I've been a member of this board for about a year now, and (I'm a little slow) I've decided to do a restoration thread. (better late than never, I guess) I've been working on Time Machine (92 TA convertible) for almost a year and I have LOTS of pics, so since I can't spend ALL day posting, I'll start at the beginning, and post every couple of of days until I catch up. Hope you enjoy the pics!

1st pic is on 10 May 09 when I started the project by removing the hood for a modification I had in mind

2nd pic is the right side front fender removed...was banged up a bit in a scrape with a guardrail. This also affected the right side door and rear quarter.

3rd pic is the supposed "pristine" front bumper cover I got from ebay. Took a lot of work to get this looking right

More to come.....

TT

 

Here's a few more pics of Project Time machine. I guess I should have mentioned why the name. I'm using styling cues from different years of Trans Ams, so the name Time Machine seemed like a good one. Anyway, here's the pics.

#1 - rear bumper cover had lots of deep scuffs in it. These were repaired.
#2 - The decklid was kinda beat up, so I figured that I'd just sand it down, but there was a surprise....this decklid was painted at least 3 different times! Took it all the way down to bare metal and started again.
#3 - A shot down the right side where I had put long dents in it when I boinked a guardrail.

TT

 

Here's some more from the archives........

1 - the stock cast manifolds were smoothed out with a grinder and painted with VHT
2 - Edelbrock elite valve covers.
3 - my solution for wrong valve covers was to make hard lines for the breather & PCV valve with chrome-plated copper tube.

 

Here's some more from the recent past......
1 - the dash re-done to resemble a '77 Y84 T/A.
2 - A CHMSL from a '84 Camaro mounted on the tonneau cover
3 - Trunk sides from a '91 base-model Firebird in place of molded carpet pieces.

TT

 

More shots......
1. - Rear of car showing CHMSL removed from spoiler
2. - Gas Door smoothed out & rear sidemarkers molded in
3. - Masonite door panels waiting for upholstery

TT

 

A couple of more pics....
1. Alston SFC's bolted in..waiting to be welded.
2. The color I'm going to use...2006 GTO Brazen Orange

TT

 

Cool project, I have a 91 Trans Am convertible that I'm working on now as well. But I have a question... why did you go through the trouble of painting the stock exhaust manifolds? With the effort involved I would've just gotten a pair of headers, even cheapo flowtechs over stock. Everybody complains about the stock exhaust. And they say that headers alone do a good job of waking these cars up. But the rest of the project is pretty cool... good luck with it and check mine out! The link is in my sig.

 

Thanks!

It was pretty much a decision based on use. Time Machine will be a top-down cruiser, no need for ultimate power, so no need for headers. As for why I did all the work on the cast-iron manifolds, It was cold, I had nothing much else to do, and why not? cost me all of about $15.00 total to do them.

TT

 

Haven't been logged in for a while, so I got some new pics to post, mostly rear axle and chassis with my new exhaust thrown in.

TT

 

wait a minute TT, are you trying to tell me that you made a time machine... out of a 3rd gen?!?!

I guess if you're gonna make a time machine, you might as well do it with style

just watch out for the Libians


on a serious note, I love how you made the rear marker light seamless. I wanted to do the same and wish I would've before paint. How'd you go about it? I've NEVER seen anyone put work into stock manifolds like that either! Impressive work and attention to detail. What kind of rear axle is that?

 

I love the old T/A exhaust tips. Something I wanted to do to my old T/A.

Keep us updated!

 

Awesome Trans am man keep up the good work!
Love the dash accents too.
BTW here is a little advice...
watch the re-entry...its a little bumpy take that from a DeLorean owner.

 

When I read the title of this thread, I honestly got my hopes up for seeing a clean installation of a flux capacitor.

 

I just saw this for the first time. Man, there are several threads all over this site where people want to do what you did with the engine-turned dash overlays, including me! Did you do this yourself? It looks fantastic!

 

Yes, it was quite easy. I just purchased the vinyl material (ebay) and placed it on the dash. That's what Pontiac did back in the day, so it seemed like a good idea.

TT

 

Still waiting for the new Mr Fusion to arrive!

TT

 

Here's some more shots of the rear suspension, currently in progress. I had asked if it was possible to box the rear LCA's and basically got no response, so I went and did it anyway.
What I did was take 3 grade 8 bolts and put them through the holes in the sides of the stock LCA's, and welded them, inside and out. They were then trimmed to length, and a plate welded across the channel. lot cheaper than buying new, and certainly stronger than the stockers. then Energy Suspensions poly bushings were pressed in. The first pic is with the bolts onnly, second with plates in and all welds ground smooth.

TT

 

Better than stock, for sure.

 

Jeremy,

Thank you for the kind words! The rear side markers were quite easy. I used some metal-bonding epoxy and glued them in, then re-shaped the outside to match the contour of the fender, and used a skim coat of the same epoxy as a filler.
The rear axle is the stock 10-bolt that was on the car, given the same treatment as the exhaust manifolds.

TT

 

That was the idea.

