[dpoltzer]

Two questions as I am new to 1974 Trans Ams; My car was built in October of 1973 with a 455 engine, would it have come with a points type distributor or HEI? Also; my car is code 29 Admiralty Blue, should the underneath side of the hood be painted black or Admiralty blue? Mine sure looks to be painted Admiralty Blue. Thx. Dave

[johnta1]

Should be points.
But they might have had the option for a HEI type of distributor (Unititized Distributor?), but would be on PHS if you have it.

[Greg Reid]

I think that there was a changeover around May of '74? My '74 had HEI and I'm pretty sure it was original to the car. Can't recall the build date now.

[johnta1]

His is a verily early TA, I figured it would be a Unitized one if it did come with one.

My 74 455 TA also had the HEI in it, but don't know the build date on it.
Even tried to find the VIN for it years later.

[kingbuzzo]

Change-over year, mine had HEI and even tho she was repainted the underside of the hood was admiralty...not sure the build date tho...she's in Kuwait now 🙄

[Greg Reid]

I had a copy of the internal memo somewhere but not sure if I still have it or passed it on with the car's documentation when I sold it.

[johnta1]

Here's the Service Craftsman News one:

[Held for Ransom]

Dave, have you pulled a PHS invoicing copy?
And, under hood should be black.

[Greg Reid]

Based on John's memo it looks like yours would have had points dpoltzer.

[dpoltzer]

Thanks for all of the great info gentlemen! So points distributor it will be and "black" under the hood then. Dave

[dpoltzer]

What color is the area on the front bumper where the front license plate mounts, supposed to be? Body color or "Bumper black? Thx

[kingbuzzo]

Do you mean the front fascia or the bracket?

Not sure if this helps:

[dpoltzer]

It would be the area that a License plate bracket would bolt/attach to. Thx.

[Nobuddy]

Black on my 1974 Red TA. Pretty sure it is original paint on the bumper although it did have the valence replaced before I bought it back in 1979.

[Held for Ransom]

Originally Posted by dpoltzer

What color is the area on the front bumper where the front license plate mounts, supposed to be? Body color or "Bumper black? Thx

Unpainted, bumper "black".

[dpoltzer]

Thanks much on the Black! I have seen gloss black used, semi gloss and flat when I look at pictures of 74-75s. Is there a paint product sold in aerosol I can use on the black rubber bumpers in the correct sheen. Maybe a Bumper and Trim Spray?

[kingbuzzo]

My painter used the 3m flexible epoxy as the rubber material needs to be able to flex. He also had to fill tons of cracks as she was a cali car at one time.

My epic journey here:

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=859254

Holding up pretty well so far until i bumped the parking lot guardrail and spilled gas on it....doh

Seems like it will crack just looking at it funny...

Good luck!

[dpoltzer]

I appreciate the great answers and input. Dave

[BLUE TA]

hi, late to the thread but my 74 had points. the licence bracket is semi flat black. BLUE TA

[poncho-mike]

My 74 TA had HEI, but it was also a late build car (June, I think). Incidentally, the block code on the HEI cars is different from the points cars. When I bought my car, I thought the engine had been changed, even though I bought it from the original owner. I later found a shop manual supplement for late 1974 that listed the block code in my T/A. There were a couple of late changes. The M22 was replaced with the BW ST-10 as well, which confused me because my SD 4-spd had a ST-10 instead of a M22. It had the VIN stamped into the case, so I knew it was original.

The one thing I didn't understand was why the late produced SD455 cars kept the points distributor. I assume it was because Pontiac didn't want to take a low production car back through emissions testing.