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Hello my fellow Thirdgen enthusiasts. My name is Anthony and I have been a thirdgen enthusiast since day 1. I remember my first car was an 84 Camaro, which was a blast but I didn't own it for long though. Then I bought an 87 Trans am GTA, Flame Red Metallic with the factory Red interior, digital dash, 305 TPI with 5 speed manual. I loved that car, owned it for almost 10 years, I drove it like the angry teenager I was, and it just never quit. I built my entire love for cars owning that GTA, but sadly every build comes to an end. That entire build was mostly through instagram @bald_eagle_machine but unfortunately at some point in the build my instagram was hacked and stolen from me. I eventually ls swapped it with a home grown 5.3 Ls build, with a tremec T56 magnum and moser 9 inch rear end. I had alot of fun with that car, and ever since i sold it, I've regretted it. I've been searching for years for my next car, and i thought I would join you fellas and create a build thread.
1988 Trans am GTA Nicknamed "Cthulu". I bought this car for $1500 non-running from a repo lot, No key, broken steering column, faded paint, dead battery, Pontiac G6 seats welded to the floor, and a pile of parts in the interior. Supposedly it was dropped off at a paint shop and the guy who owned it, never came back for it and never paid the paint shop any money to repair it. Solid hardtop car, L98 motor, 700r4 automatic, no door rot, 9 bolt rear disc brakes, overall a clean, straight(ish) car. A bunch of the front trim including the bumper, fender ground effects and air dam were destroyed from the repo company moving it around the lot with a wrecker. Here are the pictures from the ad and from the u-haul ride home. I found this car 4 hours away from my house. Screenshots from the Facebook marketplace listing On the trailer, headed home with me!
My current goal is to get it running, and doing a t5 swap on it. I bought a WC T5 car and I stole all of the necessary parts off of it for the swap. I just need to figure out the digital speedometer calibration and do the work.
Last edited by Bald_eagle_machine; Oct 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM.
First things first, trying to get this thing started. When I turn the key on, no fuel pump prime... SO I pulled the carpet to CHECK for a fuel pump trap door and low and behold... there was. Behold one of the worst trap doors I have ever seen. Cut with a die grinder, and tapped back together with HVAC tape. So I dropped the tank and welded everything back together. I should Clarify here, I am NOT a fabricator, nor a welder. This was a very tough project for me. The gaps were very large, and I had to bridge the entire panel back together. the sheet metal was paper thin and I kept blowing holes through it. I eventually got my settings figured out and got it back together. The welds are ugly, but the panel is strong. In my opinion, I know that its not ideal, but... It's better than a trap door in my opinion. I didn't grind the welds down, but i cleaned everything, coated in self etching primer, multiple coats of paint matched spray paint and clear coat. This entire panel will be coated in Sound deadener, so I am not worried about the weld beads being present. I know this may not be the BEST way to do this, but I'm just a diy guy making it happen.
I want to confirm here, I DID NOT cut this trap door, I'm just here trying to repair someone else's hack job.
My supervisor is present here. You can see from this picture, the gaps range from 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch, and some sections were butted together directly. Bridging the panel back together, one tack weld at a time. Spacing out the beads to keep the heat and warping to a minimum. All painted. I realize that I created a hard tape line and I wasn't a fan of that but... it's getting covered in sound deadener so this was basically just to seal in the metal.
Next welding project... The typical rusted out battery tray. I found a seller on ebay selling an entire patch panel including the battery tray and the surround metal. So I drilled out all the spot welds on the old panel, trying my best not to butcher the metal that was going to remain. Again, I'm no welder and honestly don't care to grind down the plug welds, as most of them aren't visible anyways. Chances are that I won't even be using a bettery in this area, so this was a bit overkill. Battery will probably be relocated to the trunk for the sake of the project. Old tray self etching primer The wheel well side will be undercoated in the future. This is just the current fix so that I can move onto to other projects. New tray looks really good.
Keep up the good work. You restoration may be a long term project to get it to your satisfaction. Just get it running & driveable. I restored a 1972 Buick GS starting in the winter of 2000/2001. It only took a few days to get it on the road. However, it was the spring of 2009, that the car emerged from the paint booth so beautiful. But u will soon find that the process will continue far longer. Good luck!
UMI Subframe connectors officially welded in. Now i just need to protect the metal and paint them, and its on to different projects. No more welding for now. Side view of the car Driver side inner frame connection Driver side overall view Passenger side, I opted not to use the "optional" crossmember for the passenger side, as I plan to run Dougs header and y-pipe and have heard fitment is basiclaly impossible with the little extension in place. I welded both rear sides the same way, only took pictures of one side.
