[PontGuy]

Quote from HPP>"Both the rearend and code-PZ Turbo-400 transmission are original to the car. The Safe-T-Track rear came with 3.08 gears (code GYG) since the T/A has A/C, but it now has a set of 3.73 gears, and the transmission was rebuilt with a shift kit. " << End quote.

Yup but that was four years ago and I know that work was done since then (the FI system for example). So there is at least a chance that the owner got tired of the big gear. We will see.

[robertf]

Beautiful car! Congratulations. I had a Buc Red 74 TA back in the day and it was a fab car. I hope this one is everything that you want it to be and more. If my 73 had not come along, I would have been very thrilled to find a 74 especially, one as nice as yours.

The 74's are truly the last of the original beasts.

[bluebird455]

Indeed, that is a nice Bird. I really like the color, and seemed to have been done tastefully. I remember seeing it for sale a while back for around 35-39k.
Nice looking car
Congrats

[PontGuy]

The deal is done and it is on its way. Delivery expecteded Sunday. Here is a picture of it being loaded- I guess its the first pic I have with me being the owner, though I haven't actually seen it in person yet.

The 74's are truly the last of the original beasts.

I like that and it was exactly what I was thinking when searching for a 74, may use it somehow. And if it is not at least a bit of a "beast" in its current configuration it soon will be. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[robertf]

Originally Posted by PontGuy

The deal is done and it is on its way. Delivery expecteded Sunday. Here is a picture of it being loaded- I guess its the first pic I have with me being the owner, though I haven't actually seen it in person yet.



I like that and it was exactly what I was thinking when searching for a 74, may use it somehow. And if it is not at least a bit of a "beast" in its current configuration it soon will be. Keeping my fingers crossed!

They were essentially 73's with a different front and rear treatment, so yes, the last of the original breed. A bud of mine bought a 75 TA brand new after months of riding in my 74. We went to pick it up together and when he got it home, we parked them side by side and compared them. Aside from the obvious grill differences between 74 and 75 and the new rear window that I never warmed up to, these are the big differences that stuck in my mind...

- no true dual exhaust and a way different sound. No popping in second while descending a hill. When he floored it, the exhaust, instead of roaring, made a shhhhhh or woosh sound like a Mercury Montego.

- annoying cat converter hump on passenger side floor

- THM 350 in place of the THM400, which made the shifts much softer and changed the character of the car.

- formula wheel was obviously thinner and softer than 74.

- car was gutless.

I never said anything, but my impression was that they had cheapened the car somewhat in comparison the the 74's. I spent the afternoon carefully removing the shaker block off plate and installing a screen for him. That helped things a lot.

Your car looks totally squared away. Fingers crossed for its safe arrival and I hope you have many happy miles ahead!

[Formulabruce]

Love that color on a 74 T/A Its perfect contrast to the decals too.. Great find!!

[Greg Reid]

That photo REALLY makes me regret passing mine on.

[PontGuy]

I see why my car caught your attention Greg. More-or-less twins except for the interior color.

Hope you guys don't mind some rambling while I wait nervously for delivery...

Thanks for the year comparison robertf. Confirms my thinking, but my decision was not based on first-hand experience. I wanted the big bird on the hood so earlier than 73 was out. I like some muscle in my muscle cars which eliminated cars later than 74. And I am partial to the blue which was not offered in 73. So here I am. The red interior is a bonus. Of course an SD would have been nice, but not the big price tag that comes with those cars. (I didn't pay anything near the price that somebody mentioned earlier in the thread for this one.)

I know every nut and bolt on the A-bodies but a TA is a different sort of animal. Now that I am committed I've been doing some serious research since have a bit to learn about 2nd gen Firebirds and the 70's cars in general. I wonder how they fitted up the shaker to the Holley EFI throttle body on the Edelbrock manifold and got it all to look right on this car? Also since someone spent a bunch of time and money on the EFI since the article was written I expect that other engine upgrades may have been done. I've been listening to the exhaust note in the video over and over trying to decide what sort of compression (heads) and cam might be in it now. Does it sound like low compression heads and an 067 cam to you guys? It is coming with a thick documentation folder and hopefully I will have records that tell me exactly what has been done to it. If not then a bit of detective work will be needed. Here is the video link again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=nLamuaqMJdo

The dealer said that nothing leaked except the trans. But I expected that, I've never had a TH400 that didn't leak.

[Greg Reid]

Since I see that you are in GA...Have you met Jay DeLaigle? If not, you need to.

I don't know what it has in it from listening..I'm not that good... but I can tell you it sounds a little warmed up compared to mine. Mine was 100% stock with the 4-X low compression heads and probably an 067 cam.
I can remember seeing that car somewhere back when I still had mine.
Here's a poor quality clip of mine that you can hear...

