Just Bought me a 79 Trans Am - Opinions wanted
 

Hi guys,
I just purchased a 79 trans am 2W87K9L car with the original Olds 403 built to run strong with a high 3s posi rear end, bolted on sub frame connectors and traction bars.
I know very little about Trans Ams as I am a GTO guy and am asking some opinions.
I was told it was painted about 15 years ago- it was last licensed in 2010. I drove it an hour to get it home and it runs strong. I received many thumbs up and nice car statements on the way home (especially when I stopped for fuel). Brakes need to be bled but are okay.

Here is the good-
Doesn't appear to have been driven in any Mn winters.
Body is in excellent shape - passed the magnet test. Some small paint bubbles in front of rear wheels.
Frame is in excellent shape with bolted on frame connectors and traction bars.
Built original 403 Olds- I am still waiting on the internal specs - I know cam and internals were beefed up and it was stated to have 400 hp but I believe it to be less than that. It does run strong.
Two brand new black door panels are installed and rear armrests are new black. The original interior color is an off-white. It has an off white headliner.

Here is the Bad.
Not original paint color, no badging or graphics and a less than high quality paint job. Some body panel gaps are uneven (I am not sure that this is typical or not).
No back seat and the front seats are not original to a Trans Am - not sure what they are out of.
Missing AC compressor and I would like to get the AC working.
Dash board has a "teenage" carpet job done to it. I am hoping that the panels are good underneath the carpeting.
Tach doesn't work - any ideas on a fix or where to start looking. I was told that the tach worked the last time it was started - not sure.
Turn signals don't flash but light up when activated - hazard lights flash and work. - Any ideas - is it just a turn signal flasher?
I have ordered a hood release cable for it.
Here are some photos.
What is it worth?
I will send a photo of the cowl tag but it is a chore to get the hood open.
More to follow
Let me know what you think.

Nice looking car, congrats on the new ride. Wont comment on the 'whats it worth', if you are happy with the purchase then its worth what you just paid.
What are your plans? Paint and body work are expensive. If you want original colour then what you have isn't an issue. As far as gaps, no they weren't that good to begin with. If the doors sag when opened then they need hinges rebuilt which is an easy diy Saturday afternoon.

I wouldn't fret over the motor stuff if you like the way it drives, sounds like youre ahead of the game a bit. If youre not a motor guy (like myself), I would take it to someone that knows these cars and have a once over. Also I would go over the brakes, fluids etc. just because.

A/C, cant help you, mine doesn't work either! but unless I decide to sell dont really care. There are aftermarket companies that probably work better than original, but any of this stuff is expensive.

I would be willing to bet money that the dash top is trashed, if there is carpet on top. Very few originals are good.

Tach-no idea

Signals, if you checked all of the bulbs, maybe theres a loose ground somewhere.

Good luck with the hood, those things are def a pia when not working properly. If the cable is not pulled ALL of THE WAY the release hook wont go back far enough to allow clearance.

nice looking car, looks like the body is solid. the chevy stripes are not my thing, dont know why so many people do that to firebirds & t/a's. but since the body looks solid, a basic repaint will not cost "that" much money, can usually get a base/clear spray for a few grand that will look very nice, then buy the correct decals of your color choice to match the interior & it will look like a real trans am. & find some snowflakes to replace those wheels if youre not set on keeping them, can probably sell them for the cost of used snoflakes.

yes gaps werent that good when new but there are adjustments that you can usually do to tighten them up. can find correct used seats for decent prices.
a/c would need to be checked over to be sure all other parts are in good shape, they make rebuilt compressors for decent prices.
dash is probably cracked, they make caps that look better than the cracked up or carpeted dash for pretty cheap or ask takerry about repairing yours with a filler & texture, or look for a decent used one.
turn signals could be a bad flasher or blown bulb, just gotta check those & make sure all grounds are good, there should be a little pig tail ground at each corner for the blinkers.
tachs "usually" work & it could be a wire issue, make sure the tach wire is there under the dash & hooked up to the fuse block power & that the connection at the distributor tach lead is connected.
for teh hood, make sure the latch is adjusted right, sometimes after the hood is pulled they dont get it adjusted right & it can hang up. a trick on these later 2nd gen hoods is to pull it one time to pop the hood, then pull it again as far as you can while using your other hand to lift up the hood, that usually releases the safety catch. & make sure the cable has all its locking clips in place.

look likes a good starting point to make into a nice car... just get rid of them stripes! ;)

Congratulations. Looks like a straight, solid car to start with.

