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Been a member for a while and thought I'd share some pictures my 82 Trans Am in New Zealand. I have always wanted an 82 Trans Am after watching Knight Rider religiously as kid. The time came to find one and I looked at importing one from the USA. At the same time one popped up for sale locally only about an hour away from where I live. I went to look at the car and ended up purchasing it as it was in decent condition and I'd save shipping and compliance costs to New Zealand. The car was pretty complete and has been in New Zealand from the late 80's. From what the previous owner said the guy who had it before him blew the original injected 305 rebuilt it and converted it to carby. It never ran right so was parked up in a barn till the previous owner got it and got it running properly.
The car came with new rims and tyres, a brand new black interior (new seat covers, carpet) and a few other bits.
I am in the process of restoring it - I have stripped down the car and its getting a full respray in the next couple weeks with some minor rust repair on the floor due to leaking t-tops. All the weatherstrips are perished and being replaced, and all the bushing. I am also upgrading the springs/ shocks, headers and exhaust etc. While this is being done I am restoring all the interior trim - most is in poor condition and is being painted black to match the new trim.
This is as it sat the first day I got it. Looked a lot rougher in person.
I noticed the seat/floor was a little soft and uncovered this. Also a little flaking arroung the t-top area and a few bubbles around the windscreen. Nothing a little work wont fix.
An example of the restored interior pieces.
I bare metaled and painted the engine bay while I waited to get the rust work and the rest of the body done.
Excuse a couple of the blurry pictures. Dealing with suppliers in the USA has been relatively easy despite being on the other side of the world. Seem to get better service than you do locally here! I will update posts as I progress.
Exactly right, originally I was thinking to paint it all black, but have decided to repaint it silver. Will look better against the wheels and interior. Cortina's are a rarity these days! Thanks mate, picked up this one with my father a few years back and restored it.
Thanks mate. Originally it had A/C, but one of the previous owners hacked it out not to carefully. Brought an A/C delete box to make it look proper. Cheers for that too, much appreciated. Will keep it in mind cause there might be a few bit I'll need as third gens are a little scarce here.
Originally Posted by 3rdgenparts
NZ82
Nice 82 t/a mate !! Looks like the car had A/C delete ?? Rare here in the US, But im sure you don't need it much in NZ lol
Also incase you need anymore parts, I specialize in '82-84 Firebird parts and ship international all the time
Thanks for the welcome guys. Just a quick update. Started on the body work and getting the rust work dealt with at the moment. Making some good progress. A few photos so far:
Pretty well all of it will be bare metaled
New A-pillar patches
T top area
Rear quarters were a bit rough
Tidied up the floor
Looks as if there has been a few paint jobs on the car before. Quite strange, spoiler and a few other bits have been painted blue before, and the bumpers were red once.
Going to sort out the underside of the car when it gets to the stage of being primed. I'll strip all the suspension out and get that stuff sand blasted and powder coated. Also, I'll clean, rust kill and under seal the floor, then refit with brand new bushing. Can't wait for it to be painted.
Sweet ride man, keep up the good work. the early birds need to be saved, so many of them have been crushed or fell victim to the evil knight rider butchery
Thanks man I agree. A shame there aren't more early birds around. Before I got one I contemplated the knight rider route, but now want to keep it relatively stock.
Originally Posted by Twin_Turbo
Sweet ride man, keep up the good work. the early birds need to be saved, so many of them have been crushed or fell victim to the evil knight rider butchery
Looks like you have a good start on things. Car may have had a rough life before you with parts sourced from other birds. Seems like its in good hands now. You have a lot of work ahead of you and can't wait to see the results. Good luck!
An update and progress photos: The floor repairs have been finished and floors have been painted.
All exterior rust repairs finished, with body being prepped and primed:
While the car was in primer I sorted out the underside of the car - so I didnt bump or scratch freshly painted panels. A few pics of the suspension removed and painted.
An update and progress photos: The floor repairs have been finished and floors have been painted.
All exterior rust repairs finished, with body being prepped and primed:
While the car was in primer I sorted out the underside of the car - so I didnt bump or scratch freshly painted panels. A few pics of the suspension removed and painted.
Also rust killed and under sealed the underside (excuse the photo quality, I'll upload some decent photos soon)
Currently the bushes are being fitted, suspension being installed, then the car will be off to paint. I had to source a new bonnet, doors and rear hatch panel due to these being in poor condition - figured I may aswell do it once and do it right. Further updates to come.
Hey mate, I think I recall seeing you trans am on trademe a few years back? You have a tidy example, looks mint. Exactly right though, much better keeping it left hook as it was when it rolled out the factory.
Originally Posted by NZ84TA
4Welcome NZ82! Great to see a fellow Kiwi on board!
Can't wait to see the results of your hard work. Good to see it never ended up converted to RHD too.
While the paint is being finished I made a start on the seats. Had a mate strip them and I cleaned up the frames - these were in pretty bad condition with the bases being quite rusted. I painted them with POR15 so they should last now. My friend reworked the bolsters and put the new covers on. I am super happy with them. Look and smell like new.
Thanks for the feedback! Super happy with how the seats turned out, love the PMD style - wouldn't have my Trans Am if they didn't have them... call me fussy
12-31-2016, 04:00 AM
