kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey Guys!

Well i finally brought the car out of storage!... and now just thinking about how i want to takle the restoration this year might just be interior and electrical work. and then next year will probably be motor and body work. The only question i do have is one of the pictures i have attached is an undershot of the tonneu conver where the top hooks into what looks like a power window motor, basically i was wondering if anyone knows were to get one of these or could recommend on what to rebuild it with as it is all pretty much plastic inside.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

more picts

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

just a final other picts, last one is a copy of the build sheet so if anyone can tell me more about the car that would be awesome!.. Im gathering that is was one of around 150 built that year or so but i may be wrong

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

I cant help you with your question on the decklid parts... but man I like that car. Looks like its in pretty fair condition. Shouldnt take you too much to get her back into shape.

Are you restoring it? Or restomodding it??

J.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey J

the car is in decent shape for it's years I'm just planning on getting the interior back to normal, i will probably have it painted, I'm thinking escalade white, then finish with a complete motor rebuild nothing extreme just a complete teardown mild cam maybe some world heads eldlebrock tpi set up arp bolts, being I want to keep the 305 and I have the mustang for making tons of power..

flippermtc

iTrader: (1)

Kramer,
I have the same power motor setup in my 88 Formula vert. Your top should have a threaded stud on the bottom of it. It fits into a threaded hole on the tonneau cover, going into the motors mouth... When you engage the motor it pulls the stud down and holds the roof in posistion.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey FlipperMTC,

That is exactly what i have, have you ever had to rebuild yours? the plastic gear in mine is not strong enough anymore, so i was thinking about trying to find a new motor and getting it rebuilt with stainless stuff, but i was not sure if that was going to be to strong if something fails that it would pull that nut off the top off as in if the motor does not shut off.. coarse it is not open on the other side so it has to stop at some point.

tealcamaromanrs

that car looks great!!!!!

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Thanks man!.. I am really looking forward to finish it up hopefully by the end of next summer it will be done!..

flippermtc

iTrader: (1)

I would think that a shop that specializes in electrical motor repair could do the rebuild w/o to much difficulty. I haven't had to look in to it because fortunately my motor works well and i am very careful not to pull the top down tight and apply undo force on the gears & motor.

okfoz

Great Looking car
If the plastic gear is not strong enough, I would see about disassembling what you could and maybe grease everything up to make sure something was not binding, I would look for wear on things too... If the motor is still turning then its not a motor issue, I would not think...

I would also maybe look at some Corvette convertible parts and some Sunbird parts as they were also made by ASC and they may have used similar parts... just a thought

Thanks for the copy of the build-sheet. You can see where it was delivered to Pioneer Pontiac in Southgate MI, but was ordered by someone in WI. That is because the car was drop shipped to ASC (who owned Pioneer Pontiac), converted into a convertible, then shipped to the ordering dealerships. This is actually proof that your car was converted prior to its first sale to a private individual.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Well the cleaning up project has begun on the interior, I will actually post some picts of the process as i am going along!.. but I currently have the whole interior out of the car including the dash, working on making sure there are no cut wires and cleaning everything up. I am going to chassis saver the floor then put some fat mat on top of that to seal everything up nice, then work on cleaning up all of the interior parts, installing a new stereo, making sure all of the wiring is correct etc etc. so it will be a long summer but i think the results will be worth it..

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Some picts of the beginning of fun

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

The black is actually chassis saver that i have applied, there was really no rust but mine as well prevent it from starting

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

a few more

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Well the dynamat has been applied to the car as well and is complete, I will post a few pictures of that process as well. Now i just have the wiring to figure out and get corrected, then i can start putting and cleaning the interior up. I am going to repaint all of the plastics so hopefully in the next few weeks all the interior will be back together and i can start stripping and doing some body work on the car to get it ready for paint.

flippermtc

iTrader: (1)

Kramer,
I would highly recomend you use SEM paint. I recently redid my console, lid, back panels, steering wheel & assorted small interior parts and they came out great. Their paints are not cheap and you do have to purchase the prep agents and make it a point to prep the parts correctly. If you take your time they come out looking great. Keep in mind that if you do use SEM'S you do have to use different formulations for the soft plastics, hard plastics & leathers.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey Flipper!..

Thanks for the TIP, I was just on there website which products did you use?? i want to keep the interior grey, and do you have any prepping tips, i know a couple of people have told me to use the red and green scotch pads to put some surface on the plastics in questions throw some primer on it then paint it grey...

flippermtc

iTrader: (1)

Kramer,
Being in Pa i used Vinyl Pro. Here is their website. http://www.vinylpro.com/
A gentleman by the name of Thad helped me out..Very knowledgeble and helpful..I explained what type of parts i was painting and he steered me.
I used the SEM Sure Coat on my leather & soft vinyl parts and i think the SEM Color Coat on my back panels...I think...The best thing to do is contact Thad. It wasn't cheap but if you want to do it right it never is...Mine came out great.
preping is easy...I used a green scotch pad and cleaned the parts with the SEM prepping agents. Wore latex gloves,took my time,followed the directions and was very pleased with the results.
Good luck

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Well we should have the wiring done this week. I know I know pictures are going to be added... :-)...

