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First of all thank you for the nomination and good luck to the other nominations. I am the second owner of my 1985 Trans Am and got it during my senior year of high school back in 2013. It was completely stock with around 33k miles and was very well kept by the couple who previously owned it since new. The paint is original and the color is Russet Metallic with Gold ground effects. Despite the odd color, the car pretty much came with very few options from the factory. The SPID label is one of the smallest ones I've seen on these cars and to be completely honest I'm still surprised it did not come with manual windows. Anyways, the car started with the "economical" 305 option, the LG4, which I soon started to tinker around with after owning it for a few months. I started with the basics by getting a factory L69 dual snorkel intake, then I moved on to a set of short tube hooker headers and a GMMG catback. The previous owner had put on some Amercian Racing wheels and some Radial T/As which looked decent enough, but I've always like how the crosslace wheels looked so I ended up getting some factory gold GTA wheels which I eventually upgraded to the 17x9 units made by Hawks. The last big thing I did with the 305 was installing a Comp cam in the middle of January in my cramped garage. It was quite the learning experience for me despite the not so ideal work space conditions. After that I got it set up with a complete MSD ignition system and it dyno'd with a whopping 185 rwhp and 230 rwtq. Shortly after I upgraded the peg leg 3.08 drum brake rear to a 3.70 posi with disc brakes. I took my first ever trip to a track that summer (2015 I think) and ran mid 15s I believe. That seemed alright enough for me considering it was my first time. I later gave it another go a the Fall ****** Militia meet at Cecil County Dragway where I ran the 305's best time of a 14.9 despite having some sort of WOT fuel issue that I was never able to figure out. The following year (2016) the 305 started to knock towards the end of the summer and that's when I decided to undertake my biggest project with the car yet, an LS swap. My good friend punkmaster98 was very helpful with getting me on the right path. First I picked up a 6.0l LQ4 out of a farm truck that only had around 50k miles on it. The guy I bought it from was a parts manager at a Chevy dealer and said they replaced the engine in the truck under warranty even though all that was wrong were some cracked heads, so he scooped it up to put in a drag car. He put on some 823 rectangle port heads that came off of an LS9 and had it all mounted in his drag car when he decided to get a crate engine that dyno'd around 750hp. He sold the LQ4 with the 823 heads on it for only $750 which was a hell of a deal. I got myself a custom cam kit from Martin Smallwood which came with a Straub trunnion kit and a high pressure melling oil pump. I also ordered a FTI 3600 lockup converter through Martin. After grabbing the 60e that I had rebuilt and upgraded, I pulled out the 305/700r4 and dropped in the 6.0l/60e. I spent the next couple of months collecting the rest of the parts I needed like the harness, intake, fuel system components etc and finally got it running at the end of January 2017 and tuned a month later. This time the dyno results were much more impressive, 392 rwhp and 362 rwtq. This thing was a completely different beast compared to the old drivetrain and I could not be happier with the results. After more than two years, the LS is still going strong with no hiccups. On the horizon I've been contemplating a T56 swap, but I'll be doing one of those on my project GTA that I've been working on here and there since I got it last year.
Sorry for the novel. I tried to condense everything as best as I could
Here's an album with a bunch of pictures of the general history of my car since I've owned it: https://imgur.com/a/XIJ5Od5
Last edited by Rainmaster; 03-23-2019 at 05:34 PM.
Rainmaster, I LOVE that you've essentially kept your car looking stock from the outside, but upgraded the go fast parts! Basically the same thing I've done, albeit a totally different car! NICE!!!!!!
Thanks for the nomination; with all the updated, highly-modified 3rd gens on this site, it wasn't something I expected.
I was heavily involved in building drag cars with my late older brother starting back in the '60s while also working as a GM dealer mechanic and later at an independent. When I returned from a tour in the Army in early 1971, I took a management job for a then-multi-state auto parts chain. I drifted away from performance cars for many years due to life changes, but was dragged back in by a young friend in 1985 who needed some help with an '82 Corvette with a very sick engine recently built by a local 'expert.' One thing led to another, and I traded the econo-box I had been driving for a new '86 IROC after searching out a car with the options I wanted. It's still bone-stock other than the Americans and Sport-Comps, and I have the original 16" IROC rims and Gatorbacks in storage. The car has about 36,700 miles on it, and has never seen rain nor snow.
