[johnta1]

Bulletin on 78 leaf springs, having 5 or 6 leafs

1978 Leaf Springs bulletin

[njsteve]

Interesting chart. Gramma's car had "PC" listed on the broadcast for rear springs (right and left). Chart shows that as 5 leaf, 97 lb rate, part number 480880.

[OVERULD]

Great info John, thanks for posting.

BJ

[unruhjonny]

cool!

[njsteve]

I got the new four-leaf, Trans Am springs installed yesterday and the 3.08 geared rear end back in the car, today. The new springs fit the perches a lot nicer than the old five-leaf setup did. This 1980 T/A rear end was made for a four-leaf spring pack. I installed a pair of KYB GasAdjust shocks to match the fronts. Everything is hooked back up with the exception of the rear brakes. I bought a new set of ProThane rear sway bar bushings for the 9/16" bar but they don't make the correct large bushing for the one-bolt sway bar drop links (only for the 1970-73, two bolt/two-piece), so I had to re-use the original large bushings. For some reason they make the large bushings for the 5/8" and thicker rear bars in the one-bolt version but neglect the 9/16" bar???

I have a new set of brake shoes to go in and had a pair of new wheel cylinders sitting around so I used them since I noticed that the originals were leaking.

Tomorrow the brakes and the new speedometer gear get installed.

Here's how she looks now.

[77 Canamman]

Looks fantastic!

[Formulabruce]

Nice Job!! , Your daughter do this "E" ??

[njsteve]

Nope, she's too old now! It was 12 years ago when she painted the rear in the '72 T/A!

[TransAmRIP]

Originally Posted by njsteve

I got the new four-leaf, Trans Am springs installed yesterday and the 3.08 geared rear end back in the car, today. The new springs fit the perches a lot nicer than the old five-leaf setup did. This 1980 T/A rear end was made for a four-leaf spring pack. I installed a pair of KYB GasAdjust shocks to match the fronts. Everything is hooked back up with the exception of the rear brakes. I bought a new set of ProThane rear sway bar bushings for the 9/16" bar but they don't make the correct large bushing for the one-bolt sway bar drop links (only for the 1970-73, two bolt/two-piece), so I had to re-use the original large bushings. For some reason they make the large bushings for the 5/8" and thicker rear bars in the one-bolt version but neglect the 9/16" bar???

I have a new set of brake shoes to go in and had a pair of new wheel cylinders sitting around so I used them since I noticed that the originals were leaking.

Tomorrow the brakes and the new speedometer gear get installed.

Here's how she looks now.

Just wondering the direction you have the end links installed. Mine are the opposite direction. I'm assuming they were never touched until I restored the rear suspension???

[njsteve]

Yours are correct. I noticed I had mine installed backwards after I got the car back together. Ugh!

[njsteve]

I got the car on the road today after installing and bleeding the brakes, installing the new speedometer gear and housing, and doubling checking all the bolts. The vintage GM 3.08 gears are silent - no whine or howl. Very nice. And it is now 2,400 RPM at 60 mph, verified by the GPS.

While finishing up the brakes, I thought this was kind of neat: the original rear brake drums, still with planty of meat left on them. Dated "F 8 75".

[yahooskidoo]

Glad to hear the gears worked for you.

[njsteve]

Thanks for those gears Troy!. Hopefully you'll get those 3.42s in your car soon.

[njsteve]

Ordered some parts for the old gal yesterday - a new (repro) booster to replace the original that is painted to look like cad. Can't beat the price at $69. Maybe I'll send out the original to be redone eventually. And I ordered a set of the reproduction fender-to-radiator support bars to add a little stiffness to the front end.

I also pulled out the grills today to repaint them and found a screw driver that must have been sitting under one of the grills for at least 30 years. :-) I didn't recognize it as mine so it must have been from the garage my grandmother used to take the car.

[unruhjonny]

I love finding tools... especially when it was one I was looking for!

[Held for Ransom]

Interesting on the rear drums. 1970-4 used smooth drums.

[njsteve]

It was a busy weekend!

I sanded and repainted the top of the radiator support with black epoxy paint to get rid of the original "survivor" surface rust look.

I bought a set of the InlineTube reproduction fender to rad support bars and installed them.

I installed the shiny new repro brake booster and bled the front brakes.

I adjusted the parking brake which had been too loose after the rear end installation.

I also pulled the grills, sanded and repainted them using wheel paint sprayed from about a foot away so it gave a nice dry, sparkly finish like the original.

I cleaned the signal lenses and polished the chrome bezels, too.

And yeah, I added an old leftover "455HO" decal I had sitting around. The air cleaner looked too bare and needed something to spruce it up. And technically, the 455 does have the rods from my old 455HO in it... ;-)

After all that I put 5 gallons of aviation fuel in the tank to give her a treat.

I ordered a new ColdCase radiator which should be here tomorrow. Then the shroud comes out and gets refinished, too, during the installation process.

After all this work, I noticed that one of my AC/Delco spark plug wires was not working right when I checked them all with a timing light to chase down an intermittent miss. I checked my old receipts and it turns out that they are guaranteed for life, so Rock Auto is sending me a new set for the ones on the car that I bought in 2008!

[cnc]

Looks awesome....you certainly do some nice work ..
If u would keep us posted on the rad install I've asked about these ColdCase Rads in our Second Gens for fitment and other such things....would appreciate the info ....Chris

[77 Canamman]

Any tips on the brake booster? I bought the swivel end racheting wrench. I am not looking forward to it..

[njsteve]

Oh yeah! I was able to get the two engine side mounting bolts with the ratcheting box end and one of the fender side bolts, The lowest mounting bolt is a 1/8 turn at a time fun-fest with a stubby 9/16 wrench. Not fun at all. The other thing is that the spacing on the bracket holes in the new booster is WRONG. The studs coming off the firewall and not in a square pattern. One of lower studs is noticeably lower than the other side. So you have to grind out the holes in the new booster mounting bracket to get the booster to mount up to the firewall studs. If you have your old booster handy, sit them next to each other and measure the inner difference on the holes with a caliper, mark the area on the new booster bracket and grind away. You have to slot the existing slotted lower hole by 1/4" to 3/8" or so.

If you actually remove your inner fender you can disregard all the insanity of the 1/4 turning. But not everyone wants to do that (I certainly didn't).