82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

After 2 years of working on her, I can finally consider this project done. Still a bunch of little things to do, but I took her out to a local spring dust off.
Some pics:

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Looks awesome!

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Thanks Chuck.
A few more pics.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

That's beautiful! And I love seeing a running, driving CrossFire car.

KnightmareCS

iTrader: (7)

FL TA

iTrader: (1)

That is one beautiful early 3rd gen TA.

I had my heart set on a Recaro, just couldn't pay Recaro prices.

Bow_Tied

iTrader: (1)

That is super clean. Well done.

LHernandezJr

...

chazman

iTrader: (4)

There are so many details here. Like, where did you get correct radiator hose clamps?

visitor

That is a CLEAN car! Love it

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

O Man that looks Great Vince!Congratulations.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Thanks guys. The comments mean a lot. I have had this car since I was 16, hoping someday to make her look like she did when new. The car is like part of the family. I told my wife the car has been around longer then her.
Charlie - those are the original clamps. For some reason, I tossed the clamps for the lower hose years ago but kept the tops. I cleaned them up in a rust remover to get rid of the light surface rust and shot them with a coat of clear.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Is that a Chuck Peltan steering wheel? How did you refinish the aircleaner cover?

PATRIOTIC1911

iTrader: (2)

AMAZING CAR......LOOKS GREAT!!

TAdan

Nice job Vincent!

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I had someone else refinish the steering wheel. I was less then thrilled with it because I did not want shiny leather. Seems to look decent though.
The air cleaner was refinished in black crinkle finish by a local powder coater. The guy also powdercoated all the engine brackets and pulleys, valve covers, and all the little trim pieces you see in the car such as door handles, ash trays, console door bracket, metal part of shifter, etc. He also powdercoated the t top bar. I found a great deal on an NOS t top bar but it had been stored on a shelf for some time in less then ideal conditions and was scratched up. In reference to another thread I started long ago, it was advertised as such, and not stated as NOS perfect. Some people are actually honest.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Anybody have questions about something you see, just post them. I did not document along the way, but virtually every part of the car was touched in some way, from the interior, to under the hood. I had some things made custom also such as the lower graphics, the Recaro door handle inserts, and the arrows on the bowling ball hubcaps. So I could tell you where to get those if you need them. BTW my Recaro door handle inserts are the most correct repro you will find. I sent my guy an original, and he copied it. He then sent me multiple revisions and I sat and studied them to find minute flaws in the drawing. Due to the nature of its shape, it scanned distorted and had to be edited by hand. I recently noticed that Phoenix is also making the Recaro door handle inserts and just from a quick look at them I can tell you they look like crap. The font in the R is all wrong, and there are just so many details that don't look right. Overall, I did not like the Phoenix graphics kit I purchased for the car. Aside from the birds I was not happy with the Phoenix graphics kit so I had to have it custom made. The guy still has my art work so he can still make them, probably in all the colors they were originally made.
The engine has a few mods too. It has a Renegade intake, and L69 exhaust manifolds exiting out to a magnaflow y pipe and Dynomax 2.75 inch exhaust. Fuel pressure was made adjustable and bumped up to 14 psi. A tpi fuel pump was installed to deliver the extra fuel pressure. I am running a 1983 ecm. Supposedly they made 10 more horsepower in 83 just in the tune. FWIW, the engine feels healthy. It is a crossfire so the fact that it runs good is enough to make me happy. If I want to lay down rubber I will just drive my 2011 Mustang. I didn't put it together for that. I just wanted to exorcise some of the gremlins that plague that motor. Along that line, all sensors were changed, as well as all vacuum lines.
The brake booster was looking shabby so I sent that out to get cad plated. The master cylinder was an ugly cast iron replacement so I found an NOS aluminum one on Ebay and replaced it.
The engine was not rebuilt, and ran rather well, so the internals are stock other then a crane cam that was installed over 20 years ago. When I tore it down, I did get an Eastwood paint kit in the factory blue and repainted the engine. It seems like good stuff. It is a 2 part epoxy paint.
The trim around the rear glass and the edge of the t tops was sanded, primed, and painted with SEM trim black.
All the interior panels were sun faded so I needed to find replacements(thanks to members JohninRI and RCAR who got me a bunch of that stuff) and paint them to match. Thanks to member Hawk312(whose car came out phenomenal btw) for starting a thread and teaching us all how to refinish interior plastics, I was able to make the interior look brand new again. That thread should have been stickied a long time ago(any mods reading?)
I needed new ac lines and compressor, but replacement lines are routed as they were in 83 and up, so I sent my old hoses out to have them changed on my original fittings. I had my ac labels from the condenser and compressor repopped so they would appear somewhat original.
I needed new hood insulation but those of you who have purchased it know it looks like crap. Funny thing is, the inside of it has a nice dark grey coating. So based on info I found in a thread on here, I spoke to a vendor about having it cut so the inside faces out. Looks much better IMO.
The headlight motors were disassembled and all brackets and housings were powdercoated. I got that tip from Jan Larsson. While they were apart I rebuilt the motors with metal gears for better durability.
So much more, I just can't remember all the stuff I did.

Jeffs82TA

iTrader: (1)

Beautiful car but while maybe just my phone but the gold accent seem more like the lighter gold used on 84 era cars. I remember my 82 having a lot darker gold.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I had a small business make up the graphics so that was the gold color available. The Phoenix kit did not match the gold on the car at all.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Here is a pic of the original graphics on the car. They definitely had a bit more orange tint to them. They also did not match the original gold perfectly.
Such is life. Can't get it all perfect I guess.

PATRIOTIC1911

iTrader: (2)

I guess I'm kind of surprised,.....with all the work you put into this car, why didn't you rebuild the engine??

