1979 Tenth Anniversary Trans AM (TATA) Forum
 

I thought it would be fun to start a TATA forum here on the '77-81 Trans Am Tech. Anything Tenth Anniversay related will be game.

There are always questions floating around that are specific to the TATA such as carpet manufacturers, stiping and decal details and interior dyes color options that hopefully when answered will provide a good resource for forum members and owners.

Also, we should have plenty of pictures!

One topic that is well documented on the '79TATA 4spd's is that they received L78 W72 engines from the 1978 model year. These engines were held back by Pontiac specifically for the anniversary 4spd cars. No W72 engines were built in 1979.

My car was built in February 1979.

I have been documenting date codes, inspection marks etc. and have determined the engine was probably built in June of 1978. The carb date code is much later than the engine cast codes so I'm curious when the castings had stopped for the W72 motors. The engine was completed 8 months before the car was built substantiating the fact the motor was held specifically for the car.

Here are some interesting date codes on this engine:
Block K087 Nov. 08 '77
Dr. Head K237 Nov. 23 '77
Pass. Head L087 Dec 8 '77
Intake H037 Aug 3, 77
Water pump E248 May 24 '78
Carb 1538 153rd day of '78 or June 3, '78

In the head date code picture note the blue overspray on the valve cover and the 1stQ date on the spark plug wires.

The other pictures identify some great inspection decals and part no. decals. Note the marking on the original fuel line insulation and the original foam ring around the air cleaner.

LOVE to to see the detail pics of the unmolested "survivor" cars.
Can we see some more,especially of the booster,master,prop valve area.( I like looking at "factory rust!)
I think you were tuned into our heater hose clamp thread,last month?
Can you give us the "lowdown" on your 10th?
Towers vs. Silver Seals - Van Nuys or Norwood?

TATA on Ebay
 

I'd be OK with this one in MY garage!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...212940227&rd=1

2many, I wouldn't mind having it for a back up myself. Did you notice they said it had cruise. I did not see any cruise parts under the hood. Picture underneath looked like pre 74 cross member, hump on both sides for duals.
A friend of mine's 10th T/A has all the cruise parts under the hood, speedo cable through cruise box, vaccum lines, wireing, even got right turn signal lever. It does not have pot on motor. Iv'e checked the vin and it is a 4 speed car, something ain't right.
Mine is not all original but I do have everything to put it back. Can't help but wonder how many of the 4 speed cars are left.

Anyone know about odd ball engine codes and special rear gears on these cars? Something about the first so many made or real pace car models maybe.

Quick-Silver for a reason

Great idea for a TATA forum! Here is my question. I have a 79 TATA that i am having a little paintwork done on it and am replacing some decals and pinstripes. I order pinstripe roll from Phoenix graphics and noticed the black portion is wider than the red. On my car most of the pinstrioing is the same thickness. Is it correct to use the pinstripes with the Black thicker than the red on all areas of the car? If this is the case then I am guessing that when my car was painted in the past someone used rolls of red and black that were incorrect. Thanks in advance for your repsonse.

2manyT/A's this is a Norwood car. It has Silver Seal worm gears on all 4 heater hose connections. The radiator hoses of course are tower clamps on all 4, with the upper radiator clamp clocked at 2pm (if you facing the car).

Here's a pic of the rust, I mean brake booster and bracket. The red smear on the booster is a paint daub I think, but it's not your typical enamel, it's more of a stain so to speak. There is also a very small blue paint daub barely visible in one picture. The paper sticker on the wiring harness to the proportioner is a W.

The carb picture is great. The part number on the vacuum bracket, and the inspecton mark 'N' and ' - ' on the butterfly is unbelievable considering fuel and fumes pass this way.

Roysgoats, the stripes are different thicknesses. The black is approximately .25" and the red is .13". I'd be curious to know what thickness the Phoenix Graphix stripes are?

Quicksilver, that's a great question about the pace cars. I thought they would have been geared high for the track? Hopefully someone will chime in.

'Restoring' this car will be a lot of work. I'm going to be refreshing all of the parts, but without repainting, replating or replacing. It should look the same when done just neat and tidy. It's tedious and meticulous work as I'm already finding out, but very rewarding.

Love the foam element over the air filter. I'll bet 99% of those dissapeared after the first tune up.

The car pretty much confirms that the prop valve bracket had no paint. Heck I doubt it was even treaded steel. No way the hinge springs look that good & a painted bracket rusts up like that. Maybe some cars had them painted, but not this one.



Nice car!

