92GTA

iTrader: (11)

A 1969 TRANS AM JUST SITTING IN A FIELD!!!! I'm totally serious! I found it yesterday. The car looks like it's been sitting there about 10 years. All the white and blue paint is there just oxydized all to hell. The front grill, ram air hood, spoiler, original wheels and everything were still there! The tires were about rotted off the car but it's all there, just sitting in a field!

I'm going to go back on Thursday and see if I can find out who owns the place where it was sitting. How much is this car worth the way it is?? Keep in mind I didn't see the interior very well but it all appeared to be there. What should I offer the guy to help clear his field

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www.TransAmGTA.com THE 3rdgen Firebird Site!
1992 GTA (226 made), 1 of only 18 "Dk. Jade Met." 92 GTA's, My Window Sticker, LB9, 700R4 4-Speed, T-Tops, Grey Leather, every available option except G92, J65 and U1A.
Current Mods/Upgrades: 80 Series Dual Outlet Flowmaster, TPIS Air Foil, K&N Air Filter, and Mobil 1.
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My 3rdGen Firebird Message Board!

[This message has been edited by 92GTA (edited June 13, 2001).]

bird67

It's worth nothing. It is a black hole you can't handle. Leave it to me. Give me the address and I'll buy you a beer so you can thank me for saving you lots of misery.

A decent t/a is probably worth $20,000 or more. You can do some checking 'on line.' An obscenely perfect, detailed one went for $41,000 at Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale AZ this January (I was there, I saw the car). That is probably 10-20% above the market just because it was the Barrett-Jackson auction. So a decent one, mostly intact and original, like a solid #2 would probably be above $20,000 but not a lot above.

If it were a convertible, it's a whole different story. They made eight of them. That's all. I have seen one advertised for $250,000 in Hemmings. I doubt they ever change hands, and if they do it's probably for trade rather than cash. Who wants to pay capital gains taxes on that kind of money transaction?

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

It's not a vert In the condition I described how much should I offer him?? What is it worth in it's present condition??

JPrevost

If he doesn't know much about it then you don't either , get my drift. Pretend you're looking for an old car to start with and you plan to make it a daily driver. That way he'll understand that you aren't going to pay top dollar. From there, talk to him about it. Always ask THEM to give you a starting point, then make him wait a day before you get back to him with a price. This is how I got my car from $4800 to $3750.
I don't know what kind of condition the floor pans/frame are it or the interior but if everything checks out okay and drivable...I would start with $4000 and you take it. Hopefully it has all the good stuff still on it like 12 bolt rear and a m21 trans (wishful thinking). I know my friend got his 69 with a bunch of other goodies for $8000 but that came with a 327 and a REALLY good body w/ built 12 bolt and perfect black interior.

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, Jon (350 TBI!)
91 Red My website

jm91rs

weren't there different ram airs in 69', the ram air III and ram air IV. Isn't the ram air IV worth more?

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Jeremy
91 rs, convertible, K&N, Edelbrock open element cleaner, 3.73, B&M mega-shifter, goodmark cowl-induction hood,tinted windows,MacEwen Overlays
Coming soon...non red interior with 4th gen charcoal/grey seats

Rareform92

The first thing you should do is send the VIN# to Pontiac Historic Services to see if the car is real as the hood, fender extractors and spoiler have been available as repro pieces for years. Only 697 Trans Ams were made in 1969 and only 55 had the Ram Air IV. The data plate on the cowl under the hood may have the code WS4 on it, but not all 69 TAs had this code. Paint code should be 11 for Cameo White. They also had a unique Ram Air system which is expensive to buy if you can find it, so make sure that is there. All the factory 400 equipped Firebirds have the Pontiac emblem on the front bumper while the 350 Firebirds do not. 69 TA engine codes are as follows:WQ RA3 4spd, YW RA3 auto, WH RA4 4spd, XN RA4 auto, if your lucky enough that the original motor is still there. The last 6 digits of the VIN# should also be in the front of the block on the passenger side by the timing case cover, but you have to crawl under the car to actually see it. At the very least if it is a real 69 Trans Am do not part it out, sell it to someone who has the time, money and knowledge to restore it correctly. Also take some pictures and post them here.

MikeS

Not quite related, but do you guys know a working web site for pontiac historical servises? www.phs-online.com doesn't seem to be working for me.

