Finally go to paint my hood and fenders-after 10 months of hard work and a load of money put into the car.

See what you think of this!

This is how it all started way back in January! No engine, pinched wheels/tyres, no trans, no interior, no ECM, wires cut, accident damage on front right corner, oil all over carpet

 

Here is the same car a few months later and a LOT of time

 

Here is the final (nearly!) newly painted hood and fenders-sprayed outside under a sheet by myself! Spot the difference to before!

The car is booked into a paint shop next May for it's flames to be painted on, so this is a temporary job, but I am very pleased with the result! Not bad for a Maths Teacher!!.....
.....................and it's 350 powered now!!

Andy.

 

definatly an improvement, but i dont really care for the hood being a different color. you should also get a mount for that lisense plate.

 

damnit... i didnt see your final.... definatly much better

 

Wow looks good! Do the red strips go all the way back?

 

SMURFN' Z28
Amazed me how many people actually liked the hood that color! I agree with you though. Can't believe how much work it took to change from red/black stripes to black/red stripes!!

eatmydust
They will do tomorrow!

Andy.

 

How is driving a car with the driver's seat on the left hand side on the left hand side of the road?

 

That looks really nice. You did a really nice job.

 

MARK305TBI

Makes me actually think about where I am on the road! My normal cars are driven on auto pilot, so to speak. LHD is a chance to think about what I am doing a bit more, and put the novelty back into driving!

Overtaking is a PITA though! Hang back, look down the left hand side of vehicles, move slowly out to the right and floor it!! A 350 V8 will pass most things over here very fast!!

Parking on the left is very easy!!

I have to drive with a conscious effort to keep the LH front wheel in the gutter. Even then I still drift over a bit if I am not careful.

I still find shifting gear with my right hand a bit tricky still!! I keep banging my left hand on the door when changing gear!!! I'll get it though.

Good question though!

 

lbrohez

Thanks for the comment.

Andy.

 

how wide are the rear tires?

 

I assume you have seen the second pictures rear tyres. They were a couple of scrap 245's that i had lying around, but the wheels made them stick out way too far! The wheels that are on at the moment are off my 1986 Camaro SC. However I have a set of 1988 IROC Z wheels with 245 (front), 255 (rears) waiting in the garage behind the car to go on after a long, cold and dark winter!

Is that avatar your T/A mentioned in your sig?. See http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andyfanshawe/favorite.htm[/url] for the specs of a 1977 Trans Am I built from 1987 to 1994. Enjoyed every minute of it!!

Andy.

 

yeah my avitar is my trans am, and my sig is my Camaro, i am going to go look at your site now.

 

do you still have your TA?

 

Looks good, you did a good job.

 

Looks really good after.

 

what a difference, dam nice

 

WOW cant wait to see it with FLAMES!!!!!

 

Looks pretty good, something a little different, but not too much.

 

good job on the car.
how hard was parts hunting?
biker

 

 

BikertrashDude
Thanks for the comment.
Parts hunting on this side of the pond for various things is impossible, BUT Jim at thirdgenprts.com (Tampa, FL) supplied nearly everything! Luckily I found a 1977 Chevy pick up truck abandoned just across the road from us that had a 350 in it. Scrap head, scrap crank, but everything else was rebuildable. Rest of the truck went to the boneyard! Jim supplied a rear aero spoiler (not on yet), T5 trans in excellent shape, front gfx, alternator, serpentine belt and many, many other little bits.

Enjoyed every minute of the build. Bit frustrating when I have to wait 2 weeks for parts, but worth the wait.

lbrohez
Sold the T/A in 1994 just before I got married. My fiance cried when it went! I lasted 6 weeks before buying our 1986 Camaro SC! Which we still have. In a way I am glad I sold the trans am, since I had spent a s**t load of money on it and it was perfecto! It was too powerful for the streets and too attractive to the thieves and cops alike!! So, it stayed in the garage for the last few months of it's time with me. It is now a shadow of it's former self. A shame, but an unescapable fate to most cars eventually.
Have you got any photos of your T/A?

I fancy a 1992 Camaro convertible now, but my Wife wants a 1957 Chevy convert! Better sell the house then!

Andy.

 

You did a good job with that car. I'm more of a Heritage stripe fan, but those don't look too bad at all. Nice work

 

here is my website http://www.geocities.com/lbrohez/ so you can see my trans am. People on dial up unless you really have a keen interest in looking at my 77 TA S/E please dont go because for some reason after 1 dial up person goes to my sight it crashes for 1 hour and works agian. Also if my sight doesnt work try it agian in 1 hour it has limited bandwidth by the hour


THanks

Levi

 

Looks Ok, I supose. For a Maths teacher anyway..Did you consult your colleagues in the "resistant materials" department for advice. In the old days they used to call it metalwork.

