Hey everyone, I used to post/use the site years ago when I owned a couple of third gens. Unfortunately I made the wrong decision in 2004 and sold my red '87 GTA for a '96 Camaro Z-28. After finding out how difficult an LT1 was to work on, and the cost for parts compared to a third gen I'm just simply giving up. When comparing the two generations the third gen is still my favorite vehicle to work on. I have owned a '91 Firebird 3.1, an '88 Firebird 2.8 and an '87 GTA.. but now I am currently searching for the car that fueled my passion.. a black with gold accent '82-84 Trans Am. I have ran across a few of them but only found cars with rotted 1/4 panels or no engines. Basically I would like to find one of these in project form that is still running (or barely) with everything complete and mostly original.

Not having the basic knowledge of a 305 V8, I realize that they are underpowered for what they are and thats alright.. I am not a hardcore hot rodder. With that said, my questions are this: Were these cars more reliable with the crossfire fuel injection or 2bbl carb? Was the automatic transmission that was mated to the 305 a 700R4, I believe? Also, is there any other vital information pertaining to the 1982-84 Trans Am that I need to be aware of when looking at one (not the basic knowledge of what to look for with any car).

In my searches I ran across a web page devoted to the 1982 Recaro Trans Am and saved some of the pictures and information from the site to use as references. I highly doubt I will find one of these cars as there probably aren't many left out of the 2,500 built. Eitherway, I will find and purchase an '82 soon enough and hopefully be able to jump on the boards and ask questions and get some help.. I will need it. Until then I'll keep lurking around..

Thanks, Joe

 

Welcome back.

I've never heard of crossfire being called more reliable than carb. Crossfire was better equipped than carb, but carb is certainly easier to improve from a performance standpoint.

The only automatic available in '82 was the TH200C, a non-overdrive lock-up torque converter version of the venerable GM turbo hydros. In '83, the TH700R-4 was also available. By '84, the TH200C was dropped.

No EFI was available in 1984. The L69 was available in '83 & '84.

 

also, all the carbureted 305s has a computer-controlled Quadrajet 4-barrel. You might find your search easier if you're willing to paint whatever you find, rather than insist on one that was black to start with. And why not take a car that's missing the engine? Those hoods had a tendency to let an awful lot of water into the engine if the car sat for any length of time. I learned this the hard way, a year ago I bought my '84 Trans Am for $350. All original, all there, no modifications, but a bit of surface rust. The underside wasn't rusty, however. The car had been sitting in that spot for 12 years. I towed it home, popped the hiid, and found the carburetor full of water. I removed that, and so was the intake! I pulled that and the sparkplugs, and 2 cylinders were also full of water. What happens is that the vacuum that holds the hood's flapper closed doesn't last for months, let alone years, and at full throttle, there's no vacuum, so the flapper opens for more power.
That's the drawback of that hood. You'll probably find quite a few with ruined engines. No big deal. Drop in a new goodwrench 350 or less-popularly, a goodwrench 305, and never worry about it again.