Hitman's Pontiac Trans Am Forum
Trans Am Photos => Trans Am Photos => Topic started by: 81Y84 on July 20, 2011, 09:24:15 PM
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My dad found this car and I wanted it for my first car. The work has yet to begin on any type restoration but do have it in the shop to rebuild the carb. replacing the carb and distributor to bypass the computer first, then brake lines, wheel cylinders and tires. Build sheet confirms a Y84 car with 4.9 liter 301 non turbo. I think only 1100 or so were built. I will have the only one in my high school and I can't wait to drive away with the tops off.
Pushing it out of storage and onto the trailer
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/IMG_3148.jpg)
Loaded up and taking her home
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/IMG_3154.jpg)
soaped up at the spray wash
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/IMG_3159.jpg)
After spray wash
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/IMG_3164.jpg)
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/81%20Y84%20TA/IMG_3165.jpg)
after a hand wash at home
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/IMG_3167.jpg)
Hal Needham signed my visor on both sides
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/Hal%20Needham/IMG_3216.jpg)
Dash bezel is 79 or earlier but my dad has already hooked me up and I just got the 81 SE gold dash bezel in from Randy Combs
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/81%20Y84%20TA/IMG_3001.jpg)
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Congrats again and nice to see you posting . You sure found one sweet looking SE
I suspect your going to be one of the more popular guys in school if you weren't already.
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May I be the FIRST to day CONGRATULATION and a HEARTY WELL DONE! I can't BELEIVE how good that car looks coming out of a barn like that! That is one REALLY sweet ride. I like the brown on tan interior too. What are your plans for your ride? Are you going to put a 400 in it, or bring it back to stock? Just curious, and I know thats a long way as you're still in High School and everything. It's just me, but with the condition of the car and everything, if I were in your shoes I'd restore it to original and leave the original engine in it. That was my plan for my 78 that I bought, but it was so rotten I had to end up using mine for a parts car and build a 79 (Which unfortunately, is not going to be STOCK, but as stock as I can make it, with a few "tweaks" ;D ).
But I digress
SWEET SWEET FIND! And yes, you WILL be the babe magnet in school! Get with the folks on here and they'll give you tips about how to get the most out of your engine. If you have any problems just post here and me and the rest of the crowd of lunatics that hang here will be MORE than happy to help you out.
CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME! THAT IS ONE SHARP BIRD!
Gunner
P.S. : Guess I can't be the first to congratulate you. My boy Rainman beat me to it ;D
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awesome car, good to see another person my age here!
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Thanks for the comments. rust on lower driver fender and cracked bondo on driver quarter is the worst, could use a hood and though the paint looks great in pics it has its flaws. Not sure how to tell if motor is original but it was rebuilt in 1999 (have receipts) and put away in 2004. Seller said it has about 6K on rebuild. It started but would not idle. Has a manual choke so that could be the problem. A/C in the trunk but all there. Plan to leave it as factory as possible but as funds allow will work on it. Dash is horrible and plan to pull it and try to restore it using 78ta forum posts found and padded dash filler, can't hurt it. Interior plastic is dry rotted and flaky.
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welcome to the coolest show on the net. congrats on the best car you'll ever own.....
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Nice TA, and welcome!
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Welcome aboard! Great first post (no doubt due to listening to your dad talk about T/A's and everything T/A related for so long!). An antique muscle car for a first car is as cool as it gets. And while working on it will test the limits of your patience, and the ability to regrow the skin on your knuckles, always keep in mind the end goal you have.
You will not find a better group of folks ANYWHERE....the quality of the site and the character of the people here are top notch, so ask questions/take advice and build a super-cool car that NO ONE will have at your school!
Oh, on a side note, there are quite a few military/aviation types here for when you are tired of talking T/A's!
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Congrats!!! Super nice ride... You'll have the coolest ride in school, just don't let the rejects talk you into doing something stupid to it or in it...
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Congrats and welcome. I think you found your new home. Please take a seat and enjoy. One really nice looking ride. Are you the first in your family to have a TA? Good luck with everything.
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Congrats and welcome. I think you found your new home. Please take a seat and enjoy. One really nice looking ride. Are you the first in your family to have a TA? Good luck with everything.
No man that's SolarGolds boy. Obviously his dad brought him up right! ;D
Gunner
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Really a good looking car. Congrats! Enjoyed the pics. Being a y84, it's odd to see the small sail panel birds. Maybe the bigger bird decals were replaced in the past.....
