talover111

well let me give a little history about this car. i have known of this car for prolly 8 or 9 years or so. its a 305tpi 700r4 4whl disc brakes posi rear. has 128k on it . it is a ttop car. i have tried several times over the last few years to buy the car but wasnt successful until beginning of this year!

i brought the car home and first thing i did was take it thru the car wash to get some of the dirt and crud off of it that had accumulated over the 5 years it had sat. i stripped the interior and took care of any rust that it had which was very minor. for carpet padding i went to lowes and bought house carpet padding LOL. i purchased black carpet out of my friends 91 firebird he was junking and also bought the seats out of an 86 he scrapped. now granted neither carpet or seats are perfect but are very decent. anty way i also installed a NOS center console i purchased at Spring Carlisle this past year. i did plugs wires cap and rotar to the motor and bled the breaks. the car was running fine until 1 day going up over local mountain lost power and heard knocking noise. it had spun a freaken bearing so now the plans for it is to get 350 out of a 89 chevy truck i bought and do some other upgrades and detailing while im at it and funds allow

this is a long term project car so idk how long it will take to get it completed.

talover111

more pics
#1 with carpet padding going in
#2 with carpet and drivers seat in
#3 with both seats in

talover111

more pics
#1 is of the only real rust on car before i sanded it off
#2 is of after done sanding n it is in primer
#3 is of the 85 sitting beside my medium quasar blue metallic 95 formula

maks10

looks like u have some major work to tackle...good luck with it and hope to see this bird revived!!! Sweet 95 BTW

Awesome-X

That could turn out to be a very nice car. How much did you pay for it?

talover111

between all the parts and the car i got $1400 in it n it had just had new brakes tires and more on it

drdrdaddeo

Nice project bird, but I wouldn't throw the 305 away. I have 275,000 miles on my '85 base 5.0L 4bll bird, and the engine and 700R4 are both original and still running strong. 350 for a hot rod, 305 for a nice reliable ride.

Awesome-X

My 86 has a 305 and an auto trans. It sat for 12 years, no one started it once. I put a new distributor and plug wires on it and I kid you not it started right up. The trans is the smoothing shifting trans I have ever felt and I'm still driving it to this day. I did a tune up on it and that's all I've done so far.

talover111

i did complete tune up and the thing ran great until going up over the one mountain n that was it it lost oil pressure 3/4 the way up and it started knocking almost instantly but i had no where to pull over im not 100% sure which way i may go with this so feel free to post ur opinions and ideas

talover111

have decided to redo the 305 and keep it that way until i get money saved up for something alil better like a ls1 or ls2

Awesome-X

Good idea, SBC's are pretty cheap and easy to rebuild. No reason to build up a small block if you're just planning on going to an LSX build

talover111

well thats the plan to eventually go lsx but that is all dependant on funds and time

ville_valo_05

we actually have close to the same car

talover111

thats pretty cool n i like the paint scheme of urs dont see many like that

ville_valo_05

i've never seen another one like this, i've looked for years

talover111

i havent either and i hope u get that back on the road and have it looking good!

ville_valo_05

well a friend of mine gave me a 305 out of an 87 ta, i have to hone the cylinders and put it back together, he also gave me a 700r4 to hook behind it, the only issue i'm havin is gettin an interior together lol, i bought some back seats but mine is a splitback so they won't work lol

talover111

thats cool and i cant wait for the snow to melt so i can get started on mine

ville_valo_05

yeah man i'm in southern ga i ain't got that issue lol, just ice cold wind the past few days, that and work's bee keepin me busy, at this point i'm just throwin it together so i can get from point a2b but it'll get done right after i sell my lemans lol

talover111

im hoping to get the motor out of mine in next couple of weeks

ville_valo_05

would give you a hand but that's one helluva drive lol

talover111

yea it is haha i got an aunt in georgia but thanks for the offer if were closer id take u up on the offer and would be willing to help out as well on urs but o well

ville_valo_05

yeah i was cleanin the floors in it today gettin all the trash out and the old carpet insulation and found a couple small rust holes but nothin major

