1978 Trans Am mild custom

[bmxmon]

Nice man, I love 2nd gens! Glad to see your also doing the work! Keep it up!

[ScotI]

Originally Posted by takid455

5/08
Use some rustoleum semi gloss on the A/C boxes to give them a better look. The plain fiberglass didn’t blend well with the rest of the engine bay. You can still see the fibers through the paint which I feel adds a nice touch. If you use a ‘high solids’ paint, it will not be translucent and you wont see the fibers.

I've taken those heater & a/c boxes a different direction that's cheap & looks pretty decent. I block them down w/some 320/400, apply one or two coats of primer & then shoot them w/a 'textured finish' art-deco type paint. Once that dries, I spray some Krylon satin-black & low-luster clear as the top coat. Adding some stainless hardware doesn't hurt while you're at it.

It gives it a consistent textured appearance & is still easy to touch-up is needed.

[asaenz]

Nice build!

The dark center rims look great

[takid455]

I appriciate the cmplements. its those simple words that make the researching, time and effort worth it.
the wheels were a big part b/c if you get them wrong, the n your car will look odd. After have light colored wheels in that past, I decided that teh 'brake dust' colored centers would be nice for a change as tey could hide some of the brake dust.

Brad - your 73 rocks. Everytime I see it, it make s me want to get mine done. then you , your borther and myself could terrorize some tracks. there is a nice show (500+ cars) 5/25 that I help run if you would lik eto attend. it is a far run for you ( about 2.5 hrs from bear mountain) so I understand if you cant make it.
show info
http://www.hackettstownrotary.org/

when is the next decent show by you?


Scot - do you have any pictures of the a/c box you painted. interested to see what it looks like.

[72blackbird]

Awesome job on the buildup- and best of all you kept it Pontiac powered! I'm really happy to see the second-gen Firebird is well represented here, since T/As and Firebirds been the factory sleeper road race car for almost 40 years.

I like your attention to detail, especially with the chassis reinforcements. BTW, what brand of sway bars are those, are they Herb Adams units? Did you consider mini tubbing the rear to go wider rubber? Please keep the updates coming.

Geno

[ALLFAITH]

The 25th going to Muclepalooza that day, otherwise would have been up for a ride in the TA.

We plan on gpoing to XV motorpsorts Open House on June 14th again, maybe you can make it-this time no rain hopefully on the return trip.

Brad

[takid455]

blackbird - thank you for teh complements. I tried to build this car using as many stock GM pieces I could as well as keep it a pontiac powered car. I like doijng things that present a challenge. tjose sway bars are either herb adams or rancho. I am leaning more towards rancho, but there is very little difference between the two. almost like rancho made them for herb and sold them as well. originally I had not planned on taking the car to this level so I did not think about mini tubbing. I could sqeeze a 295 in the rear w/ no issues w/ simple massaging. the limiting factor is the leaf spring. a super wide tire hits that before it makes contact with the wheel well. It is a thought in the back of my mind, but I am keeping seeing what can be done to a second gen with minimal body mods . again, the challange.

brad - seems our schedules conflict this year. the XV open house is the same time I will be in LA. last year's rain was not fun at all , expecially on the bike. If I recall, the entire front of my body was tingely when I got home. my back was dry though . maybe we can meet at bear mt sometime. not sure if it suits your fancy, but labor day weekend there is a huge 4 day street/hot rod show in whippany, NJ called Lead East.

[72blackbird]

takid,
My 'Bird has alot of factory T/A parts on it too- those worked great back in the '90s, but my car feels a bit 'long in the tooth'- time for some upgrades.

I've always loved the SCCA road racer look with the wide, low profile meats stuffed in the wheelwells- I guess mini-tubbing for me is just another step to making it happen. Brett Evans got a 275/35 R18 on a 18 x 9.5 CCW to fit perfect on a GM subframe (his project Splitter '70 'Bird)- that's plenty for me in front. You would think a 295/35R18 would be good enough in back for me, but the 335/30R18 on a 18 x 12 is just too sexy to pass up for my car.

What does the Kore3 setup cost about? How does it compare to the Baer Brake 14" monoblock setup?

Geno

[takid455]

I agree the 12" wide rims and wide tire look awesome. A benefit to you is the early birds can fit some rather wide rims in the stock wheel wells. I a pretty sure you can squeeze a 315 in there ask NOTATA (#14 car) as he has done so I believe. I am not ruling out taht I wont make future mod to the car, just right now I needed to start somewhere and get a good base line for the current mods vs stock and then the future will have those mods vs current if that makes sense at all.

just to avoid confusion, by 'stock parts' , a better definition would be a part that is readily available with a wide selection of aftermarket support. ie Z06 mono block calipers light years ahead of 1978 parts, yet are for the most part readily available should you need one in a crunch or need replacement parts. I was not nesseccerally referring or stating that I would like to use and keep all the parts from 1978 if you catch my drift.

the Kore3 kit (front and rear w/o rotors , calipers or pads) was around 1200 shipped. it is a superb kit and Tobin is extremely knowledgeable in brakes. I don't know how they compare to the baers as I am looking to use Porsche turbo or GT3 calipers and rotors. these are made by brembo. another company that I would consider is StopTech. You can alway go to Alcon if you really want top notch brakes and empty your wallet . In any event, to change calipers all you have to do is obtain or make brackets for the calipers to the spindle or rear backing plate. the good thing about the above mentioned companies is, as far as I am aware, you don't hate to by their pads as they are common items and you have a wide selection of manufactures and compounds.

[skatinjay27]

hey man its looking great!!!! ive been watching the thread from the begining...love the color,wheels,car!! cant go wrong with a gold 2nd gen
heres mine got some 18s im working on in the garage(cheap bmw replicas) polishing lips and painting center gray... look like we have the same taste...