Okay, first off I didnt intend on being away from the site for so long. The story on that is soon after joining I happened upon an Olds 455 that a guy was selling for $100 so i definatly jumped on that. Got it all disassembled and everything is cleeaaan, only problem is the crank needs turned due to a spun bearing. After some digging I found its from a 72' Cutlass, possibly even a 442 with auto tranny (came with flex plate) and for that year the 442s were just trim packages. Its a pretty exciting build that i've been working on but my search for Cutlasses has stalled out and this just dropped into my lap...introducing my return to my beloved Pontiac brand ^.^
SO. My favorite car manufacturer in non-existance is Pontiac, haha. And the 79' Trans Am has always been one of my, at least, top-3 favorite cars in existance (only surpassed by the 73' SD-455 Trans Am, and the 71' Hemi Cuda, which are tied for 1st and 2nd cause its like picking which of your children you love more LOL). Well a few years ago my father dragged home an 81' Turbo Trans Am that was in need of restoration. It sat, waiting, like most of his never-to-see-the-light-of-day projects until i coaxed him into messing with it with me and come to find out the interior is in near perfect shape (obviously it sat in someone's yard for many years, taking its toll on the body but practicly mummifying the interior). We also found out that all the electrical works, every bit right down to the clock in the dash (did i mention i LOVE Pontiacs? hahaha). Unfortunatly that was as far as we got, a few weeks later he parked it in my neighbor's garage and it sat for many more years.
NOW, just last night me and the neighbor dollied the T/A back to my house and its taunting me to dive into this and put the Cutlass idea on hold, so here's the specifics. Its an 81' Turbo Trans Am with every part that goes to it still attatched, motor, transmission, all panels, everything is there waiting to be restored. Its an automatic (obviously), factory T-tops, "formula" style hood with turbo lights (ive heard the lights were optional but im not sure), cruise control, the remains of faded gold decals (hood bird delete or just missing, not sure), and tan interior. Now from that description i know what you're thinking "is it a Special Edition?" That im not exactly sure of. I know that either way the car is definatly rare (ive checked the production numbers on this site and was pretty pleasantly surprised with the results for 81' T-top Turbo T/A cars, be it Special Edition or not). The car has gold grill inserts and a gold Pontiac nose badge but the dash and shifter bezels are not gold. I checked the cowl tag and saw no Y84 but have heard they were sometimes left off the cowl tag. So now im hunting down the build sheet (under the driver side rear seat, correct?). Either way I definatly want to rebuild this car, it looks killer and with everyone obsessing over shaker hooded 79s id love to be different and get an original Turbo T/A back on the road (i love driving a car that is easily recognizeable as "my car", something i know nobody else in my area has).
MY THOUGHTS ARE (and i would love feedback on this) to rip the car apart and begin a full resto. Keeping everything exterior and interior looking completely stock (maybe add a newer CD player but none of that obnoxious flip-out DVD player crap 0_o lol). But under the hood I would like to yank the turbo 301 and find a rebuildable LS1 or similar LS motor to drop into it and put a newer turbo kit on the LS motor (honestly more to make it an authentic TURBO Trans Am rather than for power, ive always loved N/A cars more than FI but in this case its a very rare and neat exception). Now dont worry guys, im not junking the 301 by any means. I plan to rebuild it as well and keep it stored away just in case me or anyone else ever felt like taking the car back to stock, especially with how rare the whole combo is (especially if its an SE car) and all original and numbers matching (not that "oh its the same TYPE of motor from the same YEAR so its 'numbers matching' crap, no no, serious "this is the motor my car was born with" type numbers matching). Ive also been toying with the idea of throwing in a manual center console and running a T56 6-speed. It would throw off the "all original looking" vibe i was going for since there were no manual 2nd gen Turbo T/As but i think itd be worth it, especially since, as previously stated, i plan on keeping all of the original parts. Or i could just run a 4L60 and be happy with an amazing cruiser with some hot pep to it (black and gold 2nd gen T/A styling, LS-motor mileage, factory cruise control, automatic, and T-tops, how is this NOT the most amazing road-trip vehicle ever made??). So input on the transmission decision would be appreciated. Also im contemplating re-doing the whole interior in black, i love how Pontiac went jet-black and damn near everything in their interiors on these cars, especially with how 90% of car makers try to pass off charcoal grey as "black", but its the same delimma as the transmission. Keep it stock? or update while i have the opportunity?
So there's the story. I'll try to post some pics of the car soon (its not a lot to look at unless you're looking at it in person but still, pics are always the best part so i'll work on it
haha). Any advice on the resto-mod would be strongly appreciated (especially anything on LS swaps or T56 swaps). Also i will most likely be needing many donor parts so i'll be burning up the classifieds for sure. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on where this project goes!
PS: Im also motivated to get started because i want to show up this cheese dick who lives near me. He has 7 or so 2nd gen T/As plus a couple 3rd gens and an early 70-73 Formula sitting and rotting outside of his place and he refuses to let them go. He just sits on them either thinking he'll restore them or waiting for the market to go up so he can make bank off them, idk which, but in my oppinion it is insulting. If you are not going to enjoy something (especially if its a rusted out old car in desperate need of restoration) let someone else enjoy it and dont try to rape them for a profit. But i'll cut this rant short because it doesnt have much to do with my project
haha
THANKS ALL!
