Dreamin Ta's
 

Decided to finally start a thread on my Firebird
I have owned this car for over 27 years
It was a $300 dollar non running Espirit
I changed the motor - 9 times now
made it a four speed car- now 5 speed
Twelve bolt rear end.. added bars and Konis
and started Autocrossing...

I added the Trans Am flairs, hood and Spoiler and
had one of my Autocross buddies Paint the Car
25 years ago for $1100... still looks pretty good

In the last several years I have added a bunch
of upgrades to the car

494 inch Mr-1 block, Roland racing head motor
solid rollers, shaft system now,.750 com cam,
scat crank, diamond pistons etc... was Popular
Hot Rodding motor but we replaced the valve train
and block to make it live.. original motor Dyno was
755 hp with 620 torque.. yes it is a Ponitac

Speed tech front end with coil overs - now Vikings
with 450 Lb springs
Mono leaf rear with spherical and raised front mounts
Viking shocks out back also

Protouring subframe connectors along with his old
Herb Adam style front braces, Autopower 5 point bar

Electric water pump, A1000 fuel pump with return to
Rick's SS tank with rear sump, Msd dizzy and electronics

Carb is a 4150 built with Dominator plate and metering blocks
approx 1150 cfm

Just put a Splitter out front, rear lexan window,
pulled the side windows and working on a rear wing
extension, have new side vents and a glass hood
to install sometime

Keeps me busy along with the Pantera

Bob

Looks great, Bob! can you do me a huge favor and post a side profile picture? i'd liked to see ride height and tire clearance. thanks!

Love it Bob. Great mix of old and new without getting TOO new IMO. :thumbsup:

awesome car bob

Nice car Bob!!

Love the car and the color!!! Do you know which shade of blue that is? Looks a bit darker than mine. I prefer the darker shades over the original Lucerne Blue...

One question: which shaker base and air filter setup are you using? I think I have seen one before that would mount like yours appears to, but I can't recall which one it is?

Great looking Trans Am. The trans am flares look to be seamless. Is that just the pictures or did you have them molded in? I would appreciate it if you could show how you mounted the front splitter. I have planned on adding one to my TA after seeing it added to Alberts old car.

I agree, I would like to see more pictures and I would like to know the tire/wheel specs

Dreamin
 

Ok attached is a side view.. rear fenders are
slightly flaired and a little lower, fronts I just
cut the lip and pulled them

Tires are 275s in the front on Simmons Racing wheels-17's
I have a set of Simmons for the rear but had the minilites
made with less offset to pull the tire in.. both are 17" with
315's... I think I could get 335s out back.. I have
Kumo V-710s and a set of Nittos for the 200 events
Headers- 3 1/2" collectors with 3" exhaust along with
the bellhousing are the low points.. I did raise the car
and now have about 2 1/2" clearance at the low points

Color was originally going to be black and at the last
minute I changed it.. was suppose to be Honda civic
color way back but he tweaked it slightly so don't really know
Cannot find my extra paint

Painter did mold both front and rear flairs and we put
rock protector on the rears but that did not last long
I put some pieces of carbon fiber on them..

Shaker was a bit of a project
I had the carb built to get rid of the dominator
as the hole was too far forward.. I then made
a plate for the bottom and top took a 3" round
filter and shaped it oval like.. it actually goes
right around the front of the carb.. then took my
old shaker and glued Oak pieces inside with inserts
and drilled down thru the filter housing and bolted
it down...cut the flange on the shaker to fit inside
the hole with clearance as it sits a little taller
Also had the manifold milled to sit level.. quite a project
but really wanted a shaker.. new glass hood has the
hole uncut but slightly depressed but about 3/4" too
short so need to do some work on it plus paint or wrap
it.. not ready to give up the stripe which was painted
on years ago.

Will try to get a better shot from the side down low

Bob

Dreamin
 

Shaker,
I only have a early version of the first
mock up on the shaker. the one on the
car actually is a little taller and more oval
or v- shaped.. lost a lot of pics in my old phone

Bob

Thanks, Bob!

Yes nice car with a nice rumble. Love the 'birds. Watch'ed that Overhaulin episode last nite with the 'bird and DSE and LS conversion....

Dreamin
 

Looks like you have been busy
with your car Mike. I thought it was just
a cam then I see new rear end. Looks good
It will be good to hang out with you at Thunderhill

Bob

wow that is a great looking car, very nice

Nice solution to the shaker. Eric and I have a ton of work into mine to get it centered and at the right height. I was really concerned about the amount of filter surface that would be exposed. We ended up adding a foam element to the top also to allow for extra flow. I'm scheduled for a dyno soon, so I will try and run with and without it to see what difference it makes.

Dreaming ta's
 

Finished the rear Lexan window
Taking weight off the car but on the
Wrong end:)

Love all the active 70 firebirds
Bob

Minilites look great, same with the shade of blue. Is the stripe a factory deal? That thick black around the edge looks neato!
Nice work.
:thumbsup:

Dreamin tas
 

Dbasher
The stripe is actually painted on.. I did the layout
years ago for the Painter...It will be hard to replicate
if I change my Hood..

forgot to take a pic of the front spoiler mount
hopefully in the next couple of days
Working on the rear spoiler extension next


Bob

Wrap
 

Just a thought... but if you change your hood, couldn't they scan/recreate the stripe in a decal or wrap?

