DonutGuard

Just bought it earlier this week from another Forum Member, manifoldsrme. It's not in perfect shape, in fact it needs a lot of work, but I must point out that nothing that is wrong with this car is the fault of manifoldsrme, he bought the car from the previous owner with the intention of parting it out because well... that's what he does. Pretty nice guy, when I went up to look at the car, I got to check out his Camaro and his wife's Firebird while I was there

So what this thread will basically be is a rundown of the car in detail sectioned off by category, with some pictures for you guys to look at

DonutGuard

First thing anybody will notice is that the hood is not stock. It is the GTA, or 20th Anniversary style hood. CARFAX claims the car was in a frontal collision that resulted in "Moderate" damage back in 2000 in Georgia, which leads me to believe the original is gone forever, but manifoldsrme says the previous owner still has it in New Jersey. I'll have to check that out.

Other than that, the body is straight, most if not all the lines are right. The rear hatch is off a bit, the passenger side being further back than the driver, but that's adjustable. The hood WAS sticking when I first got it, and the doors made an awful creaking noise, but a healthy dose of white lithium grease cured both of those problems. The car was, as advertised, mostly free of exterior rust. The bottom is clean, even under the ground effects is clean. The only spots I've found so far is a cancer spot on the A-Pillar on the passenger side, a scrape that's gotten rusty on the rear hatch, and some cancer on the T-Top center.

Minor dents and dings here and there, but nothing that bothers me really. The worst thing by far is that it has a big, obnoxious "PONTIAC" written across the wind shield. I love Pontiac as much as the next guy, but I've never been one to like that sort of thing

DonutGuard

The motor was definitely neglected for a long time. Makes sense since the car was apparently sitting for 4-5 years. Radiator was full of rust, lower radiator hose almost felt like it was crumbling until I realized it was just full of sediment. I bought some coolant flush, and when I get a day off from work I'm gonna flush it right and proper. Oddly the hoses themselves do not seem to be that bad, they're pliable and do not crack, are not bloated, and do not split.

The oil is as black as sin. Got a new filter, oil, and oil flush treatment. The few times I've started the car up to move it so far, it's started right up. The motor runs on a bit after you turn the ignition switch to the "off" position, I suspect the timing probably needs adjustment. A full tune up should solve this issue.

Cam is not stock, there's a CRANE Cams sticker on the firewall (Pictured) stating the cam size, Edelbrock intake manifold, Holley Carburetor. Carburetor looks like it's missing some components, the return spring is a little shot but easy to replace. I haven't checked the VIN number on the motor yet, so I don't know if it is or isn't the original motor that came with the car.

The Transmission seems to shift very crisply and at the correct intervals. Still should have a flush and filter change. Shift linkage needs to be adjusted. After that I'll change the fluid in the differential and check to see what's back there for gears.

DonutGuard

A few issues here. Nothing major though.

Headlights work properly. The unit on the passenger side is dim and should probably be changed, but it works. Blinkers work, marker lights mostly work with the exception of a couple of blown out bulbs. Rear lights work, brake lights work, reverse lights work, license plate marker works. High beam switch seems to stick... goes into high beam, but I haven't been able to click it back. Hazard switch works... hopefully I won't need it!

Interior dome lamp works, as well as the foot lamp near the fuse box. Passenger window works, albeit slowly and the horn works. Neither of the power mirrors move, the driver door window does not go down, a couple of the gauges don't work (Tachometer, Temp) map light doesn't work (Not that I'd ever find myself needing to use it lol). The Radio and cigarette lighter don't work.

Most of the problems are probably due to missing fuses (There was a couple of blown fuses on the floor) or high circuit resistance. (I'll explain why in the interior section)

DonutGuard

This is where it gets a little hairy. At first glance you notice the Recaro seats are in pretty rough shape. That's the least of my worries right now. I say that because frankly, even in the shape they're in, they are comfortable. Not the same kind of comfortable as say my Buick Wagon because that's like sitting on a couch, while my Caprice is like sitting in a La-Z-Boy. This is like being strapped into the car instead of sitting down in a car. It's definitely different. It feels a little low compared to my other cars, as I'm used to having a commanding view over the hood while in this car I'm looking ALONG the hood.

Most of the interior is actually pretty good. The Knee bolster is in mint shape, so is the dashboard, and steering wheel. Seat belts are broken in the front, backs look unused so I'll probably just ****** those and swap them. The horn button has some spider webbing on the emblem, and the center console's compartment door doesn't stay closed, but I'm not really bothered much by that.

