[njsteve]

Many of you have been following my 7-year long thread on the preservation/restoration of my 72 Trans Am, 455HO, four speed. Well, like most people who finish a jigsaw puzzle, I don’t know what to do with it now that’s done. So I am looking for my next endeavor: a 73 SD, T/A or Formula.

If any of you SD owners out there are interested in my completely finished, 72 T/A, a car with its entire, original, born-with drivetrain – engine, M22, 3.42 rear, etc, I am happy to consider your SD.

Briefly, my T/A was a really nice, complete, running, California car before I started. It was sold new at Reliable Pontiac in Roseville, CA in December 1971. I spent a great deal of time and effort preserving any and all original markings and finishes. As you an see from the photos, the entire underside of the car is still covered in its original factory applied red primer and overspray.

There are two restoration threads that I have been posting to since 2004. The one here at PY is 72 pages long with 80,000+ hits. The one over at Yenko.net is 117 pages long with over 400,000 hits. (People tend to “discuss” things a bit more over there)

Here are the links:
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...433662&page=75

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbt...99416&page=117

This car is completely sorted. Everything works as original (if not better). The engine pulls strong all the way through the power band. The R12-equipped A/C blows frigid. The car runs at 170 degrees in 90+ degree weather with the A/C on full blast, The 7042273 carb is properly tuned and jetted and runs strong with no bogs, skips or flat spots. The car is scary fast and strong and rides/handles like a brand new car.

The restoration was featured in two consecutive issues of Hemmings Muscle Machines (Dec 2010 and Jan 2011) and was recently photographed by High Performance Pontiac.

http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/..._feature5.html
http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/..._feature4.html

I am looking for a nice, non-rusty SD to start my next never-ending resto thread. I'm happy to consider whatever you have. Send me a PM or email at nk15268@hotmail.com and I’ll get right back to you.

Thanks, NJSteve

[3tas4me]

Beautiful car! What you do when you are done is drive it! Then after a few years, you can restore it again.

[njsteve]

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by 3tas4me

Beautiful car! What you do when you are done is drive it! Then after a few years, you can restore it again.

LOL. I have been driving it. I put 1,300 miles on her since last Fall. In my book they're not done until you have 1,000 miles on the car and everything works as originally designed (or better)!

My fingers are itchy. You can only go so long without a new dose of grease (the antidote).

[1972455HO]

I can't believe you can let that car go after all that work!
That is an awesome car.
I wish I had kept mine.

[sd455hota]

That is a gorgeous car!!! Great job!!!

[njsteve]

Thanks! I figured the underside photos show a lot more of my effort than the topside ones. :-)

She really is a great running car. The gas mileage is whole 'nother story, though. She gets worse gas mileage then my 426 Hemi! It cost $65 to fill her up yesterday...and we have the cheapest gas in the country here in Jersey.

[mrhp]

Hey Steve, my 1st one was my daily driver in '73 while working part time & attending college. Then the oil embargo hit. I believe I was getting 7-8 mpg...

[68lemansman]

Hey you can come and redo my car ! I dont live that far from you lol

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by mrhp

Hey Steve, my 1st one was my daily driver in '73 while working part time & attending college. Then the oil embargo hit. I believe I was getting 7-8 mpg...

Yup, 8 mpg, that's the winning number! :-)

[3tas4me]

Wow! I can get 13 mpg with my '71 on the hwy.

[Tellyshavilli]

Same here 12-13 mpg in the Sd .

[Formulabruce]

Steve, may help to have the forum, and or pics on a CD? just an idea.

[FBird69]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Yup, 8 mpg, that's the winning number! :-)

You must be a lead foot, I get almost 10 MPG in mine (city driving)!

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by Formulabruce

Steve, may help to have the forum, and or pics on a CD? just an idea.

CD? I'd need a 10 gig thumbdrive for all the thread and photos. :-)

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by FBird69

You must be a lead foot, I get almost 10 MPG in mine (city driving)!

Fbird69, That's a beautiful 69 ragtop you got there! A RAIII 400, I assume?

Yeah, it's hard not to enjoy the torque of a good runnin' 455 with 3.42 gears. Those 55 extra cubes must be where the extra gas goes. Since it is about 14% bigger than a 400, it should logically get 14% worse gas mileage?

:-)

[njsteve]

Out in the garage today playing...Here's a video you can click on, of the T/A's engine starting up and running.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by FBird69

You must be a lead foot, I get almost 10 MPG in mine (city driving)!

Hey, I drove the T/A to a cruise night yesterday, around 90 miles roundtrip. She actually got 11.1 mpg...a new record (for me). :-)

[71GP76TA]

I'm getting about 13 with my RAIII..

[aronhk_md]

Hell, I was getting 12-13 mpg highway with my 73 all last year............462 ci and turbo that made 1064 hp on pump gas at 15 psi....lol. Oddly enough that was with 3.73 gears. I've switched to 3.08's now with a much tighter converter, but didnt get a chance to see what that would do before I blew a head gasket. Building a new motor for it now with more stuff.....goal is 1200 hp at 15 psi, pump gas.

Thats one beautiful car steve...you deserve every article done on it. Seriously though, a Super Duty restoration wont be quite as much of a challenge for you because a LOT of the research/legwork you've already done! Good luck with the sale/trade.