Well its not really new... I've had it for a couple months, but I finally joined these boards and got a digital camera.

What do you think?







The subs are Alpine Type S 12's, nothing big dollar, but you definately know they are there


How 'bout those rusty manifolds? They are not long for this world.. working on some 2055's. I painted the intake black when I had to do a head gasket (Week after I got it)

 

Purdy, I noticed you don't don't have the A.I.R. system in there, it seems every stock car I have seen in here has that, it looks off w/o it. Odd as in clean.

But a very nice car. And a hardtop no less. Maybe the pics are to dark, but are you missing the GTA badges on the sides? I can't see them.

 

The pictures did turn out a tad dark, but you guessed correctly - the GTA badges are not on the side. Thats the way I bought it... guess when it was repainted they were never re-applied. I dont want to pay $200 for them though. The A.I.R. system was being a big PITA when were trying to do the head gaskets so we cut those tubes all up and chucked them, still have the pump and diverter (not on the car) but the tubes were trashed. Just threw some pipe plugs in there. Its OK though there is no emissions testing here in Michigan.

The car is pretty nice... 70k miles never driven winters, underside is pretty clean

 

The whole thing is super clean, it's gorgeous!!! I assume you painted the valve covers when you did the head gaskets. The tint is almost perfect for that paint.

 

I just painted the valve covers this morning actually, same as the TPI Plenum (some high temp engine paint "Universal Black"). When I bought the car the hatch was tinted 5% but it has some bubbles here and there from the hatch defogger. I just had the side windows tinted 5%, already been stopped for it. Doesnt matter... I had eye surgery when I was 2 and have a "To whom it may concern..." from my doctor recommending window tint.

I know the car needs to be lowered too! But the roads here in MI _suck_. All my friends keep telling me to dump the wheels too for some 17-18" 5 spokes. But to be honest i really like the GTA wheels. Am I crazy?

 

Paint those rims black! Perfect color combo, nice ride. How much you pick that up for?

 

Well... long story, it was free actually... my dad was building the '46 up for me. Then he got a '70 mustang mach 1 project, and I traded him, then i sold the mustang and bought this. The guy wanted $5200, a few days later i drove it home for $4000. All I have done mechanically is charge it with 134, and then it went down a cylinder and I found out someone had 305 head gaskets on it, and the gasket blew out between the two center cylinders. Dew-mahses.

More pics!

Thats my moms '98 SS T-top back there, wish mine was as fast!







My Hooker Cat-Back & new intake (Tube + K&N) will be here tomorrow, im taking the day off work to put it on. Also tossing the cat conv.

 

Keep them! And keep them Gold. If it were just a T/A I'd say go black, but GTAs should be kept gold.

 

Sorry about the radio + heater pod trim popping off in that dash pic, was messing around when I ran the wires for my Amp and now that trim peice needs new putty to hold it in there.

I plan to keep them gold. I either want to find someone who makes fiberglass GTA hoods or get a fiberglass ram air hood with the gold "Ram Air" logo to match.

 

Awesome car, love the pre 91 GTAs. The cross lace rims are sweet and the black TPI gives it a nice look!

 

thats hot! and no ur not crazy for liken the rims too much to get aftermarket rims

 

Your car makes me jealous, looks so darn good Maybe mine will be that nice someday.

 

Any more pics of yours Aaron? Looks nice!

I love black cars... tint those windows if you can... at least the hatch. The sides depends on if you want to be haggled by the cops...

 

NOOOOOooooooooooo!!!!! they werent meant to be gold for a reason...leavem that way they are

black rims look like crap without a nice brake combo behind them

 

Verry Nice. I just saved this one for the dead.

http://www.cecoatings.com/images/CarStuff/TA/85TA.jpg
http://www.cecoatings.com/images/Car...SSrims4low.jpg

http://www.cecoatings.com/images/Car...A/MOV02013.MPG

 

i like

 

From one 88GTA owner to another that car is beautiful. Id keep it as stock looking as possable, it looks killer the way it is. The black and gold go well together, I wish I could say the same for my red and gold. I just cant get over to how close your car is to mine, except the colors obviously. youll love the catback, I know I do, it gives it that nice throaty muscle sound and isnt too loud that it rattles your ears. I get comments on my exhaust all the time especially after I did the headers so Im sure youll get the same on yours.

 

Here is my only other picture that I have right now. I also saved mine from the dead, it had a engine fire that got everything from the firewall forward, that was a mess.

 

Wow.. did the heat from the fire warp the body panels at all?

I spent all day putting my new cat-back on. When i pulled the "stock" muffler off I found out it was actually a flowmaster, go figure. Either way, it looked like the tubing was done by an exhaust shop, all pinch bent garbage. So a worthwhile upgrade none the less. The new muffler is quieter at idle, has a little more aggressive rumble to it though and is a lot nicer when you are on it.