I will be in touch soon, 'cos i've got a shed load of front/rear suspension parts that I need advice on fitting.

Good job.

 

looks good, cant wait to get my car painted again, it has only been a year and sick of the viper red already

 

To back up Andy,

No, driving a left hand drive car is no problem on the left, you just need to revise some driving techniques, overtaking is best done on a gentle left hand bend, as you have better visibility (right hook drivers think this is suicide!) and you hang further back if you need to pass something ahead, but with a camaro this isn't a problem!


The bonnet looks good Andy, B.T.W. did you know that due to a revision in the law, smaller motorcycle plates are now leagal for U.S. spec cars in the UK? they look MUCH nicer as they are about 35% smaller (incidently, they are exactly the same size as US plates! there is a government paper explaining the change in the law, I cary a copy just in case i get pulled. if you want a copy, e-mail or pm me and i'll forward one to you.

for me the odd thing is driving right hand drive cars, as my Camaro is left hook, as is my dads Chevy Tahoe, at work, our Renault Clio Cup racers are also left hand drive! and all of our vehicles (lotus, clio, VX220, evo6 etc, ) never see the road.

 

this is how the plate sits in an american car,

the plate size is legal, but the numbers are a little close together for some officers taste! to be totaly safe you can opt for two rows, that is TOTALY legal.

 

lbrohez
Your T/A is awesome! That is some shiny paint!! Perfect year also! How many miles does it do a year?

Your web site home page is causing the problems. The second picture is very detailed and taking up too much space. It looks as if it's part of the background. Is that right? A slight reworking of picture sizes (72 dpi max) will work wonders.

Seriously, seriously nice car though!! My T/A was my first love!! My Wife agrees with that totally!!

Philoldsmobile
I wasn't aware of the change in law for the number plates. Thanks for that! A copy of this would be nice. And my front plate is the motorcycle size one already!

Andy.

 

Thanks for the compliments on the car. I really love this year to. It isnt & wont ever be a daily driver as long as i have it. It might see atmost in a year 1000 but probably closer to 500 miles. It is still has 87,XXX original miles.

Ok i deleated that picture i just put it there to show my cousin the background on my computer so i got iid of it now, i just hadnt felt the need to take it off but i did now.

I love my car sincerly and I dont want to ever get rid but every once and a while i get tempted to sell it because i still owe close to 7000 $ on it and i want out of debt. But i think fait just wont let me get rid of it.

 

500 to 1000 miles a year

My poor sport coupe has seen about 15 000 this year!

"A V8 and petrol at 80p ($1.20) a liter, dont you just love it"

the highest price i have ever paid was £1.05 for 1 liter (£4.72, $6 per UK gallon) for proper leaded petrol (98 octaine) to put into a chevette, (ours needed leaded) about 3 months ago

 

 

A familiar situation I think most people would agree with, and be in the same position! Hang on in there! I bet if your T/A is sold, the inevitable will happen and it will get abused. MIne did. The oil wasn't changed for 3 years after I sold it. Needless to say, the engine was ruined.

philoldsmobile
Our 1986 SC has done 600 miles since 1994!!
If you had to replece your SC what would you replace it with?

Andy.

 

depends on money, it goes something like this,

<90 IROC (or in other words, a camaro)
92 Z28 (guess what, a camaro)
94 Z28 (yup, a camaro)
97> Z28 (a camaro, see a patern here?)

a lottery win would be all of the above, (plus a veriety of classic English and Italian exotica) and a selection of muscle cars, the must have being the '70 1/2 Z28 and a 68 Z/28

only exception to the rule is a 92 Trans Am GTA (black, of course)

i'm sort of a Camaro junkie! someone once said to me "i'm thinking of buying an American car, would you recomend a Camaro?"

My reply was " don't ask me, as far as i'm concerned, the sun shines out of their tail pipes!"

If i was doing lots of miles, a V6 would do just fine, unlike a lot of people in the UK, i don't consider the V6 any less a camaro.

 

Nuff said Phil! Couldn't agree more.

Coincidentally, I am thinking of selling both Camaros next summer and finding a 91 or 92 Camaro convertible. Must be in a sad state, of course, and a rat motor will go in it almost immediately!

Best Regards.
Andy.

 

looks good!

 

Scrap the front license plate. I removed the one on my UK IROC and the police don't bother as long as you still have the back one. Even on the one time that I was pulled over, er....sorry, stopped by a police road block set-up just for me, they weren't bothered. I'd just say that someone stole it and a new one is on order.

Nice car too. Bet the pupils love it.

RMK

 

Looks great man...Can't wait to see it with the flames on it.


Tim