[2manyT/A'S]

Potentially worth MORE if it was left original,but a column shift in a Trans am falls into the same catagory as vinyl roofs & dealer installed sunroofs.

They just DON'T belong & will make the car ultimately worth LESS and or much harder to sell.

In MOST cases,an early T/A converted to 4 speed (correctly) will NOT affect the selling price & will actually make the the car MORE saleable because it will appeal to MORE people because it is a STICK.

An automatic transmission SHOULDN'T have been an option on these cars. JMO!

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by keith k

I would have put the value of that car closer to $20K in today's market....
The incomplete A/C system seems out of line for the asking price. And when it was converted to a 4-speed, it looks like they didn't bother to weld in the correct shifter doghouse... they just cut a hole in the tunnel (look at picture 6).

Yeah pic 6 tells it all, too bad that part is 65 bucks repop, and the column should be Blue, not black

[68bird400HO]

Originally Posted by Formulabruce

Yeah pic 6 tells it all, too bad that part is 65 bucks repop, and the column should be Blue, not black

Actually, the black column is correct for Formula steering wheel optioned cars regardless of the interior color, at least for the early years.

[giles]

There are few other details that make me think the car was put back together;
standard interior with deluxe dash and deluxe inside door handles.

[Judge273]

Could someone post a picture of how the hump should look?

[eaglesan13]

Here you go, these are of my 70. To me, the car in the ad that was converted from an auto looks like it does not have a hump. Maybe they just cut a hole in the floor and screwed the boot and bezel to the floor since it does not appear "flat", but rather looks like it follows the contour of the floor pan.

Originally Posted by Judge273

Could someone post a picture of how the hump should look?

[Judge273]

Thanks! That tells me tat the current ebay car needs attention to detail that is lacking.

[1971WARBIRD]

something is funny here. if you look close at pic 3 there does not look to be a hump and there is a flat handle hurst shifter.if you look lower at pic 14(i think)there looks to be a hump and there is the correct round handle?i'm i seeing this right?

[Norwood]

Mike, are you looking to join the 70-73 "SNOB" club?

[Judge273]

Seems like a nice group??

[OVERULD]

Originally Posted by 1971WARBIRD

something is funny here. if you look close at pic 3 there does not look to be a hump and there is a flat handle hurst shifter.if you look lower at pic 14(i think)there looks to be a hump and there is the correct round handle?i'm i seeing this right?

Yep - and the carpet has been changed as well.

BJ

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by 68bird400HO

Actually, the black column is correct for Formula steering wheel optioned cars regardless of the interior color, at least for the early years.

Wonder when that changed, as I have seen few columns with colored formula wheels to match. The "Blue Bird" comes to mind for one. Makes sense though.

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by Formulabruce

Wonder when that changed, as I have seen few columns with colored formula wheels to match. The "Blue Bird" comes to mind for one. Makes sense though.

I think the 77 Skybird was the first one to get color-keyed column/wheel if Formula wheel was ordered.

1978 Y88 (Gold S/E) was next & in 79 ALL T/A's got color keyed columns/wheels.

[Judge273]

Originally Posted by giles

There are few other details that make me think the car was put back together;
standard interior with deluxe dash and deluxe inside door handles.

Not sure how to tell a ta dash from ta deluxe ?

[Dens71TA]

Deluxe interior dash has a grab bar above the glove box.

[giles]

And deluxe interior door handles have a chrome surround with a black insert. The standard interior used a color-keyed insert that covered the surround.

FWIW, the odd part is that the handle itself is the same physical part and can be used on both type interiors. Typically the standard interior handle excluding the lever were an unfinished zinc die-casting, and this part was chromed on the deluxe interior cars. The lever itself was chrome on all cars. The deluxe handle was chrome and then the deluxe interior cars received a black insert that allowed the chrome "surround" of the handle to show. On the bare zinc handles the base interior color-keyed trim piece covers the unchromed "surround". But the chromed parts can be used on standard interior cars as well and I have seen a few originals that had deluxe chrome handles hiding under standard interior trim. Either a line mistake or they ran out of unchromed parts and just used the chrome version.

[Transamric]

Originally Posted by giles

There are few other details that make me think the car was put back together;
standard interior with deluxe dash and deluxe inside door handles.

Like Giles, I'm seeing more & more that makes me think this TA is not quite worth the asking price. Has anyone noticed the '73 dash plate? As an April built Van Nuys TA, it should have a plate with the seperate "lights" & "wiper" indicators. Perhaps this car has an older Service Replacement plate.
Still, it would be a fun driver even though it's fairly plain. But not for my $38K. Maybe high $20's?
Wonder if it has an M22 or something more easily obtainable?
And someone mentioned the later, smaller (& higher) clutch pedal. When did this start? '75?

[68bird400HO]

Originally Posted by giles

And deluxe interior door handles have a chrome surround with a black insert. The standard interior used a color-keyed insert that covered the surround.

FWIW, the odd part is that the handle itself is the same physical part and can be used on both type interiors. Typically the standard interior handle excluding the lever were an unfinished zinc die-casting, and this part was chromed on the deluxe interior cars. The lever itself was chrome on all cars. The deluxe handle was chrome and then the deluxe interior cars received a black insert that allowed the chrome "surround" of the handle to show. On the bare zinc handles the base interior color-keyed trim piece covers the unchromed "surround". But the chromed parts can be used on standard interior cars as well and I have seen a few originals that had deluxe chrome handles hiding under standard interior trim. Either a line mistake or they ran out of unchromed parts and just used the chrome version.

Are you certain that wasn't for 1970 only? My 71 TA is standard interior and has the chrome handles with black inserts. I also have the standard interior out of another 71 TA which had the same chrome/black deluxe door handles. Both cars are Van Nuys December built cars. I have to admit that I haven't studied the pattern of interior door handles across different years with different interiors, but, I have two 1971 examples that seem to go against this rule. Does anyone else here have a 71-73 standard interior car with deluxe handles?

Den - what does your '73 have?

[Transamric]

Don't presently have any '70-71's with a std. interior. But have parted about 20 with base interiors & all had the plastic colored bezel over the metal handle, whether it was natural zinc finish or chromed.

[68bird400HO]

Here is a pic of a 71 std interior TA from the Firebird gallery picture site. It too looks to have the chrome deluxe handle. This is the only standard interior picture I could find on that site for the '71-'73.

http://www.firebirdgallery.com/2nd%2...s/71ta17.4.jpg