What the real problem is, is that under the seats (The passenger side in particular) the carpet is moldy. Of course, it got moldy because it got wet somehow... but from where? The T-Tops don't really leak. In fact, when I was sitting in the car, my friend ran the garden hose over the T-Tops and nothing came in. Only when he pointed the hose directly between the window and the T-Top seal, did it start coming in. Where there's moisture, and mold, and metal... there's going to be rust. How much rust I haven't seen yet, but I'm hoping it's just surface rust. Under the rear seats there was some rust as well, but it wasn't bad.

I'll have to take the seats and console out, and then tear out the carpet and get a new one after I figure out where the water came in from and fix it. While I have the console out I can see what I can do about the compartment closing, and see about what I can do with the seats.

The rear area carpet is in perfect shape though. The T-Top bag is still back there, and right now is strapped to the hold-downs. Zipper doesn't work, but that's no big deal to fix... most dry cleaners around here can do it

DonutGuard

Tires are dry rotted right out... it's a shame too because they had a good amount of tread on them. For now though they work for going around the block and moving the car in and out of the garage.

Brakes seem to work fine... I'll probably do a fluid flush though since it's been sitting so long. I haven't gotten a chance to pull the wheels and look at the pads and rotors yet. Parking brake is practically non-existent. The lever goes up like it's not even attached to anything.

Steering seems to pull to the right... could be crowned roads, could be misaligned, don't know for sure. Steering wheel is off center by about 30-50 degrees clockwise when driving straight.

Suspension seems to be good. Doesn't bounce around, and is very responsive for having sat for so long. No sway bar link jingle, steering feels very solid aside from the weird off-center thing.

1MeanZ

iTrader: (9)

I really like the 15th cars and would love to have a 5spd one some day. This ol' girl looks to be pretty savable, glad it's getting some attention. Contrats on the purchase.

DonutGuard

Thanks man

Whether or not I'm going to keep it looking like a 15th Anniversary is up for grabs still... I mean sure, hardcore guys and real purists are going to probably hate me for it, or at least cringe at the thought of an Anniversary car being changed in any way... but the reality is that it's been in a frontal accident, the mileage is beyond the limits of the odometer, and the motor isn't original anymore. Even if it's the original block, things have been changed already. More than that, there are much lower mileage, better kept, original 15th Anniversary cars out there to continue representing that milestone.

I'm definitely going to modify it for more power, strengthening the frame with sub-connectors, and putting a roll cage in (nobody is going to be sitting in that back seat anyway) and I'm going to seriously consider options for a motor. I'll probably reupholster the Recaros since they're really comfy and keep my butt firmly planted where it should be... only thing I'll do is get a 5-point harness for it since the seat buckles are broken.

I just happen to have, in my possession, a 1973 Pontiac Catalina that very soon I will be pulling the 400ci engine out of, and parting out the rest. I've been doing my homework... and at this point I know enough about Pontiac motors, and I've picked out a few parts to put together something really special.

In a nutshell:
455ci Displacement with Aluminum RAM AIR IV style heads from Kauffman Racing, and 10.5:1 Compression Ratio, Q-Jet Carburetor from Cliff's High Performance Quadrajets, Headers, Dual Exhaust, Hydraulic roller lifter CAM set from COMP Cams (XE264HR) 1.5:1 intake roller rockers, 1.65:1 exhaust roller rockers... I could probably make another post on this thread about just the engine I've put so much thought into it...

Behind that though, I'd almost certainly put a TH200-4R from Extreme Automatics built for handling the amount of power that thing will put out. Behind that, probably the stock 3.73:1 Posi rear end.

Might give the local Mustang guys something to sweat about

As for appearances... all I can say is, nobody here has to worry about another Knight Rider clone

*EDIT*
I've also been considering two other builds aside from the 455. I wrote up a build for a 400 as well as a 428 depending on what kind of performance/application I was looking to do. The 455 is better for low end grunt and raw power, but it doesn't rev very high, and doesn't rev up as fast as the other two builds. The 400 Revs up higher, and faster, but doesn't have the power that the other two do. The 428 is right in the middle of the road. When I have some time, I'll post all three.

2007xl50

I love the looks of the 15th ann cars and yours does look like a good restore project. I would like it better if you restored it to stock, but it's your car so do as you wish.

