Hitman's Pontiac Trans Am Page | 1978 Pontiac Trans Am

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Now I have done some minor cosmetic changes to the car that I didn't think I needed a separate page for every item, so I decided to post them all here. I know that these things are not difficult to do and they don't need explaining, but I decided to post them here anyway just for a record of the changes that I have made to my Trans Am.

I replaced the center console shift plate because it was cracked in the corners. There are four screws that hold this down plus you need to take off the shift knob by way of sliding the firebird emblem out of the center to expose a retainer ring. A good pair of needle nose pliers works well for this.

I replaced the door handle cups because they were looking pretty scuffed up. Can you see the one screw that holds this on?

I also had to replace the interior door arm rests because they were broken at the tips. Most interior door handle do break. These cars were prone to having this happen. Luckily there are only 3 screws that hold these on.

I replaced the center console lid on the armrest.

I have replaced the wheel center caps just because they were faded and needed and update. I also replaced all of the lugs nuts because some off the chrome plating had come off of a few of them.

I put in some new floor mats. This really gives the interior a nice touch.

I installed mud flaps on the rear because I was tired of cleaning off rubber every other week.

Plus I also installed a set on the front to help with road chips.

I purchased some new exterior emblems to replace the faded ones.

Old Nose Emblem New Nose Emblem

Old Sail Bird Emblems New Sail Bird Emblems

I also purchased an NOS electric trunk release that was never installed. I was getting pretty sick of having to shut off the car every time I needed to get something out of the trunk. I haven't installed it yet, but it is waiting.

I have an original 1978 Bra for the front of the car. I haven't installed this one yet either, but it is nice to have.

I finally broke down and also purchased a new set of tires for my car. I loved the old Goodyear Eagle ST, but the tread was just about down to nothing. So I Bought new tires that looked as close as I could get to the old ones. They are Goodyear Eagle GT II.

When I went to the Trans Am Nationals I also found out some things that judges consider "Original". I was put into the "Light Modified" class for one reason..... was it the headers....no ......... was it the radio....... no. It was the stupid

rear speaker grilles. I was not allowed to be in the "Original" classification because I had aftermarket speaker grilles on my rear deck. That kinda irked me so, I went ahead and got the Original speaker grilles for the rear deck and

installed them. Now, hopefully next year I will be allowed to be in the "Original" class. Boy, those judges are tough.

Also, since the previous owner had decided to put on a cheap set of window film on the passenger windows. They were starting to fall apart and besides, it was an ugly purple color anyway. This was a little more tricky to do.

I basically started in one corner of the window and slowly peeled back the film trying to make sure I didn't start tearing it into pieces. Of course that didn't work to well. Most of it did come off in one big sheet, but the rest of it came off in little

sections. I did use some adhesive remover but the directions said to tape off the entire window in a garbage bag and let the adhesive soak for a while before trying to remove it. Who ever follows directions anyway. Once I removed all of the purple film, I still had the glue to contend with. For this, I did follow the directions. I started to do it by hand, but that took too long. So, you need to spray the adhesive remover on the window and let that soak for 5 to 10 minutes. My adhesive remover came with a handy razor blade

as well. You need to keep the window wet with the solution and use the scraper to remove the glue. It didn't take me that long to do this and the car looks much better with out it. I do plan on having the windows tinted professionally when I have the money to do so. For right now, I will let it go without.