Thanks for the nomination; with all the updated, highly-modified 3rd gens on this site, it wasn't something I expected.
I was heavily involved in building drag cars with my late older brother starting back in the '60s while also working as a GM dealer mechanic and later at an independent. When I returned from a tour in the Army in early 1971, I took a management job for a then-multi-state auto parts chain. I drifted away from performance cars for many years due to life changes, but was dragged back in by a young friend in 1985 who needed some help with an '82 Corvette with a very sick engine recently built by a local 'expert.' One thing led to another, and I traded the econo-box I had been driving for a new '86 IROC after searching out a car with the options I wanted. It's still bone-stock other than the Americans and Sport-Comps, and I have the original 16" IROC rims and Gatorbacks in storage. The car has about 36,700 miles on it, and has never seen rain nor snow.
Very nice Will! How did you manage to resist the urge and not build this ride over the years
Thnx.
While trying not to post another long story, I actually considered, with the urging of my aforementioned at-that-time younger friend, first, a big-block swap, and then a 383 build when they became popular back in the early '90s ( I built a couple of 383s for others back then, having a local machine shop cut 400 cranks down to fit 350 blocks). But the idea of keeping the car totally stock kept nagging at me, mostly due to the many cars that I let get away from me in the past. Also, I had, and still have, several other interests that take up my time besides the Camaro. A very time-consuming outdoor utility company construction-type job took a lot of my time and energy until my retirement back in 2006. And now, after 32 years of owning the Camaro, if I managed to leave the car alone this long, it's likely to stay that way until I'm gone.
Still, when I read the stories of LS and 6-speed swaps in the hot rod mags, and realize how relatively easy I could add another 300 hp to the car, it gives me pause. And the fact that parts are so easy to obtain these days adds to the thoughts of modernizing the car.
While trying not to post another long story, I actually considered, with the urging of my aforementioned at-that-time younger friend, first, a big-block swap, and then a 383 build when they became popular back in the early '90s ( I built a couple of 383s for others back then, having a local machine shop cut 400 cranks down to fit 350 blocks). But the idea of keeping the car totally stock kept nagging at me, mostly due to the many cars that I let get away from me in the past. Also, I had, and still have, several other interests that take up my time besides the Camaro. A very time-consuming outdoor utility company construction-type job took a lot of my time and energy until my retirement back in 2006. And now, after 32 years of owning the Camaro, if I managed to leave the car alone this long, it's likely to stay that way until I'm gone.
Still, when I read the stories of LS and 6-speed swaps in the hot rod mags, and realize how relatively easy I could add another 300 hp to the car, it gives me pause. And the fact that parts are so easy to obtain these days adds to the thoughts of modernizing the car.
I think at this point if the urge does come up by a different car to mod. It is really cool to hear someone like you who bought the car original not to store for future investment but to enjoy it along the way for what it is.
Oh Geeze Guys, thanks for the nomination but I'm afraid I need to be moved to Car on Blocks of the month thread! Short version of long story on my car, bought it 1992 with 29K miles on it, drove for 2 years pretty regularly (always had another car for primary driver because I wanted this one to be a keeper). Got busy with career in 1994 and put house stuff and the car in storage in Houston thinking I'd be back in a year or so. Ended up in many cities, and countries and never came back. Fast forward to 2015 and that is the photo you see, I pulled it out of storage, towed it to Austin, got it running, washed and vacuumed it and took it to the park for some photos. Put it back in the garage here in Austin and then my father suddenly passed and that distracted me for a year, then we built a second location for our biz, contractor turned out to be a bad dude and really screwed us, wife went into hospital, then we got burgarlized twice at new biz and all this delayed me until just this year. Was out for a spin earlier this year and an injectors went out. Now, just in last month or so got a 2 post lift and have the car torn apart. Detailing up 60K miles of road dirt, replacing injectors and while in there replaced valve seals (exhaust were no were to be found but intakes fully in tact) She will also be going in for head liner replacement, material is on the way. Headliner sags, but not too bad, but its gonna be fully sagged at some point. That is just from storing it. Storing a car is tough on it. Cars like to be driven! All in all, the car has really been in storage since 1994ish, and driven a few times. Suffice it to say, nothing is going to stop me now. I don't want to be one of those dudes you see on Garage Rescue that got so old he could no longer work on the car. Full speed a head, damn the torpedo's!
