['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by necdb3

Boy 42k sounds cheap for a blue 72 in that condition, but like always, It's only worth what someone is willing to pay. As I say it sounds cheap, I'm not running out to buy it either, nor was anyone here.

I guess at this time 42k is all the money.

Dave

Agree with both of you, looks like a 50K vehicle to me.
If was same color, trim (or blk custom) & options but #'s match M22, more, quite a bit more.

[1971455HO]

Originally Posted by 74 SD455 Formula

I just gotta ask. Why would anyone want A/C in a High Performance motor ? Your just robbing it of what it was intended for in the first place. I have a 72 455 HO GTO that has A/C and I tell everyone that thats my wife's car as real men dont need A/C in a muscle car. I drive my SD Formula which has NO A/C in the hot humid summer days and dont complain. Did they put A/C in a R/A IV ? NO !!!! JMO

I can offer up one (my) explanation for having AC and Power Steering on a high performance car being from the generation that drove these cars when they were new. Back in the day, all of us guys carried two 9/16" x 1/2" combination wrenches and maybe a 5/8" with us at all times. One, was it fit nearly every nut or bolt under the hood and, two... if we were heading for the drag strip, we just took the AC and Alternator belts off and and let it eat. One it saved the belts from stretching and or twisting and two it unlocked all the power. Later after playing hard, we just put everything back on and rode in comfort. Me in my bird & my buddy with his GTO done it for years. Yeah, it was a little inconvenient., but hell, it only took a couple of minutes to do it. None of us were rich, so it was our hot rod, our date cars and our go to work cars. Just a different perspective back then.

Eddie

[WILD KAt]

If someone wants an original matching numbers 72 455 H.O. with 4 Speed and A/C, I might sell mine, or swap for another, as I do not like A/C. Where I live I'm glad it is hot a few days in the summer. Then I won't put on the fridge. I rather have one without so I can reach my spark plugs, etc. And simply take out the A/C does not help, as u know the whole firewall is different.

[njsteve]

The older you get, you more you need to be refrigerated in the hotter months. :-)

Changing plugs is easy on an A/C car - just put a jack under the subframe and raised the car a couple inches, enough that the suspension drops on the pass side. You then use a long extension and go straight through the gap between the inner fender and the upper control arm. I can do the pass side faster than the driver's side, where I have to deal with the power brake booster and brake lines in the way on #5 and 7.

The real reason to hate A/C on these cars is when the heater core goes bad and you have to take the entire car apart to replace it. (I need to do this on the SD)

[WILD KAt]

I had that with the heater on a 79 Camaro. I nearly went mad. Unbelievable how GM lost when it comes to A/C. Usually such good cars, but this is a fail in my opinion.

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by njsteve

The older you get, you more you need to be refrigerated in the hotter months. :-)

Changing plugs is easy on an A/C car - just put a jack under the subframe and raised the car a couple inches, enough that the suspension drops on the pass side. You then use a long extension and go straight through the gap between the inner fender and the upper control arm. I can do the pass side faster than the driver's side, where I have to deal with the power brake booster and brake lines in the way on #5 and 7.

The real reason to hate A/C on these cars is when the heater core goes bad and you have to take the entire car apart to replace it. (I need to do this on the SD)

I totally agree. what some don't seem to remember is these roundport 2nd Gen T/A's were not built to be one dimensional straight line beasts. Besides beautiful exterior styling, a few great powertrains, strong handling, along with a killer instrument layout, some comfort was designed into the cars. Those of us that have HO M22 Birds with A/C appreciate the a/c more in the very hot summer months. Doesn't matter if you're back east or in the Southwest, hop into one with black or blue vinyl seats when its high 90's- 100 degrees... nice to have the AC.

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by njsteve

The older you get, you more you need to be refrigerated in the hotter months. :-)

Changing plugs is easy on an A/C car - just put a jack under the subframe and raised the car a couple inches, enough that the suspension drops on the pass side. You then use a long extension and go straight through the gap between the inner fender and the upper control arm. I can do the pass side faster than the driver's side, where I have to deal with the power brake booster and brake lines in the way on #5 and 7.

The real reason to hate A/C on these cars is when the heater core goes bad and you have to take the entire car apart to replace it. (I need to do this on the SD)

I put the socket on the #7 plug by itself & use a box end wrench on the socket.....it's ALMOST as easy as doing #1...

The first time you do an A/C heater core on a secongen bird,it's always a bit of a surprise....who would have thought it could so much more complicated than a non A/C bird?

I usually spend the extra 15 minutes to pull the pass. side fender (with inner attached)

It makes the whole A/C heater core experience ALOT more enjoyable...