I was wondering does any one with the digital climate control have a picture of how it is hooked up, i see that there are 4 plugs that are involved and one of them looks like it gets hooked up to a module of some sort, reason why I am asking is that I am troubleshooting why I cannot get the heat or vent or AC to work, on the front of the digital controls i can get the section were you select AC, vent or etc to have power but the fan speed section does not have power, I have tried 4 different control units with the same result, so i was looking to see if anyone had a picture i could reference, I have an offical service manual but that is like reading chinese..

I know i had been talking about the motor stuff.. and was wondering if it would really de-value the car by putting an LS1 in it??

Jason444

iTrader: (6)

kramer87gta,

Where did you find your build sheet?

Thanks,

Jason

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey Jason, One of the awesome members with the handle thebman007 was able to dig it up for me.

DAYTONA500TA

I have a 88 GTA convertible. It's a 305TPI/AUTO BLK/BLK TOP?TAN CLOTH Digital dash. 86,000 miles. I've had 5 GTA convertible counting this one and 1 Formula convertible (BLK)

Leave the original drivetrain in the car...they're such rare cars to begin with

Texas T/A

Just curious, what was the purpose of the electric motor? I have a 92 vert so these were not used. does your car have a headliner? nice ride,rare these days.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey Texas,

The motor was actually used to pull the top tight on to the tonneu cover. pretty much had the same concept as the trunk motors except there was a switch in stalled in the rear drivers side panel and worked like a window switch (up/down) and could be used for that. But thanks for the compliments, its in storage right now but i hope to keep updating and get more work done in the spring.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey Guys, well the restore project is going well, I have the trunk all back together and will put up some pictures and it turned out pretty well, I also have figured out all of the wiring except one thing, I have attached some pictures of the wires in question, its actually for the power antenna Does anyone have any idea where this gets plugged in? If anyone can help me that would be great,

okfoz

The plugs (there should be two) go into a relay that is under the trim piece on the RH side of the dash... Just below the map-pocket...

One side the provides power, 1) the pink wire that is from the radio 2) the ground, and 3) 12V from Battery (orange?? or Yellow??? I forget I think Orange)

the other side to the antenna has three wires. The OUTPUT IIRC has a Green, White. The Green, and White are for Up and down... Looking at your pic it apparently is White for up and White for down and the Green is the ground. That is my guess... For some reason I thought it was White, Green and Black, but maybe that is by the antenna.

Its been a few years, so my colors might be off but thats what I seem to remember.

John

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey John,

Do you have any pictures of what the connector looks like that this should be plugged into? I happen to have the front of the car all torn apart and i must have removed that relay.

Thanks!

okfoz

No, I do not have a picture of it... Sorry... Do you have your dash off too???

John

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey John,

Yeah i actually was working on some wiring issues, as where the car was stored before i got it, mice got up into the air ducts and made nests, so i took the entire dash apart.

I have attached a picture of what i am working with as of now..

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Wow what a sweet and rare ride! Can't wait to see where this project goes!

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Update, Well i have been slowly again working on thing and i found the harness for the electric antenna and it works as it should, I also had my convertible top motor overhauled and it now works as it should, I will take some pictures of the relay for further reference for others. But i am working on remounting everything to get the dash back on. My digital camera died before i could get all the pictures, I was wondering if anyone has any references as to how the ECU is mounted, I have both an 87 and 88 service manual however they are not really that informative for that sort of thing, unless someone has a better idea of where it might be in those books.

But ill keep posting pics as i get time, but thanks again for all the help!

eseibel67

I stripped an 87 GTA before it got crushed this past winter. I salvaged the complete climate control system for a rainy day. I just pulled it out of the box and snapped a few pics of the connectors. Hope this helps.

blakecharles

makes me wish I painted my interior. I'm jealous of your vert, looks like you have less work to do then me. I'm missing soooo many convertible specific parts!!

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the compliments, I got lucky with everything being there and just needing to be cleaned up really well and gone through, so it has been alot of work but hopefully i can get the interior back together yet this year. But I have attached a picture of a harness that i am not sure what it gets connected to, It has to be a relay of some sort it also runs on the passenger side of the car. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

Thanks again for the help.

eseibel67

That looks like the connector for the defogger relay. A big silver relay on the right of the passenger side.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Ahh that makes sense, i also noticed the dash does not have the defogger buttons, so I will not worry about that.