Looks like most of your questions have been answered. To add further, the hood release is normally a 2 pull situation, as was mentioned. First pull, it should pop up a bit. On the right side of hood center under the front edge, you'll see a couple of reliefs in the flange. If necessary, that's where you can put your fingers to lift the hood up a little bit more. Then pull the latch fully once more, while lifting, and the hood will open.

The original white vinyl interior was called Oyster white. One of my cars came with Oyster white interior, and a gray dash and console. Photo below.

I agree with removing the stripes. And unless you just really like the wheels on it, Pontiac Snowflake wheels do look best to most of us, since they were original. Pontiac Rally II wheels were also original and look good too. I like the original 15" wheels, but there are 17" versions of Snowflakes and Rally II's available from Year One, if that interests you.

If you want to look at some cars and look for some parts, I suggest joining some Facebook groups and looking in the Facebook Marketplace. Here are some groups I belong to that I'd recommend:

TRANS AM LOVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1970-81 Trans Ams and Firebirds - 2nd Generation Car Club

2nd Gen Firebird / Trans Am Parts and Cars for sale

Second Gen Graveyard


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...06b8b48e_c.jpgIMG_4219 by grand73am, on Flickr

I wasn't going to bust on the stripes, but I agree with the others. I had a TATA I was working on before the one I have now and it was only a shell. I had toyed with the idea of a far out resto mod and painting it like a 69 ta which is what the op's looks like. Now that I see it, not so crazy on a later model 2nd gen.

Thanks for your comments and opinions- It looks like I have some shopping to do.
The hood release cable is down to about a 6" piece of cable and a vice grip to pull - I have a new cable coming.
Also - any ideas on the speedo as it runs fast with the new rear end- at 70mph the speedo reads 90mph approximately.
Thanks for your opinions and help - keep it coming.

There's a reason the dash is recovered, and if it wasn't trashed, it is now. Consider it no good.
You already know the rear ratio isn't original, it could have any combination of speedo gears at present.
Are the stripes painted on or decals? You may want to get the splitters tweaked as well, the outlets should match the fender angle. Otherwise, looks neat, just need to make it your own!

Sounds like you'll need to change the speedo gears in the transmission. They're plastic gears, and come in different colors which designates the number of teeth on the gears, so you can choose the ones to suit your situation to show the correct speed. There's a large gear on the tail shaft of the transmission that's called the "drive" gear. You have to remove the tail housing of the transmission to change it. And there's another gear where the speedo cable screws on. You have to disconnect the speedo cable and remove the gear holder, called the "bullet", to change that gear. It's called the "driven" gear. Sometimes you only have to change the driven gear to correct the speedo. But if the difference is too great, then the drive gear must be changed too. Here's a site with a speedo gear calculator that helps you know which gears to get to correct your speedo: https://www.tciauto.com/speedometer-gear-calculator

Thanks guys, your help and thoughts are greatly appreciated.

I stumbled on this car by shopping craigslist looking to find a nice car (Trans Am GTO or Lemans) that I could put a fresh 68 GP 400 XH engine and Muncie M21 setup I had sold to a local guy. Deal fell through, now I have two motors and transmission setups for my 67 GTO convertible.
The 68 400 that I have has never been in a car- built by a local race shop and dynoed at break in to 425hp. After driving this car and experiencing the current engine I am not sure I will make the swap. However a 4 speed would be nice.

I will look into the speedo gear change and start with the little things first.
The stripes are painted on and it is interesting that those that have commented - no one likes the stripes.
I know the TA graphics are a staple and eventually this bird will wear them.
The previous owner was obviously thinking a black interior as door panels rear panels and console are new black. I kind of like the original color interior as pictured above and that would save me a headliner.
Any chance I can get the carpet glue off the existing dash.
I know it needs a glove box door as the door is only hinged by the carpet that holds it.

What do you guys think about a preferred color combo.
Is it better to stay original on colors.
I think maybe I will drive it this summer- fix the little things- try to find good original seats and rip her down this winter.

It is amazing how many thumbs up this car gets while driving it. Fun car.

