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| 1980 Pontiac Trans Am Project |
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| History of the Terrible
Bird In the Spring of 1984 I became the third owner of a 1980 Pontiac Trans Am. The car remained my daily driver throughout High School and College. The day before Thanksgiving 1989, during a thunderstorm, I lost control in an intersection and the car was wrecked. I only had enough money at the time to have the frame checked and straightened. I then stored it in a wooden garage. Eleven years later, after saving and paying off credit cards, I brought it to my house in Arlington. The Planning Process Finding the Parts Finding useable parts for a 21 year old car is difficult, finding them for a good price is a real challenge. Larry Allen, a friend from work who likes to restore early 1900s autos and 1940s motorcycles, invited me to go to the Traders Village auto swap meet. In the pouring rain I noticed a trailer with a TA passenger fender with wheel spoiler, front spoiler, 79 firebird nose skin, and a set of TA brake lights. Fortunately it all fit in Larry's drove his van. On the Second Gen. TA Parts Classified Site I found Doug Day who was selling some of the parts he collected to restore his 1979 6.6 Liter TA. Joey Pickens, another friend from work (with a truck), and I went to meet with Doug. I bought the front bumper, radiator core support, rear bumper with skin and an inner front fender. Doug referred me to David Mars (817-551-5381), whose restoration work is detailed on the Texas Trans Ams site. Selecting a Body Shop I visited several paint and body shops that were referred to me from Grand Prairie to West Fort Worth and finally called David Mars at Texas Trans Ams. His quote was a little higher than most, but included Urethane paint instead of the standard base-coat being used on new cars. David told me "Just come see the black TA I have repainted and you will understand why it is worth the money". I did and after several visits to review his work and gather information I was ready to have him give me a quote on the body work and paint job. David had my car sent to Mitchell's Body Works (817-563-0059) in Mansfield because they would replace the quarter panel the way David wanted it done. The car is now at Texas Trans Ams getting ready to be sanded, filled and primed. David wants to let it sit for 4 weeks after being primered for the skin to shrink and set before painting. The Engine I continued my Internet research and found a company in Fort Worth that specializes in re-building engines. Forbes Rebuilt Automotive offers a 12 month 12,0000 mile warranty and is a member of the local Better Business Bureau with a pledge to arbitrate. They were able to source a Pontiac 400 big block and 4x heads with a higher compression ratio than stock. The Cylinders were bored 0.040" over increasing the engines to about 408 cid (Cubic Inch Displacement). 10/20/2000 David Mars picked up the engine from Forbes to perform the installation. 12/30/2000 After changing a defective distributor and cap, David called me to let me hear the engine would now start. Click to hear the engine without pipes or mufflers. Intake and Exhaust With the engine nearing completion at Forbes I returned to David Mars for intake and exhaust consultation. He sold me a dual plane intake manifold from a late 70's TA and recommended Ram-Air Reproduction (800-421-8455) exhaust manifolds, which are finished in Richardson, TX. I called Paul at Ram-Air Reproduction to place an order and he told me just to drive over and pick them up. Paul receives the cast iron piece from the foundry, then mills the correct bolt holes, ports the head gasket area and for a extra charge will port the exhaust flange to fit 2.5 inch pipe instead of 2.25. He offers a substantial discount for cash -n- carry, and is always less than the ones in the big catalogs. I had the Ram-Air Reproduction exhaust manifolds coated inside and out with Cermakrome by Tech Line Coatings, Inc. (972-775-8101) to reduce heat transfer and eliminate rust. Michael at Performance Coatings in Arlington (817-274-1947) coats, bakes and polishes the manifolds to a chrome like finish. Performance Coatings also does powder coating of parts like suspension linkages and wheels.2/7/2001 Dual 2.5" aluminized pipes were installed from the RAR exhaust manifilds to the DynoMax, Ultra Flo mufflers including a 2.25" H-pipe just before the mufflers. Exiting the mufflers the pipe is reduced to 2.25" to run up and over the axle then welded to the stock split chrome tips. Click to hear the new pipes and Ultra Flo mufflers. |
 Original Pictures Click here for a cheesy promotional picture of my car from Pontiac  More Pictures |
