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71CHEVYSHORTBED402 03-10-2024 06:58 PM

Trans Ams
 
5 Attachment(s)
My favorite car. I don't protest to know much about them. My mom had a 1979 silver since about new. Her husband was in the body/paint bus., and ended up with the car following its theft recovery. Nice car but.......

I don't figure to be an expert, but from my experience 78-79 GM cars were built poorly, says my mom's TA and my 78 Caprice. I hear a 1974 TA is pretty cool, but I'm partial to 70-73.

Anyone know the differences between 70-71? Different engines apparently, 70 higher compression, 71 more CI. But what does that mean in practical sense, why is one better than another?

Other TA edgeucation welcome, very cool cars. I think I'd be tempted to restore one, but hmm, big $ or repair panels and pitting. No thanks; unless one materialized God-sent. I don't like my chances;)

I'm partial to 1971 GM, but I don't know, from a novice-head I like the 1970, though can't really say why, looks like the 71. In that blue too. Check out the poll if you like, pick a favorite.

Greg58 03-10-2024 07:22 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
I had a red 74 TA, back when I was younger! 455 automatic, it had a red and black 2 tone interior, 74 only I believe, red seats and carpet, black dash, column and headliner. It was powerful and handled good. My dream TA would be a 74 SD455 in White, red, or dark blue.
I had a 95 TA for a long time, I recently sold it to my nephew.

Greg

raggedjim 03-10-2024 07:53 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
2 Attachment(s)
Well, I voted '73 because the of the SD455. But I know I'll never own one of those!

Any 70-73 is my favorite, but I like all of the second gen f-bodies, up to 79.

Not a Trans Am but as close as I can get!

Getter-Done 03-10-2024 07:58 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
The 68 would be my choice.

Of course, Everybody like the Bandit TA.;)

And also everybody like Knight Rider (KIT) :lol:

I had an 1986 and it was okay.

raggedjim 03-10-2024 08:01 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Getter-Done (Post 9294764)
The 68 would be my choice.

Of course, Everybody like the Bandit TA.;)

And also everybody like Knight Rider (KIT) :lol:

I had an 1986 and it was okay.

68??? That's a rare one!

71CHEVYSHORTBED402 03-10-2024 08:01 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
2 Attachment(s)
Figured the images out. Here's a 1974 as well. I like the fender flares with off color edges, pretty dang nice. I read somewhere 1974 was one of the most desirable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Getter-Done (Post 9294764)
The 68 would be my choice.

Of course, Everybody like the Bandit TA.;)

And also everybody like Knight Rider (KIT) :lol:

I had an 1986 and it was okay.

Nice body style, but technically TA were introduced in 69. Nothing quite like a 67-68 Firebird with slicks.

Getter-Done 03-10-2024 08:05 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by raggedjim (Post 9294765)
68??? That's a rare one!

Yeah I know it just a Firebird.:lol:

raggedjim 03-10-2024 08:13 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402 (Post 9294766)
Figured the images out. Here's a 1974 as well. I like the fender flares with off color edges, pretty dang nice. I read somewhere 1974 was one of the most desirable.

That goes for the '74 SD455. The 74 model change was not popular when it came out and a base 455 '74 is not as desirable as the 70-73's. Those off color welts aren't original.

72 tigger 03-10-2024 08:39 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
I like them all. SD455 are cool especially with a 4 speed. I had a 77 bandit back in the day- looked good, but slow. The newer ones are fast and decent looking

sfont66 03-10-2024 10:11 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
I had a 74 SD 455 TA 4 speed car in high school in 1983. If I remember correctly I believe there was only 212 4speed cars made in 74. That car was awesome! Many guys in school thought it was a H.O 455, it was not, the SD would smoke a HO car.
The only mods done to the car was a custom set of headers and a cam, I kept all the original parts though.
The sad part is , i only had the car approximately 1.5 years.
I paid $6500 for the car with help from my mom , but she sold the car to a friend of hers that was a small time collector that also had a 73 TA , he kept after her to sell the car to him without asking me. I had the car stored in her garage, and she sold it while I was at my fathers for a few weeks (they were divorced and didn’t speak with each other).
The title to the car was in my name, at least partially, and i refused to sign off so the sale could be completed. The car had already been towed to the new owner’s shop, and I still Owed my mom quite a bit for the car. So in the spring of 85 I agreed to sign the title and sell the car for $10,000. My mom allowed me to keep the balance of the money, which I stupidly spent on a brand new Kawasaki Ninja 600
Wish I still had the 74 SD 455 today!