Glad you are having fun with it. If the carpet is glued, I would imagine they used a contact cement. The best thing to get rid of that is a reducer. There is a specific contact cement reducer that at least used to be available. Paint thinner will work but not as effective, will take some more elbow grease. I dont think either will damage the dash plastic, but i would use in small areas. Acetone may work as well.
Thumbs up are always fun. I trailered my project home from FLA many years ago. It was a presentable looking but rough car. Travelling through the Jax area a cop got behind me for a few miles. Nothing to hide but I always get nervous when they are around especially following. He then decided to pass, when he got beside me he evened out at my speed and riding beside me, I got that UH-OH feeling when I glanced over at him, he gave me a big smile and a thumbs up then sped off!

Yes, I remember when I bought my first TA, a 79 gold hardtop. It was a great feeling to finally own one. It was fun to drive and people liked seeing it, even though it needed, and still needs, work.

Something you might like to know is that they made more 1979 Trans Ams than any year in history...about 117,000. The next closest year was 1978 with about 93,000.

What color was your car originally? Once the car is modified, it doesn't really matter what color you paint it. So, I suggest painting it whatever color you like best. Search the internet for pics of 79 TA's to see what appeals to you.

Personally, I like black, which is probably the most popular, due to Smokey and the Bandit. Even if it weren't for the Bandit, I think black just looks great on them, with the gold decals. And I also like Gold. I like a Camel interior in either one them. But there are a number of good looking colors to choose from. Even though the chosen color may be different from the original color on the car, I still prefer to keep an original 79 color combination, because I'd still want it to look like a 79.

You should be able to remove any glue from the dash with some adhesive remover. 3M makes some in a spray can, but since you probably have a lot of glue to remove, a quart can would probably be better.... 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner, 08984, 1 Quart.

For your info, the interiors came in 2 styles. The white interior shown in my pic above is a "standard" interior. It only came in vinyl, and had that seat cover pattern and plainer looking door panels. Then there was the upscale "Deluxe" interior, which had a different seat cover pattern, and nicer looking door panels. The Deluxe seat covers were available in a nice looking cloth called Hobnail/Lombardy, or in vinyl. If re-doing the interior, I'd do the Deluxe interior. The same seats are used for either interior, but the front seat cushions have to match the style of seat cover used. For example a Deluxe seat cover has to have a Deluxe cushion installed on the seat. And the Deluxe seats have the large plastic seat back cover, that the standard seats don't get. Pic of Deluxe interior in Camel tan below:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1560606d_c.jpg673_ht9 by grand73am, on Flickr

Help with decode of the data tag
79 12B
N 15L 15U W
A51 --- A 34079957

Of course, 79 is the year. 12B means it was built the 2nd week of December (1978).

The 15's mean the color was Platinum Poly (Silver). L and U just means Lower and Upper body.

I know from your VIN that you listed in your first post that it was built in Van Nuys (LA). So, the W means it was painted with Waterborne paint, as Van Nuys cars were in 79.

The N appears to be incomplete. Since you said it has white interior, it must be 12N. The 12 indicates Oyster white, and the N means it had Deluxe vinyl interior.

A51 means buckets seats, which they all had.

The meaning of the rest of the numbers is unknown.

definitely repaint it silver, one of the best looking colors on these cars IMO.

& the white interior could have been changed at some point, lots of things got changed on these cars over the 40+ years. ive never seen a silver t/a with a white or mix matched tuxedo interior.

if you are going back to black interior the silver would look great, but black works with any color so its really your choice at this point.

My 79, in my earlier photo above of the white interior, is an original silver with white interior. So, if you saw that picture, you have seen one :) . I agree that it's not common. I have seen maybe 2 others on the internet.

It's a clean look, but I'm not that big a fan of silver and will be changing mine to something I like better eventually.

Here are some pics of a 79 silver with white that I saved from the internet. This is probably what the original poster's car looked like originally. It even has the Deluxe vinyl interior, like his body tag appears to say his car had. Even though he doesn't have the original front seats, his back seat may still be original and have this seat cover pattern. The grab strap above the glove box on the dash is another clue to a Deluxe interior, plus those door panels.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bcf17de269.jpga by grand73am, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c661dfc6c8.jpge by grand73am, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e9a90044df.jpgh by grand73am, on Flickr

cool, never saw one before but that doesnt mean much... white just wasn't a popular combo on silver, usually the interiors were red or black.

my silver preference is more for the 78's with the WS6 snoflakes, 79-81 with rally wheels dont do much for me... but as they say, to each their own, almost every color combo of 2nd gens looks good.