DonutGuard

Well, there's the future power plant for the TRANS AM.

Pontiac 400 out of a '73 Catalina.
3.75" Stroke, 4.12" Bore, 98cc Combustion chambers... low compression with a 2 barrel carburetor. Yuck-o!

This looks more like it:
4.125" Bore (Just hone it out after having the block cleaned, tested, and measured up)
4" Stroke (Eagle rotating assembly with 10cc valve relief pistons, 6.63" connecting rods)
72cc Edelbrock Performer RPM RAIV style heads rated for 0.575" lift
MSD HEI Ignition system

COMP Cams XE264HR Hydraulic Roller cam (264/270 0.487"/0.495" LS:110)
or
COMP Cams XE276HR Hydraulic Roller cam (276/282 0.502"/0.510" LS:110)

Edelbrock Performer RPM dual plane aluminum spread bore intake manifold
Cliff's High Performance Quadra-Jet rated at the appropriate CFM (about 850)
or
Edelbrock Pro-Flo EZ EFI 2... if I feel like saving for a little while longer.

So basically a 428 with about 10.3:1-10.5:1 compression, Aluminum heads, a Hydraulic roller cam, and maybe Sequential port fuel injection.

SolarGoldRaptor

Pontiac powered 15th Anniversary...now that's badass ! Will it need modification to fit in the engine bay ? Doesn't look much bigger than the 305 from the picture.

No one is gonna blame you for this, unless your 15th was in pristine or bone stock condition.

I would still get a Turbo hood, there's something special about them...they shouldn't be too hard to find in the US. Here in Europe people want crazy money for these.

86T/A_Ram_Air

NO TURBO HOOD!!!!

As my memory serves me the 15th anniversary hood was basically a formula hood so find one of them and paint it what and lay the 15th graphics on the cowl

2007xl50

I do think it's neat that you are going with an old school Poncho engine and not a 355-nothing wrong with a 355, but it's so just the run of the mill engine swap-that's what I would do LOL! Yeah keep us posted for sure as right now this is my favorite build going on here.

silentkillzr

iTrader: (2)

Wow this is a nice project, i really love 15'ths and i really dont think your out of line for offing the 305 they are down right just slow, But if it is numbers matching i would recommend keeping the block/trans in a shed somewhere to be able to say "I have numbers matching driveline" in the event you ever wanted to sell or some other act.

Richboll

I like builds...looking forward to this one.

DonutGuard

Yeah, it's definitely going to need special motor mounts. Apparently they used to make special mounts that would go right in for Third Gens, but the company/person who made them isn't in business anymore so what I've heard around the Grape Vine is that you have to basically DIY.

Yeah, the one that came with the 15th Anniversary stock. I wasn't sure what they were technically called... I've seen them called Formula hoods, Turbo hoods, Louvre'd hoods...

DonutGuard

lol thanks. It might be a good while before anything major gets done though. I have more time than money on my side at the moment. Unfortunately, while time can get little things done like fixing what I can on the cheap, I still need money to buy the big parts to put do the engine work

Still have to dismantle the motor, catalog anything I find wrong with it (bearings, cylinder walls, cracks) do visual inspections, and then send it off to a good machine shop to get hot tanked, magna-fluxed, pressure tested, then honed, line bored, and finally get all the final measurements so I can start getting all the right parts.

I have my doubts that it's the original block, but time will tell. I do know for certain that what's in there now is NOT stock, even if the block is original. It's got a different cam, intake manifold, carburetor... who knows what else.

Cool! Hopefully I don't disappoint

silentkillzr

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like an awesome project, Love thirdgens to death, the body lines are killer, the stance is one in a million, beautiful cars

DonutGuard

I've always loved the Third Gen Firebirds. Ever since I was a little kid I've loved them. They're slick looking... they're one of those cars that just captures your imagination. I mean... it wasn't an expensive car, but if you lined it up next to a Ferrari, or a Corvette, it just looked like it belonged in the same league as them. Had they been allowed to not use the "Corporate V8" then they probably could have kept pace with those cars as well!

1984DarkHorse

I like stockers especially in this year but what you've stated is totally rational. Have fun with it man dont let people chap your *** about keeping it stock. Its far passed that point. Its awesome to see a car destined to be ripped apart get picked up by someone who wants to make it into something awesome again. keep it up

DonutGuard

Thanks to the guys at the Performance Years Pontiac Forum, I now have a ready source for motor mounts that will work for swapping a Poncho V8 into a Third Gen. They're also working on Headers for both D-Port and RAIV Heads. In a nutshell, what that means for me is that's two big hurdles avoided.

