#61  
Old 06-07-2021, 01:55 PM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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Stuart-

Crazy thing, I keep in touch with the original owner, Albie, about once a month or so to keep him informed of my progress. Nicest guy you would ever want to meet! He has searched his home as well as his parents home and come up with nothing. He is really bummed he hasn't found anything. Said he finds items from every car he has had but this one so far. I am sure he will continue to look. In the mean time, I have asked him if could could jot down "the story" of how he went about saving for the car, placing the order and some of the adventures he had in it. Turns out, he sold the car to his brother who had it for a short period before trading it in to a Chevrolet dealership in MD. Chris D. purchased the car from that dealership and was the last registered owner who drove the car, very, very hard. I am trying to contact Chris, but he hasn't been as receptive to share his story.

Jim

  #62  
Old 10-15-2021, 11:42 AM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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Hard to believe it has been 4 months since my last post. Work has been crazy and putting in too many hours.

Have made a turning point in the restoration, finally! Subframe has been out, refinished and mounted under the car again. I still need to blast and refinish the A-arms, springs and spindles. I can now start to put things back together! I sent the original front brake calipers to a shop in Chicago for a rebuild. They were the original units.
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  #63  
Old 10-15-2021, 02:20 PM
TAKerry TAKerry is offline
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Very Nice!

  #64  
Old 10-16-2022, 09:00 PM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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Coming up on the third anniversary of purchasing the car. Time flies. Looks like it has been a year since my last post. Making progress but my momentum is slowing down.

Very short list of items on finishing up the chassis. Engine went out with Joe Hand today for a rebuild!
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  #65  
Old 10-17-2022, 07:50 PM
74Grandville 74Grandville is offline
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Awesome progress. looking great!

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1979 Firebird Trans Am 301/4spd (Now 428)
1977 Firebird Formula 400/Auto
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  #66  
Old 10-18-2022, 02:54 PM
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77 TRASHCAN 77 TRASHCAN is offline
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Tell Joe to say " howdy" to his Dad, for all of us here, he is missed!!!

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1977 Black Trans Am 180 HP Auto, essentially base model T/A.
I'm the original owner, purchased May 7, 1977.

Shut it off
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  #67  
Old 10-23-2022, 07:05 PM
Poncho Dave Poncho Dave is offline
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Only three years, I’m on six! Your making great progress, keep it going!

  #68  
Old 12-10-2022, 03:24 PM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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Default Engine rebuild progress

I swore after restoring the '78 Macho that I would NEVER buy another project car that was in pieces that someone else had taken apart. Well, you know what they say about never saying NEVER! This project has been 100% better than the Macho, however, the engine situation has not been too far off.

Said prior owner who ran the car into the ground before a 35 year slumber really ran it hard. I purchased the car with the original engine included, but I had no idea if it was actually in a state of being rebuildable. Visibly from the outside there weren't any holes in the oil pan or through the side of the block...

Turns out, it had been rebuilt once before. Cylinders were .030 over, including one questionable cylinder wall, rods that were "lightened" beyond reusing, a crank that had been "balanced" very sloppy and not original. Joe took the block to a local machine shop he likes. They reported the block can be used again and I was ecstatic! Basically the entire lower end needs to be replaced and Joe had several suggestions for different directions we could go. In the end, we decided with a 467 stroker kit from Jim Butler Performance! I am extremely stoked to say the least! Externally the engine will look factory stock, but internally will be a torque monster!

The headache currently is hunting down all of the small details like pulleys, brackets, OEM valve covers, intake vacuum system etc... I have collected the correct carb, small amp alternator, starter, date coded water pump and five blade flex fan. Some pretty odd parts very unique to a low option, no A/C car!

Here is a quick picture of some parts Joe has cleaned up and waiting for assembly!
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  #69  
Old 12-17-2022, 09:08 PM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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Default Engine update

Parts are coming in and the block is back from the machine shop! I am excited that the assembly process will be taking place soon.

This is the new stroker crank from Jim Butler Performance and a beautiful set of pistons and rods!
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  #70  
Old 12-17-2022, 11:30 PM
Poncho Dave Poncho Dave is offline
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Wow, very nice. Really going to wake that thing up!

  #71  
Old 01-21-2023, 04:08 PM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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Default January engine update

Joe has got the lower end assembled. We are currently waiting on the heads. First shop he took them to have been sitting on them. Going to pick them up the first of the week and take them to another shop.

Joe basically started with a bare intake and is making huge progress in getting it put back together like it was originally. The carb on top is a fresh rebuild of a numbers matching unit.
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  #72  
Old 01-22-2023, 11:31 AM
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Skip Fix Skip Fix is offline
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What is the black bracket in front of EGR? I do not remember mine having that.

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1978 Trans Am original owner 10.99 @ 124 pump gas 455 E heads, NO Bird ever!
1981 Black SE Trans Am stockish 6X 400ci, turbo 301 on a stand
1965 GTO 4 barrel 3 speed project
2004 GTO Pulse Red stock motor computer tune 13.43@103.4
1964 Impala SS 409/470ci 600 HP stroker project
1979 Camaro IAII Edelbrock head 500" 695 HP 10.33@132 3595lbs
  #73  
Old 01-22-2023, 07:21 PM
jerry455 jerry455 is offline
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I was wondering that same thing. I had a 1978 Gold WS6 T/A 6.6 in 1982 with 20,000 miles on it and like brand new. It did not have that bracket on it. It was a federal emissions car, if that makes a difference.