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

It has 60,000 miles and runs like a top. I did not plan on removing the CFI so I was not expecting big performance. It would have been money thrown away. If it ever goes, I plan on putting in a 350. No point sinking money into a 305 when you can go bigger. I really don't foresee having to swap the engine though. It does not get driven much and not hard. The CFI is unique in its own right, but I don't kid myself about what to expect from it.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

What do you think of the Renegade?

I also have the L69 exhaust manifolds on my CFI. Combined with a 3" exhaust and SLP 2OTL muffler, really makes a difference.

chazman

iTrader: (4)

The leather looks good in the pic. Even on Pelton's steering wheels, the leather is not completely identical to the factory covering.

kymmee

Everything looks great and impressive attention to all the detail you did under hood and on the interior. Also, since we were doing resto's partially at the same time, I wanted to thank you for your help with matching the interior plastics paint (BAPS) and the underhood insulation tip, and anything else I asked you about.

sootie007

Nice work !

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Thanks Kim! I got a lot of help from people here as well so it's always great to pass on a little bit of knowledge.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I changed the exhaust, bumped up the fuel pressure, increased base timing a bit and installed the Renegade at the same time, so I can't say for sure how much of a difference it made. The car does feel stronger though. I will say that if you ever saw the intake ports on the original manifold you would wonder how in the heck the engine was breathing through them.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

The original wheel was same kind of urethane covered with a fake leather looking outer coating. It wasn't fooling anyone. I decided to get it covered in leather for an improved look, but I wanted the finish to look close to the original finish on the wheel when new. I happen to have an NOS wheel I bought years ago, so I took pics of it and emailed them to the guy doing the wheel. I had seen his work on another wheel over on the TTA boards and it was good. But I did not like the finish on the wheel. It was too shiny. So I asked him specifically to match the finish on the pics I sent him. I think he has a giant roll of shiny leather because he seemed to ignore anything I told him. I guess the irony is, it looks closer to what my wheel looked like before it was recovered.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Original:

NOS:


Recovered: Charlie - I used one of those pens to touch up the silver after this pic was taken. It worked great.

Jeffs82TA

iTrader: (1)

You will get crispier response out of CFI with a 84 vette ecm and getting temps up around 210-220

chazman

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, I love those paint pens. I keep going around my cars looking for places to use them.

visitor

On the leather wheel.. what a LOT of shops do to get that matte satiny sheen is to take some sem satin clear coat and lightly coat it.

I know it sounds weird, and you may thumb your nose at using paint on leather, I get it.. just letting you know how some shops do it.

Regardless, such a nice clean car. Again, love it.

visitor

http://m.yourautotrim.com/semdylowlucl.html

This stuff.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

I think that would force a rich condition in open loop. It is calibrated for a 350 and larger injectors. Not sure what would happen in closed loop but it might compensate for the difference by reading the 02 sensor.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the lead. Not a bad idea, but I think at this point I am going to leave it. It really does not look too bad in the interior.

The_Wraith

Amazing example of a 82 t/a! Excellent work!

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

I'm not entirely sure I follow what you are saying here. Can you explain this a little further, maybe with a few photos?

The pad in my '88 is torn, and could really stand to be replaced. I know sometimes these replacements (speaking of the industry as a whole, not any particular one vendor or experience with this car) tend to look very "loose", or "puffy", like home fiberglass insulation you'd put in your walls at home, while the OE piece looks very compressed, contoured, and molded.

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

This is what REM (the company that makes the insulation) leaves facing out on the hood insulation. It is unfinished, and you can see the raw fiberglass. But the kicker is the side that goes against the hood has a grey coating on it as you can see in the pics above of my hood insulation that actually looks pretty good. So if you call up one of the vendors that sells the insulation and they are willing to cooperate, they can have the insulation custom cut with the dark grey side that usually faces the hood on the outside instead of the inside. It's actually flipped over with the back side facing out. The insulation material is actually made in varying thicknesses so if you are concerned about it being too puffy make sure you get it cut in the thinnest thickness that they offer. I need to go through my bills and find out where I ordered it. The guy was very accommodating. It cost me a few bucks more but was worth it.
My 1982 never had that molded fiberglass insulation. I could be wrong but it reminded me more of what this repop looks like except in a darker color. The molded insulation came on the later third gens. I don't think we will see the molded ones repopped any time soon. It would cost too much for our hobby to support. I would jump on an original looking one if my car called for it but I seem to be in the minority. So for everyone that needs one, it would be nice to at least match the color by leaving the coated side out.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Got it. Thank you.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Wow! Turned out gorgeous! Like turning the clock back....good work!

Those overflow and washer tanks look new ...where'd you get those at? -and the steering wheel looks fine to me...

miamivice

Awesome, looks great!

Jeffs82TA

iTrader: (1)

My 305 was fine and passed smog. The vette ecm will give you better timing curves. My 83 responded well to all mods I did

nhra-trans-am

iTrader: (7)

Impressive

carlos64030

iTrader: (1)

Very, VERY, VERY nice restoration!

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

The overflow tank is NOS. You can actually find them on Ebay all the time. The washer reservoir is original and does not look as fresh in person. The replacements from GM are the later style ones and have a different shape. I just cleaned it up and put it back.

3rdgenparts

iTrader: (8)

Vince your CLEAN 1982 Recaro is a masterpiece !!!!!!!!


GREAT JOB !!!!!!!



Dave

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Thanks Dave. BTW - the radio looks great in there!

PATRIOTIC1911

iTrader: (2)

Makes total sense. Again, great car.

Blackknight

iTrader: (1)

Great restoration! Looks awesome congrats!