[JJDeville]

I recently bought a 1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am that was converted by Trans Am Specialties in Cherry Hill,NJ when it was new. They installed a built 455, Turbo 400, and a Hurst Dual Gate shifter. The 455 was bored to 462, Lunati cam, Edelbrock manifold, spread bore Holley, headers, low restriction exhaust and water injection. The car has 16,000 miles, immaculate original paint, decals and interior. The original 403 and Turbo 350 were kept with the car. Car was originally owned by the owner of Penn State Bottling Company in Plains, PA. I would like to get in touch with Chuck Posey, the owner of Trans Am Specialties if possible. There was an interview with him in HPP years ago.. I would like to find an original catalog also.

[Joe's Garage]

Link to search results:

https://www.truepeoplesearch.com/res...ateZip=&Email=

[PAUL K]

I remember them. Always thought it was odd they sold a 170mph speedometer when the factory 160 was a direct bolt in and came in a lot of Firebirds.

[JJDeville]

Same here,. This car has their 170 mph speedometer.

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

I remember them. Always thought it was odd they sold a 170mph speedometer when the factory 160 was a direct bolt in and came in a lot of Firebirds.

The style of lettering (font) was different on the later 70's, '80, & '81 speedometers when compared to the more basic style font used on the mid '72-74 160 speedos.

Though I sure wanted a correct font 160 mph speedo in my '80, there were other things I was spending the $$$ on. Ended up putting a nice used 160 speedo in it around '83. On the '80's i found it easiest to take the Dremel tool & make a narrow small notch in the lower left hand edge of the 160 speedo so it would align propperly with instrument case "sandwich". On my friend Cary's modded '81 turbo, we sent an '81 speedo to a company out in N Hollywood CA, & they rescreened it as a 160 speedo.

[Rocky Rotella]

Can you post pics of the car? I’d love to see it.

[JJDeville]

Yes. I will get some pics tomorrow.

[JJDeville]

I am not sure how to post pics. Can someone help me with this please?

[JJDeville]

Pics

[JJDeville]

Pics 2

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by JJDeville

Pics

All that and no picture of the speedo! JK ..... Stunning car!

If you're ever feeling ambitious please feel free to post some under hood pictures.... Oops scratch this request. Great car, thanks for sharing.

I remember they're "water injection", quit popular back then. Also didn't their black cars have a unit number under the TA fender decal?

[JJDeville]

Pics 3

[JJDeville]

Pics 4

[JJDeville]

The original engine and transmission were included in the sale. If you go online and find an old Trans Am Specialties catalog it talks about using the old front nose reinforcement bars that were heavy duty, the M/T valve covers, Holley Carburetor, Water Injection, Turbo 400, Headers, braided fuel line, and the 170 mph speedometer.

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

The style of lettering (font) was different on the later 70's, '80, & '81 speedometers when compared to the more basic style font used on the mid '72-74 160 speedos.

Though I sure wanted a correct font 160 mph speedo in my '80, there were other things I was spending the $$$ on. Ended up putting a nice used 160 speedo in it around '83. On the '80's i found it easiest to take the Dremel tool & make a narrow small notch in the lower left hand edge of the 160 speedo so it would align propperly with instrument case "sandwich". On my friend Cary's modded '81 turbo, we sent an '81 speedo to a company out in N Hollywood CA, & they rescreened it as a 160 speedo.

That's true .... Although being a working teenager I was happy to settle for the cheap factory 160 mph speedo and "blue'd" out the dash lights. Years later as I kept upgrading engine that turned higher RPM, I'd burry the 6k tach. I had a custom 8k tachometer built using a factory tach face and retained my original quartz clock. I thought that was so darn cool I had to build a 4" stroke 455 that would spin to 7,400 RPM just to make use of the 8k tach ..... And never realized until now (since you pointed it out) my fuel & volt gauge don't look right.

[JJDeville]

Car is a stable mate to my 69 Trans Am.

[tempest1964]

Very nice stable!

[necdb3]

They were about 15 minutes from where I lived when they opened. Rob and Chuck (the original owners) had a shop in Camden NJ prior and rented bays by the hour. I did some work on my brothers car as well as his friends there.

They really charged a lot for repairs there but people shipped their cars from all over the country. I think they opened around 1978-79 and sold it some time around 85. Does your car have any evidence of Nitrous? That was a common thing they would do.

Dave

[JJDeville]

Originally Posted by necdb3

They were about 15 minutes from where I lived when they opened. Rob and Chuck (the original owners) had a shop in Camden NJ prior and rented bays by the hour. I did some work on my brothers car as well as his friends there.

They really charged a lot for repairs there but people shipped their cars from all over the country. I think they opened around 1978-79 and sold it some time around 85. Does your car have any evidence of Nitrous? That was a common thing they would do.

Dave

I haven’t seen any evidence of nitrous ever being used on it. It was definitely an option in their catalog.

[JJDeville]

Hood scoop modification.