I'm in the Atlanta area too, Lawrenceville. I been into and have larger cars too, 57's, 67's, 73-75 A-bodys. I've always liked 79 TA's too though and finally decided to find a 79 TA a couple years ago and started looking. I bought a Solar Gold 79 TA fixer upper that runs, about a year and a half ago, that I found locally in the Atlanta Advertiser. Being an automatic, it has an Old 403 engine, which had been recently rebuilt and runs great, so it was a very good deal overall. I didn't have much money to spend, so I had to get one that I'll have to restore. Since it runs, I fixed a few things on it to make it roadworthy, so I could drive it. Even though it's a bit rough looking, I drive it anyway and it's alot of fun, even as it is. The view over the hood with the shaker is great. I can imagine how exciting it's going to be to drive once I restore(restify) it. I also found a second 79 TA rolling body locally for a good price. Both are hardtops. When looking, I would have bought either a hardtop or a t-top. I'd still like a t-top, but the bodies on them are more flexible due to the t-tops and some people don't like them because of that. I particularly wanted a 79, since I remember when the new nose came out on them, which I really liked. And the 79 was the last year for the 6.6 engines.
If you have a good amount of money to spend, I think it is best to shop around for one in the best condition that you can afford, since having to restore one is more expensive than buying one that's already good. Someone once said that the least expensive car that you can buy is the one you spend the most money for to begin with. Unless you're real lucky and find a steal of course
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79's are slow in stock form, but it's still been fun to drive. It handles great. I'll have to make it faster when I redo it. In case you didn't know, All 6.6 liter 79 TA's with automatic transmission came with 403 Olds engines originally. Most 79's came that way. The 79 TA's with 4 speed came with Pontiac 400's. The 400 has better power than the 403, so a 400 or larger Pontiac engine is what most people prefer, and sometimes swap into a 403 TA.
Also, they don't have full frames. They are sub-framed cars. If you buy one locally here in Georgia, rust won't be as much of a problem as some other parts of the country. Look at the floor pans, the quarter area behind the rear wheels, the trunk floor and the rear body brace under the tail panel. Both of mine don't have much rust, a couple floor pans, a trunk pan, and some behind the rear wheel on one side is pretty much all I have between the 2 cars. They did come well equipped with pw, pdl, tilt, cruise, etc.
I've accumulated almost all the parts I need to do the fixup by shopping eBay. Here's a pic of my gold 79 not long after I got it. Also, if you don't know about it, check out
www.transamcountry.com :