[165th]

Originally Posted by 1971455HO

I can offer up one (my) explanation for having AC and Power Steering on a high performance car being from the generation that drove these cars when they were new. Back in the day, all of us guys carried two 9/16" x 1/2" combination wrenches and maybe a 5/8" with us at all times. One, was it fit nearly every nut or bolt under the hood and, two... if we were heading for the drag strip, we just took the AC and Alternator belts off and and let it eat. One it saved the belts from stretching and or twisting and two it unlocked all the power. Later after playing hard, we just put everything back on and rode in comfort. Me in my bird & my buddy with his GTO done it for years. Yeah, it was a little inconvenient., but hell, it only took a couple of minutes to do it. None of us were rich, so it was our hot rod, our date cars and our go to work cars. Just a different perspective back then.

Eddie

Love it.... been there... done that. Don't forget the crafstman screwdriver that was used to tweak the screws on the carb for race set up and serve as a lever when tightening up the belts at the end of the night. Thanks for the reminder of how fun and resourceful we were in the day.

[1971455HO]

Yep!

[2manyT/A'S]

Looks pretty clean to me....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pontiac-Tran...US_Cars_Trucks

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by 2manyT/A'S

Looks pretty clean to me....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pontiac-Tran...US_Cars_Trucks

09C build date and he claims it is the last automatic 72 T/A built "#827"?????? I think the owners of the rest of the cars built from October to April might have issue with that.

I love the Ford "CAUTION FAN" sticker.

1973 fenders, 1973 one piece A/C lines, aftermarket A/C POA valve, generic non-bleeder master cylinder, unpainted intake.

Looks nice, good low stance, nothing a weekend of replacing parts couldn't fix.

Gotta change that single spaced all-caps font in the ad, though - my eyes are bleeding.

[Judge273]

Not sure on the 1971 strike. But, in 1970 the strike was in Sept around 15th of 1970??

Maybe he meant that: its early build and last before strike??

Nice car and matching (hope he is referring to vin matching). Like the W/W with AC is cool, No pun intent.

But, not liking the white cowl and seal segments.

Didn't go to Steve's online detail school for 72 TA....Fenders replaced in a weekend??

[Bentwheelbob]

The valve stems aren't indexed. Other than that, nice looking ride.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by Judge273

Not sure on the 1971 strike. But, in 1970 the strike was in Sept around 15th of 1970??

Maybe he meant that: its early build and last before strike??

Nice car and matching (hope he is referring to vin matching). Like the W/W with AC is cool, No pun intent.

But, not liking the white cowl and seal segments.

Didn't go to Steve's online detail school for 72 TA....Fenders replaced in a weekend??

LOL. Well if the fenders were already painted, that is.

The 1972 strike was in early April of 1972.

I sent him a polite e-mail mentioning that maybe he should edit out the "#827 ...the last automatic T/A built" stuff. Here is his response:

"not according to all the archive we researched including hemmings"


So obviously he is an expert in archiv-ology.

Especially with the Ford "CAUTION FAN" sticker, he has most definitely researched all the Camaro archives out there.

[johnta1]

"#827 ...the last automatic T/A built"

I have info on a white TA that is 47 higher VIN than his?
So his is the second to last one made?

['ol Pinion head]

Positives: Body panels line up very well, appears to be born with block..
the rest: without a 3 man crew, see more time than a weekend to sort out the detailing under the hood & under the body, cowl appears to have been sandblasted at one time, thus appearance of cowl tag

interior needs a considerable amount of work, orig carb? orig distrib? exhaust system needs at least correct tailpipes & tips

Last white auto '72 built... not by a long shot. '72 Norwood UAW strike did not start til April 6, 1972. Last '72 T/A's had body asm dates of 03E, & possibly an 04A bodied T/A will appear.

[njsteve]

Feel free to inundate the guy's ebay inbox with examples of later cars.

[RamAir]

Originally Posted by johnta1

I have info on a white TA that is 47 higher VIN than his?
So his is the second to last one made?

LOL, that's my car. Mine is white/white and a 9C build too. It's funny, he's stating the "H" build code on the block & heads are Sept '71 cast. That means they were cast the same week or day as the build. Mine are "H" code also but were cast in August though.

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by johnta1

I have info on a white TA that is 47 higher VIN than his?
So his is the second to last one made?

From my records, there seems to be a literal flood of '72 T/A's built with 09C & 09D body builds. Assembled up into late first week of October with VINs in the high N506's, then I have no records of any T/A's built up into the N513's, then again, a flood of them.

Bigborehunter & I once PM'ed over the possibility of there being large batch builds of '72 GTO's. It wouldn't surprise me if something similar was going on in the Fall of '71 with TransAm builds. Once calendar year '72 came along, my records show examples of '72 T/A's built every week until the strike stopped it all.

If anyone has an Oct body build '72 T/A with a VIN in the N507xxx to N513xxx range would love to hear from them

[bossbirdta]

i like the custom interior with standard door panels?

custom seat belts with plastic buckles??

black knobs on the window cranks???

YB decal on the valve cover????

standard dash pad with no assist strap per custom interior?????

no black paint on the extractor grills??????

no white door handle tape denoting custom interior??????

nice exhaust tips too.....

and its funny how its assembled with parts cast after the 09C build date.....

if this is the most original 1972 Trans Am he's seen, then he aint seen many 72 T/A's.....