Nice work with the welder, seriously. Amateur welder here as well. I did the same tasks on mine, sub frame connectors, battery tray, and 4 small patches in the T-top area (minus the access hole as thankfully the POS did not cut one for the fuel tank). Following your build too. Always enjoy keeping up with everyone's restoration attempts.
Nice work with the welder, seriously. Amateur welder here as well. I did the same tasks on mine, sub frame connectors, battery tray, and 4 small patches in the T-top area (minus the access hole as thankfully the POS did not cut one for the fuel tank). Following your build too. Always enjoy keeping up with everyone's restoration attempts.
My theme for the build is a true "Built not Bought" approach. I am trying to literally do all of the work myself. Its a challenge that i have put on myself. In the past I have sent my car to exhaust shops, paid friends to weld things for me and this time around I think my knowledge is high enough that I can take a good honest try at everything myself.
Next I need to get my parts car out of the barn so that i can roll this car in there, and pull the drivetrain. I have signs of heavy leaking from the front cover and oil pan, so I want to reseal the oil pan, front timing cover and rear main seal while everything is out. Then I will mount up the 5 speed transmission and do the swap. I still need to cutout the firewall and mount the Master cylinder. I'm still young and in my opinion it ain't a street rod without a manual transmission. I know Automatics are faster, but looking back at my old 87 GTA with a 305 tpi 5 speed and my 2011 SS with a procharger and tr6060... I just can't do the automatic in my street car. Stay tuned for more updates.
Some more progress on the build... I'm actually catching up on pictures saved in my phone.
I put undercoating on the bottom side of the fuel tank trap door repair. Bought a Jegs brand coated gas tank, and sending unit. Running a Racetronix 255lph fuel pump, and a hotwire kit. Since the entire rear end was out, I swapped out all of the rear suspension with UMI performance parts, and KYB struts. JEGS brand coated tank. JEGS states that this tank does not fit 88 and up, but that is just not true. This is the cheapest tank they offer and its one of the bettercfitting in my opinion. I have used it numerous times. Racetronix fuel pump, sending unit and hotwire kit. Racetronix pump. I remember when these used to be purple plastic. Tank living in its new home. Undercoated the whole rear fuel tank area. You need to run a 4th gen vented cap with the JEGS tank, but they dont tell you that online. Founders adjustable panhard bar, UMI performance lower control arms, upper panhard bar, Eibach sportline springs, and energy suspension bushings on the stock rear sway bar.
Got the GMMG muffler installed. I want to weld a collector right over the axle hump so that i can remove the exhaust easier in the future when messing with the fuel tank/pump and dropping the differential. Obviously these photos are out of order because in these pictures the subframe connectors are not welded to the car yet. I'm still catching up on my photos. 4th gen exhaust hangers from Hawks. 4th gen exhaust hangers from Hawks.
Took the GMMG exhaust off the car and sold it to local thirdgen member Grove. I went ahead and installed the Hooker aerochamber muffler, but for now its also just loosely mounted in the rear.
Switched gears this week and worked on cleaning up the floor pans, and get the sound deadening finished. For some reason my pictures won't upload properly.
Last edited by Bald_eagle_machine; Nov 4, 2025 at 12:09 PM.
really do enjoy these builds. The forensic 'better than new' builds certainly are impressive but these more accessible ones that get things done still with longevity in mind, I think are more inspirational to the petrolhead that has various other commitments, and working up their tool collection and skills (e.g. welding, which is next on my list)
Looking forward to updates including this thing getting on the road in the not too distant future
Small update, threw in a 3rdgenguy Firewall Master Cylinder brace. I also have his brace for the Clutch hydraulics. I'm gonna pull the motor first so that I can reseal the Oil Pan, front timing cover, and rear main seal as part of my T5 conversion. hoping to wheel the car into the barn this weekend and get the motor yanked out.
Last edited by Bald_eagle_machine; Nov 4, 2025 at 12:02 PM.
Hit a bit of a roadblock. I have 2 broken pistons skirts sitting in the bottom of my oil pan. Now I need to decide what route I want to take. Tear the motor down and rebuild, or send it and go full ls swap. Neither is in my budget, but if I had to build a motor, it wouldn't be a sbc. I can't tell if the pistons themselves are cracked, or if its the rings. So either way I need to tear it down. Cylinder 6 Cylinder 5 Chunks in the oil pan
