:29:13 PM
Hummmm?   
Title: Re: snake eater
Post by: Tin Indians Rule on April 04, 2011, 12:37:01 AM
Just to keep me on track with reality could you locate your casting numbers and put them here in the thread. Maybe the block code, carb code, head code, etc.... Wouldn't need a camera for that.
Reason is we are all gonna be miserable until "WE" know if that's a true SD. I mean no offense but some folks just don't know how rare it is to stumble onto a real SD.
Also, if you think a piece of the dipstick has broken off and is loose in the bottom end of a SD block and you are cranking it and letting it idle there may be more pieces of that dipstick than one could ever imagine. LOL