Thanks,
MikeS
wishing he had that Trans Am

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

Well I'm not stupid, parting it out never even crossed my mind. Of course I'm going to check and see if it is real, thanks for posting all the codes to check for. As for selling it if it is real, I don't think so. Again, I'not a stupid kid like I used to be, I know what I would have

Stormshadow GTA

yes the Ram Air IV is the best top of the line T/A for that year

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1987 Trans AM GTA
305 5SPD
Hypertech airfoil
gutted maf
kn filter
High Flow Cat,
3"Walker pipe
Dynomax Super turbo Muffler
TB Coolant bypass

"Three of the scariest letters you will ever see GTA"
Take a good look you won't see em for long

TA76

iTrader: (1)

92GTA, you've got to keep us informed about this car! I can't tell you how many times I've told my wife (while driving/running off the road) that I'm looking for a 69 TA in a field.

Let us know if that sucker is the real McCoy.

camaro6spd

I got my IROC from 3000 to 1500. That is skill.

bird67

92GTA, you really do have an obligation to tell us what comes of this for you. Many of us have driven by "the find" and have gotten wonderfully excited. When you pursue it, you almost always find out that [a] it's a fake, [b] the guy knows exactly what he has and won't part with it because he intends to restore it 'someday' even though in the meantime it is rotting in the elements, and/or [c] the guy may or may not know what he has, and sure, he'd consider selling it, but he will want 10x the market price for the car.

I once went to look at a guy's 67 400 Firebird convertible. He had responded to an ad I had placed saying I was looking for one. When I arrived, it was in his barn. No, I mean IN HIS BARN. He had stored the car and built the barn around it. It was hemmed in completely by columns, walls, and woodworking equipment. It was unbelievable. The car itself was only okay, it was all there but it needed to be restored. I asked him what he wanted for the car, and he said 36.

I figured hmmmm, he wants $3600. I went back again to speak with him to see if his price was flexible...turns out he meant $36,000 - and he wanted the buyer to pay the cost of getting the barn out of the way.

We are all rooting for you and hope your find is the exception to the all-too-frustrating rule. Let us know what happens!!!

Dan
bird@javanet.com

jm91rs

once while going to our farm we saw a barn with a grand national in it. we stopped to look and it was a gnx covered in dust. We went down to the nearest house and found out the name and number of the owner of the barn and called them. The girl who owned it was nice as hell saying that it used to be her husband's car, but he died. She had no idea what the car was or how unique it was, but she didn't want to sell it because her husband loved it too much. We told her to call us if she ever wanted to sell it, but she still hasn't called. That was 5 or so years ago and the car is still there, but now it is covered better with a tarp. If you find this owner and he knows what he has, it will be tough to convince him to sell it, but if it is an owner who forgot all about the car and doesn't know what it is, it's yours.

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Jeremy
91 rs, convertible, K&N, Edelbrock open element cleaner, 3.73, B&M mega-shifter, goodmark cowl-induction hood,tinted windows,MacEwen Overlays
Coming soon...non red interior with 4th gen charcoal/grey seats

Rareform92

If the 69 TA is a real one chances are that the owner knows what he has especially if it can be seen easily from the road. If its been there 10 years, you know many people have tried to buy it before and the owner wants an insane amount of money for it. There is a 69 Hurst/Olds here locally that is totally rusted and rotted out and its been advertised for $5000. It will easily eat up $25K in restoration costs. Makes no sense to buy it when their value is around $15K. Keep us informed.

[This message has been edited by Rareform92 (edited June 15, 2001).]

Intense92

I bet the guy does not want to sell it, that's why it's still sitting there rotting away!!! There was a guy around here with a 57 Corvette sitting in his back yard,uncovered, on flat tires, weeds growing all around it, and it must have sat there 20 years, hundreds of people tried to buy it, but he would never sell it, it's finally gone now, the guy died and his wife sold what was left of it.
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92 Camaro RS 5.0 5-Speed
L98 Alu. Heads
SLP coated headers
Dynomax cat-back
14" open air cleaner

[This message has been edited by Intense92 (edited June 15, 2001).]

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

Ok I went and took a look at it today. It was truely a sad sad sight, I was almost in tears over this poor car.

It turns out it is a real 69 T/A and with real factory Ram Air and auto tranny. HOWEVER, it was practically rusted to pieces, this poor car looked like the Cobra Coupe in the new issue of Car and Driver. There was no trunk pan, the floor pan inside the car was virtually non-existent and there was rust in all of the body panels. It did have just about all of the parts but I thinks it's pretty far gone. It is restorable but there is SO MUCH rust on the rear panels your wouldn't even be able to patch it, you would have just about replace the entire rear quarter panel and in doing so you loose alot of the cars originality. BTW, this car also had A/C, I thought they weren't made with A/C??

