[70TA-RAIII]

Hi Guys!

I'm new to the forum. I looked around at various places and this seemed to be the best Firebird forum, so I'm glad to be here.

I recently picked up a 70 white TA 4 speed. Pretty basic with only 3 options: tinted windshield, push button radio, and chrome trim moulding I would gladly trade away the chrome trim for a console!!
I've owned 2 70 TA's in the past and a 70 Formula 400. I've always liked them; just been away from them for awhile.

This car is really nice. I'm the 3rd owner and I have a bunch of the original paperwork on the car, including the protect-o-plate! What's unusual to me is that the car is completely stock, and has never been modded at all. It was owned by the guy that bought it new, and then a woman owned it after that, and now me. It's had a repaint and the windshield replaced.

It has 55,000 original miles and still has the original shocks, wheels, etc. It still has the original spare which has never been on the ground and no evidence that lug nuts have ever been on the wheel! That wasn't even mentioned when I bought the car, so I was shocked when I took the spare out. This car has the smaller sway bars on it too. At first I thought someone swapped out the good ones, but after reading on here I guess it's not that uncommon to have the wrong ones. I can't leave it that way; I enjoy the way these feel with the big bars!

Anyway, lots of little things to fix and update, so that will keep me busy for quite a while!

Here's a few pics:







Thanks for a great forum, John

[FunctionalShaker]

Nice find and welcome to the forum. Lots of knowledge about these cars here.

[keith k]

John,
Congrats and welcome to the forum! I saw that car online when it popped up for sale a few weeks ago - it's one of the more original cars I've seen. Hard to find them like that - you did well.
I love the "no console" look - much cleaner/meaner. And I see yours has the correct shifter for a non-console car, too -- many seem to have gotten the shifter with the larger bend that was intended for console cars.

[MUSLCAH]

Welcome to the forum . I use to razz my old boss at the body shop....he would show me the spare in a car he bought.....said it looks like it's Nevah seen the ground..I'd say ...I bet it still has the original air in it from the factory....lol...it went right ovah his head......

[Pepi]

Welcome to the forum, nice looking car.

[Judge273]

Cool need more pix of the original stuff. Are trim rings standard on 70 and option on 71?

Any links to the for sale ad?

[70TA-RAIII]

No, the trim rings are incorrect for the car. Removing those and getting the wheels repainted due to trim ring scratches are on my short list to do. Also the nose has some cracks in the paint so I'll need to get that redone properly too.

Changing out the stock shocks today and installing recently acquired 1.25" front sway bar. I'll keep all of the original parts, but I want the car to perform as intended. I kept thinking to myself when I was looking at the car that the sway bars looked small, then found the thread on here about them.

Still looking for a nice 7/8" rear bar.

More pics to come. Thanks for the comments guys.

John

[OCMDGTO]

Very nice ride, congrats!

[oldsmobiledave]

Sweet ride. Well played sir.

[Norwood]

Very nice rare car you have there.

[SD73]

Very cool, indeed! Welcome aboard!

[70TA-RAIII]

Thanks for the compliments!

I did the shocks and front sway bar today.


Everything I can tell about the shocks makes me pretty sure they are original.



I should be good on shocks for the next 47 years now!

[dpoltzer]

Welcome to the club and that is a super cool car. I too like the non-console look!

[blue71ta]

Originally Posted by Judge273

Cool need more pix of the original stuff. Are trim rings standard on 70 and option on 71?

Any links to the for sale ad?

Mike,

trim rings are optional on '70 and '71, but standard on the '72s.

I'm surprised the front sway bar wasn't 1-1/4". I believe all '70-'81 T/As should have the 1-1/4" front bar. Some '70 T/As had the 5/8" rear bar (mine does), but were intended to have the 7/8".

A friend of mine was seriously considering this car, but couldn't agree with the seller on price. Congrats on the purchase - looks like a nice one.

[70TA-RAIII]

When I was looking at it I thought someone switched them out at some point to upgrade another Firebird or Camaro, but then I found a thread (I think on this forum) that talked about several T/As from both build plants coming with Formula front and rear sway bars.

That really made sense to me because this car seems so stock and untouched. I really think it was factory built with the smaller front and rear bars, but hard to ever know for sure.

John

[70TA-RAIII]

Here are some of the stampings I have found on the car for you numbers guys!

Trim tag:


Engine Block:


M20 Trans:


3.55 Posi Rear Axle:

[unruhjonny]

Wow!
Congrats on the super cool Trans Am!!

Welcome here!!

[Mark D]

Congrats on the T/A - it is a beauty!

Love the photos and the originality of the car.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by 70TA-RAIII

When I was looking at it I thought someone switched them out at some point to upgrade another Firebird or Camaro, but then I found a thread (I think on this forum) that talked about several T/As from both build plants coming with Formula front and rear sway bars.

That really made sense to me because this car seems so stock and untouched. I really think it was factory built with the smaller front and rear bars, but hard to ever know for sure.

John

It's been my observation that the small (Formula) rear bars were on a LOT of '70 T/As... perhaps more than half. The smaller front bar also shows up somewhat regularly, although not as common as the rear.

Would love to know why this was.... engineering issues, supply issues, assembly mistakes?

The old shocks look like originals. I'd hang on to them (in a box... not on the car ). What did you replace them with?

[70TA-RAIII]

Yes, I'm going to clean the originals up a little and definitely hang onto them.

I replaced them with Bilstein B6 series.

John