Thanks for your help.
After reading these posts I looked further and the 12N is correct. The "12" is faint and partially covered by the fastener on the left side.
Apparently the previous owner or someone wanted to change to black as the side panels and console are new and black.
I have none of the stock seats available front or rear.
I am tempted to go black on the interior as cost is a factor and the existing new black panels look good. I would have to locate a set of seats and recover them in black or replace the side panels with white and then recover the seats in white and replace the console or dye it to match and it is tough to die black to any color.

On another note does anyone know where the turn signal flasher is located?

Thanks
Mark

Also - is there a way to polish the dash bezel aluminum? it is in good shape just dull.

Thank you Grand73Am for posting the pictures of the correct color combination. That is a good looking car and I would not be wrong in building it back to that.

Silver is one of those colours that suits some shapes and not others, and the paint has to be mint and super glossy, in order to look only good and somewhat shiny! Naturally, it can be hard to get every panel to match, being metallic, call that original since they were painted largely in pieces.

As for polishing an aluminium dash, you can clean it slightly if tarnished but anything more it will only start to buff the machined swirls off. The aluminium may have oxidised below the clear coat. You can strip the clear and recoat, lightly clean and buff the bare aluminium with cotton wadding, followed by wax remover, but that's about as good as it will get. Don't get an ok dash remachined, it's still worth something to someone, but a badly faded dash will remachine just the same.

The bezel originally would have had a clear coating on it but they tended to get worn off (ha, or maybe evaporated). What I did on mine was to remove what clear coat was left on there with acetone or lacquer thinner, just be sure not to get that stuff on any of the painted parts of the bezel. If there is oxidation on the aluminum then use a very very fine polish to remove it, but don't rub to aggressively otherwise you will remove the machine pattern. Finally apply a fresh coating of clear. If the bezel is in really bad shape then it will have to have the machine turned pattern re applied. There is a guy that does this service and has a good reputation. I just don't recall his name.

the signal flasher is under the dash near the fuse block, its a silver or gold round canister about 1" long. should be able to hear it click with the signal or flashers on.

& the bezel restore guy is randy combs.

Randy Combs is the bezel restorer. Here's his website: http://www.transamdashbezels.com/

The turn signal flasher is originally on a mounting clip attached to the front of the parking brake assy. It's the one in the center of the photo below. Sometimes, it's just hanging loose by the wires in that area. The flasher above the fuse panel is for the 4 way emergency flasher.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...717d4db4_c.jpg001 by grand73am, on Flickr

Also, as was said you can spruce up your dash bezel yourself, and can often get a good result. I took my bezel completely apart as seen the photo below. I cleaned what was left of the old lacquer clear off with lacquer thinner. As the guys said, do not scrub on the swirls, since they are light and can be rubbed smooth. After wiping the bezel clean with thinner, I lightly wiped it with a tack cloth to make sure the surface was dust and lint free. Then sprayed clear paint over it. I painted the black rings and upper panel separately. Once everything was dry, I reassembled it. It turned out good for an old bezel...bottom photo. Of course the less wear and scratches it has in the first place, the better the results. If it's too bad, then find a better one to re-do, or send it to Randy for full restoration. For your clear lenses, if they aren't too bad, you can use plastic polish on them to make them clearer, or you can buy new ones for a reasonable price.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b95984ac_c.jpg009 (2) by grand73am, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...99c4bd41_c.jpg004 by grand73am, on Flickr

Is the clear coat and black for the bezel a gloss, satin or flat.

I used gloss clear urethane enamel, and satin black.

I would think lacquer clear would be closer to original...probably not as glossy as the enamel. But I'm happy with mine.

I appreciate the advice with all - I have some work to do and will probably do the dash work later this year.

I replaced the turn signal flasher and signals work good.



I am stumped with the tach though.
I have 12volts at the tach when the ignition is on - the needle will drop from the stationary position of 500 rpm to 0 with the ignition applied. When I shut the car off sometimes the needle will stay at O until I tap on the face of the tach and it will jump to 500 rpm even with the ignition off.

