Well I stole it from my Dad. My Dad bought my Mom a 77 T/A new in may of 77. They both gifted the title to me over this summer. The original title was actually dated on May 29th 1977 (their 8th wed anniversay) which I think is kinda cool! Anyway they moved to the Dallas area a while back and lived with us while looking for a house. ABOUT 2.5 MONTHS! I kept the Trans Am in the garage while they got settled in their new house. Thank God they (my Dad) has a little hording in his blood cuz the Trans Am would not fit in the garage of their new home for quite a while. I have always wanted this car since I was a kid. I offered him cash several times at whatever his price was and never got anything more than blank looks. So I held it hostage and now it is mine.
It is an auto, l78 400 car, no t-tops and manual windows and door locks. I love the options. If it were a w72 or y82 I would feel bad about moding it. This car has never not had a place in the garage. It has been driven in rain only very very little. It was always a back up car except for when my sister and I each drove it briefly in high school. This by no means means that it is a cream puff or does not need work.
Like I said my sister and I both drove it in high school. I remember my sister and I taking it out one time when she was 13 after she had conviced me burglers were trying to get in the house while baby sitting me. The "burglers" were her friends around the corner we picked up after "getting away". I just remember being scared, a bunch of dudes taking turns ripping donuts in my dads car and ratting her out later that night to my parents.
There is not rust at all around the rockers, rear frame rails or really anywhere for that matter accept for one little spot on the drivers side where I believe the windshield has leaking down near the dash. I have crawled all under it with a flashlight and all the little weep holes to drain water have zero debris in them at all. Super clean car.
Here are some pics
So the plan......
If it is in stock form it just won't be fun for me. I have driven lots of cars both in the American car world and exotic european cars. I am a 14 year BMW master tech. so if the brakes and suspension can't be beaten on hard and take it then it will just sit.
Brakes suspension:
Well one of the first things I did was replace replace the leaking real wheel cylinders. It was CHEAP and not it is safe. With the old dry rotted bfg's the rears locked at will after that.
Now it has YO 17" snowflakes. 285/40/17 rear and 255/45/17 nittos up front.
I also have a ptfb gt kit. The front is installed but the rear is not yet. I added or upgraded some things to the GT kit. I went with all delrin front bushings, tubular upper arms, the tall ball joints and adjustable koni's all the way around. I also opted for the rear composite mono leaf with delrin shackle bushings and sub frame connectors.
Currently the rear axle is out of it getting welded and I am picking it up tomorrow and dropping it off to have it powder coated. I figured to it all while it is apart so I am either putting it back in with s10 rear disc or LS1 f-body rear disc. Also doing superior axles and and different gear ratio when it goes back together. Do it right the first time and never touch it again. It has been out of service for about 2 weeks and looks like it will be at least another 3 or 4 before I can get it back on the ground. I DO NOT like that feeling of not being able to hop in and drive it.
Engine/Drivetrain:
The plan is a big ol motor and an overdrive. The stock engine in this car is just that. Stock. It is all 77 Trans Am under there. I want to shop an early 70's block and build a big stroker and moth ball the 400. It is a 557 block and will only be stock once. For now it runs fantastic but slow. The oil pressure gauge does bounce around a bit though
. Against my norm I don't beat on the engine to hard.
I really want to put an overdrive in it. I really like the 4l80e. Efi always gets such a good rap of good driveability and what not. Man how people take electronic transmissions for granted though. Who cares about efi I need my gears computer controlled.
I really want the exterior and the interior to stay as stock appearing as possible. To do anything like a not factory shifter or non factory gauges is a sin for me in this perticular car. Ofcoarse there are the usual trim items that are broken or worn and the carpet has a small tear but the interior looks great in its used condition. Can't even think about paint and body work til years down the road.
Sorry for the long read. Hope you guys enjoy. Like I said I work for a very large BMW dealership and have know people that have all sorts of high end cars that were just paid for with a check. I know there are lots of other cars like this one hear that have stories, historys and memories you can write checks for. Thanks for reading