I was wondering if this site would take off or not. I dont know what it is, people either love these cars or just dont care. Iv'e had mine 25 years it's a pretty nice car. Got so many ISCA first in class trophies and jackets got burnt out and quit showing.
Really am curious about rear gears. I changed mine to 3.73 a long time ago. Ended up trading original gears for dual exhaust, that was a mistake. When I got ready to put taller gears back in I couldn't find any. I had all the numbers and ratios written down, it was a 3.5? something. Pontiac dealer checked the numbers for me, good numbers but not availible. Original install only, limited purchase and production, none to be had. The replacement, even under warranty would have been 3.23. I do not have the original part numbers any more but would love to have them. They were lost in a fire.
This is why I was asking about pace car and gear info. A couple of times Iv'e ran into other 10th owners with really nice cars wanting to trade and give boot (lots). They always looked at my vin and had fits. They never would say why.
Still wonder how many 10th 4 speeds left. I know for us the less the better.

The rear gears for all 79 400/4spd cars were 3:23's. I've never had to look for a set so not sure how hard they are to find.
As for your VIN, is it low or high for 10th production?
I had a 400 10th a few years ago that was built on Jan 3rd, lowest VIN for a 10th I have ever seen......140323.

Auction seems to have disappeared?
Looks like Ebay pulled it. Wonder why?

FYI: As I recall,ALL second gen trans crossmembers are double hump style.

70-74 & 75-81 DON'T interchange.

Quicksilver, yes, we are all wondering why everyone takes an interest in your vin no? Maybe because it has an 'X' in it? Can you share the vin. no with us? Also, let's see some pic's of your car!

The Daytona 500 was held on February 18, 1979, so all of the pace cars would have been built before that (at least the one's at the show!). Maybe they continued to produce pace car replica's beyond the race date, it would be nice to know.

W72Bandit 140323 Jan. 19 '79 One of the earliest TATA vin. no's known.
Mine 150328 Feb. 21 '79

Does anyone know of a 10th registry?

There was a registry back in the early days of the internet. I don't know of one currently, may be one out there though.
I have some old docs from Pontiac that have the first and last VIN's from each plant for 10ths. I'll look it up. I believe I read that production was from Jan. through April.

Just got out build sheet. VIN 163024
job sequence number
21724879
sch. no. date
59-0896
04-02
Does show 3.23. It was 20+ years ago when I did gear swap. There was something different about rear. I want to say 3.5?. I was told by dealer that only 100 sets were ordered and installed, no spares. This might have been BS talk by service manager.
Speedo did work right. If one of you can check your speedo gear # I might be able to put this dog to sleep. My # 22GRA-T-BH3, please have a match.
I am brand new to elec. comunication, barely can chicken peck, pictures woh.
Car is in CC storage right now. Wife is going to try to scan some pics. and help with this.
People that wanted my car had X cars.
165th I keep two sets of wheels for mine. One set super polished and one set extra clean. I started collecting them many years ago, when I went to buy a new set for race tires, price was crazy. I put them on every firebird I keep and keep spares. I think Iv'e got enough spare parts to build a whole nother car. Only other 10th car VIN is auto., wouldn't build it for it. Got fair 71 body that will probably end up with WS6.
I will be back!
Clay

Clay, I've got a set of original NOS Goodyear Polysteel tires that I'm going to mount on my original wheels for concour showing. My wheels still have the factory clear coat over the aluminum but one wheel is showing some signs of the aluminum wearing through.

I've got a second set of wheels for the Eagle GT's, but the second wheel set is not in the greatest condition. I do plan on polishing the second set for the driver tires. If you have any pristine turbo wheels you'd like to sell, I could use at least 2, maybe a full set if they are perfect.

How do you check the speedo gear number?

165th, I got the gear number off of the build sheet.
I did or do have two new wheels, one tire mount. They are on a wrecked 10th. I live in Laugh-at-it, GA next to a wrecker service and junkyard. Codes dept. made me move the car off the property. Bologna when I have wrecked cars backed up to property line. Rules are rules and I was not going to pay a fine.
The car is out in the country at a friends place. I will try to go look at the wheels and see how they have weatherd.
You can strip your wheels, polish and have them recleared. Better clear coats are availible now and your wheels will look new again. They will hold up better also. Iv'e been wanting to do a set for my car, tired of polishing.
Have you checked the date on your tires? If they are 30 years old it would be OK to show with them but do not drive on them. Not even to the store, especially on your car.
Clay

I have a spare in the trunk of my TATA that has been powdercoated a shade similar to the original. I like it enough that I'm considering doing the four that are on the car, as well.