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Thanks for the comments. rust on lower driver fender and cracked bondo on driver quarter is the worst, could use a hood and though the paint looks great in pics it has its flaws. Not sure how to tell if motor is original but it was rebuilt in 1999 (have receipts) and put away in 2004. Seller said it has about 6K on rebuild. It started but would not idle. Has a manual choke so that could be the problem. A/C in the trunk but all there. Plan to leave it as factory as possible but as funds allow will work on it. Dash is horrible and plan to pull it and try to restore it using 78ta forum posts found and padded dash filler, can't hurt it. Interior plastic is dry rotted and flaky.
Dash doesn't look that bad from the photos you posted. Cracked on top or something?
Gunner
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Struth :D
Wish i had that when i was fifteen 8) 8)
welcome to the site and congrats on picking up a car that has some of us adults green with envy ;D
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Nice find very beautiful car, your lucky to have found one in such great shape. I look forward to the progress you will make on it.
Good luck,
Josh
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very nice y84, and a great find. congrats.
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Yeah, looks like the Grand Canyon
Dash doesn't look that bad from the photos you posted. Cracked on top or something?
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Congrats on a killer first car! Sounds like you and your dad are going to create a lot of great memories restoring it. Good for you guys.
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Very nice car you got there :) wish I had a T\A at the age of 15 :O And a SE as well ;) I don't even have that now ;)
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Welcome and congrats on the purchase - that car will turn heads for sure! Enjoy it.
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Sweet first car dude
Welcome to the site, ask as meny questions as you need to and be quick on the for sale thread if you see somethig you need!!
I wish I had spent my money on running fierbirds rather than clunkers but alas i did not
little by little get it cleaned up and enjoy the car as much as possible!!!!
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the top of the dash is terrible got to take the hole thing out
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Congrats on the awesome T/A, and welcome! I had a bicycle when I was 15, lol!!!
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Congrats on the T/A.
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Congrats and welcome
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Nice car, I was about that old when I got hooked!
A big welcome from the "D".
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Awesome ride. You'll never forget your first!
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You got my stamp on this ride, Great find just perfect at the ripe age of fifteen good luck with yourrrrr trans am.
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Very nice...... :)
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:o WOW! nice find I also have a 79 T-A and I'm 16! and only have begun to restore mine hahaha. We both share that same dream, man saaame dream hahah! good luck on fixing her up! hope to hear more bout it. GOOD LUCK!!
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Awesome car :D have fun with it I had a 4 door brown 72 mercury comet when I was 15 did not get my first bird until I was 16 1979 loaded firebird 301 2 barrel was not fast but was a blast to drive, I bought a '81 T/A for my daughter (she thinks all modern cars are ugly, likes all the older cars) she loves driving lessons in it. You'll have the coolest car at school in my opinion
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Wow, great car. (even with some minor flaws) I woulda killed for something like that at your age. A Trans am and an S.E, to boot. What a ride.
I hope mine looks that good as soon as I get it back from the shop where it's at now. Perfect for a first car. Take care of it and enjoy it I know I would.
Oh and by the way. My little girl is 14 and has found a 75 Firebird that she wants badly. (minus engine and trans.) I have a ol 305 chev motor laying out here that needs rebuilt I keep thinking would be about right............
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Not to hijack but Ricky where are you at I know of a good 75 in cali lol.
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Looks good is it original paint?
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No, has been painted before with lacquer. May try to sand it down and do the rustoleum $50 paint job for fun, or at least spot paint it. Paint is cracked in several places, so can't hurt nothing to try it and see how it turns out.
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Exactly, you never know until your try. Besides, a little wet sanding here and polishing there, and you might be surprised at your own handiwork.
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Awsome ride. Im in just about the same boat as you. My dad bought an 81' Y84 T/A a few years back and its been rotting in the neighbor's barn since then, so ive picked up the project and am jumping right in. Mines the same as yours except its a WS6 Turbo T/A, very similar cars and a very similar story! Like everyone else here id like to know your plans for the drivetrain, the idea for my T/A so far is (some may not like it, some might) to rebuild the factory motor but keep it crated away in storage and drop an LS motor in in place. The idea really sprung from 1. Wanted better mileage, 2. wanted to protect the original drivetrain, 3. wanted more power (obviously haha), 4. wanted something very driver-friendly since when im done with this car it is definatly going to be a driver car, there's no way in hell id spend years and loads of money on a car just to drive it 8 times a year! haha, no no, theyre rare cars but they belong on the road (you know, shouldnt cage a bird right? haha). Anyway, good luck on your project! keep us posted!