Or at least, a lot of measuring, welding, drilling, and not a lot of room for error avoided.

Since I know there were at least a couple of guys looking to do this swap as well, here is the LINK to the website that makes/sells the mounts!

DonutGuard

I may add to the list a bit, but here's (more or less) what I've got laid out for this car. As time, and money allow of course...

1: Complete fluid flush... Oil, Coolant, Brakes, Transmission, Power Steering. Check alignment, and check ignition timing. Get a new temp registration, and then get the VIN Checked and then get the Early American registration finally so I can drive around for a little while as it is before the summer ends.
2: T-Top seals! Might get new T-Top locks as well now that I know they exist and since the passenger lock is broken.
3: Gut the interior completely, patch the floor behind the passenger seat, de-rust the floors and then apply a generous amounts of rust inhibiting paint. Do the same to the bottom where it was patched.
4: Work out interior wiring issues, get all the electrical working... probably add some wiring for some future expansions on the stereo system.
5: Put the car outside, bask in its glory for about 20 seconds, and then rigorously test the new T-Top seals by running the garden hose over it for like... half an hour.
6: Install subframe connectors, a weld-in roll cage, and a strut tower brace for added frame rigidity.
7: Lay out new sound deadening material on the floors, followed by a new black carpet and black headliner.
8: Reupholster the Recaro seats in simple black cloth. (Which of course requires finding, or shaping some new foam) and fix the zipper on the T-Top bag.
9: Sell the white leather steering wheel and 15th Anniversary Horn Button, and buy a real-wood and steel wheel. Probably a Grant GTO Replica wheel. Then sell the white leather E-Brake handle and buy a black leather one to match the shifter.
10: Reupholster the door skins with new foam and black leather sell the white side pouches and buy black ones. Sell the white "Glove Pouch" and buy a black one.
11: Stand back and revel in my all black interior.
12: Sell the "GTA" Hood and buy the proper, stock hood (the side scoop or whatever it's called)
13: Take off the bumpers, and remove the aero kit to make it look like a stock Firebird. Fix the bumpers of warpage where needed, with the Front bumper inserts replaced with a custom running light set up. Rear tail lights and center piece sold, and replaced with base model Firebird tail lights and center.
14: Do some prep work in the garage for the body shop... use fiber glass repair kits on the bumpers where the rivets came out for the aero kit, re-align any panels that need it, sand the body lightly and get it ready for new paint.
15: Get a new set of wheels and tires for the car: Wheel Vintiques replica of the Ralley II Pontiac wheels with the Chrome facing, and Painted backing in 17x8 with Z-Rated tires.
16: Take it to a body shop and have them correct minor problems with the body that I can't, and then have the car and wheel backing painted Gun Metal Grey.

As for the engine... long story short, my goal is to build up a 428 with a hydraulic roller cam, RAIV exhaust style aluminum heads making between 10:1-10.5:1 compression, Edelbrock Pro-Flow Sequential Port Fuel Injection, MSD Ignition, and headers in front of a performance built TH200-4R automatic transmission from Extreme Automatics in Ohio.

*EDIT*
Hopefully when it's all said and done, what I'll have is a nice, tame looking wolf in sheep's clothing. With a good set of mufflers, and resonators, nobody would ever know what's under the hood unless they looked.

DonutGuard

Got a little bit done on the car finally, now that I have the garage free and clear of all other vehicles. I did an oil system flush, and I started on the coolant system flush. Got new engine block drain plugs for both sides, new upper and lower radiator hoses, heater hoses, fail-safe thermostat and a thermostat gasket.

For today all I did was remove the thermostat, make a temporary gasket for the thermostat housing, and since the car, for whatever reason, already had a Prestone reverse flush T-in kit installed, I just hooked up a garden hose to the heater hoses, and flushed the system with tap water until clear water was coming out of the drain plugs and petcock on the radiator, then I hooked the hose on to the end of either side of the heater hoses, and flushed the heater core in both directions until it came out clear.

Tomorrow I'll clean out the reservoir tank, and use the Prestone system flush agent in the system, change all the hoses, put the thermostat in with the proper gasket, and fill the system with concentrated coolant and distilled water.