  #74  
Old 01-22-2023, 07:48 PM
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I've only seen that shield once before, in a picture, here, also. Poster said it was something used on certain engines. A heat shield for the primary choke pullout.
Just the second one I've ever seen. I haven't seen much though...

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1977 Black Trans Am 180 HP Auto, essentially base model T/A.
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Shut it off
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  #75  
Old 01-22-2023, 10:49 PM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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Correct, it was a heat shield used on the '78-'79 W72 engines. I've got a feeling it was taken off and discarded on a lot of engines. My friend Manny, who is restoring '78 Macho T/A #100, confirmed the shield for me. I wasn't aware of them before hand. LadyTA had this one that I purchased!

  #76  
Old 01-28-2023, 10:16 AM
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Mine was a 180HP base engine so maybe why not on it.

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1978 Trans Am original owner 10.99 @ 124 pump gas 455 E heads, NO Bird ever!
1981 Black SE Trans Am stockish 6X 400ci, turbo 301 on a stand
1965 GTO 4 barrel 3 speed project
2004 GTO Pulse Red stock motor computer tune 13.43@103.4
1964 Impala SS 409/470ci 600 HP stroker project
1979 Camaro IAII Edelbrock head 500" 695 HP 10.33@132 3595lbs
  #77  
Old 02-25-2023, 06:01 PM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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The heads are back from the machine shop! Joe plans to do some more work on them before putting the new valves in and final assembly.

I got a box of miscellaneous parts from 78W72 last week, thanks Scott! The list is endless when you are trying to put an engine together when it was taken apart 30 years ago and nothing was saved...
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  #78  
Old 02-26-2023, 10:40 AM
78w72 78w72 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 78Macho View Post
The heads are back from the machine shop! Joe plans to do some more work on them before putting the new valves in and final assembly.

I got a box of miscellaneous parts from 78W72 last week, thanks Scott! The list is endless when you are trying to put an engine together when it was taken apart 30 years ago and nothing was saved...
youre very welcome! happy to help on these misc small somewhat hard to find parts for your W72.

the black choke shield isnt really a heat shield, its the opposite, it shields the choke from cold air coming off the fan that would effect the warm up & pull off of the choke.

  #79  
Old 03-03-2023, 01:46 PM
78Macho 78Macho is offline
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Default Dealer Insignia

I grew up in a very modest family. We had what we needed and my dad worked really hard for it. We bought one new car, when I was 11, a 1977 Camaro. I have since inherited the Camaro, but that is another story. The first thing my dad did after purchasing a new (used) car, was take the dealer insignia off the trunk lid. For some reason he didn't like to advertise for the dealer, but he kept the emblems on a shelf in the garage. Fast forward many, many years and I am thinking the opposite of what dad taught me. I put a "MP" dealer insignia on my 1978 Macho as a finishing touch. I think it adds to the originality of the car and is comparable to the paper trail that tells a story.

For my latest project, the "stripper in the garage", I have been very fortunate to find the son of the original dealership as well as the previous owners of the car and the original owner. One of my questions to these folks was about an original dealer insignia. Bill Cooper, the son of the original dealer did not remember if his dad had an emblem for the dealership or not. I put an ad on CL several years ago in the "region" and finally had someone respond that had a Cutlass that was sold through Cooper's in Chestertown, MD. Turns out the dealer used a stencil and painted their name on the trunks of the cars they sold new! I wasn't so sure about this and decided to pursue recreating what an emblem might have looked like if they actually used one!

Very long story short, I saw a post on PY where a member was referencing 3D printing. It was a thought I had looked into before, but hadn't found the right person. I sent a message to JohhnyB on Sunday night. We messaged back and forth many times, and by Wednesday he had several examples printed out and ready to mail to me from NY! We have finally come up with the example shown on my rear spoiler in the picture. It is made from PETG plastic which should be weatherproof for my use. I took an example to a local foundry to see if they could cast it in aluminum, but they said the plastic was too flexible and the letters too angled for them to get a successful mold.

I am pretty excited! Now, if the car were just done and ready for a dealer insignia on the rear spoiler...
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  #80  
Old 03-03-2023, 03:56 PM
78w72 78w72 is offline
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thats great you found the original owner & son of the dealership to get details on the rear spoiler insignia.

when i restored my 81 pacecar i took a pic of the dealership sticker on the rear spoiler in case it was something special. i'd never heard of the dealership or was even sure if it was from a dealership, did a google search years ago for "maroon pontiac" & found they were a big dealership in new jersey of all places, my car spent most all its life in southern arizona & even mexico. my friend found it at a car repair shop where it sat outside for 10 years, i wont muck up your restoration thread with the story of how i came to own it but the dealer sticker was kinda cool and someday i may try to recreate it, it came off in pieces even being very careful with a heat gun.
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