@LiquidBlue Sorry to hear about everything going on the last few years. I went through your profile and you’re always posting on the boards and are pretty active on here. Then I saw some of the pictures of you Formula and the car looked very clean. I didnt know that it wasnt exactly, ready, for cotm. I’ll keep checking in tho and im sure you’ll be nominated again once it all gets back on track! Any chance of posting a few pictures anyways? Still looks like a really nice original car.
Sorry to everyone else for not nominating a “finished” car. It still looked killer from the photos!
Here are a few more, nothing too recent. will get those to you once the beast is back on the road! Have to break open my lap top to get the wife modeling along side the car, 1993ish, and 2015. Both have aged pretty well
Rainmaster, I really like your car a lot.. I think the color, stock looks and interior are awesome.. The power it puts down is also awesome and unexpected to see from a car so original looking..
ironwill, Another beautiful car.. Love the interior and amazing you were able to get the original gatorbacks and save them.. smart to store them!
LiquidBlue, good luck to you in your journey.. I love the Maui formulas and look forward to updates! It’s a good reminder to all of us not to let the cars just sit for years.. They do have to be driven!
I voted for Carlos. I have lusted after that car dude
His car looks immaculate from that picture! I hope he posts...I just cant bring myself to vote for someone who doesnt post in the voting thread. Hearing the history of the cars is half the fun!
As far as I'm concerned Carlos is a "no show" so far....
Nice looking car but we have not heard a word from him.
IMO, COTM nominees need to step up and give us some history / background on their cars,
more pics, etc as all the other candidates this month have already done
How can we make judgement of a car from a single pic with no description?
As far as I'm concerned Carlos is a "no show" so far....
Nice looking car but we have not heard a word from him.
IMO, COTM nominees need to step up and give us some history / background on their cars,
more pics, etc as all the other candidates this month have already done
How can we make judgement of a car from a single pic with no description?
Just my
Agreed, I was very interested in Carlos’s GTA but can’t throw a vote that way unless he shows up..
You wouldn’t buy a car off a single 20’ exterior pic at dusk, right?
carlos64030 car has always been one of my favorites. LiquidBlue car is also a stunning car to me, it just screams 80s with that great paint scheme. I love seeing these cars original its hard to leave them alone.
Just gave my car a sponge bath today. Couldn’t take the garage dust in it any longer. Then got carried away and started polishing the hood because some grime got on it and was afraid to death I had ruined the paint. Clay bared, and Meguires step one and it seems ok. Looks better than ever except for clay bar steaks. Never clay bared her before. Seems to streak much easier than newer cars.
What is amazing to me is guys are voting for a car based on ONE picture......thats it.......and they know nothing about the car
That is pathetic....
I saw that too. Leading COTM without even posting... No rules saying you have to post but still crazy. I wouldnt do it but to each their own i guess. Atleast its a really bada$$ picture lol
He was posting back in late February and was last signed in on March 23. So he’s still on the boards. Im guessing this is just a case of bad timing and he’s just busy or something of that sort.
Thank you all for the nomination and interest in seeing more photos of my car! I apologize for not responding sooner, but I've been kinda busy and this thread kinda slipped my mind. I'll get some more photos uploaded later today when I get a chance. If it's too late, then oh well. Congrats to all the other nominees and good luck, even though there should have been more entries because there are quite a few other beautiful cars on this site that should be recognized.
What is amazing to me is guys are voting for a car based on ONE picture......thats it.......and they know nothing about the car
That is pathetic....
I see that, hell he may win without even trying. I was on the fence between him and Will and Will's story did it for me so I am glad I made my decision already
Just a little suggestion, not to put more on Linson's plate but once nominee's get the nod, can we have a 'post thread" for about a week, no votes. Than the final week of the moth the nominees that posted goes up for the vote. Or just open the vote part of the thread the last week to only the nominees that posted pics and a little background..