But just a quick update Just did more wire organizing and shoudl have that all re-loomed and taped up tonight, hopefully will be able to start putting the dash back on.

I have also attached a picture of a sticker that is on the trunk, I was wondering if anyone new where i could get a replacement?.

Thanks again guys, I will keep updated as i work more and more on the car..

Also I may have allready asked this but does anyone have any idea how the ECU is mounted? or if they could even get me pictures of all the passenger side that would be awesome, my service manuals are not really all that helpful.

88TransAmGuy

iTrader: (3)

You sir have one of the nicest Trans Ams ive seen! I love your car. Now you see i got a REAL nice 88 Trans Am with a 350 in my garage if you ever wanted to trade :P Haha just kidding

okfoz

Someone years ago was selling the stickers, I bought one, looked identical as far as I can tell...


The ECM is mounted vertically, There is a plastic bracket that is roughly shaped like an L. On the L bracket there are 2 screws on the bottom of the dash, on the top there is a pin that goes through a piece of structure. The structure is one of the places where the dash mounts to the firewall IIRC.

It is somewhat easier with the dash-pad off to locate the hole on the top, but its not impossible with the pad on either. you have to raise the ECM up into position and then locate the hole with the pin on the ECM bracket, then put the screws in the bottom to hold it up.

If you removed the ECM from the L shaped bracket, the ECM wires are down on the bracket.

John

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey John,

Thanks for the info!. ill see if i can dig around and see if i can find someone making those stickers yet, as far as the ECU, i get it for the most part i see the pin on top and the l-shaped bracked on the bottom, does the pin actually go into the dash? I have it all apart actually and i might just include some picts of what i am looking at and take it from there!..

Thanks again!

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey John

I have attached some pictures of what i am working with as far as mounting the ECU, i think i have it placed to high from what you were talking about. Does it actually get mounted vertically on the quarter panel? Also i have this crazy bracket that i am not sure with its for but figured i would show it anyway

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Also for those that are interested I took a picture of what the power antenna relay looks like and what gets plugged into it, there is a ground wire as well but that is just screwed into the metal frame used to mount the dash on.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, well its been a long summer of putting this thing back together, i will try to get some picts up here shortly, but the interior is actually almost all back in the car. I must say i have learned alot about this car in the process, one of which being instead of taking the whole dash off to see why your heater/ac control is working you should figure out all the wiring first and make sure it is all plugged in!.... but overall its been fun

I do have a question for the guys with the power convertible tops, does anyone have access to get me some pictures to show how this thing is wired up? I have looked in both the 87 and 88 service manuals and cannot find anything on it. Basically the motor itself is working just fine as i bench tested it (i am talking about the motor mounted on the tonneau cover that pulls the screw in to secure the top to the tonneau), the problem is i am not getting any power to the switch (which makes the motor tighten or loosen the nut to pull the top down), and with out really knowing how this is wired from the switch to the dash i am unsure of really where to troubleshoot this, as this is the last electrical issue i have to figure out, but everything else is working as it should be!.. so i guess that is a plus.. But any help anyone can provide so I can get cracking again in the spring that would be great!

As always thanks for all the help guys!

Steve

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Well im back at it again this summer, as I am sure this would be helpful with pics, and ill get to that soon enough, but I am still having issues with the convertible top power motor switch, I have power running to the switch, however when i flip the switch up or down it does not appear to activate the motor. I even went out and bought a new switch and it does the same thing. IS there something i am missing that is supposed to make it work, ie parking brake engaged, etc.. Or if anyone has access to some information on how this switch is supposed to work that would be great as well!

Thanks again!

Steve

platynumx

which motor are you talking about? The release solenoids?

My 89 rs release switch doesnt work.I think its due to something missing on the trunk latch.(i have a harness end that goes to nothing where it looks like there should be something.) From what i ve seen somewhere (maybe here can't remember) for the switch to work the car has to be in park or neutral e brake on trunk closed.You might try looking at your trunk latch for a harness not connected or if your ebrake has it's harness connected properly etc..

nice looking car btw. wish i had a vert gta instead of ttops :P

edit: i see what motor your talking about now.My 89 doesnt have that .It is a manual released piece and my switch goes to the tanneu(spelling?) release solenoids.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

its actually the the motor that is mounted underneath the tonneau cover that pulls the top down on to it. The switch that they used is basically a power window switch and is mounted in the rear panel on the drivers side, there is a red and yellow wire that plugs into a connector that goes to the motor, which i am assuming is the up and down motion when the switch is flipped up or down. now i get power to that switch however when i move it up or down to activate the motor is does not appear to work.

kramer87gta

iTrader: (1)

Well i finally got around to taking some pictures of my current stage of putting everything back together, now that i have the dash all put back together i am really thinking i might be able to get this thing back on the road this weekend!