1978 Trans Am mild custom

[takid455]

Since teh car is in the reader's rides section, I figured I post its build here. One thing about this , is that it is not a chevy or ford. get some variety in here.
I purchased the car in September 2005 from the original owner. Prior to my acquisition, many modifications had been done to the car. It even had contact with a wall which is why it had not front end sheet metal. Some of the modifications include Herb Adams front and rear sway bars, brake cooling ducts and other body and suspension mods listed in his handbook, weld in subframe connectors essentially making it a unibody car, support )H-beam) for added strength, .45caliber bullet hole in left ¼, switches to individually turn on/ off tail, side and head lights for ‘stealth’ driving ( not sure why anybody would think of doing such thing ), 474 engine with Holley projection 4, accusump oil reserve, nitrous just for giggles. Here is what it looked like when I first picked it up.

Original back in 1992 before accident

[takid455]

Some damage


Pulling the body straight





In addition to what has been done, I have/ will add the following:
GW upper and lower control arms with Aldan Eagle coil-overs, Koni’s in the rear
Aluminum radiator w/ dual elec. fans
4 wheel disc brakes by Kore3 to fit C5/C6 rotors and calipers
Modern lighting
Lizard skin heat and sound insulation coatings
T-56 (currently being built) w/ hydr. T/O bearing
Engine beefed up w/ KRE heads and roller cam
17 or 18” 3 piece wheels, still trying to decide although I am close. Wheels are way more expensive than I ever thought
All undercarriage and suspension parts are powder coated.

Some more pics
May plan of “just put it back together” didn’t hold for too long

[takid455]

At paint shop (10/06) for body work and primer, they will also do the final wet sanding on the high build sealer (HOK) and paint after I dry sand the initial high build primer(Claussen Z-chrome).





Few months later 12/06 its back. Looks like a leopard

[takid455]

Had to take the hood, trunk lid, and fenders down again because the original body guy I had lined up did something wrong and they were rusting under the freshly applied primer. Better to find out now than later.



Sanding the primer and under side. That hippie needs a hair cut. (1/06)

Looks like a car for the first time since 1993 (2/06)



Hoping this

[takid455]

Will fit into here




As of this writing 2/18/07, all plastic body bolts on are sanded and ready for sealer. I am waiting for G-Force trans to finish modifying the Lakewood bell housing to mate up to the t-56. I have found a builder for the T-56 which will be comprised of a 06 Z06 unit (don’t know how he got it, but it was reasonable and I’m not asking questions), the Z06 unit also has an built in pump so I can run a cooler for the trans should it be necessary, viper output shaft and tail and the usual keyway and fork upgrades. This should be good for 750 HP. Not sure why all trans are rated for HP when torque is what kills them. Once the bell is received, I will bolt the trans up to the engine and see exactly how much I have to open up the trans tunnel. A t-56 will fit in the tunnel w/o mods, but that is if you were to drop the body on to a frame per se, it will not be able to be removed or install with a clutch bolted to the fly wheel. I will have more updates on this as I make them. Oh, a custom cross member is also needed,


UPDATE 3/2/07

Since the last post, I stopped by the trans shop and looked at exactly what was inside this 6 speed mechanical device. Lots of parts, but nothing that looked difficult to build. Then again, nothing is hard if you know what you are doing. I supposed after about 3 shots, I might get it right. Gforce had sent the modified bellhousing and custom mainshaft to work with triple cone viper tail housings. Very interesting and nicely machine piece. Top notch work by Gforce. Here are some pics

Stuff, look at that bad boy. Rated to 750HP . Gears are the weakest link in this. Better gears are rated to 1200HP and cost 2200. I supposed if you can afford that power , you can afford the gears.


Gears


Carbon fiber syncros, not what I envisioned, but I guess they work well


I had thought that I would be in for a long night of cutting and welding to fit this trans in the tunnel. With the engine tilted at 4* which is the angle of the carb mounting surface relative to the centerline of the engine, the trans fit in and bolted up in about 1 minute. Not lying here. This is with clutch and all bolted up as well. I instantly doubled checked all heights, angles, ect and all were good to go.

[takid455]

So I moved on to the shifter using a stock viper unit. Sawzall and a carbide cutter made a nice opening in the tunnel. I have to move the shifter shaft in about 1” so it doesn’t hit the console. I will be installing a short throw, which will be normal throw with the add height/ length of the shifter. Mcleod makes a nice short throw that can be tailored to your specs.






This is all for now. Tomorrow is finish sanding spoilers and bumpers, fit hydrobooster and hyd. Master cyl in firewall.






Update 4/2
Since the last update lost of little items have been attended. Trans tunnel/console mount is attached to car, provisions for hydraulic master clutch cylinder has been made, weld on interior ‘H-beams’ and sub frame connectors have been smoothed and filled. Lizard skin coating has been applied to the interior of the car instead of dynamat. We’ll see out this stuff works out in the future. I held off on applying the sound control as my other t/a’s don’t sound all too load on the inside. Much loader when standing outside of the car. I assume this is due to the location of the tail pipe being a long distance relatively to the driver. I can always apply this with a brush later if the sound is deemed too load. But as the old saying goes, if its too load, your too old. Seam sealer has been applied to all seams and undercoating to the lower inner ¼’s as 1) they love rust and I am trying to break that bond and 2) rubber is easily removed from undercoating. All items that bolt on to the car have been sanded and initial bodywork done (spoilers, bumper covers, ect.) A new fender was add to the car as the original pass side fender that I had intended to use did not want to cooperate and would take more time trying to make it work than just starting over. I have also made provision for the battery cable to run through the frame into the truck where the battery will be located. Car as of today has left to the body shop for final sealing, fixing things that they missed the first time (not a big deal since were are still w/in the original contract as far as agreement, work to be done and money is concerned), wet sanding, subframe installation and paint. So the next time the car comes home, it will look all pretty. YIPEEEE. Gosh I hate bodywork. OK, so here are some pics:

[takid455]

After 17 years of combustionless life, fuel, air & heat have once again been successfully mixed in the cylinders as approx 5 PM this evening. All seems strong and very healthy. Running just headers, the exhaust note is felt in the stomach. Didn't run it too long as the cooling system is dry.

After some waiting for parts, deciding and ordering parts, defeating some walls & hurdles build by life, and other what nots, I have jumped on this fellow once again. Fuel system is complete with 4th gen F-body fuel pump & sender integrated into stock 2nd gen tank. the bulk of the electrical system is completed or at least laid out. I still need to setup the elec fan units and make the relay box for current components and future expansion. Battery is located in the trunk and I was able to feed the 1/0 cable through the frame for a clean look. I found an asphalt sheathing used on antique autos that slid over the cable to prevent wear and corrosion even though the cable has a fairly thick rubber insulation already. Once all the electrical components are inplace and wiring laid, I will tidy up the wiring for a clean look. pics are coming.

[Doug1]

Sweet! I am doing a 2nd Gen TA myself. That is a beautiful car!

Who made the transmission crossmember? Also the oval exhaust?

[G-Body]

Sweet ASSSS build ! good luck!

[NOT A TA]

Awesome that you've gotten to the point of firing it up! I'd been watching the thread a long time ago thinking "Wow that looks so nice under there, I'm never posting pics showing the underside of my car! " LOL Glad to see you're back on it.