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1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 08:50 PM
  #1  
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Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
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1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Hello all.

About a year ago I bought a 1983 Trans Am from the origional owner. The car has 75,000 miles. At some point and time the car was in a small fender bender and the hood and front bumper were replaced with parts off of a 1984 trans am. I found all of the right parts and will be restoring the T/A to origional condition. I have gutted the car and am in the process of painting. I am going with stock colors. I did however find a set of tan leather seats out of a 1983 Trans Am that I will be putting in.

The day I purchased it.
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Progress

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My Awesome wife wet sanding and polishing it.
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 08:57 PM
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Car: 1982 Recaro TA, 1989 TTA#948
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

That looks fantastic! I wish my wife would help me out with my projects!
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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 09:01 PM
  #3  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

My Wife is always helping me out.

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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 09:10 PM
  #4  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
Engine: both have a 305.. For now
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Here is the last 3rd Gen We did. This is my wifes.
Before

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Old Oct 10, 2011 | 09:13 PM
  #5  
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Car: 1982 Recaro TA, 1989 TTA#948
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

I am getting ready to have my 82 repainted. I am clueless when it comes to painting, so I am trying to find a shop I trust with my baby. I have a question for you about the front bumper cover. Did your cover have the typical dips on the very front? If so, were you able to correct it in any way? It seems that if I could heat it up and push mine back, it would just recess back the way it was unless some kind of reinforcement was added.
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Old Mar 28, 2013 | 07:30 PM
  #6  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
Engine: both have a 305.. For now
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Well 1 year later, a new house that needed work and our first baby almost here I finally got around to working on the T/A Again. I rebuilt the engine and am getting it all painted and ready to go into the freshly painted engine bay.

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Old Mar 28, 2013 | 08:38 PM
  #7  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Very cool, great that the wife is into the project, my wife just like to shake her head at me, especially when I tell her 3rd gen #2 is coming ....

I had an 84 T/A, loved that car. was red w/ silver trim.

BTW, can't see the pics in the above post.
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Old Mar 28, 2013 | 08:50 PM
  #8  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

...

Last edited by LHernandezJr; Jul 18, 2014 at 12:05 PM.
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Old Mar 29, 2013 | 07:01 PM
  #9  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Not sure why the pics didn't work. Lets try again. Getting closer to putting the engine back in. I can't wait to here him run again. I ordered my seat upholstry from Classic industries yesterday. im going with the original two-tone walnut and sandstone velour seats. I can wait to be that far along in the project.

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Old Mar 29, 2013 | 10:33 PM
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

...

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Old Mar 30, 2013 | 12:39 AM
  #11  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

subscribed
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Old Mar 30, 2013 | 04:50 AM
  #12  
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Car: 1991 Camaro RS
Engine: 305 TBI
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Looks awesome! I definitely can't wait to see it done! It's been a very comprehensive rebuild. Now, if your lazy wife would hurry up and have that baby and get some more wet sanding done. ;-)
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Old Mar 30, 2013 | 06:30 PM
  #13  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
Engine: both have a 305.. For now
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Got some much needed work done on the T/A today. Stripped and repainted all of the accessories. They were a mess but look almost new now. I had to modify the A/C bracket to fit the headers but it wasn't to hard. I also got half of them installed but I lost my water pump bolts so I wasn't able to go any farther until tomorrow.

Before
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Not done but getting better.
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Old Apr 2, 2013 | 05:14 AM
  #14  
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Car: 1983 Pontiac Trans Am Daytona 500
Engine: Crossfire 305ci V8
Transmission: Jasper 700R4 4 speed Automatic
Axle/Gears: 3.23 limited slip/posi
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

awesome resto
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Old Apr 3, 2013 | 07:33 PM
  #15  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Ok I got the rest of the accessories on today. Next is to mate it back up with the tranny and get her back in the car. My new seats show up tomorrow so I am looking forward to recovering my seats this weekend.

Now that it is almost time to get him running again I will probably be asking for a lot of help with remembering were everything plugs in.

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Old Apr 4, 2013 | 05:32 AM
  #16  
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Car: 1988 IROC-Z camaro
Engine: 355 TPI
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Axle/Gears: Dana 44 3.31 posi pbr brakes
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Looks great! I wish my GF would help me out on my car projects. I have gotten her to bleed brakes with me and stand on the clutch as i put the trans in the car but thats about it.