(I know.... not very original, but it's one of those personal touches that is subtle and not-so-easy to detect.)

It was published in a pontiac magazine about six years ago.
That there were only (1800) 1979 10th anniversarys known left to exist
And out of the (1800) 500 were 4 speed cars.
I rememeber reading in that article they only made
about 12-15 pace cars for parades

By the way. I own the pace car that was at the daytona 500
it was the 4th 1979 10th anniversary trans am made!

I also own four other 1979 10th anniversary trans ams.
The 1979 10th anniversay trans am registry was shut down
about 5-7 years ago.

Hey guys, I just found a really nice 10th unmolested 66,000 miles

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8572.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8573.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8574.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8575.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8576.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8577.jpg

Love that green-tinted carpet! :D

1969T/A, That article sounds familar. At the time I remember it being based on currently registered cars. No telling how many are in collections without current registration.
Have you ever checked your factory gears?

I think the number's were on total registered cars.
I have never checked the gears on any of my cars.

SWEET!
What's that "white stuff" all over it?
Such a NICE car. It's a real shame about the "incorrect" radio knobs.

Well i guess i have to take back untouched, due to the radio being from what i think a 80

For the general apperance of that car, the engine compartment sure looks intact. Almost expect to see a vintage discharged delco battery in there. Must have been sitting for some time.

The white stuff is something I am quite sick of. Here is Green Bay, we are just inches away from setting a snowfall record set in the 1800's

Quicksilver, I checked my build sheet. The 22GRA-T-BH is the same speedo I have for my 3.23:1 rear gear.

MZBK21 what powdercoat color code did you use on your wheels?

1969T/A, can you post some pics of your Pace Car? Tell us more about the 4 cars, and any differences, or anomalies between them.

Not sure; the car's in storage in Michigan, and my dad was getting it ready for a road trip to AZ for me. He wanted a full-size spare, so he found a white wheel from an '80 and took it somewhere to be stripped and powdercoated. I'll see if he has any info on it. The four on the car are still original.

Here's a pic of my pace car.

The only differences on my cars that
I have noticed is some have more decals then others, paint on outside t-top metal is a different shade of charcoal gray, & some have a bird on the gas door, also some have door ding guards.

I can deal with the snow, its the cold that i can't stand.
The engine compartment is untouched from what i can see, which comes in handy for this car we are doing.....

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...m/IMG_8594.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...m/IMG_8596.jpg

165th, Thank you very much! This puts my rear gear dilema to sleep. Never trusted that service manager anyhow. Did my date code mean April or Feb?

1969T/A, Gas door with bird wrong model.

formula400, Is that the snow car behind the one your working on?

No, It's the right model. I'm the second owner of the car and my brother was the original owner that bought the car. The car still only has 36,000 original miles. It's a different bird then one on the 1980-81 pace car gas door.That you may be thinking about.

Yes it is the "snow car"
Here are some pics of the snow melted away
I just got it running today, and it runs great.
And i found the build sheet on top of the tank

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8597.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8598.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8599.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8601.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8602.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8604.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8608.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8610.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/IMG_8612.jpg

The T-Tops on my car are standard black, and there is a wide charcoal tape placed over the Outside leading edge of the T-Top (There is a picture of it on the previous page). It's a Norwood car, I wonder if the Van-Nuys cars T-Tops were painted?

The only real anomoly I have found so far is the B-85 BELT REVL MLDG (window sill and hood edge guards) I have on the car. It is not on the buildsheet, and to the best of my knowledge, I have never seen another TATA with this on it.

Quicksilver 04-02 is April 2.

If anyone is interested
I have alot of spare parts
that have been collect from 1979 10th's parts cars
over the years. Let Me know what you need.

I Just Started a New 1979 10th Anniversary Trans am Registry
If Any One Is Interested.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/1979TATA-Registry/

165th, I thought the mirrored tops were the only way they came. I think its Y89 on build sheet, spec silver t. I have seen the paint on and tape on charcol on edge of tops. Dealer or somone must have wanted to dress it up a step further or your other parts would have been on build sheet. Are you sure your tops are not mirror with black film on inside? I am going to look at wheels this weekend will let you know.

My car has 4 point chrome roll bar and I am the second owner. Mine had been stored since new. The original purchaser got in a bind and all I had to do was pay it off.
$5,500 with 1,800 miles, 1983. He did not put the roll bar in, I guess that just leaves me.

formula400, What kind of price tag on the snow jewel? Where you found it. Not fixed. Where are you getting the new steering wheels?$? I would like to have a new cover for mine.$?

