[lester]

the intake and carb is correct for the 78-9 W72
but this one has a late 77 build date.
the choke heat shield is correct for 78-9 400's. this parts is repoped now. but mine is OE.
my block is the #'s Y6 W72 400 , the intake and carb are 78 W72


the spoilers will crack from the bolt presher.

it had a small rust hole on the left side , but not in the corner.

today I was working on the rust pits on the under side of the car.
yes, the bottom of this bird will get painted and cleared with the rest of it.
today at the paint supply store, we mixed a paint to look like the red oxide from the 70's

more pics to come

[lester]

here is some other work done over the last 6 months.








before

after (Randy Combs)

[rycher]

Don't know how you have the time, but I must say it doesn't look like you do anything half as@#$. Real attention to detail. I'm so jealous. When your done with one I'd say it's way better than the day it rolled off the line. Simply awesome.

[2manyT/A'S]

WOW!
Can I send you MINE to do next?

[2002Z4CSS]

Going to be nice when done.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Lester,
What is the engine build like??? I see the roller tip rockers, and it looks like the block was machined???
I like the new diff carrier, cheap insurance, I need to purchase one of those my self..
Thanks
Jeff

[lester]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Lester,
What is the engine build like??? I see the roller tip rockers, and it looks like the block was machined???
Jeff

its a street /stock build. other then I ported the 6x4 heads and intake. and a over stock cam. nothing crazy. it 40 over, decked, .015 off the heads, s/s valves. also a set of rare manifolds will go on it. I hopping for 275 to 300hp. this is a show car. so the 400 in this one just need to run really good with a stock sound.

[lester]

I can officially call this a rotisserie restored t/a now.

its good to friends in the t/a community.

[lester]

the body is about ready, so I thought I would prep the under side for paint. I started to dry sand it with 400 grit. to take the smooth off the epoxy so the paint will stick. the frame had rust pits in it. and the more I thought about what it would look like painted , the more it bugged me. so now I'm filling the pits.
the paint is a Dr. jekyll mix from my paint supply place. a base/clear and the clear is a semi gloss.



no more pits. and I tryed to get a pic of the paint. the pic doesnt really show what it looks like. but its really close to a piece I have with 70's primer on it. one pic with and with out the flash.








I also worked the front floor toe area that I replaced. it looked like crap.
before



you can see the lap of the toe and floor is backwards. so with a little trimming ,welding and the magic of glass work , it looks like this now.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Lester,
What kinds and types of paints are you using on the under carriage. I see the red primer color, and I see gray in the last batch of pic's. I assume you used an etching primer, maybe a sealer, the the "red" primer color to match the O.E. color (that my car has also).
Sounds like your engine will run nicely. My car performed very well, I thought, when it was newer. Even w/ the 7.7:1 180 HP engine, 2.41: gears. The factory cam had something like .386 gross valve lift. I'm sure the purist performance guys would rate it as a dog, I don't.

The 3.23 gear is about perfect, I believe, for a street driven car, should be fun to drive.

My car currently doesn't look too bad, has some rust re-appearing on the quarters. I had a cheap paint job done on it around 1998, to help preserve the car. It just looks O.K., has no decals. I drive the stupid thing once in a great while, and someone is always stopping me, telling me that they like my car. I down play them, telling them that some day it will look like it SHOULD.....I think most of them recognize a BLACK Trans Am more than anything...who knows...
I wanted a silver T/A, glad I didn't get one, w/ all the problems GM had w/ silver paint back then...the dealer only had a black one and white one when I did a test drive, I didn't care for the white one, it had red interior. The goof ball that bought it, destroyed it within about 2 years, it was scrap...

Is your car going back white???

[lester]

the red oxide is PPG epoxy, the gray is a 2k urithane primer. and the paint is 2 stage dupont. that way every thing under the car has a hardener in it.

I'm sure I'll be happy with the motor. I know it wont be anything like my white 79, its almost 400hp. this car is going to be all show. but I'll still drive it some to.

yours sound like a nice driver, good luck with it. and enjoy it.

[lester]

I'm good! I would hate to pay someone to do this. there is about 20hr's in it.

[lester]

Me and my wife's uncle finished up all the body last night. And I got up early and washed it and gave it a quick coat of epoxy w/reducer to fill the 220 marks and seal the body work. Next it will get dry 180'ed then a reduced coat of urethane primer and wet sanded.
it might see paint before snow..

[77 TRASHCAN]

Lester,
Is that thing painted yet???
Since I figured it's probably snowed there by now, and that you work so fast...LOL

[lester]

not yet , but I'll update ya.

first wet sand 220



new parts



the trunk

[lester]

[lester]

[77 TRASHCAN]

Well Lester, how goes it???...LOL
I know it has snowed there, maybe more than once...
Why the solid body mounts???
I scrapped a 79 firebird here recently, there was NOTHING left of the old ones, wondered what your idea was...

Did you use the stock spindles??? The 79-81 use a larger outer bearing, makes the spindle a little stronger...

[70ram4]

Very nice work and car!!!

[lester]

heres a few updates











I'm going with solid bushings to truly see if they are a good a people say they are. and I also have frame connectors.