1971 Pro Touring Trans Am with a twist

[fleetus macmullitz]

Originally Posted by garickman

Remember it is an auction car in which I am hoping to break the six figure mark so it must appeal to the masses.

Any thoughts??

Greg,

Just wondering, have any Trans-Ams 'clones', for lack of a better term, brought $100K or so at auction?

[Xplosiv]

Im sure you guys know this, but CF hoods and accents can be made out of carbon/kevlar using the black carbon and blue kevlar. That would give it a blue tint without being outwardly bright blue.

[Rybar]

Impressive build, love the direction. Not sure how I missed this thread.

[DaleTx]

First class build here... great pics... I will be following this thread

I'm curious about the primer for the dry sump system. I haven't seen that before, nice feature.

[T_Raven]

Very nice build so far!

I didn't know that about the formula hood originally being intended for the TA. It would be cool to see a TA built with that hood now that I know that, unfortunately most people don't know that and anyone who owned the car would forever hear how they "ruined" it by putting the wrong hood on.

Of the two styles I prefer the shaker hood and that would probably be better for resale value. Whatever you do don't put a shaker in a Formula hood. I can't stand seeing that. Two induction styles on one hood is dumb. It'd be like ram air scoops on a Camaro cowl induction hood.

Loving that axle. I'm hoping to put some GMR stuff under my 67.

[intocarss]

Drooling comes to mind

I never knew that about the T/A hood Thanks, now I can stump my friends LOL

[RussMurco]

Originally Posted by intocarss

Drooling comes to mind

I never knew that about the T/A hood Thanks, now I can stump my friends LOL

You can also stump them with the original design for the 1970 Formula hood, the one that appeared on the 1976 models!

[ProTouring442]

Originally Posted by garickman

Well sort of. Did you notice I mentioned in my title Trans am with a "twist". I guess this is as good as time as any to explain the "twist".

As most of you know and for those that don’t, the twin scoop formula hood was designed by Pontiac’s lead designer Bill Porter and it was originally meant to be used on the Trans Am. However, at the time, competitive performance models such as the Dodge Challenger, the Plymouth ‘Cuda and the Ford Mustang were all using functional shaker hoods and the GM exec’s also wanted that feature for the Trans Am. Bill Porter was very much against the design because it cut into the hood’s slender spline and it would not be as functional as the twin scoops. Obviously the GM exec’s won and the twin scoop hood was relegated to be used on what would become the Pontiac Firebird Formula. During a 2000 interview, Bill Porter once said “I always kind of wished the double scooped hood that became the Formula hood, originally done for the Trans Am, would have prevailed because it is functionally superior. Those twin boundary layer scoops up front really gulp in the air!” My plan for this build is to bring the car back to the original design by using the twin scoop formula hood along with the original trans am side vent fenders. Kind of the way it was supposed to be. I guess you could say it's going "Back to the Future".

Here is an original rendering from 1969 and it details what the 1970 Trans Am was supposed to look like.



By the way SW, I got some inspiration on this build from both of your T.A's. The first thing you will probably notice is the darker shade of metallic blue on the engine. The original Pontiac blue's just didn't look right.

As I recall, the shaker was designed to allow a tunnel ram in the Trans Am racing series, which allowed for two carburetors, but specified a stock hood. So they positioned the Shaker (just the air cleaner) to allow for clearance for a tunnel ram. Unfortunately, there was a rule change that kept it from being used in this fashion.

I forget where I read this, so it may not be true.

[CRCRFT78]

If your having a hard time deciding which hood for resale value, how about painting up both styles to match the car as an option for the buyer. They would have the option of having both styles or choosing the one they prefer.

[WSSix]

Very interesting info on the hoods for these cars. I never knew the Formula hood was designed to be on the TA.