My 1986 Pontiac Firbird Trans Am
About my Trans Am
I bid on this car in an ebay auction in August. I wasn't exactly looking to buy one at the time, I was just kinda wondering what they sold for and I've just always liked these cars. The car needed a bit of work, the engine is a tired carbureted low output 305, and the body needed a good amount of work. (no real rust to speak of, just had quite a few door dings, and the drivers front fender and door were dented, the paint also wasn't in the best of shape, but probably good enough to be saved with a nice wheel job. However, it had what I wanted as a base to start with. It had a carbureted small block with absolutely no emissions controls on it and it no longer had any type of computer connected to the engine either, this makes it very easy to do just about anything I want to the engine. It also had a 5 speed trans, which was the main thing I was looking for, although I plan on dragging the car and manuals aren't especially good for it, they make it much more fun to drive on the street, have less power loss, and are significantly easier to rebuild. The clutch was pretty much shot when I got the car (although the car came with a brand new Zoom clutch kit (disc, pressure plate, pilot bearing, throw out bearing, etc...)). The car also had a 3.42:1 rear end gear in it. It had 14" chrome mod wheels on the front and 15" on the rear. Front tires were 225/70/14 IIRC, and rear were 295/50/15. The stock q-jet carb had been switched for an Edelbrock 600cfm unit. An electric fan was installed in place of the stock belt driven one. Also, the catalytic convertor had been replaced with straight pipe, and it had a Raven muffler on it as well. When the interior upgrades were done to it (more on these later) someone also installed a 140mph speedometer from a newer Firebird/TA, I definately like that a lot better than the stock 85mph units. I think thats about all that was done to update it from stock. It seemed like a nice project car, and looked like it needed just about everything I wanted to tackle, so I bid on it. The only thing the car doesn't have that I wish it did is t-tops, but its probably better that it doesn't have them anyways considering my plans for the car.
I will be posting pics of the car now, which is pretty much as it was when I got it, in the near future.
About My Trans Am:
This car was originally (and still is) GM White. For the interior it was originally Red cloth, which is really ugly IMO. Currently it has a black interior with blue accents. Parts of the dash panels were painted blue, as well as the door panels, and there are 3 blue Firebird emblems in the interior as well to help accent it (one on the headliner, the other two on the rear pillars). It has a 140mph speedometer, 8000rpm tach, power windows, and rear defrost. It also has a Sony Xplode CD Player and Pioneer 3 way 4x6's in the dash, and Pioneer 4 way 6x9's in the rear pillars. When I got it it also had some 8" subs and a 150watt amp, but I took them out since they were virtually useless. Those are about the only interior options/upgrades it has. The T5 transmission actually has about the gear ratios I like it to have. It has a 2.85 first gear, so when you put a steep gear in the rear, its not too horribly short, then 2nd and 3rd are 1.94 and 1.34 which are spaced about right for what I need. Then 5th gear is .63:1, so you can put a steep gear in the car to get the acceleration, yet still get the gas mileage on the freeway. With a 4.56:1 rear gear, in 5th gear its like having a 2.87 rear gear with no overdrive. Since I am planning on running a 4.56:1 gear, this is a nice setup for me, I just hope that the T5 will be able to stand up to the power I will eventually throw at it.
Powertrain Modifications:
Removed Catalytic Convertor
Raven Muffler
Edelbrock 600cfm Carburetor
Electric Cooling Fan
3.42:1 Gears
Powertrain Modifications Waiting to be Performed:
New Valvesprings
4.56:1 Ring & Pinion
Interior & Exterior Modifications
Blue/Black two tone Dash and Door Panels
Sony Xplode CD Player, Pioneer 3 way 4x6's, JBL 3 way 6x9's.
8000rpm tach/140mph Speedometer
Engraved Firebird on Shift Knob
Firebird emblem on headliner and rear pillars
Future Modifications:
330hp GM 350 Vortec Crate Engine
Hooker 2055 Headers & Y-Pipe
Pro 5.0 Short Throw Shifter
Underdrive Pulleys
Electric Water Pump
Edelbrock Performer RPM intake
160* thermostat
MSD Distributor
4.56:1 Ring and Pinion
Performance Specs:
I have yet to take the car to the strip. I plan to make a few passes when the track opens in the spring for a baseline run. Based on what I can tell from driving it, I'm predicting low 16 to high 15 second passes in current trim depending on weather and traction conditions.
I have also yet to take the car to the dyno. I plan on doing this in the spring as well, around the same time as I take the car to the strip, to get a baseline number for it. As I add on more mods I will be doing dyno pulls and 1/4 mile runs to see what kind of gain each mod gave.
Pictures:
I currently haven't taken any pictures of the car. I will take some shortly and post them.