Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Oh billy this one is gonna be a fun one.

Picked up a 86 trans am with 91k miles on it Sunday.

I live in the midwest. Seeing a straight, relatively rust free trans am for decently cheap is a rarity. I paid 3k for it.

Compared to most of you guys, I'm a **** mechanic. Luckily I'm patient.

Have an imgur album.

This year's plans are simple: Figure out the front end rattle. Get the underside POR 15'd. Get the Interior cleaned up.

Long term goals: 11 sec quarter mile. 383 carb'd motor. Car that looks and handles pretty good.

She's already a mystery with the Rochester Carb, Electronically Controlled distributor (I think) and 4 fuel lines. I'm starting to think it's not the original 305 in her.

Anyone wanna weigh in on the rust and call me crazy? Or give some feedback on the purchase?

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Not to steal your thunder (hehe) or anything, but isn't "Thunder Chicken" usually a dig on Thunderbirds? Most of the time I hear people call Firebirds a "Screaming chicken" or other similar things. :)

That said, cool project. When I saw the first picture of the interior I was like "That interior is mint except for the headliner!" and then I saw the DS seat. Still, not too shabby. :) I'm on year 3 of mine.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

That's likely. I picked it up from somewhere and it stuck.....I'm not known to be a bright man....

DS seat and center console are complete messes, otherwise the Interior is in great shape. Wasn't a big fan of the Red/Grey to begin with, but it's quickly warmed up to me.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

I dig the two-tone seats. Mine are so faded now you can't tell, but originally they were two-tone charcoal.

If you're looking for seat covers, and have a decent budget, it's been said that Princess over at Lethal Interiors is pretty amazing.

http://lethalinteriors.com/

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Thanks for the tip! Gonna try and get mine fixed up locally, but who knows

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

After some research I learned that these cars came with a computer controlled carb.

Learning is fun! Mystery half solved

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Its a cool car and good luck with it.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

There's essentially 4 different fuel distribution systems that 82-92 cars came with. Crossfire Fuel Injection, Computer Controlled Quadrajet, TBI, and TPI. Crossfires were early models only, and really weren't all that great from what I've heard around here. The other three all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

I actually like the LG4s. Super easy to deal with unlike the headaches ive fought with some of my TPI engines. You can make good power with the old 750 cfm Quadrajet and once you get it tuned in its usually trouble free as long as you run non-ethanol gas.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Can you remove the computer controller bits from the Quadrajet? I've heard it's a damn good carb, just never thought I'd find one out in the wild :cool:

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Lots of people swap to carbs, but I don't think you can just strip the electronic bits from the carb itself. You're better off just fixing it if there's something not working right. The only time that the stock CC Carb is really worth getting rid of is if you're planning on putting a cam in it that's too much for the computer to handle.

To convert it to a standard carburetor, you'll have to change the distributor, carburetor, torque converter lockup, etc.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Sorry, it's the best I could do with 7 letters.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...9f96689f87.jpg

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

We're stuck to 5 characters now :confused:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...8ac3f5298b.png
Got that totally sweet mountain lion option tho

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Can't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason these plates just don't seem to be sending the right message.

That is so useless! I hope they also lifted restrictions on 4 letter words or there just aren't much options left.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Yeah, this looks like tender chicken. Or tender chick. No good. :lol:

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Spent friday working on getting a radio installed. Found a couple fun surprises after getting the new unit wired up:

1) PO took the radio mounting tabs. New unit is just hanging out until I can source some of those

2) PO took out all the speakers. Looks like my entire system is going to be brand new!

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...5b28bb4290.jpg

Got some new seats today. $70 for the pair, came from a 94 bird. Guy had them in storage for the last 20 years.

Passenger bolted right up. Driver required a rail swap and some convincing to go in.

They look okay now, will probably find a good set of covers to get them to match the interior better.

Got a chance to look under the drivers side carpet, besides a seat bolt rusting, there's no rot on the floorboards. Pretty excited to see that.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Headliner repair yesterday!

Old stuff was in real rough shape. Cloth fell off before I could get the board out.

Got new cloth installed, old board repaired a little with some cardboard, and the board back in the car.

Need to get new fasteners to finish the interior trim install. Looks like PO took quite a few small bits and pieces out.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Few setbacks.