I measured the distributer output at the distributor with a digital multimeter and it measures at idle 6 volts AC and runs up to approx. 17 volts AC. as I rev the engine to a reasonable rpm. I then tested the signal wire at the back of the tach plug and got the exact same reading - 6v to 17v as throttle is applied. I have good ground as I applied direct ground from the battery to the screws at the back of the gage and the dash lights work in the gage which should tell me the gage is grounded.
I guess my conclusion is that the actual tach gage is bad.

Also - No dash lights in the fuel gage or voltage gage.

Normal for old style tachometer and where weight of needle hangs down when off.

It doesn't really matter where the tach needle is when you turn it off. On my 79, it doesn't go to zero when it's turned off. When I turn the key on, then it drops to zero(or close to it), and after starting the engine, it works as it should. So, if yours acts like that, it's fine.

So if the needle is working as it should and drops to zero with the ignition on and I am getting good signal from the distributor, 12volts from the fuse block- why doesn't it work. Clock works and lights work so I should have a good ground.

Okay, you didn't mention before that the tach wasn't working. I thought the concern was the needle not settling to zero. Sounds like you've checked everything, so maybe it is bad.

I think you already know the simple wiring, but here's a diagram from the manual anyway:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1f58e16f_c.jpgTACH WIRING 5-6-20 by grand73am, on Flickr

Thanks Grand73Am,
I hooked up one of my 67 GTO original hood tachs to the system in the TA and that tach works great. Kind of makes me think I want to put a hood tach on this bird. So, I believe the indash tach is bad so I think I will purchase a new circuit board and go that route. Have people had good luck with those.
Also many loose wires.
Below is a photo of a plug that looks like a power switch hookup in the console coming up from the floor- what is it for?

That's probably a power window switch connector. That's the only thing that would be under the console. If you don't have power windows now, it's possible the car had them originally and somebody took them out. I've heard of people doing that when something went wrong, or they wanted to save weight.

Looks like the car may have had power windows at one time - I will be sending out for the PHS to see what options it had.


You have been very helpful - I will be pulling the dash bezel at some point to clean up and refinish the bezel and repair the tach, -

I have to replace the dash lights do you recommend LED and is it a T10 bulb - how many are needed? What bulbs do you recommend

One turn signal bulb is out in the dash - is that the same size bulb?

Also - what type of transmission fluid is used - is it dextron?

I installed the hood latch cable tonight and lubed up the hood hinges - pretty easy fix. No vice grip needed now.

Thanks guys for your help.

Here's an example of the transmission fluid to use, which now normally comes as Dexron/Mercon.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline...yABEgJYHfD_BwE

Most of the original dash bulbs are 194's. Since the old incandescent bulbs are much too dim for my liking, I replaced some of them with LED's. I only replaced the cluster illumination bulbs with LED's, since the overall illumination is where the original bulbs fall short. So, the LED's brighten up the dash a lot over the originals.

I find that the other original 194's work fine for the turn signals, high beam, and warning lights. They are bright enough for those things. So I did not change them to LED's, which also saves some money.

I did mine a couple years ago, and used some Sylvania LED's for replacing 194's. They're working good. But, if I were doing it now, I would buy from https://www.superbrightleds.com/ . Since I haven't bought 194 replacements from superbrights, I cannot recommend the exact bulbs to buy. They have a number of choices. They have a vehicle application and compatibility function, so you can actually choose a 79 pontiac firebird and they'll show you all the LED bulbs available for the dash and other inside bulbs, as well as outside the car.

I have bought other bulbs from Superbrights for the courtesy lights and dome light, and they're great.

When looking at the dash bulbs, or any other bulbs, check the specifications for the bulb you're looking at. Some bulbs are "polarity sensitive", which means they will work when put in only one way. That's the way my Sylvania's are, so I'd put them in and couple wouldn't be working, so I'd have to pull those out, turn them around and plug back in, so they'd work. That's a pain. With a bulb that is NOT polarity sensitive, it doesn't matter which way you put it in, so that's a lot better. So, in the specs for the bulb, next to "polarity sensitive", you want it to say NO.

The gas gauge and voltage cluster uses a different bulb, 1895 I believe, so you'll need an LED replacement for it too.

I used the reg old replacement bulbs in my car, got them at AutoZ for a couple of bucks. No they are probably not nearly as bright as the led's but that's all part of the charm of an old car. I did get a new dome light bulb from the superbright people and have to say the service was excellent. Honestly I dont understand why people buy an old car then want to have all of the modern amenities, LS motors, fuel injection, 20" wheels, etc., etc. When I want to have an easy modern drive I will take out the wifes mustang. But one of the beauties of this hobby is seeing how everyone does something different with their cars.