I'm going to sit down and do alot of heavy thinking tonight. If I decide to do buy it, it would mean having to sell my GTA to restore it and that wouldn't even cover 1/3 of the cost. This is going to be a big decision for me. I haven't even bothered to locate the owner because I might not even get the car. I'll let you guys know what I decide to do but I would appreciate some input on wether the car is even worth it. It would be like starting from scracth

What's a good all inclusive 1st Gen Firebird site where I can lean everything about these cars because from a specifics standpoint, I know very little about them.

Alex


[This message has been edited by 92GTA (edited June 15, 2001).]

FrankieRider2

Man, decisions, decisions.....

My own personal opinion: I'd let it go. Unless you have an endless supply of money, you'll never come out on that car. You're looking at some major expense there in parts alone; the labor to have it done will be even more. Some of the parts for them are extremely rare, hard to find, and expensive.

Since the car is an automatic, it is a 330 hp Ram Air III, and those were available with A/C. The 345 hp (snicker..... ) Ram Air IV was not available with either A/C or the THM400.

A tough call..... I understand the desire of wanting one of 697 of the original T/As. But you've got a rarer car than that one already, and it's nice. If you decide to tackle this one, I'll help you all I can with information.

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Frankie Rider, 2
The GTA Source Page
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'88 GTA Red Hatchback - 5.7L/A4
'88 GTA Black Notchback - 5.7L/A4
'88 GTA Gunmetal Hatchback - 5.0L/A4

TINFY Racing

dont let it go but dont take it yourself. what i am saying is somehow or another get it into the hands of someone with lots of money and i mean lots that can restore it. if the engine and tranny and rear end are matching and there and the sub frames arent rotted then its saveable but not by you. dont even consider selling the GTA to get this car you wont be happy. if this car is even saveable it will have to be in the hands of a professional restorer. dont let it rot away into nothing but dont try and take it yourself. keep your GTA. Trey

82 TRANS AM

Granted, i do body work for a living but if all the little parts that make a T/A different from a firebird are there, and matching numbers, i'd get it in a heartbeat. Or at least try too. Figure if you could grab it up for say $3000, go spend $8000 on a nice '69 bird, swap over everything including the tags, it's done. Basically, get a fresh body for it. There is no reason to restore a car with that much rust. There are plenty of nice bodies rolling around to even consider restoring that one. The best part is when it's done, it's a number matching T/A.

Good luck, hope it works out for the best.

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Kenney
82 Trans Am WS7 notchback
83 Trans Am WS6 T-tops
Painter @ Chevy dealer
GM junkie

Rob P

iTrader: (1)

Unless you just want to experience the joy and frustration of restoring a car step away. You will spend more money and time on the restoration than the car will ever be worth. There are other more worthy candidates for a restoration out there. The rust you described is just what you can see. Think about the subframe rails, every nut and bolt is rusted solid. Every bushing and piece of rubber is dry rotted.
I have a 71 Impala convertible that runs and drives perfect, a gift from my brother basically. However the trunk is shot, the rear facia where the tail lights go is rusted. The lower quarters are shot, the doors have rust, the front floors have a few holes, the front fenders are shot. Now I live 50 feet from water here in the Keys and I'm sure the rust is accelerating! Right now I don't have the money to restore the car plus no one makes parts for 71/72 big cars. Everyone stops at 70. So I understand you quandry. From what you describe it would leave the car where it is.

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Rob P
89RSconvtZZ4TPI
Edelbrock Hi-Flow Intake
SLP Dual Cold Air Intake
1 5/8" Headers
Semi-Siamesed Runners
MSD6AL/AdjFPR/IROC frnt@rear swaybar/wonderbar/steeringbox/alum drvshaft/ Alston SFC/3:23posi disc rear/MAC LCA/H.Adams Panhard Rod/KYB struts/ shocks/
92Z28convt5spd
71Impala convt 402BB
BETTER DRIVING THRU SUPERIOR HORSEPOWER!

Chris84SC

If you have a welder and the guy gives you a good price, I say go for it. I wouldnt sell the gta though. If you have to pay someone else to weld it will get very costly.

