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This was a Father/Son(he is 11)/family project that I also made a full project video of ... I'll share the link for the project from the youtube page I'm playing with.
Found it in a back alley lean too and while I really wanted a 5 speed/coupe I ended up buying it as I felt sorry for it.
It had been unregistered from 1997 to 2007 and then again from 2008 to 2016 when I bought her. It was pretty tough but solid.
Seeing as Thirdgen.org helped me out with info on the car I felt it only fair to share the end result.
Nice job. I'm starting to watch your videos now. Maybe it will inspire me to do whatever it takes to fix mine instead of finding just finding one in better shape.
Nice job. I'm starting to watch your videos now. Maybe it will inspire me to do whatever it takes to fix mine instead of finding just finding one in better shape.
Thanks and hope you enjoy the videos.
The page was set up to help beginners to car projects and has 3 different projects on the channel and a bunch of other info on tools and other things to think about.
I spent many years messing with cars when I was younger.
Autocross (several classes), Drag Race, Ice Racing, Oval Track (several classes) and Road Racing (2 different classes) and did pretty well for a working guy.
Then we had a family and I got involved with an intense high pressure career for a bunch of years and had to get away from cars.
By the time I got back to it year before last it had changed a bunch and after getting back into it I thought I'd do something to help beginners get a start and show you could do things on a budget.
Back when I was a kid getting started there was always an old dude on the block (In my case my Dad) where everyone would hang, have fun and learn how to do car stuff. Guess I'm now the old guy on the block and I'm using the youtube channel to help others out. (I hope)
In the end the T/A was fun to do and not that expensive (video has the budgets). Sure is a fun driver now.
Right now it is mechanically stone cold stock but in great shape, next I want to start beefing it up for power and handling, that will be this summer and I'm going to video it too.
Well, in my case my Trans Am was my first car when I was 15 years old. It's an '87 that's had a rough life. The previous owners hacked up the wiring and vacuum lines pretty good. There's a lot of mis-matched, non-functional, or otherwise missing parts that I have to contend with.
I spent my teenage years and most of my young adulthood keeping old 80's vehicles on the road as daily drivers, mostly just getting by and never having much money. I work in a body shop where I've been for the past 11 years, and I paint, so I can handle pretty much any body work that my car might involve, but the trouble is I know how much work will go into it to get it right (and I want to paint it black, so if you know about car colors you know that black will show EVERY IMPERFECTION), so with its combination of electrical, mechanical, and body problems, it's hard to say if it's really worth it because I can pick one up in better shape for about $3000 or less. I'm looking at parts I need for the body that add up to that much alone, assuming I can even find them in the first place. I guess I'm going to have to hook up a trailer to my truck and head up to a big scrapyard somewhere and look around, see if I can find some of those parts on some 'retired' Trans Ams a little cheaper than buying them new aftermarket.
The mechanical work doesn't worry me too much anyway, besides the fact that it's why I haven't driven it in years, but I know the problems to look for now, and was thinking about putting lots and lots of money into the engine to build it up as much as I can.
Really, it comes down to the electrical gremlins and the problem-areas of the bodywork (damaged and missing parts, not much rust) that make me afraid to move forward with my car. I have a financial plan and I won't have any money to put into it for at least another year, but after that I should have my current loans paid off so I can save up and decide whether I'm going to buy one in better shape or start pouring money into the one I've got.
This year the plan is to start on some performance modifications to make it a stronger
Grand Touring car.
- Add Posi unit and switch from 3.23:1 gears to 3.73:1
- Twin electric fans to replace the fixed water pump mounted fan
- Aftermarket intake for the Q-Jet .. idle to 5000 rpm (not sure which one yet)
- Custom built aircleaner housing to increase airflow & mate to stock cold air induction
- Headman shorty headers with matching Y pipe
- Flowmaster American Thunder Cat/Back exhaust with Flowmaster catalytic converter
I figure I can do that on a pretty budget and wind up with a pretty strong ride.
I plan on videoing all the work in stages and adding to my youtube channel.
I will take this opportunity to say I'm amazed at how the paintwork turned out for rattle cans. Also, up until your very last video I thought the top was the same brown as the rest of the car, but it's black! I see it now but it really surprised me at first.
You did an outstanding job on a budget. Congrats and enjoy the car!
I prefer Axalta (formerly Dupont) and an HVLP gun. But, I have access to compressors.
Congrats on the move and having a real shop! I'd be excited too. I don't have my own shop, just my cousin's garage and the body shop where I work. I wish I had my own shop...
03-11-2017, 09:21 PM