What is a realistic price for one of these cars now? Iv'e got 53,000 miles on mine now
and last summer turned down $35,000. Shady characters headed to south america
they had cash. I couldn't do it, 25 years going to be hard to part with.

1969T/A would like to have another chrome roll bar. Registry looks neat. Need to spread the word.

I believe you can get them at http://www.jegs.com

The TATA i just got is a Van-Nuys car and it has a decal.

Quik-Silver-
The car is sold already, with intensions of us getting her back to the streets.

The steering wheel is really nice so i put a cover on it to protect it from greasey hands;) .

If anyone needs any type of reference for there car let me know, I would be happy to take pics of what you need.

This car still has most of the assembly decals and such on the lines and springs

Tom

Quicksilver, the T-Tops are mirrored, I was just speaking of the leading edge of the T-top which is gloss black, and then a charcoal tape strip placed on top of it. This is stock, and as most cars are built.

1969T/A mentioned his T-tops are painted charcoal gray vs. taped.

1969T/A can you post a picture of your painted T-Tops? Is it a L or N car? Do any of your other TATA's have charcoal painted T-tops?

Also, thanks for starting the registry. I just signed up this morning!

Formula400 Leaf Springs, coil springs, shocks and tie rod decals and markings would be great. Since my car is undercoated, that is the only area where removal of the underdcoating and some freshening will cause loss of decals.

Me, too. I'm number four! :)

165th, Just got back from the country. Wheels are not show quality. It had been moved on a flat and scraped outside bead on one wheel. The other, leaves had piled up against and had some corrosion.

Sorry
clay

trying to load pics of mine.i have 2,both 403 auto's.one is a perfect body with the wrong engine and this one is wrecked on the pass side with a good drive train.


on the one with the wrong engine what would you do?it has a rebuilt 455 pontiac,350 trans,i have a couple ways to go.leave the 455 in it;pull the 403 out of the wrecked car and use the complete drive train;put in a 400 i just had built but sold the car it was meant for,if i put in the 400 i would change to a 4 speed i have left over.

the good body is being painted right now,will be sold once it's done,just trying to figure out what to do with the engine.

heres the picture,don't know why it didn't go last time.

1971WARBIRD, Put the 403 in. Want be #s matching but would be correct. Correct engine doesn't hurt car value like wrong engine.
Changing to 4 speed nothing would be right, starting with vin. To do the 4 speed conversion right would take another car for parts, pedals, steering column, trans tunnel, wiring harness, console, reverse linkage to column, clutch linkage, etc. etc. etc..
The Olds automatic cars are not as collectible as the 4 speeds but they sure are popular and wanted for drivers. In my area selling a Pontiac motor is not a problem, finding a 400 or 455 to buy, just don't happen.

Warbird, how bad is the wrecked car? If it can be resurrected then it wouldn't make sense to end up with 2 non matching cars at the end. I think I would put the 400 in with a correct TH400. Since non matching numbers already, I think a buyer would prefer that the motor was replaced with a 400 vs. 403. This keeps the marketability of wrecked car in tact, as numbers matching.

Having said that, if the wrecked car is not salvageable, then Quicksilvers tact would probably be best.

It's nice to have some options!

Final castings of the 400-cid engines was during Thanksgiving week 1977. Unfinished blocks were stockpiled for use during 1978-79 model years. It appears final assembled engines were done around June/July 1978 for the 1979 model year.

Mr. W72, thanks! This information is in keeping with the cast date codes that I listed in Post #2 on this thread (page 1).

That's quite a history these W72 engines had finding their way into these cars. From Fall '77 cast dates to Summer '78 engine builds, to Jan-April '79 installs. In addition to the planning that went into this strategy, storage, potential for parts robbing (borrowing) and logistics to integrate the stored motors into the cars must have been somewhat challenging.

Looking back on it, that's pretty cool indeed.

not sure why my pictures aren't coming up.



finially.pass side is crushed from the door back.big hooch is thinking about buying it to fix up.i was just going to use it for the small parts for the other car.

2ManyT/A's, you had asked about the clamp types in post no. 3 on this thread. Here's a picture of the Silver Seal worm clamp on the firewall. It's a Norwood car.

Other cool details such as the HG and KK coded heater hoses are visible as well.

Formula400, were you ever able to get your car on a lift to get some pictures of the leaf springs, coil springs, tie rods and underbody decals and markings?