86NiteRider

iTrader: (10)

HOW CAN YOU EVEN CONSIDER SELLING YOUR GTA FOR A CAR YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. KEEP THE GTA AND TRY TO GET THE 'BIRD FOR UNDER A GRAND. I PERSONALLY DON'T BUY CARS THAT ARE NOT RUNNING FOR OVER A GRAND. IF IT'S NOT RUNNING AND SITTING IN A FIELD THERE IS A REASON. I NEED TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF RESTORATION WORK. AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR GTA YOU WOULD BE GIVING UP FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS WHILE YOU WORK ON THE 'BIRD. AND PARTS. MAN THAT WILL BE A NIGHTMARE. MY NEIGHBOR HAS A 90 RS SITTING ON A FLAT SINCE DEC. HE LOOKS AT MY CAR AND MENTIONS HOW NICE IT IS AND HE WANTS TO SELL HIS. SO I SAY TO HIM "WELL SELL IT TO ME BECAUSE THEY MAY NOT BE MAKING THEM(ME AND MY BIG MOUTH) IN FEW YEARS". PRIOR TO THIS CONVERSATION HE WANTED $500.00. NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN HE THINKS IT'S A CLASSIC AND WANTS A LOT OF MONEY($3,000) FOR A CAR THAT HAS NOT MOVED IN A YEAR. I CAN'T DO IT. KEEP THE GTA!!!!!!BUY THE 'BIRD CHEAP OR DON'T BUY!!!!

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86 Camaro Black SS Coupe, T Tops, Flowmaster, Custom Paint, Dunlop Road Kings S/R tires, Wheel Country Directional Chrome Wheels, New Leather seats, new carpet and headliner, complete front end suspension rebuild, new Valve seals, and more mods to come
http://www.angelfire.com/sports/niterider/86camaro.html

El Guapo

The number #1 rule of thumb on restorations:
"It will usually involve at least 2x as much time/money/frustration as it seems at the beginning"

From what youre saying, there is no way you should even look at it again. I know its hard to come to grips w/ but trust me and all the others who are saying the same thing. Just take a really deep breath and just let it go. If you want one, come up here to one of the swap meets at Charlotte. They usually have some nice looking 1st gen T/As for sale. It will be cheaper AND quicker.

Good luck
Clayton

92GTA

iTrader: (11)

Thanks for all the input and help guys. I've decided to let it go. If anyone else is interested, email and I'll give you the location.

Alex

bird67

Alex, that is a smart call on your part.

If you are interested in 1st gen birds anyway, however, there is an outstanding website and listserv to which I belong. Great people, no egos and great attitudes. It is www.firstgenfirebird.org. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Dan
bird@javanet.com

super83Z

well hopefully someone will get it and restore it. I hate to hear of more muscle cars either rotting away or getting crushed. Especially rare ones like this. It sucks to think that some day there may be so few it will be hard to see one drive by anymore.

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I WOULD RATHER PUSH A CAMARO THAN DRIVE AN IMPORT

1983Z28 350w/ edelbrock performer RPM power package , dynomax shorty headers, 700R-4 with shift kit, 750cfm carb, edelbrock 3" exhaust system, ASCD SS hood, 16" IROC rims.

future mods:
completely done over suspension, black paint with flames, Hurst shifter, dakota digital gauge package, procharger supercharger.

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

Get it and sell it to someone who can use the parts or restore it... I've done that 2 times now, much $ can be made if you do your research to find a buyer.

Why bother talking to the guy, it's been there 10 years, no one will mind... rent a tow truck and...


j/k that's a bad idea!

Guest

Dead post revival anyone? Sheesh.

HELLO!!! Can you say OLD POST?

gearhead0384

iTrader: (7)

I say go for it!! You dont have to keep it but atleast get it out of the field so it wont be rusting away any more. Like some people said, yes you can go and buy a 69 TA but whats the fun in that? I think the satisfaction of bringing back some a car that would deteriorate and no one would have to pleasure of owning/driving. I know it is not cost effective but there are alot of people who would take that in a heart beat! And I agrew with the point that i hate seeing musclecars or any old cars crushed or rusted out at the junkyard!! Not to long ago there was a 82 Pace Car that was crushed and at the bottom of a car pile!! I was so pissed!! I mean the person got like $50 or so, this junk yard rips you off! If ya dont keep it thats cool just do what you can to get it out of there. And hey towing it out of there aint a bad idea... just put in in an other place that is not owned by anyone, wait a little time and claim it as abandoned. LOL

Kevin

Willie

iTrader: (1)

A two-year old thread that's not related to third gens. Our User Agreement states that this site is devoted to third gen tech info only.

Willie