84transamdude

nice project you got

talover111

thanks i hope to get it back on the road soon

ville_valo_05

i just found a junkyard down here with around 10 or 11 third gens, if you need anything particular holler at me and i'll keep an eye out for it

talover111

thanks i will keep that in mind

talover111

well ive made some progress although havent actually touched the car...YET i sold my 4th gen formula and have purchased a built 350 for the car. i am leaving it tpi. so atleast this is the step in the process of getting this car back on the road. another ? who or what company can burn a chip for the computer. and i think i need 30lb/hr injectors but correct me if im wrong the engine is around 375 horse

talover111

well got the motor and trans out of the car and am getting it ready for the new motor to drop down in

talover111

well alot has changed since i updated last the motor i had the deal on didnt work out but did purchase a 350 for the car. it isnt anything real special just a l05 but it was a good running motor. i am still keeping it tpi so i got to get the intake on the motor. lately it has just been trying to get everything located back together for the car since it has been placed on back burner.

1985blktransam

iTrader: (1)

I have always liked the 85 Trans Am, so when I bought mine 23 years ago, it needed some work, but put alot of time getting it to what it looks like today.

Luckily for me, I hooked up with my Mechanic who worked for a Pontiac Dealer for more that 25 years, he really know these cars.

Sounds like you have the same bug for your TA. Set goal and do projects as needed. Before long, you will see the transformation.

Good luck with your restoration and keep us posted on your progress. I would like to see it when its done !!

Thanks
Rob

talover111

yea i want to get it done as soon as i can although im not sure how far i going to take it i just want to get it that it is up and running so i can drive it for now i want to keep the 1988 trans am for shows and things like that since it is pretty close to being all original

drdrdaddeo

Your 85 bird is beautiful. I'm about 65% finished restoring my own. I personally rebuilt my 5.0 liter SBC (no significant cylinder wear after 275,000 miles). Only had to hone the block, put new inserts, tune the heads and re-ring the standard pistons. I dumped the computerized carb system and upgraded to the Edelbrock 1406 carb/performer manifold, hedmann headers, and GM performance HEI mechanical dizzy. Already started it on a dynometer and it sounds really cool. Have already dropped the engine into the FB (with great difficulty owing to the headers which were a very, very tight fit) and am currently redoing the worn out plastic wiring harnesses. Have already redone the interior, added a Sony Stereo system, and rebuilt the 700R4 tranny with upgrade to mechanical overdrive. Had a helluva time getting the rear end stabilizer bar hooked to the transmission (almost broke my nose when a pry bar slipped out), but finally figured out how to do it. Paid $350 for a reproduction Firebird Hood Decal which has shades of grey on it. Will be repainting original dark blue, with lower gray TransAm panel to match the decal. All window seals and door rubbers also replaced. Have about $10,000 into the restoration so far, and when finished I am going to dump my 2004 Mitsubishi Ecclipse and use my '85 as a daily driver. I also have a fully restored, beautiful golden-rod yellow 1976 Firebird Formula 350 CID which is now my wife's car. It is factory original and a show-stopper. Total investment in that car about $9500 (its current resale value around $25,000 although I wouldn't part with it for all the money in the world). I grew up rebuilding old cars, especially old mustangs and camaros, but neither ever had the class of a Firebird. I still say, "Dump Buick and Bring back the Pontiac".

talover111

well i got the 350 and tranny down in the car but not fully wired and hooked back up. i knew it was a 4 wheel disc brake car but never checked which rear end i assumed it was a 10 bolt disc brake rear.WRONG! its got the aussie 9 bolt rear.

talover111

well i still got some bugs to get worked out but it is up and running!

talover111

Bringing this back from the dead. Haha. After 2 years I'm finally getting back to working on the 85 ta. I had lost interest in it some what after getting seriously burned by antifreeze from this car....stupid mistake but anyway.... I need a daily driver other than my 97 ws6 and my 02 Silverado. I refuse to drive a boring import. I'll spend alil more on gas I don't care.

Zane M

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear you are back at it.

1985blktransam

iTrader: (1)

Sounds good, keep us updated on the progress. The 85 TA is a great car, I drive it anytime I can !!

talover111

Well i have run into an issue with the 85 so its setting until I can get it into work to put on lift.

talover111

Got the 85 about ready for the road finally!! I ended up having to pull the motor back out. But have a few little things to fix and then its roadworthy.

1985blktransam

iTrader: (1)

Sounds Good !