[Scarebird]

Back in 2005 I was vending at a swapmeet and a guy noting my Pontiac ballcap asked whether I wanted a 1978 Firebird, as in free. It was not far away - nor was it a Firebird, or a 78... but a 1979 Trans Am, originally a 403 car. His race partner's wife wanted it out of the backyard. So I hired a tow to drag it home where it sat gathering moss for 5 years.



It was dragged out of it's sleep, washed and the content's assessed. As you see the driver's fender was banged up, but the car was remarkably rust-free. I have been slowly gathering parts: Verdean gave me 2 70-73 nosepieces and ancillary stuff (he ended up building my shop, not a bad investment...) Eric in Bremerton sold me a nice short block for the princely sum of $20 (thanks!). Other items fell into place; interior bits from a 78 Camaro, ST10 from a 1974 Corvette, leather seats from a 95 Corvette.



A few things will of course be changed - I hate the 79-81 noses; so it was given away. And the rear bumper won't look right with the rest of the curvy body so I have plans to cure that issue also.



Car was originally bought in Everett, WA - about 7 miles away, home now to Revord Motors



Mods: wasn't sure where this thread belongs, so if it needs to be moved please do so...

[hurryinhoosier62]

You weren't kidding about the moss! What surprises me is the total lack of rust,especially considering it is from the Seattle area with all the moisture you guy have there.

[Scarebird]

What little rust it has is in the damndest places; behind LH rear bumper mounting pad, where the rear frame mates up to for example. Also, a pinhole in the differential arch. A small amount in the bottom of the door edges.

[LeighP]

Nice project...rust free is always a huge plus.
For the rear bumper...a suggestion. I've seen a 79 with a 70-73 nose and they'd fitted the 74/75 rear bumper. The 74/5 rear will bolt straight on, fit the quarters, and the rolled pan look of the bumper really suits the front the car. It looks good, and its a real cheap way out of that "front doesn't match the back" look.
They left the blacked out 79+ tail lights and cut a plate holder into the rolled pan section of the 74/5 bumber under the bar.....it all worked really well.

[Scarebird]

Leigh, I saw that on Trans Am country - but like the look of the chopped rear 70-73's. A repop bumper should arrive in a day or two, will see how it fits up. I plan on trimming the tail lights to allow a formed metal piece to house the plate up high between the tail lights.

The 74-78 bumper is the backup plan.

[mike nixon]

Looks like a good start and you can't beat the price.

[Txbobcat]

Roll on

[David Jones]

Looks well worth the money..........

[Scarebird]

Cleaned out the body shell. Removed HVAC stuff. Treated the rusty sections with this stuff I had laying around:



Nasty stuff, takes a while to cure and smells.

Time to patch some metal. I'll start with the hidden stuff to practice.



What lies beneath, err, behind. Ugh.



Received a partial set of rear bumper brackets today from SD73. Ordered a rear filler panel and shift porch. Working on AutoCAD drawings for bumper adapter brackets cut from 1/4" material.

Mark

[Simple Man]

I've heard of projects, but that's a project!

[Scarebird]

not really. you see some of the stuff on the HAMB....

[Scarebird]

Update:

I have been working on the T/A, but not posting - mainly scut work. I tried to shorten the stock 79 tail lights with a sharp saw and patience but the plastic was just too brittle. the idea was to modify a 70-73 tail pan to work but that idea went glimmering off. I am now using a pair of 74-78 tail lights I snapped up off eBay; I will need to fab a center filler piece as the license is a bit lower with the 70-73 bumpers. The more I looked at the 74-75 rear bumpers the more I liked them but they are very scarce and pricey even for torn pieces.I am waiting now for the welds to cool a bit before the next round of welding.

Also waiting for brackets to arrive from cutters; these are custom pieces i drew up on AutoCAD and will fit up.

Visited a paint shop, looks like about $4k to respray. More than budgetted so either 5 speed or KRE heads will have to be deleted; as the car is a winter driver I am leaning towards getting the trans as KRE's cannot be drilled for exhaust crossover. My 71 has KRE's and is quite mulish till warmed up...

[65Mark]

Did that $4K include the paint? BC/CC? What color? If it included all the paint that is a good price around here. The paint (sealer, BC and CC) was about $2500 for the 67 GTO I'm getting ready to paint. Granted we have enough clear for 4 coats, 2 + 2.

[Scarebird]

Yes, and estimate is 50 hours body work. Other than orange peel Maaco seems to do a decent job - they had a 65 Mustang, 63 Comet and 62 Buick there when I looked it over. Paint is BC/CC, will be 1971-72 Cameo White with proper stripe decals.

[Scarebird]

ah, the damage from tire jockeys...

The main sill seam under the car was pretty mangled, took a while to straighten it out. the fender mount was in sad shape also and was easier to replace than repair. A pair of steel brackets were fabbed and welded into place. I also noted these little holes in the rocker panel.

[Scarebird]

I have been pecking away at the rear end. The 74-78 tail lights are much harder to mount than I thought but still doable. I had to weld in a set of pockets in the tail pan and a set of standoffs:



I will use a set of delrin spacers to hold off the lamp assemblies.

A quick mock up gives an idea of the general fitment after the bumper brackets were tacked together. Will need to adjust and modify the brackets some but in the ballpark...



Kinda like swimming in the ocean and getting a glimpse of the island you are swimming to.

A rough photoshop of what it should look like:

[Ollie]

Mark,
Is that the bumper you went to look at Friday.
Looks good int the photo.
Ollie

[Cruiser]

I have done modifications on two of my T/As 1979 & 1980. On the 1980 I replaced the nose with a 1973 nose keeping the 74-81 flat hoods adding a very low cowl & functional shaker.I used vfn fiberglass nose, stock headlight buckets, trim, lights, trim rings & grill& spoiler & flares. On the rear I used 1970-73 taillights & chrome trim adapted to fit to the cut down rear mounting piece from the 1980 taillights. I made my own filler panel out of an original 1970-73 rear panel filling the recess for the license plate. I kept the factory bumper .I did all the paint & body work at home. Here are some pics.

[Cruiser]

a few more pics

[GT182]

I have a set of tail lights off my 79 Formula just sitting up overhead in the garage. Make me an offer I can't refuse and you can have them, + shipping. Even the fuel door is there but the metal pieces need to be fixed or replaced. I'd have to look at it again and see what waht with it. The sockets and bulbs are included too. I just cut the wires about 7 inches back for all 6 when I got what was left of the car.

There's also a set of 15x8 WS6 Snowflakes from my car, but they need to be restored. One rim has a little kink from a curb kiss, but it is repairable.