Last major problem to solve with the 305 is finding out why it's dieseling on after I kill the ignition. I'm thinking it could be timing (the timing cover doesn't have any sort of timing indicator on it) carbon deposits in the combustion chambers (the car was running ridiculously rich and the plugs are badly fouled with carbon) or the fact that the plugs are gaped improperly (much too large of a gap) or of course... all of the above.

After all that I'll have to find something else to fix on the engine, and then start looking through my brandy new catalog from Classic Industries for some parts so I can give you guys some ACTUAL forum appropriate appearance and detailing material

*EDIT*
You know what? As my Uncle always says... "In for a Penny, in for a Pound". What I might as well do is do the flush tomorrow, and rinse the system out with fresh water, and then before putting coolant into the system, I'll just pull everything off the front of the engine, including the water pump and timing cover, and inspect the timing chain and see how the timing was set up when the engine was rebuilt. If that explains my dieseling problem, then awesome... if not, then at least I'll be able to install a proper timing pointer and get to know what I'm working with a little better, and maybe set the timing the way I want it.

TAdan

Nice project you've got there. I am a big fan of the 15th's. Glad to see this one is getting some attention. I love the idea of doing a Poncho 455. That's awesome.

I saw this car for sale locally in NJ for a while. (Is it from Bound Brook? If so it was a parts car for the owners other 15th). I even called about seeing it once but it was a bit more of a project than I was lookng for. I like your plans for the car, my only critique is that I hate to see it loose the aero-kit and white/ blue 15th paint scheme and other 15th specific details. But it is your Bird' so have fun with it.

Good luck with the resto.

DonutGuard

I don't think this car was a parts car... it doesn't have nearly enough wrong with it, or missing from it to be a parts car, plus I bought it from a guy in Bloomfield, CT and it had an Alabama Title. It does suffer very badly from severe neglect though... before I even start thinking about doing anything major to the car I need to play catch up on all the maintenance on the engine that's in there right now so I can enjoy the car while the Poncho is on the sidelines waiting for funds to come to fruition

As for the motor size, and aero kit... the motor size is going to be a 428 with a roller lifter cam set up from COMP Cams, 10.5:1 compression on Aluminum Edelbrock heads, and my favorite part... a Tri-Power set up. That, backed by an Extreme Automatics TH200-4R and a 12 bolt rear end, the drive train will be just about bullet proof. (Since I don't have any parts, and haven't started work on the engine, plans are constantly going through revisions lol)

The Aero kit I think I've had a change of heart on... now that I've gotten under the car and seen how it actually benefits the car (especially with scooping up air for the radiator!) and admittedly I've actually grown attached to the look. Plus, I saw how much of a pain in the **** it is to take it off thanks to Motobooks lmao... I'll have to take it off so I can do what he did, and straighten out the fiberglass in certain spots where it's gotten wavy, but it will be going back on. I figure I can paint it a different color to contrast the Gun-Metal Grey I plan on having the car painted. Maybe white, with a 1/2" Red Stripe separating the two colors.

The most ambitious thing I have planned though for the body, I think, will be the bumper inserts. I want to take them out, cut a piece of plexi-glass, or clear, flexible plastic to fit the shape, drill holes in the appropriate spots, flip the little bolt retainers around, and make a metal bezel to surround the perimeter of the plexi-glass, and then behind said plexi-glass, I want to set up a pair of headlights out of another car, probably a Caprice, Regal, or something that came with separate headlight buckets for either side and are small enough to adjust while inside the bumper. Then, go through the, probably torturous, task of wiring up the whole set up (Diligently, I don't want to make it look half-arsed) so that when I turn the headlights on, THOSE headlights come on instead of the pop-up headlights so there's no need to worry about the motors going. If I want to use the flip-up lights, I'll set up a toggle switch that will cut out the motors and lights for those... when I want them on, I flip the switch and I get the flip ups and the bumper lights, when I want them off, I flip the switch and I just have the bumper lights. Or something like that... I'll have to look at the wiring diagram more closely to see if the motors will flip up and down in a set up like that, or if I'll have to do something slightly more complicated.

I'll try to draw something up so I can show you what I mean, and also so I can gauge how good or bad of an idea that would be as far as aesthetics go.

