hi all, i just thought i would start a thread about a trans am i bought a while ago and starting to restore it to get it back on the road, its a 1989 trans am gta convertible 5.7 tpi, its ment to be quite a rare car especially here in the uk, i know of 2 in the uk this one and a silver one, but as you can see my one was left unloved and parked up for 4 years, anyway i now have it running after sorting the vats problem plus new coil, plugs, leads, distributor ect, so from now on will be working on the car every weekend and posting pictures on here as the project goes untill its resprayed with a new roof new wheels new interior and hopefully you guys will like the car when its finished, and will hopefully have it on this site one day as car of the month, but untill then im sure i will need a few tips and advice from you guys along the way, love the cars you all have on here also

 

Congrats on the find! Looks like a good project, will be looking forward to your updates.

 

thanks hal87 ive made a start on undercoating the underneath so looking good on the underside, got to start somewhere

 

That's a great car, do to it what it deserves

 

thanks nig, have been trying to free everything up on it, had the roof down which was fun trying to figure out how that worked, its not so much the roof but the boot was the problem, i thought the button on the dash worked the boot/trunk but thats to release the tonneau that the top folds into, we then had to figure out how to shut and open the boot/trunk because once the electric motor pulled it shut i have no key to open it and the button on the dash is for the roof, so what we done is rigged a live wire from the boot solenoid to another switch on the dash, so at least now i can open and shut the boot with a flick of a switch, looks a little better now its had a wash as you can see in the picture, i think next job is to check up all the electrics and lights, will hopefully have all that working over the weekend if it goes ok.

 

just a quick update to anyone whos interested or following the project, after a weekend spent on the trans am at last we have all the lights going, it had the wrong turn signals on it which were all corroded and cracked screens anyway so we replaced them with the originals and new bulb holders as you can see in the pics, we had all the lights going but the hazzards wouldnt flash thay just stayed lit and the flasher wouldnt go on drivers side, it turned out to be the relay which the previous owner had fitted a wrong 4 pin relay instead of the 2 pin, so now we have all the lights going plus electric windows, electric mirrors wipers and washers, and replaced the horn which was no good, not sure what to do next but get christmas out the way and then il be back on it.

 

wow. keep up the work

 

I like to see builds like this pop up. It is a huge undertaking to bring back some of these forgotten vehicles. I myself am bringing back a highly optioned '87 IROC that was left to rot out on a farm. Been working on it slowly for the past couple years and hopefully will have it back on the road by the spring of 2016.

Keep up the good work and good luck!

 

thanks paform350 i have been messing around with it now and again over xmas, ive had it jacked up running to wear the brakes off but its not pulling up very well, i think the pads are shot so ive ordered some new yellow stuff brake pads for it, and i know what you mean jharrison5 it takes longer than you think to restore a car back to its former glory, this 1 was also just left in the back of a garden for years which is a real shame for such a rare and cool car, its good to see you are also restoring a iroc was it in pretty bad shape or not too bad, i know things can slow you down when resoring a car but the important thing is not to give up on it and just think what it will be like when its restored and on the road.

 

My car was parked because the kid blew up the motor and couldn't afford to fix it. Also since it had sat in a barn for a few years the mice had moved in. I gutted the interior and have been cleaning, putting down sound deadener, and dyeing the interior plastics. As for the motor, I am putting in an LS so it will be able to compete with today's sports cars.

It's a long expensive endeavor but I really enjoy doing it in my free time. Plus this isn't my main vehicle so it can take as long as it needs so the job is done right.

 

sounds good especially the ls motor, i hope it all goes well and you dont get to many problems along the way, i have all the interior carpet and seats to do as well when i get to that part, the only thing is parts are not as easy to get here in the uk but its all going ok so far, and i do agree that its better to take your time and do the job right, it sounds like the iroc will be a nice machine when its finished you will have to put some pics up.

 

It also helps that this is my sixth fbody so I know what to look for and how to repair what I can. Your car will more difficult since it is rare here and really rare in the UK. Hopefully its all there and the body is in good shape like mine is.

 

yes lucky enough its in good shape so that helps out alot, im going to get the wheels refurbished next and a set of new tyres to go on it, so watch this space should be done by the weekend.

 

When I originally picked up my IROC two years ago I was just going to put an engine in it and drive it around, but the interior smelled so bad I decided to start there. So far I have found nine mouse nests while working on the car. Here is a pic of the one that was in the heater duct and then what the interior looks like now.

Also you had mentioned that finding parts for your car will be tough. One of my previous fbodies was an '88 GTA with a 350. Great running car and a blast to drive, but when I tore into it to freshen it up a bit, I just couldn't find quality parts. I ended up selling the car and getting a camaro because parts are easier to find. Well that and the fact that the GTA was in really bad shape and had quite a few structural issues too.

 

yeah those mice can be a real problem, still at least the interior was worth doing to get rid of the mice plus you will have a nice new interior, there are a few places over here that do parts for the gta, its just things like i could do with a replacement boot/trunk which is tricky to find, and when it comes to the engine if i do decide to do any upgrades things like a 383 stroker kit im not sure if many companys do it over here, although ive not realy looked into the engine upgrades yet to be honest.

 

ps was the gta not worth doing up it looks like it could have been saved with some work and a new respray or was it to far gone.

 

update on the trans am, new wheels and tyres are here .

 

WOW,after you cleaned up the car it's like night and day.
So far so good,are you keeping it stock(hope so)???
Wheels look GREAT>

 

thanks for the comments mantaguy, yes it will all be rebuilt stock the only thing i was thinking about was maby a 383 stroker but see how it goes when i get to the engine, also when i get a new paint job im still going to keep the original gta badges/emblems on it as there all ok and keep the asc stickers on the door shuts even though thay are faded, it wont be long now and i will be taking it out on the road for its first test drive in 4 years