Last edited by vinny R; 03-27-2019 at 11:02 AM.
Reason: Typo
Thank you all for the nomination and interest in seeing more photos of my car! I apologize for not responding sooner, but I've been kinda busy and this thread kinda slipped my mind. I'll get some more photos uploaded later today when I get a chance. If it's too late, then oh well. Congrats to all the other nominees and good luck, even though there should have been more entries because there are quite a few other beautiful cars on this site that should be recognized.
Welcome to the party.....looking forward to learning more about your car
Thank you all for the nomination and interest in seeing more photos of my car! I apologize for not responding sooner, but I've been kinda busy and this thread kinda slipped my mind. I'll get some more photos uploaded later today when I get a chance. If it's too late, then oh well. Congrats to all the other nominees and good luck, even though there should have been more entries because there are quite a few other beautiful cars on this site that should be recognized.
Awesome!!!! I'm looking forward to seeing it too! For all we knew it could have been sold, wrecked, etc. The car looks killer and I'm anxious for more pics!
Again, I apologize for such a late response to this thread and thank you for nominating my GTA. I'm going to keep it brief because there really isn't a whole lot to tell and no heart warming stories to share about the car's history and I.
My GTA is a 1991 model, I purchased it in 1994 and it now has right around 64k miles on it. It was born with the 305 TPI and black leather interior. Later on in it's life, the 305 was pulled and in went a rebuilt 355 TPI with AFR heads and a slightly beefier cam. Still have the factory manifolds and cats on with a Flowmaster cat-back exhaust system. Even though the factory manifolds and cats aren't the best for all-out performance, I personally think these cars SOUND better with this setup. I have a BUILT '97 WS6 T/A for those days when I need more power... my GTA is more of a pleasure cruiser.
The original black interior was pulled and the entire interior's bare metal was covered with Dynamat Xtreme sound deadening. Then '88 - '91 Beechwood tan interior panels went in with brand-new everything else: carpets, floor mats, headliner and t-top shades.
The original used front Beechwood tan seats I purchased were cloth, so I had those stripped and recovered with 'Katzkin' brand leather. I also acquired some rear seat-backs from a Notchback GTA / TTA and had those recovered as well. Some of the other small touches are, a map pocket from an '87 - '89 GTA and an overhead console. The head unit is a 7 inch Pioneer touch screen with navigation, Bluetooth audio streaming, hands free calling, DVD playback, backup camera, 9-band graphic equalizer and a bunch of other handy features.
The suspension consists of KONI adjustable shocks and Eibach Sportline springs. The ride feels great, but I prefer less tire to fender gap, so the current springs will be coming out in a few weeks. I have a set of Ground Control Weight Jacks with custom Eibach springs that I bought last year, so I would like to install these in the next few weeks. The wheels are 17 x 9 replica GTA wheels and they're wrapped with 275-40-17 Yokohamas. The last major mod I plan to do is to install a complete digital dash setup I have sitting in the garage from an '88 GTA.
Sorry I don't have any under hood photos to share and I'm currently out of town so I can't take any photos. All I can say about the engine bay is, it looks bone stock and clean... nothing to see... looks just like every other 3rd gen equipped with a TPI motor.
Again, thank you for the nomination, the kind words, taking the time to read my post, and congrats and good luck to all the other nominees. You guys have FANTASTIC looking cars and I'm honored to be a contestant with you guys!
My apologies to everyone; being a fairly new poster to this particular site, I was unaware that it was OK to post pics directly ITT; I'll correct that here. All these were shot last weekend; this car has always been driven regularly in good weather, one of the main reasons (along with my dedication to meticulously maintaining it) why it has been virtually trouble-free and running well it's entire life:
It's probably worthwhile to note that I have never "detailed" this car in any way other than an occasional wash/wax, and a vacuum of the carpets. The interior, engine bay, and undercarriage are just as they were the day the car left Norwood.
All are beautiful cars and I would be proud to own any of them, but Rainmaster's ride with that color combo is like an 80's nostalgia punch to the face. Glorious.
03-22-2019, 10:57 PM