DonutGuard

Little update... got the Driver side window to work, as well as the driver side mirror. There was a loose wire in the connector, just needed the barb pulled out a bit so it wouldn't fall out when you put the switch in. Got the radio fixed, so the old man and I took it out for a quick spin around the block... 2 blocks away I gave it some gas, and the car felt like it flooded out, backfired, and stalled out (the Carburetor the previous owner has on there is a poorly adjusted, or way-too-big Holley 4 Barrel) so we coasted to the side of the road, kept the foot on the gas to air out the flood, and then tried to start it again... no dice. No matter what we did, it just wouldn't turn over and fire to life.

We eventually just gave up and pushed it home (thank God for down hills and gravity) and started investigating. Smelled something burning, so I took off the distributor cap. It was HOT! I looked at the coil, and sure enough it blew right up... went and got an MSD cap and rotor set, and ordered a new MSD coil. Took the old cap, and turned it into a brand new ash tray

Tomorrow is "Install new coil, cap, rotor, plugs and wires" day.

2007xl50

Glad you are leaving the GFX on the car. I like the simple looks of the 82-83 TA's, but also love the GFX cars, well but the 91-92's not so much. I love that you are doing the 17's rallys as well-that's going to be so cool looking.

musixdude

Donutguard, and Forum members,
I also recently purchased a 15th anniversary. I am so excited as this is my 2nd Pontiac restoration project. Me and my dad took on a 71 Lemans Sport Convertible last year for a Christmas present for ourselves. Similar to Donutguard I have a workable 15th Anniversary. I also have a swapped 305HO with a 350 GM Goodwrench. I have already started dismantling and fixing broken items. I started with the window pillar seals to keep the Florida rain out of the doors. Removed panels that are in ok condition but needs new backing but vinyl is good. Timing, plugs etc. Got it running pretty good but definitely needs gaskets here and there. I have also been undecided to do a restomod or original restoration. The Recaros have already been reupholstered but the centers are not perfect. Needless to say I have decided to restore this bird back to its orginal condition. I would appreciate the forums input and not to take away from Donuts post. Donut, if you are willing to part with your 15th anniversary parts please consider letting me know so that i can help finance your efforts and make finding my parts much easier... whaattdooya sayyy??

DonutGuard

Wow, yours looks to be in really nice condition! Congrats on the purchase! I'll let you know if I plan on letting anything specific for my 15th Anniversary package go, but a lot of it is not show-room quality. The horn emblem has little spider web cracks in it, and the emblem on the back is similar. The car is intact and good mechanically and sound body wise, but it's going to take an effort to get it looking new and refreshed no matter how I want to make it look.

Jeffs82TA

iTrader: (1)

I think it would be a cool project with a 84 turbo buick regal engine.

DonutGuard

Oddly enough, I do have a 3.8L Buick V6 at my disposal... the one in my Buick Century Wagon. That'd be interesting though to see which would be more fun to drive:

A Wagon with a Twin Turbo V6

-or-

A ThirdGen Trans Am with a 428

neeb_usmc

iTrader: (2)

Jeffs82TA

iTrader: (1)

I once had a 1980 monte carlo with that buick turbo motor in it and in it's day could run with any 305 of the day. I think if pontiac was going to turbo the 82 trans am's they would have used this motor over the 301 v-8. But I think a 84 anniv. car would be simply awesome with the 3.8 turbo but not a 87'ish 3.8 turbo so it looked like it fit the era.

I believe the 84 3.8T actually put out the same or more power so would make for a interesting car if you installed it really nice.

DonutGuard

So it turns out that procrastination can turn out to be a good thing when it comes to starting a project. I may have to save up a bit for it, but I just decided that I may just get an LT1 for my Trans Am instead of building up the Pontiac motor. By the way, when I say "LT1" I don't mean the '92-'96 LT1, or the '70's LT1... I mean the one that Chevy literally just announced for the 2014 Corvette. Fifth Generation Chevy Small Block V8. Jalopnik's article on the new LT1. Autoblog's article. Chevy High Tech Performance Magazine's live blog. GDI, and Variable Displacement getting 26+mpg highway, 450+ horsepower and torque... I mean... brand continuity would be pretty awesome with a 428 under the hood, but this is just outrageous!