On a side note, I just read an article about the race at LeMans. White paint was the colour of the American entries, along with a single blue stripe. In the late 50's Briggs Cunningham modified that and put a double blue stripe on his white cars (so they are not necessarily a chevy item).

Thanks for your ideas - you guys are very helpful.

I have received many compliments on the car and the paint scheme. Believe it or not - people seem to like the blue stripes (except for those that want the bird on the hood). It is amazing how many people want to talk about these cars and share their Trans Am and Firebird stories. And it is good for me because I know so little about them.

I appreciate your help. I will be ordering the LED bulbs and circuit board for the dash and tach. I will refinish the bezel when I take it all apart. The block off plate on the dash is noticeable more "brown" than the rest of the dash bezel. I hope it cleans up well.

I need some seats and the Transmission inspection cover - if anyone has parts available.

All of the wiring appears to be there for power windows - I am not sure why a previous owner would have removed PW to save a few pounds. So, I will be finding some PW regulators and motors. It is kind of a shame as the door panels are brand new with new window cranks. I believe there is only a dual switch needed that is suppose to be mounted in the console.

Yes, the dual power window switch mounts to the console. No need to worry about the holes in the door panels after you remove the window cranks. The holes in the door panels left by having power windows were filled with bird emblems, as shown in the pics below. You can find reproductions of the bird emblems at the restoration parts places, under "door panel emblem". They come in red or gold. Red is for regular TA's like yours. Gold is for Special Editions (SE's) .

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b6f4eba8_w.jpgdoor panel bird emblems a by grand73am, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...54d8ef16_c.jpg79 ta silver with red d by grand73am, on Flickr

Thank you Grand73Am- great photo and information. Nice looking interior. I will check the wiring for the PW system- make sure that it is all there before I purchase all for the PW setup. I am sure I have to look for a PW relay. I already know there is a second pigtailed wire from where the tach gets its power source at the Fuse Block. I am sure the second pink/black pigtail powers the relay for the windows. I hope it is all there and not hacked up. I see wires inside the boots in the door jambs. I will pull the door panels and see what I have. - Maybe there are power locks buried too.

Advice on the rear end needed:
I just did the poor mans test to try and verify gear ratio of the rear end. The seller told me they were 3.73 gears. I turned the wheel one revolution and the driveshaft turned more than 3.25 times but under 3.5 times. I believe it to be 3.33 rear end gears. Is that about right as I am trying to find a good speedo gear to make the speedo correct.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

The pw relay is above the right side of the steering column, under the dash. The only thing that relay does is make it so you have to turn the ignition key for the windows to work. It shouldn't even be called a relay, since it doesn't do what a real relay does. And it often goes bad, which prevents the windows from working. That's another reason someone might have removed the power windows...because they didn't know how to fix it, or couldn't find another relay, since new ones aren't available. Since the relay is not necessary, I always bypass it. There's a power wire that runs from the pw switch to the relay. I'm pretty sure it's a 12 gauge pink. If you cut and run that pink wire to a 12v constant power source on the fuse panel, the windows will work. And they'll work without the key, which is how p. windows used to work on older cars.

For the rear end ratio, the ratios available in that vicinity was 3.23 and 3.42, so likely the 3.42's.

if the gears weren't changed, you can look on the passenger side axle tube for the stamped code to identify the factory gear ratio.

The rear end gears were changed which is why the speedometer runs fast. When I am traveling at 70mph the speedo reeds approx. 95mph - I tracked it with the vehicle behind me asking the speed we were traveling.
I am wanting to purchase the correct speedo driven gear thinking that someone that has a 3.42 rear end would know which speedo gear to purchase. I have been advised of the calculations to determine but that requires knowing which gear is in the transmission - I believe the speedo gears have not been altered from stock. Does anyone know what the driven speedo gear is in the 403 transmission. Or, has anyone upgraded their transmission to run with a 3.42 rear end and which speedo gear is used.