Headliner repair didn't go well. Reglued it and letting it dry laying down. Hopefully it sticks this time.

The LEDs I ordered for the dash didn't fit. Time to reorder them

Sometimes you win on projects, sometimes you don't

Did get the TV cable adjusted. Went for a test drive. Chirped the rear tires between shifts. That was fun :D

I suppose the guy selling it wasn't lying about the shift kit. Who wants to bet I can get away without a rebuild when I swap the motor?

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Headliner still likes to sag. I suppose I'll live with it until I wanna shell out $250 to hawkes.

Got new LEDs in. Replaced the remote dimmer. That job was extremely difficult. Wound up zip tieing the mount back in. Couldn't get it bolted for the life of me.

Dimmer is located here for anyone looking at this

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...fdf40992f5.jpg

Took this picture on my back with my feet towards the rear glass. It's a real bitch to get to.

Dash lights work now! They're pretty dim in daylight. I'll have to see how they look at night. Will drop a few pics of the dimmer location and the lights when I get them downloaded.

Hoping to get the dash put back together tomorrow with the new speakers, and drive the old bird around for a bit.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

yeah that dimmer sucks, I tried to get pics when I did mine but it's hard to get a good pic.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

No pics this time around. Progress has been slow because of the heat.

Got the Passenger side outer window sweep replaced, moving onto the drivers next week.

Picked up a nearly new Holley Street Avenger 770 for the new motor for $300. Parts gathering has begun!

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Both sides of the outer window sweep are replaced. Took me nearly three days to do the Passenger (couldn't figure it out). Got the driver done in two hours.

Finally found some Radio mounts in the Junkyard today. Painting them (seriously GM, why leave them bare and let them rust?) and getting my radio officially installed.

Initial plans were to do an old school 383 swap. Starting to be on the fence about that one. Considering a Carb'd LQ4 or LQ9 swap now. Would be more expensive up front to buy all the supporting pieces, but would give me more overall power potential

Lots to think about I suppose.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...06d3fb53dd.jpg
Radio's mostly in. Still need to work on it. Would like it to fit a bit more flush

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...c69de3e84d.jpg
Did a POR 15 test yesterday. Stuff is pretty legit. Got it to chip a tiny bit by hitting it with the corner of a ball peen. Tested just painting a rusted area, and it was pretty tough there as well. Doing the whole underbody this weekend.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Got it up on the cousins lift and POR 15'd most of the underbody while drinking beers.

Didn't drop the exhaust or rear end, but did drop the driveshaft

Took a look at it the next day and don't like the results. I'll have to give it another try when I get the engine, trans, kmember, exhaust and rear out from under neath it.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

I can't speak for you, but for myself, and with some POR15 experience, I know this would be a recipe for waking up today with a lot of semi-permanent black spots on my skin. :lol:

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Yep. Legs and forearms are covered. I'll be wearing this mistake for awhile :lol:

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Been a little busy lately, haven't been able to give the car the attention I want to give it.

Bought a house last year. So the Chicken now has a semi-permanent home. Work ground to a halt because of the move, then winter hit us early and hasn't let go.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...e96f0df705.jpg

Poor car has become a snow bank.

The good part about winter is that I've had plenty of time to think about what I want to do. Sticking with a 6.0L (or 5.3 if I can't find one cheap enough) LS swap carbureted. Probably going to pull the entire drivetrain out and reattempting POR15 underneath. Going to be a busy spring.

Also - if you guys haven't seen these you should check em out. Had to buy myself a pair.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Pulled the trigger on LS swapping the bird.

Bought up a full swap setup from a guy named Matt Walter on Facebook.

Mounts, Accessory brackets, oil pan and pickup tube, and long tube headers for $760.

Time to start hunting for an engine!

Enjoy a header pic.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...49d1492cbd.jpg

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

2 months. 0 progress.

Taken the ol girl out for a drive a few times. She gets around good enough. Needs new brakes this year.

Not getting anything done is driving me crazy, but time has been a premium since buying the house.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...b5d30b3eb3.jpg

Got rear lower control arms and an adjustable panhard bar halfway installed today. Rain stopped me from tightening everything up.

Seemed like it should be an easy job, but it fought me the whole way. I'm starting to wonder if this car hates me.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

UMI Subframe connectors got installed yesterday.

Technically I'm out of the nice easy cheap stuff to do.