~

 

good luck with the comletion!

 

Thanks!

TT

 

Here's a couple of shots from the rear suspension, which is about 98% complete. Just waiting for the adjustable torque arm, and some brake hoses that actually fit.
The first shot is through the wheel well. On the lower right you can see the boxed LCA, and just to the left of the brake drum the cut stock WS6 spring (should drop her about 1.25".
The second pic is the center section. Shown are the Founders Performance LCA relocation brackets, The Edelbrock adjustable panhard bar, and the Energy Suspension poly bushings in the swaybar and end links.

 

I'd make a time machine with mine, but I have the stock speedo that only goes to 85 mph. I can't hit the critical 88 mph for the flux capacitor to work. Your cars looking good though.

 

Thanks! You gotta get the new flux capacitor. It kicks in @ 65 mph!

 

FYI The actual DeLoreans speedo only goes to 85 . Oh well.... Great Progress btw! looking awesome.

 

That's true. I had not known that until you mentioned it and I did a bit of research. BTW, Thanks! It's starting to get to the point where you can almost see the finished car, and I'm getting stoked!

TT

 

Yeah, but Doc installed custom digital gauges so that he could go 88. Wasn't the real life DeLorean made by an old Pontiac engineer? Anyways, I can't wait to see your finished car. I love Trans Am's and wanna see what one with mixed years looks like.

 

Yeah the DeLorean was conceived by John DeLorean, the guy who came up with the idea for the GTO, and pushed Pontiac to produce the Firebird.

Courtesy Wikipedia...
John Zachary DeLorean (January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005) was an American engineer and executive in the U.S. automobile industry, and founder of the DeLorean Motor Company.
He was most well known for developing the Pontiac GTO muscle car, the Pontiac Firebird, Pontiac Fiero, and the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car, which was later featured in the movie Back to the Future

 

Now I know. And knowing is half the battle. How much more you got on your T/A?

 

Need to finish the front suspension, do the interior, shave the door handles, paint & graphics. I'm figuring about a year (conservative estimate)

TT

 

A few more pics.... Got the front suspension off a couple of days ago, and I plan to do a thorough detail job on what will be a essentially stock front end (aside from the poly bushings and cut springs).

TT

 

I just started detailing the front calipers, and thought I'd go ahead and post a progress picture. I've only gotten the basic shape where I want it, and obviously got the cast-in numbers and such off. Still need to fine-tune the surface with a Dremel and some sanding drums, but the pic gives an idea of where I'm going with it. I'll be using Dupli-Color's caliper paint kit to finish them. (red)

BTW, I'll be doing the same treatment to the spindles, lower control arms, and the steering linkage as well.

TT

 

I finished the spindles the other day......

TT

 

Here's a few more shots of stuff I've either finished or nearly so. The first is the front a-arm, on which I've welded closed the shock mounting hole, cleaned up and smoothed the rest of the stamping, and will be primed with zinc chromate primer & painted. New Moog ball joints and Energy Suspension poly bushings will complete them.

The second shot is the front calipers, They've been smoothed out, rebuilt, then I added speed bleeders, and finished them with red Dupli-Color caliper paint and caliper decals from Vinz Decals.

The third is the upper strut mount (still in good shape) which has been cleaned up & painted.

TT

 

Just another pic. Work's been slowed due to finances lately, but hopefully I'll get the suspension done before Thanksgiving. The pic is ths center link cleaned up & re-painted.
TT

 

Another update.... The front suspension is 99% done, just gotta put the tie rod ends on. Then I take my winter break and work on my latest project, a custom solid-body 6-string electric guitar. I'll have some pics of the Brakes & suspension in a few days.....

 

Nice progress, must have taken forever to smooth those calipers out, lol. Got any more pics of your exhaust? I want to do that on my T/A.

 

Not yet, I'll shoot some when I shoot the pics of the front calipers. May be a couple of days or so, I'm currently injured and unable to get out to the shop. (for now)

 

Here's a couple of more shots from the front end. A better shot of the front brakes & a shot of the completed steering linkage.
TT

 

Sorry, I couldn't get a clear complete shot of what I did, but I hope this helps.
TT

 

Cant wait to see that color

 

Yeah, I'm getting geeked up over it, myself! I plan to do some graphics, but they're gonna be ghosted in (still have to experiment on that)
TT

 

Here's a shot of the BMR adjustable torque arm I'll be installing.

 

And for little improvement underhood, here's a shot of the billet pulleys I'm using from BBK and March performance.
TT

 

Here's a few new pics of the project...
first is the BMR adjustable torque arm in place, second is a side shot, third rear.

 

Lookin good.

Man, I love those tips!

 

Thanks! I always liked 'em, myself....thought they'd look good.
TT

 

Well....here's an update...I've gotten the alignment issues rectified, and I'm currently in the process of adding some bling to the engine room. I'm replacing the washer fluid and coolant overflow bottles with aluminum pieces, and after that I' detail it out with some billet pulleys from March. pics to come....
>

 

Also working on polishing the alternator and fitting it with a 130 amp kit.