More Pictures.
(Oh, who am I kidding, these things are probably going to cost like 15-20 grand haha... the 428 Tri-Power plan is still more than safe from being axed)

DonutGuard

Finally got around to rebuilding the carburetor, took the Holley off, and then installed the Q-Jet. Hooked everything up, and then tuned it. Still having a problem with running on, so it wasn't the Holley causing that after all. On the bright side, the car seems to run a lot better with the Q-Jet on there, and I didn't hack up the carburetor when I rebuilt it like the Holley was. I think it's just the fact that he fuel in the tank isn't high enough octane since I cheaped out and put about 5 gallons of 87 in there... must've slipped my mind that the car is 9.5:1 compression stock, and it may be higher due to the rebuild the past owner did to the motor. It could also be the spark plugs are too hot for whatever work was done on the engine, or the timing is too hot from how the previous owner set up the engine.

One way or another, I'll figure it out and trouble shoot it. Next thing to fix will be the rear main seal though... it's leaking real bad now.

Before any of that happens though, I have to clean up the garage and get a bunch of stuff in there out so I can fit two cars in before it gets much further into winter. It'll give me a lot of extra room to work that way so I can put the engine up on a stand to work on the seal.

After the rear main seal is done, and the run-on is figured out, I'll remove the T-Top seals, the T-Top bar, pull out the rest of the carpet and interior trim, and I'll start getting the car ready for the body shop!


The new carburetor sitting where the Holley used to be. When I get some more time, probably after I pull the engine out of the car, I'll probably spend a day or two reorganizing the hoses and wires under the hood to clean up the engine bay a bit. Way too cluttered for my taste...

Blk91Firebird

interested to see how this ends up when you finish The 428 would be awesome and assuming you don't scrap the idea, and you still buy those swap mounts you should definitely take detailed measurements of them, Then post them. You would make a lot of friends with that info

DonutGuard

Or make a few enemies lol... remember, people are making money selling those! I wouldn't want somebody to plagiarize a product I was selling, and you wouldn't either! It's the same as stealing!

As far as the 428 goes, I haven't scrapped the idea, but I haven't done much to the car yet either. What I have done so far is I've flushed all the fluids, put in a new MSD Street Fire distributor (I'll include a picture of the old one... it done blow'd up on me during a test drive lol) rebuilt a '73 Corvette (7043202 FS-1313) Q-Jet for the motor since the Holley was creating all sorts of carbon fouling problems in the cylinders... like seriously, I put new plugs in it and almost immediately they were turning black with soot. I stripped out the carpet and the headliner, fixed the passenger window, fixed the radio and some other electronics, and I purchased a new T-Top set for it to put in later on.

After I did the oil flush (I was afraid of sludge build up from lack of use) and coolant flush (the whole system was full of rust and buildup) I noticed a sizable oil leak by the back of the engine... took off the torque converter access cover and sure enough the upper half of the rear main seal blew out, and on top of that I've got a minor transmission leak. I'm pretty sure the rear main seal leak is a result of running the oil flush... it may have disintegrated some sludged up oil on or around the seal, or maybe the seal was at its end and it merely gave it that little nudge. Either way, better for it to go in the garage than on the road. The transmission leak I'm pretty sure is probably due to the fact that the car hasn't run in a long time, and the seals/gaskets were dried up.

I won't even lie, I've been dragging my feet taking that on, because I have (or at least want) to pull the engine, and do it the right way. It also gives me a chance to check out some other things on the engine that I've been curious to look at. For example, I've wanted to take the timing chain cover off, and see how the timing is set up... I have a sneaking suspicion that the previous owner set it up advanced a few degrees to squeeze out some extra top-end performance from the 305 which may be contributing to an incredibly annoying dieseling issue I've been having. If that's the case, I may put the 305 aside on one engine stand, pull the Pontiac over on it's engine stand, and start stripping it down to get ready for the machine shop.

In the mean time, I'll reset the timing on the 305, maybe set it up with a couple of degrees retard for extra torque, and then once it's all set and ready, I'll put it back into the Trans-Am for now since I'm anticipating the 428 is going to take a while to do since I have to start paying off my student loans soon.

It'd be nice if Kickstarter allowed people to put project cars up on their website


Old distributor coil. Oddly, it smelled kind of like barbeque sauce... go figure.

Which reminds me... anybody know where I can get a divorced choke for that carburetor, and if it'll work on the Intake Manifold I have? It's an Edelbrock Model #2101. Right now I'm just running it on a manual choke (i.e. starting the car and then rushing out to manipulate the choke and throttle by hand... not that I'm going anywhere with it having a massive oil leak. I just needed to tune the carburetor lol)

Blk91Firebird

Yeah i get what your saying, but looking further into it im worried that your gonna have to make your own anyway. My understanding is that the manufacturer has gone under but hopefully you can still get them.