Should get a motor pulled this spring and will get the swap started.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

😂:lol::lmao:

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Spring hit early
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/33...E=w703-h937-no
Pulled an LM7 out of my local U - Pull it with the help of some good friends. Truck had 270k on it, but looked to be very well taken care of up until someone sideswiped it.

Yard had a couple LQ4's in some questionable vehicles. I went with one I knew would run.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

I think we have a match
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...bae9f3cd6d.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...29af0ab795.jpg

LOL what is it with red cars ?

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Pure craziness. Whoda thunk it would be so hard to jack up these cars.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Getting ready to pull the ol 305. Popped the AC stuff out first. I perfer 2-40 Air Conditioning anyway.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...804ec65f4c.jpg
Engine's been fun pulling stuff off. Only have two broken exhaust bolts.
Of course my extractor broke, so I guess I have to pull the heads. ****ing craftsman.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...4e9f07000f.jpg

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...4a66f1e17b.jpg

Well I'm past the point of no return now.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...3ce960667f.jpg
Engine's good and stripped down. Still need to degrease the sides and back. I'll be throwing a cam and valve springs in and prepping it to go into the Chicken soon enough.

Weather doesn't look great the next couple weeks but I'm hoping to get the 305 out by the end of April.

Basically my timelines are all messed up.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Do you have any pics of your subframe connector install? I have an 85 that looks strikingly similar to yours (except T-tops) and am struggling to get my passenger side SFC into position so I'm curious how yours went in.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

I'll crawl underneath the car and get you a few pics as soon as this snow melts again.

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Photos you asked for. They're UMI, so there's an arm that goes up and around the exhaust. Would have been easier if we would have cut the Y-pipe down, but it seems to work well.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...68d00e56db.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...d5125996c8.jpg

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

You have waaaay more clearance than I did! I had to leave out that third piece. Hoping to fab something up in place of it.
Did you burn through the frame on any of your welds?

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Yank that damn exhaust down!

Buddy of mine did the welding. He's a miller sales rep, so I sure hope he didn't burn through!

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Yeah, I did drop my exhaust to get the passenger side sfc in. But if I add the third piece there is no way my exhaust will bolt back up. ;-)

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Corona Quarantine has me pretty productive out in the garage lately.

Got the cam swapped and valve springs in. That was a pretty easy job really. Watched Sloppy Mechanics do it a handful of times on youtube and pulled it off in an afternoon.

After talking to FTI, I decided that the 700r4 has to go. It might stand a chance against the motor when I'm running NA, but as soon as I hit it with NOS it'll probably wind up in a bundle of parts.

Current plan is to find a TH400 locally and slap it in with the Hooker Blackheart X-Member. Should make exhaust clearance better.

Should be able to get ya'll some pics when I start pulling more stuff from the Chicken.

Also - does anybody have suggestions on how to run the PCV system on a Carb'd LS?

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...a13f269443.jpg
Y pipe's out. What a crap design. Got the fuel pump unhooked as well. Hoping to get everything ready to pull the engine out this afternoon.

Those that have done it - should I pull the radiator for more clearance or can I pull the engine and trans out together with the rad in?

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Wife had fun helping today
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...1446dcdd04.jpg
That old LG4 is out! Whole lot more daylight underneath.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...b3ef5ba0ab.jpg

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/9J...=w1250-h937-no
Some progress! Slowly working my way through the wiring. Passenger side passthrough is giving me fits, but I'll get it figured out.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kP...A=w703-h937-no
C100 connector is out. I'll be cutting into this bad boy soon enough.
Plan on leaving the body side wiring alone besides possibly moving it somewhere 'cleaner'

Re: Project "ThunderChicken"
 

Passenger side is out! If I'm reading my diagrams correctly I should be able to toss pretty much all those wires except the trans speed sensor. Carbs are fun.
Got a little tired of tearing things out of the car without putting stuff in, so I did a little battery tray rust repair
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sA...A=w142-h189-no
Ground down to bare metal as much as I could after this photo (I suck at documenting things)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6h...w=w703-h937-no
Little primer makes me feel better. This week's battle is getting the K Member out. Should be an easy job, but every bolt is rusted to hell. Already had to cut the passenger side sway bar end link.
After that pig is out, I'm close to start prepping the rest of the engine bay for paint.