Topic: April 2010 Spotlight - 1977 Special Edition Trans Am of David Merricks

[Hitman]

Well, we are getting ever so closer to the car show season and what better way to help kick it off than to Spotlight a car that has seen it's fair share of car shows.  Not only has it seen alot of shows, it has taken home alot of Trophies.  The 1977 Special Edition Trans Am of David Merricks is one that needs to be seen.  For those of you who have seen the car in person, then you don't need me to tell you anything about the car.  For those of you who have not seen the car... well, you gotta take a look.....

The SE Trans Am of ddmurdock has definately made an impression at more than one car show.  In fact, I think I have just about as many photos of his trophies as I do his car.  Of course this car did not come together overnight.  It took over 58 weeks and alot of money to get his car where it is today.  But as David once said "I'm trying to keep in mind that Rome wasn't built in a day, either.".

Here is a little description from David of some of the process that he went through.... "This was a frame on restoration to the extent that the front clip was removed, but the body stayed on the frame.  The paint was stripped down to the bare metal, everything came out of the interior, everything out of the engine compartment.  The body was epoxyed, base coated, and cleared.  The engine got a new timing chain and seals and gaskets, but no overhaul.  I hope that doesn't come back to bite me, but the engine just ran too good to go to that expense.  New steering linkage and ball joints, all new bushings wherever there was a bushing.  The undercoating was stripped off and the underside was sealed and painted.  The fender flares were rebuild, as I ordered new flares and they were so bad that I sent them back.  The bumper covers were refinished, which really took a chunk of time.  The front cover was in pretty good shape, but the rear cover had some cracks that were mean to deal with.  But I can say that I still have the original flares and bumper covers.  New carpet, new front seat covers, new headliner, new console, and new upper door panels.  Dave Hall restored the dash bezel, man it looks good. Had to have the tachometer and clock rebuilt.  New glass all around.  The main hold up since the first of the year has been what to do about the plastic t-top trim that was just in sad shape.  After much trial and error, he took a piece of sheet metal, broke it, stretched and shrunk it to fit, and painted it with textured paint.  It looks amazing.  I replaced most of the interior trim that I could get my hands on, trunk mat, radiator battle, windshield bottle, new vaccum hoses, wiring harness, plug wires, hoses, etc., the things that should be occasionally replaced anyway.  There are a some things that didn't get replaced, as I am a believer that a car can be overrestored.  The wheels were stripped, epoxyed and painted, then sent to a machine shop to be turned.  I still have to have the exhaust system replaced, as it is the original and has some leaks.  As with the rest of the car, it will be replace to original.
I'm the third owner of this 77 SE, and I know the previous owners.  It's been a local car all of it's life.  I've had it since 1998.  It's numbers matching all the way, original drivetrain, lot's of original parts still on the car.  It just went through a 51 week restoration without leaving the shop, and it's been 58 weeks since we started.  We did no sheet metal replacement, just the necessary patching of rust spots where you would expect to find them on a 30 year old car.  Complete strip down to the extent that the body was left on the frame, everything else came off including the front clip.  L78 engine, Hurst 1st Edition T-tops (I still have nightmares about what a pain it was to work with those t-tops).  Restored completely to original, no added bells or whistles.  And the pictures just don't do the paint job justice.  It really has to be seen to be believed"

And he is right.. it does have to be seen to be believed....

  And like I had mentioned earlier the car has seen it's better share of car shows and wins.  His car has also been featured in the Trans Am Calendar and also in High Performance Pontiac as well. Check out his growing collection of trophies and awards which I am sure he would be glad to fill you in on each of them:

Also, a few of the cars shows that David attends, he brings his own car protection system as shown in the background of this photo:

So Congratulation to David and his stellar 1977 Special Edition Trans Am as Spotlight of the Month for April.  You have a great car and you are a great person to have around in the Trans Am Community.

[Nexus]

Wow!!!

Very nice car

Congrtas Dave...awsome car

[kentuckyyeti]

Great car.  I love it!  Congrats on being the April Car of the Month.

[Jonnyscotti]

So so pretty. Congrats!

[bobspacin80ta]

Great car,guy,and choice!

[turbota400]

Congrats!!  Very Very beautiful car.

[RENOVATIONS]

Gorgeous car and great pix...congrats David!

[Rick]

Congrats, David!  An absolutely fabulous Firebird of the first order!  (And hoping to chat with you and the missus again this year at the Nats! )

[4SPEED]

very nice, congrats .

[fb_rider]

Congrats David - I've seen it in person, and it is a beautiful car

[dblhh]

That is one beautiful 77 SE.
Great choice for the Spotlight.

[Mongo]

Awesome car Dave. That is just like my first one. Way to go.

[78T/AKID]

very nice car Dave

[Martin]

Outstanding!

[Ricky G]

Very Nice. Congrats.