LOVE your car btw!!!

Dreaming TAs
 

I figure if I change the hood then the
stripe will be changed also... I want to change
the front nose and then maybe try to match the
paint... not sure I want to take it that far apart
and deal with a painter as I am now ready to run
the car for the season

Thanks.. love your build.. went thru it
many times

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Better side shot taken today

Dreamin Ta's
 

Splitter is bolted to the existing body and
spoiler bolts. Then a bunch of sheet metal screws
into the Fiberglass. Been tested to 100mph so far
Picture note the best

Did it help keep the front planted at higher speeds, Bob?

Thanks for the side shot!

Great looking Bird Bob. Love the color, stance and styling. Big fan of the splitter. Keep the pics coming.

dreamin Ta's
 

Does the spitter work?

Front seemed pretty stable on the car
before so hard to tell. Only a blast
Down the freeway quickly to make sure it
stayed on. Working on the rear one next
which will be an extension on the TA tale
Squared off will work better but I am going to
cut it angled on the ends as it looks better

Then time to cut the fender vents
Was going to do hood vents but too
many things in the way

Thanks for the comments
Been sending things to my buddies for
a while and decided to start a thread here
Not like what some of the others have done
but fun as I can do it myself

Not as pretty of a car as my Pantera but my
favorite as I brought it back from the dead
and raced it for many years

Bob

Bob

LOVIN' this car!!

What are you going to do for fender vents?

A previous shop eliminated the 71-only functional fender vents on my car... said the 71 fenders couldn't be saved... idk I doubt they were that bad, but water under the bridge. The car does look smoother without them, but with my Anvil hood with no cowl vents and no fender vents I'm wondering if I shouldn't look at some way of getting some of the air out from under the hood too.

Interested to see what you come up with!

Dreamin Tas
 

Ty,
I bought some vents from summit
Hopefully will get them cut in this weekend and
will post... If you read Brian Hobaug's build he
just put some in his hood as it moved all around
at 140mph.. I still have the steel hood and my
car has not gone 140 yet.. just been an autocrosser

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

So finished the rear spoiler extension
Measured the optima 8" height to be sure

Dreamin Ta's
 

Measurement shot 8" above body

Dreamin Ta's
 

Fender vent cut on
one side. Was a pain to cut
around the end of the fire wall
But putting it farther forward would
have looked funny. Will snap it in
Monday and cut the other side
It is a clear shot to the engine bay
so hopefully it with help cool things off

Bob

Is this going to be cosmetic or functional?

Dreamin Ta's
 

Functional
It has a lot more flow than if
you opened up the stock ones
I will take a shot of the vent and passageway
Tomorrow

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Does anyone have a shot of how
to adjust one side of the front nose
piece up. Mine has always been low
on one side and I want to move it up
to match the hood. Car has always just
been an autocrosser ...trying to make it
look a little better for Optima

Bob

Flow for engine heat or downforce?

I only ask because I just installed fender vents on my car and it has no inner fender liner.

Dreaming Ta's
 

I still have inner fenders
Trying to release pressure and
heat out of the engine bay

Back in the day I was told that Penske
Put holes in the firewall and ran vent tubing
all the way to the back of the car-trans am cars...
They had no inner fenders but were getting air out
and off the firewall

One of my buddies did wings and aero work
on Altered Dragsters and Sprint cars
He told me I should put vents in the rear panel
to the trunk to create a low pressure so the rear
wing will work better

He also said to close up the lovers on the back
of a stock hood. I still have the steel hood on the
car... My harwood glass hood replacement has no louvers

Still learning and asking

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Here is a picture of the vents
I bought at Suumit

Bob

Bob, you could spend some time with a vacuum/pressure gauge a take readings at different spots on the car to determine where changes need to be made to allow the air to flow. For instance, you may find that a partial belly pan in the engine bay will help evacuate air from the bay by increasing air pressure in the bay relative to the outside at the vents. The air will flow from high to low pressure. The hard part may be to achieve this while keeping the pressure in the bay lower than it is in front of the radiator so air will continue to flow through it.

Dreamin Ta's
 

Trey,
I just finished the install yesterday
After coming back from a short drive I shut
the car down but left the fan and elect water
pump run for a short time.. walking by I could feel
air coming out the vents... I did a quick test with a
piece of paper and the air goes up near the top of the
vent and then forward?? as I head lower.. now sure when
the car is moving...

Pic of Vent installed

Bob

Looks good! Hopefully, it'll work well for you.

Sweet car, and I agree- that blue is awesome!

Dreamin Ta's
 

Thanks I love the color ... Just wish I knew
what the painter mixed up 25 years back
I did keep some pieces I cut out to try to
match later

Signed up for Optima Thunderhill today
now we need to see how it does after changing
a million things

Bob