I also got my new intake pipe and K&N filter on there. Im going to paint it with a flat black to match the rest of the intake, as well as grind the weld down a bit more.

Old Muffler (Flowmaster):



New Muffler (Hooker Aero Chamber):



New Intake:



And new tail pipe tips:

 

If you notice in my first pic I have a heck of a gap between the nose and hood, I tried to adjust it but that is the best I can get. I think that the nose shrunk a little and that is why it looks like that. The hood was trashed, but the fenders were usable.

 

if you notice, my new intermediate pipe is hanging wayyyy down. I'm going to drive it out back to the shop and fit it up in there better at the same time my dad welds the exhaust, and we take the cat out. I think im going to just cut the flange off of the end of the intermediate pipe and weld another foot or two (however long the cat is) on to it, and slip it right into the Y-Pipe.

Im debating lowering it. It doesnt have much clearance as is, and the roads here suck. What are your opinions? Think it needs it?

 

beautiful car man, VERY clean. I like it alot.

 

Well, I had to shorten both legs of my intake tube, and then i threw some black at it... here are the results.

 

looks sharp. did u gain any power with your mods? what is up next on this car?

bryan

 

very nice ride

 

I don't know, well find out next week wednesday possibly when I go to the 1/4 mile again. Ill compare it to last weeks pass. The only relative dyno I have now is Vs my mom's '98 SS, and yes, its still slower

Oh well... I think my car looks far cooler anyways.

I really need to get rid of the swirls in my paint... is that possible? Sorry, I'm a bit of new-b when it comes to wax, buffing, etc. I do bodywork and fabrication on hot rods with my dad, we never really "finish" many cars to the point of having paint, so I never get to work on this.

Well... next for this car... I dont know. Been working two jobs 7days a week but that is going to end with school about to start. I save 50% of my paychecks for next years journey to Michigan Tech, so its hard to save up enough, in fact buying that cat-back, K&N and 4' of exhaust pipe left me with $4. I plan to get the underbody of the car completely refinished this winter out in the shop (paint it all, tear all suspension off and paint it, new poly, etc.) And that is what I'm saving for I guess. The heads will also be coming off again to get ported, as well as the intake. Im also watching for some used 2055's and hope to eventually get some of those on there. But of course with more air, and more gas (getting an AFPR) I will need a custom tuned chip.

It just never stops does it?

 

Black GTAs look nice when they're clean:
<img src="http://www.gtanotchback.com/gta1.jpg">

i have a twin to the one above, that i normally drive, which isn't quite as nice:

<img src="http://www.gtanotchback.com/gta3.jpg">

Hard to keep black clean.

 

Yeah... I suppose I could keep it clean if I washed it everyday when I woke up... I've been washing it about once a week as is and it still gets really dirty at the end of the week, especially on rear bumper. Must be from all those burnouts...

Any ideas to reduce the swirls?

 

Beautiful car Matt! How many miles are on it? I would definitely keep the stock wheels. With the black GTA's the stock rollers look the best IMO. Seeing all the pretty black GTA's on this post really makes me want to get my painted sooner than later. Everyone is right, black is beautiful when it's clean. In my case it would be beautiful if it was there. She's rough around the edges right now but considering I only gave $1800 for her I feel I still got a good deal.
Good luck with the upgrades.

 

I just rolled it over to 71,000 miles.

Ive been looking at wheels... just kind of dreaming I guess. I like the stockers, but I really love TT II's. Yes, they are kinda common, but that's because they look good (to me). They only make an 18" rim in 8" width though, there is a 17"x9.5" also. Which do you think would look better, a 18x8 or 17x9.5. I want the pro-touring look. Is there much difference in traction from 1.5" of wheel?

As a side thought... can anyone photoshop some for me?

 

I think the 18's would look nicer, but I like wide as well.
I've got 18" Z06's on my car for street use and 17" ZR1's for auto-x and when I put the 17's on the other day, it looked kinda funny to me since the sidewall looked huge.

 

See, I kinda like the sidewall that I have with the 16's. Gives it a little muscle-car kind of look rather then the new-age sports car.

My dad seems to think that 18's are pushing it. He thinks a 17 is about as big as I should go. My rotors sure would look tiny behind some 18's. lol.

 

Very purdy

 

17x9.5 is perfect. Wouldn't want to go any bigger if your gonna use this car alot. Personally, I want 17x9 upfront and 17x9.5 or 17x10 out back. If you want that pro-touring look, thats the way to go! Nice car...love the CAI setup

 

Very nice congrats on having a nice GTA

 

/salute old manifolds


new headers!


They are the hedmans... with the matching YPipe. Some say the YPipe is too small... well I think its just fine. I used silver Eastwood high temp header coat on them, my dad has some on his TPI car and it seemed to hold up well. Its no ceramic coating though.

Car has a definite increase in loudness and sounds wayyyy cool. Feels a bit stronger too! My exhaust is now complete, and the tubes kinda match the TPI tubes under the hood.