Btw is it actually dieseling or just running like normal for a few seconds after u turn it off? Jw bc we have a 87 carbd z28 at the shop and you can turn off the key and walk to the front of the car before it turns off. Good luck

DonutGuard

Well this is where I found them... hopefully these guys are still in business.

Interesting that you pose that question... wouldn't running for a few seconds after killing the ignition constitute dieseling? It's running without the ignition system, thus the combustion cycle is continuing without a spark, therefore it's dieseling... no?

subroc

iTrader: (2)

I was wondering what happened to that car! Brian was selling it on here and on on Necamaro-firebird.org/forum. Im over there more often and thats where i saw it. You should swing over and say hi. There are a lot of people over there that really appreciate the early third gens.

DonutGuard

It's funny actually, Brian gave me the business card with that forum on it, I stuck it in my wallet and it's still there

two-if-by-sea

iTrader: (22)

Hey DonutGuard, do you have a set of digital calipers? If so, would you measure the size of the rear sway bar on your 15th TA? There have been rumors for years about this car coming from the factory with a 25 mm rear sway bar. I'm curious if this is true.

DonutGuard

No digital calipers, but I have plenty of the old fashioned type

I'll check it out next time I'm out there. I can't say whether or not the sway bars that are on there are factory though.

Blk91Firebird

The Camaro at the shop isnt technically dieseling since its still getting spark it has a short or something in the wireing and keeps power to the ignition. I would agree with you that it was dieseling if I hadnt stuck an inline spark tester on it and watched it sparking with the ignition off and the keys in my hand lol

DonutGuard

So I got some work done in my garage finally now that spring is settling in. The skid that my engine and transmission were on together broke over the winter, leaving the whole assembly, as well as the skid, laying practically on their sides. So I hoisted the engine/tranny off the skid, took off all the casters, and inspected the one that broke off (the wood broke but the wheel was fine) and then put the casters on the opposite side where the wood is thicker. Then I rolled the skid under the engine/trans, unbolted the torque converter, lowered them onto the skid then unbolted and separated the tranny. Lifted the engine up, and put it on a stand.

Anyway, now that it's spring time I need to start getting a move-on with this project. Does anybody have any experience with any machine shops that do good work in or around CT? The block needs to be cleaned, magnaflux tested for cracks and stress damage, have measurements taken (I'll take my own measurements, but it'll be good to compare what I get against what the machine shop gets) and then hopefully wherever I bring it will be able to discuss options as far as work to do to get what I want out of it. I might be able to load the block onto a pallet and ship it, but I definitely don't want to travel long distance to talk to my machinist face-to-face, or pay huge fees for freight shipping cross country so being local is definitely a requirement.

In the meantime, on my days off I'm going to dismantle and clean the engine up little by little until it's down to the bare block.

DonutGuard

Taking a couple hours a week (that's all the time I have really to dedicate toward the car at this point. I work 2 jobs and Monday was the first day I had off in over 3 weeks) I've been dismantling the Pontiac Block one part at a time, inspecting the parts, and putting them aside organizing by parts that I might be able to sell again, and stuff I'm going to scrap/throw away.

This is what I'm down to as of now. Once I find my numbered punches, I'm going to pull the pistons, number them according to position, put them aside, then pull the timing chain, the hydraulic lifters, then the camshaft then the crankshaft.

After that, I'll clean up the block, and contact a machine shop that specializes in Pontiac motors, most likely Butler Performance in Tennessee since well... they're the best and I'd rather pay a little extra for the best and sleep better at night

ThirdGen-Nation

Nice progress you've made so far keep it up!

1Aauto

Looking pretty good.

ev305tpi

iTrader: (3)

Nice!! Glad to see another getting saved. Here is a pic of my old one that I restored and sold a few years back. I think I still have the original auto shift **** out of mine (not perfect but a real white one), i'll poke around to see if I can find it.

DonutGuard

Nice looking 15th! I'm probably not going to keep it very stock though to be honest. It'll be an Anniversary Trans Am by its paperwork, by the VIN Code, and from the before pictures I have of it. Other than that... not a whole lot. The whole drive train is going to get swapped out, the interior will be gutted and redone... probably no back seats, reupholster the Recaros, repaint the car, and put in a very spartan radio and speaker system.