Hi, fellow T/A fans!
I have been following all your great projects for the last couple of years, and thought it was time to contribute with a little something myself.
My name is Jesper, I live in Denmark, and a couple of years ago, i bought a non-running, tired looking 75 Trans Am. The paint was cracked all the way to the metal, but fortunately only very few rust spots. The floors were almost perfect, only a couple of tiny holes under the rear seat and in both sides footwells. Someone had enlarged the speaker holes with an axe, and removed the wall behind the rear seat. Why? I have no idea! Got a nice parcel shelf from a donor car. I sanded the body down, and had the edges sandblasted. Then it was sprayed with epoxy primer, a lot of black and clearcoat. Unfortunately, the front fenders, hood, trunk lid and doors has to be repainted due to thousands of little dots. Very annoying! The 400 engine was filled with coke from bad oil and/or overheating. I chose to ditch the 400, and ordered a machined '72 455 block with SpeedPro pistons from ncperformanceinc.com. Very nice block, zero decked, bored .030 over, honed and with all new bearings. Stock crank and rods. I got a set of 6X8 heads, which I milled .030" for about 9.4:1 CR. I ported the heads, following Jim Hand's directions from his book "how to build max performance Pontiac V8's", and had a local machine shop cut three-angle valve seats. I have never done this much work to any engine before, so I'm very excited to see how it goes. More on the engine later!
Anyway, at some point the car was converted to a '79 tail light/bumper setup and Fisher T-tops. I am converting the nose and hood to '78, since it has always been my favourite.
OK, now for the pics! (I hope this works)
The 400 engine sounded horrible. Lots of sticky gunk inside!
Interior removed
I have no idea what went through the previous owner's head, when he did these modifications!
Body sanded down, edges sandblasted.
With fresh paint!
Floors cleaned...
Homecooked method of safely installing front springs.
Cleaning and painting the rear.
Doors, front subframe, suspension and steering installed. New American Racing Vector SE wheels. Had to use 1" wheel spacers, to convert to the 5x4.50" bolt pattern.
Test fitting the hood and nose!
Sound deadening and B&M Megashifter installed.
Brand new molded carpet, flawless center console. I had to change the armrest/lid though.
New Summit stock style calipers, SSB slotted rotors with the wheel spacers fitted.
Fixing up the front seat rails.
Firewall sound deadening.
Fresh machined 455 block from nc performance inc!
Home ported 6x8 heads wit three angle valve seats
Stainless steel valves
Starting to look like a car!
New oil dipstick with stainless steel tube and bracket from Ames. Perfect fit!
The 455's new home! Yeah, I know. It's a Chevy transmission. BOP transmissions are hard to come by in this country! Got an adaptor plate.
Home made stainless steel pushrod cover. Test fitting of headers.