[PontGuy]

Yes here in Ga. We probably saw each other at BOPC but didn't know it. If either of us had brought a car then we surely would have met. Maybe next year.

I did drive the Lemans your direction a couple of weeks ago- to my sister's house in Cumming. Longest one-day excursion with it yet- 300+ miles round trip. Got sunburned and my butt hurt afterward, but well worth it. Pic below of me and a couple of my nieces heading out on a nice cruise around the neighborhood there. Its my new "favorite" photo of the car.

Its hard to say by listening to exhaust videos, just fun to speculate. My Lemans 455 is well warmed over but it sounds milder than the TA- I am sure that is because of the X-pipe though. And I don't have a video of the Lemans exhaust sound to share.

Who is Jay DeLaigle?

Rain settled in today and not supposed to quit all week. Great timing but at least the transport is enclosed. I spoke with the driver and he is aiming at noon tomorrow.

[Greg Reid]

Jay is a member here with an awesome Admiralty Blue/Parchment '74 Trans Am. He is big into F.A.S.T. racing with his and it's an 11 second car. Looks totally stock even under the hood. Only clue is the roll cage and even that is so well incorporated into the car that it's hardly noticable. He's at BOP most years. I know he was there this year.
User name is 1qikta.

[Held for Ransom]

A lot of miles between you and Jay.

He's selling the Formula here...
http://www.forums.maxperformanceinc....d.php?t=757580

[Greg Reid]

Yeah, you'll have to meet him at the BOP most likely. Nice guy and nice car. Sure would look good parked next to yours with the red/blue-white/blue thing going on.

[PontGuy]

A lot of miles between you and Jay.

In more ways than one if his TA is running 11's. As long as my cars are deep into the 13's I am happy. Saw that his Formula was for sale (awesome car) but didn't realize he was here in Georgia.

OK next year no excuses Greg, and we each need to bring cars. We've been trading notes way too long not to have met up by now.

[The Boss]

Beautiful car! I love the blue over red!

[Greg Reid]

OK next year no excuses Greg, and we each need to bring cars. We've been trading notes way too long not to have met up by now.

Alright, it's a date. I should be able to bring something next year. There are several PY members usually there.

By the way, great photo above and speaking of that, you were near Jay's when you were threre. He's in Woodstock and that's right near Cumming.

[PontGuy]

Its here! Arrived several hours ago.

The car is dusty/dirty but the paint looks great, with no dings or scratches anywhere that I can see. Should clean up nice. Interior looks just like the pics, with just some annoying details to take care of to get it to my liking.

I only drove it around the block so far. The roads are wet, I don't have a plate for it yet, and want to go over everything carefully in the garage before giving it a real test. But the engine started fine and I could tell right away that it is well "warmed over". The seats are very comfortable and overall the car feels solid.

The block is correct (YY) but it has 5C heads. And according to the records I have it was built in 2009 but not as described in the magazine article. It looks like it has a custom-ground Comp cam (224/230 .477/.480 on 112). XE lobes would not have been my first choice. And the Holley Comander 950 Pro EFI was put in at the same time. The jury is out on both- I need to get it warmed up and step on the gas hard to find out how good it really runs. There are no strange noises and so far it looks like the oil pressure is OK, but I have a feeling that I will be discussing this engine in the street section for some time to come. Even if it runs great as is I need to research how to get into the EFI program.

I haven't got to check the gear ratio yet.

Already a few TA-specific things to resolve.

• The AC seems to work but very little air comes out. I was reading last night that there are issues with this on some of these cars.
• The torque rods for the trunk lid are missing or broken. Need to resolve.
• The shaker scoop has been fitted with a door and actuator but the wires are not connected to anything. Need to check that the solenoid works and figure out how to wire it up.

So far it is meeting my expectations. I have a detailed file that confirms that a bunch of money went into putting the car together, and it shows. But there will be some issues to resolve.

[muscle_collector]

any chance of getting the trim code off of it? this one looks to have the brighter orangey red than the darker oxblood color. I love the color combo.

[Greg Reid]

Congrats again!

[PontGuy]

Here you go, a pic of the trim tag. The dash and console were done by Just Dashes and the vinyl seat covers, door, panels, and everything else matches up perfectly.

The weather dried out for a bit and I took it out for a real ride. The basic build seems sound, the trans shifted nicely, etc. But the EFI and Edelbrock manifold have got to go. The MSD RTR distributor may go too. The "tune" is terrible and it would be much easier just to set it up with good-old GM parts that I know work well than to mess around with the aftermarket stuff.

Oh well, kind of figured I would need to spend some time in the garage with it to get everything to my liking.