1979 Trans Am - 25 years in a garage

[Crispy]

Since I'm on this board all this time I figured I'd add my 79 Build thread also.

I bought this car because I've always loved 2nd gen Firebirds, this will be 3rd owned and most likely a keeper. I'm the 3rd owner of the car, the 2nd owner had it garaged for over 25 years and finally decided to part ways with it.

A bit of surface rust here and there but the floors are SOLID, bushings are amazingly good, very small cancer spot near the rear window but its not through and can be either leaded or bondo'd. Paint is original and in good 20 foot shape. The previous owner sprayed primer over the quarter panels for whatever reason so I'm in the process of buffing that out since good factory paint is lying under.

The car is olds 403 powered with a rebuilt th350 and aftermarket 3:55 (not sure, have to verify, this is what the previous owner states). The trans is currently out of the car waiting for me to pull the motor and reseal and paint it. Also planning to add a cam, edelbrock intake and rebuilt carb.

Now for what everyone is here for...pics:

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[TravisB]

The previous owner sprayed primer over the quarter panels for whatever reason so I'm in the process of buffing that out since good factory paint is lying under.

I had a neighbor with a 70 model 1 ton truck who had rolled that silver roofing sealer on his truck up to the door handles as a way to prevent it from rusting he said. It looked like ****. I hope it all comes off. Great looking car btw!

 

[Crispy]

I started pulling the engine which while getting to the car I found no rust (except for the battery tray) and not a single 40 year old bolt fought me. WOW! What a pleasure its been so far.

The passenger side of that engine bay is pretty cramped. Changing plugs looks like a PITA.

The carb is not correct for the car and is just GUNKED. I ran the numbers its from a 78 Cadillac with cali emissions. Screw that. Gonna find a proper Qjet for this thing and get it built. The factory intake is just big and heavy so I've got my eye on a used Edelbrock performer so I can keep the shaker in tact.

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[Crispy]

I had a neighbor with a 70 model 1 ton truck who had rolled that silver roofing sealer on his truck up to the door handles as a way to prevent it from rusting he said. It looked like ****. I hope it all comes off. Great looking car btw!

jeez, yea it'll prevent a lot of things lol. The primer is coming off easy with a harbor freight buffer, foam cutting pad, and 3m Super Duty compound.

Thats what it looked like when I got it.

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I have the drivers side done, this weekend I should have the passenger side done. Also picked up some Duplicolor exact match paint to touch up a few spots.

 

[TravisB]

jeez, yea it'll prevent a lot of things lol. The primer is coming off easy with a harbor freight buffer, foam cutting pad, and 3m Super Duty compound.

Thats what it looked like when I got it.

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I have the drivers side done, this weekend I should have the passenger side done. Also picked up some Duplicolor exact match paint to touch up a few spots.

Looking at what it looks like under that, I can't imagine why they would have done that.

 

[Crispy]

Looking at what it looks like under that, I can't imagine why they would have done that.

From what I saw he was very anal about rust. There was a small spot on the corner of the rear window and he removed the window, ground it down, put naval jelly on, then primed the whole quarter lol. I think the car was too far gone for him, or he lost interest. He showed me his wife's C3 Vette which may have pushed the TA out and he also had an old GTO with an undercarriage you could eat of off, in a climate controlled garage.

 

[Old77]

awesome!!! I'd love to have one of these! So cool. When I was 18 I had a chance at a super solid 78 Z28 that I still kick myself for not getting. I walked away from it because of the insurance company not working with me but I should have fought passed that and had a bad ass car!

 

[Crispy]

awesome!!! I'd love to have one of these! So cool. When I was 18 I had a chance at a super solid 78 Z28 that I still kick myself for not getting. I walked away from it because of the insurance company not working with me but I should have fought passed that and had a bad ass car!

If I could I'd have a field full of them and barns full of parts. One day...

Good thing about these is they are still relatively affordable and common. Go get one before that changes!!!

 

[Swims350]

nice I've got a 79 as well with the 403 but mines rotted and trying to fix it all.

 

[Crispy]

nice I've got a 79 as well with the 403 but mines rotted and trying to fix it all.

I follow your thread! I hope you get her nice and strong again. I was thinking about swapping out the 403 but the Poncho 400s are expensive and I dont want to get involved in another dragged out, low result, LS swap project. So cam and intake and I'll be happy as long as it runs and drives reliably within a couple of months.

 

[DoubleDingo]

That's a cool car indeed!

 

[82sbshortbed]

Nice looking car. Should be a fun build.

 

[4WDKC]

I follow your thread! I hope you get her nice and strong again. I was thinking about swapping out the 403 but the Poncho 400s are expensive and I dont want to get involved in another dragged out, low result, LS swap project. So cam and intake and I'll be happy as long as it runs and drives reliably within a couple of months.

depends how far you are willing to go I guess.. inthe last 6 months I have seen two of them for cheap down here in S Florida.

 

[Swims350]

I follow your thread! I hope you get her nice and strong again. I was thinking about swapping out the 403 but the Poncho 400s are expensive and I dont want to get involved in another dragged out, low result, LS swap project. So cam and intake and I'll be happy as long as it runs and drives reliably within a couple of months.

I know what you mean one just came up on fb like 10 minutes from me, they want 500 for it, not bad but no clu eon how nice it really is, they say it ran and drove before pulled but we know how that is LOL.

I also found a nice rebuilt olds 455 with some work done to it from a good guy I can trust but he wants like 3 grand for it. More then I can afford.

I'll be sure to follow along with this thread for sure.

 

[Old77]

For grins I did a quick search on local CL and eBay because all this talk had me intrigued. I did find a pretty solid example in Texas for around $8k. I saw one that was a rusted out mess and the crack smoker wanted $3,500