As for your motor, i hope those headers are just on there for test fitting and pictures. You wont be able to drop the motor in with the headers bolted on. there really is not all that much clearance. I would lay the headers carefully in the engine bay and drop the engine down to them. Just trying to save you headaches.
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Old Apr 4, 2013 | 09:15 PM
  #17  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Super thread ! love it !!!
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Old Apr 5, 2013 | 07:31 PM
  #18  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Well I got a decent amount of work done over the last couple evenings. I recovered one of the front seats. They are not perfect but Im pretty happy with them. They are much better that being ripped up. I was able to get the engine and tranny in the car today. Thanks for the tip on removing the headers by the way. I am so happy to be making progress on this black beauty again.

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Old Apr 5, 2013 | 07:35 PM
  #19  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

This is what he is going to look like when Im done.

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Old Apr 6, 2013 | 08:28 AM
  #20  
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Transmission: tko 500
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Nice!! Looking good. I like the colors you chose to recover the seats in. Its going to look really sharp with the black and gold exterior. And no prob on the header tip. I did it that way when i did my engine swap and it made it very easy.
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Old Apr 22, 2013 | 08:09 PM
  #21  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
Engine: both have a 305.. For now
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Originally Posted by subroc
Nice!! Looking good. I like the colors you chose to recover the seats in. Its going to look really sharp with the black and gold exterior. And no prob on the header tip. I did it that way when i did my engine swap and it made it very easy.

Thanks. The seats are the original color. Im looking forward to being to the point in the restoration were I can put the seats in.
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Old Apr 22, 2013 | 08:19 PM
  #22  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
Engine: both have a 305.. For now
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

I got the engine in and all buttoned up this weekend. It runs great. Especially since it hasn't run for about 2.5 years. Its not perfect but it looks pretty good I think.

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Old Apr 23, 2013 | 01:56 PM
  #23  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Looks awesome! Paint's a little glossier than it would have been originally, but it's not like it's a factory correct resto anyway. Very nice! Hope I can get my engine/trans back in someday...
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Old Apr 27, 2013 | 08:10 PM
  #24  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Made some good progress today. I got most of the front end installed. Its feels great to get a face back on the bird. What do you guys think?

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Old Apr 27, 2013 | 08:39 PM
  #25  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Looks Good !!
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Old Apr 27, 2013 | 09:15 PM
  #26  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

...

Last edited by LHernandezJr; Jul 18, 2014 at 12:05 PM.
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Old Jun 18, 2014 | 08:56 PM
  #27  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
Engine: both have a 305.. For now
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

We'll I finally got to work on her again. Exterior is done except for the graphics which are on order. Interior nearly complete. Mechanical is done except. For some tyranny issues I am trying to work through.

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http://s199.photobucket.com/user/tra...a/fb2.jpg.html

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Last edited by transamman83; Jun 18, 2014 at 09:04 PM.
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Old Jun 18, 2014 | 09:15 PM
  #28  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Looking good. Where did you get the graphics from?
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Old Jun 19, 2014 | 08:29 PM
  #29  
transamman83's Avatar
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
Engine: both have a 305.. For now
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

I got them from Phoenix Graphics.
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Old Jun 22, 2014 | 08:30 PM
  #30  
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From: Charlotte Mi
Car: 83 Trans am, and 91 Camaro
Engine: both have a 305.. For now
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Well I got the interior all done today. Well except for the seat belt loops I can't find. Im very happy with it. I love stock interiors.

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Last edited by transamman83; Jun 22, 2014 at 08:36 PM.
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Old Jul 2, 2014 | 11:25 AM
  #31  
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Car: 1983 Pontiac Trans Am Daytona 500
Engine: Crossfire 305ci V8
Transmission: Jasper 700R4 4 speed Automatic
Axle/Gears: 3.23 limited slip/posi
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Awesome tan interior
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Old Jul 3, 2014 | 07:18 AM
  #32  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Beautiful car-! It's nice to see a restored TA, rather than an LS engined orange cone racer.
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Old Aug 23, 2014 | 09:54 AM
  #33  
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Car: 83 T/A WS-6
Engine: LG4 305
Transmission: T-5 Manual Clutch
Axle/Gears: 3.73 Positraction
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

You did an awesome job. I have an 83 WS-6 4 barrel car that has the 5-speed and no power options at all. It just had A/C and that was it. Car has 70,xxxx miles presently. I done my 69 Chevelle SS like you did your T/A. Our T/A looks pretty good on the outside right now but under the hood it could use TLC.
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Old Aug 31, 2014 | 06:13 AM
  #34  
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Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

very nice
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Old Aug 31, 2014 | 07:17 AM
  #35  
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Axle/Gears: US Gear 3.42 Eaton True Trac
Re: 1983 Trans Am Resto (Pic heavy)

Nice job on all you've done!
Any rhyme or reason for picking the 83 TA or just cuz it was a good deal ?

Rafael
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