hi all, i just thought i would start a tread about a trans am i bought a while ago and starting to resore 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

 

Looking forward for pictures.

If you want, private message me with your VIN and email address, I will send you a bunch of information I have dug up over the past 8 years. I have a copy of the original ASC dealer order pages, and I made a spreadsheet of all the cars. I have a 99% chance of telling you the name of the original dealer, when it was ordered and delivered to the dealer.

Your car is 1 of 143 known GTA 350's, one of about 200 total 3rd gen F-body convertibles with a 350.

 

hi okfoz, yes any info about the car would be much appreciated, i will pm you the vin tomorrow if i can, and some pics of the work ive done so far like undercoating the underneath of the car is the first job done so far, some people on here might like to see the cars progress along the way.

 

Sounds good.

 

Great stuff- I'm also in the Uk with an IROC vert but one of the common 305s Keep the updates coming!

 

right so have been trying to free everything up on the trans am today, also 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, onwards and upwards.

 

When putting down the top
0) Make sure trunk is latched
1) Roll down both Windows or open both doors.
2) unlatch the top from the top of the windshield
3) pull the release on the tonneau for the rear pin
4) Fold the rear of the top forward
5) push dash button to release the tonneau and fold tonneau to the rear
6) fold down top into boot
7) Make sure latches are facing inwards and down
8) close tonneau

Also You have mail Let me know what you think.

 

thank you so much, thats a load of cool stuff to read up about, it must have took you some time to find all that sort of stuff, so mine is number 30 with a tan top which is good to know, otherwise i would have replaced it with a black one, one more thing to mention the asc stickers on the door shuts have faded realy bad on mine what are thay ment to say and can you get replacements anywhere, again thank you very much for sending that to me its very much appreciated.

 

No problem,
I don't remember off the top of my head what the sticker says. I know it states something about being converted by ASC and meeting federal laws or something.. I would have to look at mine. Then there is a written date on the sticker indicating when it was converted... I want to think it only has the month and year.

John

 

thanks for the reply john, will hopfully have all the lights done and working over the weekend, zz42fast its good to here your in the uk the more american muscle we can get over here the better, i had a 5.0 camaro not so long ago the 5.0 is not so bad, will be interesting to see how thay compare the 5.0 and 5.7.

 

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.

 

Hey Gta Power,
Nice projects. Are they the right lenses ? Mine are solid orange for front turns....
?

or are they the "screens" you refered to ? You can get them off ebay or else where.

 

the ones in the picture with the orange and whilte are the wrong ones what the previous owner had fitted, it now has the correct ones like yours solid orange, nice car by the way

 

The Clear & Orange look to be some sort of Daytime running light. Interesting indeed.

John

 

Yea its a nice red GTA, not mine though, just a good pic from the collection.

 

Very nice find. Looking to see this one restored back to its deserved glory!

 

thanks, there wont be much done to it now untill after xmas, il be to drunk to see what im doing ive just been messing with a few bits on it, i put on some new hood struts and have just been looking at what mods it may of had, i see that its had the cats off and strait through pipes which is why it sounds so loud, plus some chrome edelbrock rockers but i think thats about it for the mods, at least im getting on with the restoration and not like alot of people i know, thay say there going to do this and that but dont do anything, it def deserves to be back on the road and show these little boy racers a thing or too

 

I'm curious how those valve covers bolted on to center bolt heads ?

 

there bolted on with 4 bolts, 2 allen key bolts either side of the rocker

 

In 1987 Chevrolet went away from that style head with the 4 small screws around the edges that secured the valve cover to the head. For 1987 they went to a "center bolt" style valve cover with 4 long bolts down the center of the valve cover. It was an improvement as the valve covers were more evenly secured to the head to reduce leaking oil.

The valve covers you have shown there are the early 1955-1986 style valve cover, which suggests that at least the heads have been changed.

John

 

oh right, well thats interesting to know, i wonder if its ever had any internal performance goodies like cams probebly not but you never know.

 

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

 

Long shot but someone could have put the adapter on the heads to use the older valve covers.
My cuz bought a bird dash pad out of Canada and was bummed because someone put a little hole and bezel in it. Turns out, its for the daytime running light setup.

 

Well this very same car is now residing in my driveway as a non-runner and still in need of serious restoration! I am going to continue this thread where the original owner 5 years ago left off. I do not believe anything more than what he said was done. after about 9 years sitting in all weather, it is now in a right sorry state. It is easier to make a list of what does not need to be changed! But time will tell.

 

But he will feel at home with my other 1989 5.7 GTA

 

Disappointing to see that she was abandoned to the elements for so long. But hey glad to see it back getting some attention! What are your plans with the car?

 

Yeah, she is in pretty bad state, photos can be deceiving. My plans are to repair the motor: freeze plug is leaking and starter motor is missing, then strip everything down and repair and replace as I put her back together. A new top is a must as well as new seats and most things! fresh paint too.

It is a slow project and this is really my first resto. I am semi-retired, so got time and space. More to follow

 

 

 

A few pictures of where I am; the start line. The tin worm is everywhere, but thankfully not on the structure. Most rust will just wire brush off and then the metal can be treated. Regardless, I still intend taking the car apart, not just for new paint. All rubbers need replacing as does the roof, but again the frame is good. The front seats are temporary as the originals have been destroyed. There are a few serious rust issues on the decklid and convertible hatch, which I will try and restore, but failing that I can replace them. Battery tray… I didn’t expect anything else! And the other side is not much better. Once I have the motor running, I can begin taking it out and see what needs doing internally. L98 are not the best small blocks, but they still can be spruced up. Basically everything on this car needs doing.

PS - Sorry, the photos were supposed to be thumbnails :O

 

After changing the corroded Core Plug, replacing the broken Spark Plug and fitting a new starter, it was time to test the motor. I topped the oil up as there was not a lot in there, added some fuel and of course refilled the coolant (water only). The motor previously turned by hand, so I knew it was not seized and after a few rotations with the Starter, I let it fire up. It died a couple of times but eventually idled: Rougher than a tin of nails shaking around, but running. Unfortunately after a minute and at low revs it spat, clanked, coughed and clanked some more then died. It will no longer restart, the starter tries but I believe the motor is now seized. I can't turn it by hand anymore (at all!) and on checking the water level, a lot had disappeared... I am thinking into the block :\ Oh well, I was going to strip it down anyway.

 

You have a few demons in there for sure but it really isn't as bad as I thought! As long as the battery tray rot hasn't made its way up the strut tower then it's a pretty straight forward repair, and I'm fairly certain hawks makes replacement panels. The major rust looks to just be on panels though which is good. As for the motor, what does the oil look like now? If it chewed all the water and coolant, I'd imagine the oil will tell you pretty quickly

 

You're right Mr RKeats and a new battery tray amongst other bits are now on their way from Hawks! Thanks Just been and checked the dipstick..... oh yeah, you are right again so that's what diluted oil looks like :O I wish I had checked the cables before starting, would you believe they were on in a random order :O I doubt the damage, which I am hoping is limited only to a bent piston arm, would have been avoidable but I won't know until it comes out. Heck! It is an opportunity, not a set back

 

All the more reason to get that sucker rebuilt or replaced! Even with the cosmetics being questionable, you'll be surprised how much different the car will feel once it's healthy mechanically and drives as it should.

 

The silver GTA convertible I believe left the UK and exported over to the US BUT there is another L98 GTA that has crossed the pond. I sold & shipped my 89 over to a young guy back in March of this year.