I found that relay - pictured below - silver in color has pink 12 gauge, Orange/Black 12 gauge, and a Pink/Black 18 gauge wires going to it. I believe the Pink/Black from the fuse block turns on with the ignition, the Orange/Black must bring unswitched fused power from the fuse block then is switched on with the ignition via the Pink/Black wire then 12v must exit the "relay" (mounted to the top of the steering column on the right) to the Power Window switch. If I bypass the relay box - do I need to fuse the pink wire? Or should I mount a separate relay to power the windows?
Picture below is of the orange/black and Pink/black. the Orange/black wire is not connected to anything currently which brings more confusion.

I believe you're correct in your assessment of the wires. To verify, you could use a test light to verify that the orange/black wire is hot, which it most likely is. If you cut off the pink wire from the relay, which should be the wire coming from the pw switch connector, and connect it to the orange/black wire, then the windows would work, if you had power windows :) .

Concerning the speedo drive gear in the transmission, I looked back at some pics of my th350 from my 79 TA when I had it apart. It's yellow, which is supposed to be 19 teeth. So, maybe yours is too. With the driven gear "bullet" out of the hole, you could probably see inside the tail housing with a light to verify what color you have. On this TCI speedo calculator page, the chart for th350 speedo gears tells how many teeth a particular color drive gear, and driven gear, has. https://www.tciauto.com/speedometer-gear-calculator

Thank you Grand73Am, Your knowledge and help is much appreciated.

My hope is that I have the same yellow gear in the transmission - that will help a lot. I look forward to not - pegging the speedo at plus 100 mph.

The Power Window thing is that the Orange/Black wire is disconnected at the fuse block, so I will pull both door panels and make sure the wires are intact for the PWs and then just put voltage to the pink main and jumper across the main switch at the console and verify that I have voltage to both doors. Then, I will likely put in a separate relay under the dash so that I know that the windows have plenty of line voltage.

I have been driving the car a lot and my wife thinks I am trying to be a kid again. It is fun laying rubber for 30 yards into second gear. She HATES the loud pipes when I pull up to the house. The car just has straight glass packs for mufflers. I kind of like it but it is loud with a heavy drone. So, I will likely put in some nice "Straight Through" mufflers. I am also now dealing with a carb issue. It ran great for several days, now it seems to be loading up at start up and runs really rough until it warms up. I think maybe the float is stuck. I pulled it in the garage a couple days ago running fine. The next day it started rough and almost seems to be misfiring.
I think a carb rebuild is in the near future - probably before anything else.

You're welcome.

Below is a pic of the fuse panel, so you can see where the orange/black stripe wire plugs on for power windows.

If you have a Quadra-Jet, the best place to get a rebuild kit is from Cliff Ruggles at cliffshighperformance.com .

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...890f653a_c.jpgGOLD 2 by grand73am, on Flickr

Grand73Am,
Thank you for your help- it is great information. So yesterday the stud broke on the carburetor that holds the air intake and the shaker was hanging loose which may be the reason of the carb issues- not sure yet. The carb is a Holley 750 model # 4779-7. The shaker hood was sitting off center and too far back and I want to get it centered correctly by fabricating a mounting plate as the existing one is off center as it sits on the carb.
In looking at photos, with the hood closed it looks like the back flat edge of the shaker scoop should be 1" forward of the rear flat side of the shaker cutout on the hood. Is that correct?
Pictured below is the scoop just sitting in position- 7/8" forward from the back of the rear hood scoop cutout. I have to make a mounting plate as the current position the scoop is off the plate to the drivers side.
I believe the scoop depth is correct as pictured. Is there any advantage to raising it up, so more scoop is out of the hood?
I know many questions and subjects here, but all is great info. Let me know if I overstay my welcome.
Thanks
Mark

There's going to be some variation in shaker positioning in the hood from car to car, due to differences in motor mount height, body mount cushion wear, and front sheet metal adjustment.

I have new original type rubber body mounts, and new motor mounts, and the sheet metal is pretty square :) .

I measured at the rear center of my shaker, since that's the easiest to measure at the same place. The flat flange on the shaker is about 1.25" down in the hole, below the hood surface. So, the shaker stands about 2" above the hood surface there.

Also, measuring between the rear center of the shaker and the edge of the hood hole, I get about 1.25".

As long as the shaker looks pretty centered in the hole, you're doing good. Yours doesn't look too bad as it is. I think you could use a little more room in the back as you thought. From what I can tell your height looks good. There's no advantage to raising it up more than stock.