So I guess this is my Trans Am build thread now...

[RecklessWOT]

I've lusted after a '78/79 Trans Am since I was about 8 years old, missed my chance a few times over the years. Going to look at one tomorrow, wife even says I can have it as long as I get rid of one of the other vehicles (got a stripped parts car with dumpster already written all over it lol). It's definitely a project car (more of a basket case really) but the price is right and the body work all seems to be done, just needs to be put back together and it needs a tranny (says it will move around the yard if you put fluid in it but it pisses everywhere and slips, fine by me I want a 4spd anyway). It is actually an '81 but somewhere along the years someone swapped in a proper engine, dude claims he thinks it's a 400 from a '79 but admittedly doesn't know for sure he isn't a pontiac guy. He bought the car basically in the condition its in with the hopes of flipping it but I get the feeling he bit off more than he can chew and really has nowhere to work on it, has a couple cars for sale. It's 4 wheel disc brake and posi, so I think that makes it a WS6, or is there more to it than that? Anyway as long as the thing is solid and the body work isn't bondo slapped over newspaper, I really want to buy it (gonna make a proper black and gold bandit out of it). The engine supposedly runs really strong and doesn't smoke so that's cool, but not knowing what engine it is kinda bugs me. I really want a 400, but wouldn't say no to a 403, just as long as it's not a 301 or some dumb crate 350 or something. Hell, maybe it's even a 455 if someone went through the effort of the swap that would be awesome hah. Anyways, that's where you guys come in. As much as I have always had a boner for old Pontiacs (or any Pontiac really) out of the more than 30something cars I've had over the years I have never had any Pontiac, especially my beloved firechicken. What am I looking for specifically? How can I tell what engine it actually is? I'm smart enough to tell if it's a stock turbo engine and can tell the difference between Pontiac and Chevy setups, but how do I tell the difference between the BPO engines? Also are there any problem areas I really have to look out for? I'm gonna go over the thing really thoroughly to look for rust or shoddy bodywork, broken stuff, etc. But what should I pay extra special attention to?

Thanks a lot in advance guys

 

[bucket]

Look for rust/bondo in the lower fenders, the upper cowl and dash area, front and rear of the lower quarters, the lower rear body panel, entire length of the rear "frame" rails and also the rear lip of the trunk lid. And of course the usual floor pan and trunk floor rot.

Also look at the front subframe. There could be significant rot in the steering box area, the body mount tabs, and also in the rails themselves where they curve under the lower footwell area.

 

[RecklessWOT]

Look for rust/bondo in the lower fenders, the upper cowl and dash area, front and rear of the lower quarters, the lower rear body panel, entire length of the rear "frame" rails and also the rear lip of the trunk lid. And of course the usual floor pan and trunk floor rot.

Also look at the front subframe. There could be significant rot in the steering box area, the body mount tabs, and also in the rails themselves where they curve under the lower footwell area.

Thanks for the reply Bucket. I've been around an F body or 4 so I'm somewhat confident about what to look for rust-wise, just don't know too much about the Pontiac specific stuff (played with a handful of Camaros). Really mostly concerned about the mystery V8 under the hood. Hah I've seen subframes/ unibody rials that were practically made of fiberglass and just had rubberized undercoating sprayed on them to try and look like real metal lol. I know the lengths people will go through to try and sell junk to unsuspecting droolers, I already set him up to know I've been looking for one of these for years and none have been right so he knows I'm not gonna get all horny for it and buy it the second I sit in it and fire it up.

 

[Rusty Nail]

No pictures?

Whatever!

 

[da_raabi]

- If the valley pan has the PCV port at the rear, the block is from 1966 or older, and if the port is at the front, it is 1967 and newer.
- Blocks cast from 1955–66 have two freeze plugs while the 1967–78 blocks have three freeze plugs.
- On 1968–69 428 blocks you will find “428” stamped between the freeze plugs. On blocks produced in 1970 and after, you will find 350, 400, or 455 stamped towards the left side of the front of the block. There is no displacement stamp for 421, 389 or 326 blocks.

To further identify the year and application, move to the top and rear of the block, where the distributor is mounted. Here you will find the date code and block casting number. The date code is a three- or four-digit code that always starts with a letter, which represents the month the block was cast (A = January, B = February, C = March, and so on through L = December). It should be noted that for the 1967 model year, Pontiac used M for December.

The month is then followed by one or two digits, which represent the day the block was cast, followed by one more digit, which represents the year. For example, a block stamped “J129” was cast October 12, 1959, 1969, or 1979. Armed with the previous clues, you can pin the year down. If the block is stamped with a 350, 400, or 455, it was likely cast in 1969, because GM (as discussed) started stamping the displacement on the block for the 1970 model year. Also, all blocks cast in 1969 and later have the last two digits of the year here as well. So if you see “70” stamped in this area, the block is a 1970.

Casting codes for 1968–81 appear on the ledge at the rear of the block behind cylinder eight. Once you locate the casting code, you can find your block through a number of searchable databases. We’ve found the Wallace Racing website to be particularly helpful and accurate.

All info from: https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/identify-pontiac-engine-blocks/

 

[Catbox]

How did it go?

Any photos?

 

[RecklessWOT]

- If the valley pan has the PCV port at the rear, the block is from 1966 or older, and if the port is at the front, it is 1967 and newer.
- Blocks cast from 1955–66 have two freeze plugs while the 1967–78 blocks have three freeze plugs.
- On 1968–69 428 blocks you will find “428” stamped between the freeze plugs. On blocks produced in 1970 and after, you will find 350, 400, or 455 stamped towards the left side of the front of the block. There is no displacement stamp for 421, 389 or 326 blocks.



All info from: https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/identify-pontiac-engine-blocks/

Hah, I actually found this site myself before I went to look at the car, pretty informative. Thanks

 

[RecklessWOT]

No pictures?

Whatever!

Down boy! *smack*

I bought the T/A, I'm bringin' it home Sunday. You'll get your pics then Rusty
lol

 

[RecklessWOT]

How did it go?

Any photos?

Went really well, the thing is super solid. I bought it and I'm bringing it home on Sunday. I'll post plenty of pictures and fill you all in then, probably gonna start a build thread

 

[RecklessWOT]

Got delayed by the weather. It's raining tonight and all day tomorrow, this car still don't have windows put back in it yet so I'm not trying to take it an hour up the interstate getting full of water. Looks like Tuesday it is

 

[Rusty Nail]

Im startin to think that you dont even really HAVE a Trans Am. Who tells a bunch of buddies something like that but then dont got no pix anyway?

 

[RecklessWOT]

Im startin to think that you dont even really HAVE a Trans Am. Who tells a bunch of buddies something like that but then dont got no pix anyway?

 

[RecklessWOT]

Not sure if this 400 is built or not, but it's definitely been out of the car and prettied up recently. I'll have to check to see which casting it is. Not even 100% sure what year it is yet. All I know is it's definitely a Pontiac 400, which is what I wanted

 

[RecklessWOT]

I got it up on the lift tonight and peeked around under it. It's pretty much all good, not a lot of corners were cut in that regard. The bodywork looks like it was done kind of hastily, but it's real solid overall, can definitely work with it. Interior is going to be fun but I have at least one full interior if not two, not sure how nice either one is. I'm going to start a build thread, so for more pics and future updates, just check there. For now, here's your pictures lol, may that satisfy your thirst for a little while...

 

[Rusty Nail]