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The car looks great and a nice start for a Trans Am project.....Nice to see another one saved and good luck with it...
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awesome car, good to see another person my age here!
I agree
:o WOW! nice find I also have a 79 T-A and I'm 16! and only have begun to restore mine hahaha. We both share that same dream, man saaame dream hahah! good luck on fixing her up! hope to hear more bout it. GOOD LUCK!!
I have a 77 T/A with a 400 in it and I'm 17! Love these cars!
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Yeah they are great hobbies hahaha! figure I should have mine all the way restored by the time I'm 20 or so hahaha.
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Welcome to the site! You are going to be very popular in High school! Very nice car
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Yeah they are great hobbies hahaha! figure I should have mine all the way restored by the time I'm 20 or so hahaha.
Im planning on finishing my by next spring. Not going full blown but im about to get a great deal on a parts car for 200 bucks
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yeah mine needs to have the tranny, rear main, and breaks done to be lookin good on the road, and reliable. so as looks now ill have it that far by next summer.
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It's alive and idles well. Bypassed the computer for a non computer Rochester and distributor. Motor has about 5K on it and it sounds nice. Brake pads, shoes and lines all changed and now to fix the tranny leak. Will need tires before I can drive it and might as well restore the rims before changing to new rubber.
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Glad to hear you got some issues resolved . You have to remember these cars are 30 years old and bound to have the odd problem . Hope to see some pics soon when the wheels are restored .That's quite a find
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Nice car dude. when I was 15, my father gave me the old family car, a 1971 white Chevelle with black interior. It only had a 307 in it, but dame it was awesome to me. I got hooked on Firebirds in my early 20's. Great looking foundation to an awesome restoration project.
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When you get ready to do the rim's I have a email from justin on how he did his rims and they turned out amazing. Does take about 8 hrs a rim though. No offense to Brett's method my rims just had to much crap on them that the brass wheel didn't do any good. LMK if your interested.
Josh
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Am update of a few things accomplished. You may have seen the dash my dad posted in another post.
dash pulled out and almost not worth fixing
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/81%20Y84%20TA/IMG_3707.jpg)
But managed to pull it off
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/81%20Y84%20TA/IMG_3832.jpg)
Rim before.
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/81%20Y84%20TA/IMG_3028.jpg)
We cleaned the rim, sand blasted it with a sugar sand, painted, then ground off the paint with an air tool and sanding pad. I only spent about 60 minutes per wheel, so maybe not as well done as needed but certainly better than it was. Still need to do some polishing and then new tires. The center caps were siliconed on, guess it needs some retainer rings or something.
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx123/solargold/81%20Y84%20TA/IMG_3850.jpg)
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Right on dude!!!
Keep up the good work
My son envies you right now because he too wants a TA as his first car!!!
keep us updated!!
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Keep up the good work.
Nice to see you fixing up a Trans Am for your first car.
Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!
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WOW Nice find, glad to see a young kid into this cars, I remember when I got my 80 pace car, was 17 only cuz my first car, 78 z28 350 4sp got stolen out of high school parking lot. ::)
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Thats ok Don the Pace car is a much better car then any maro j/k
Keep up the good work your car is coming out great. As for your rims they do look a ton better then they did, and know matter what anyone else says as long as your happy with them that's what matters.
Josh
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Dash turned out wicked cool man.
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Coming along Very nice! Wish I had mine at 15. I Bought mine 7 months ago at 22. Congrats man!
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haha cool another 15 year old. Nice car man. :)
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Nice car bro....take care of her and she will take care of you!! Reminds me of my first car...I took my driving test when I was 16 in a 1980 Turbo T/A SE. Black and tan, just like that one. It was beautiful. I miss that car, ALOT. I am working on getting into another 2nd gen bird, hopefully a 70-76, I just love these cars, they are amazing in every way.
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Thats a great first car! My first car was a 84 TA when I was 15. I got my 79 when I was 18 lol.
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Things are progressing very well, nice job!
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Amazing find for your first ride! I'm 41 and have just started looking for a TA for my 9 year old son and I to tinker on over the next 3-5 years.