Boog 03-10-2024 10:14 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
My first TA love was the 70 blue with white stripe. Good friend had one and I got to sport around in it. Later I owned a Chesterfield brown '78 TA.
Who has seen a dark green 73 TA? Possibly Brewster green?
Very limited production, so I was told.

71CHEVYSHORTBED402 03-10-2024 11:24 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by sfont66 (Post 9294793)
I had a 74 SD 455 TA 4 speed car in high school in 1983. If I remember correctly I believe there was only 212 4speed cars made in 74. That car was awesome! Many guys in school thought it was a H.O 455, it was not, the SD would smoke a HO car.
The only mods done to the car was a custom set of headers and a cam, I kept all the original parts though.
The sad part is , i only had the car approximately 1.5 years.
I paid $6500 for the car with help from my mom , but she sold the car to a friend of hers that was a small time collector that also had a 73 TA , he kept after her to sell the car to him without asking me. I had the car stored in her garage, and she sold it while I was at my fathers for a few weeks (they were divorced and didn’t speak with each other).
The title to the car was in my name, at least partially, and i refused to sign off so the sale could be completed. The car had already been towed to the new owner’s shop, and I still Owed my mom quite a bit for the car. So in the spring of 85 I agreed to sign the title and sell the car for $10,000. My mom allowed me to keep the balance of the money, which I stupidly spent on a brand new Kawasaki Ninja 600
Wish I still had the 74 SD 455 today!

Apparently you're right SD performance edges out HO, or so is the consensus. Not apples to oranges but....https://youtu.be/3lLUs41n0VY

Sheepdip 03-11-2024 12:17 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
1 Attachment(s)
Not a TA but a clone of the closest thing they had in 1967 and only about 67 were produced.
This is/was my 67 400 Firebird that I cloned into a Ram Air, I duplicated the engine specs, that was the easy part. This was in the mid 80's before the internet, and the Hemmings was the go to for parts.

I located in New York the Ram Air under hood sheet metal, air filter assembly and the open hood scoops, all NOS. I paid $1000 back then as it was almost non existent.

Later in life, roughly 20 years ago, I sold it to a pure Pontiac man who had quite a collection but no Firebird

tutone 03-11-2024 04:01 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Always been a first gen fan. Ive had a ton of Camaros over the years, but only a couple of birds. So 69 has my vote.

raggedjim 03-11-2024 09:18 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
3 Attachment(s)
Quote:

Originally Posted by Boog (Post 9294794)
My first TA love was the 70 blue with white stripe. Good friend had one and I got to sport around in it. Later I owned a Chesterfield brown '78 TA.
Who has seen a dark green 73 TA? Possibly Brewster green?
Very limited production, so I was told.

Boog, if you look closely at the edge of the hood you can see that this '73 was originally brewster green. The guy is going to return it to green. This is a rare car, SD455, brewster green (originally).

For '73 (and '74) the X in the vin is like finding a diamond.

Boog 03-11-2024 11:48 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Indeed!

CG 03-11-2024 12:09 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
When I was a kid my dad was a car salesman, sometimes when something cool came in on trade he would drive it home.

He brought home a sweet Trans Am one weekend, it was a red or maybe reddish orange, SD 455 with a 4-speed. He let me take it for a spin. Not a kind of car I was used to driving. So fun haha!

I asked if I could go over to a friends house with it and then over to our female friends place. He said sure, be careful, dont goof off with it and dont go up to Colby (the cruising place at the time).

Went over to my buddys and grabbed him. Went over to the girls place and grabbed them. From there we went straight to Colby, about five miles away.

I beat the heck out of that car. Up on Colby I was one of the cool guys, finally lol. Unfortunately when I was banging gears something happened to the shift linkage and it got stuck in second gear. I had to limp it back to my town, drop my friends off and limp it home. My dad asked if I had fun. Yeah it was ok but when I left my friends house something happened to the shifter so we couldnt really mess around too much. Im not sure what he did but he fixed it pretty easily.

I wish I had money back then, it was a car I would love to have had. Oh well heh.

On a side note, my guess is dad knew what we were up to the whole time. As a father of two sons (both in their 40's now) I knew what they were up to most of the time. Probably not PC anymore but boys will be boys when it come to cars. Just hope they have at least a little sense.

HO455 03-11-2024 02:52 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
I will say that 70's are like our 67's. Lots of little one year only items. Many of them hard to find nowadays if your wanting a concours restoration. The 71-73's are not as bad for that but there are some differences.

Here's a link to the PY boards 70-73 thread if your interested in diving that deep down the rabbit hole.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...play.php?f=437

Here's another site where you can explore all the 2nd gen factory options.

https://tran-zam.com/fhistory/1970home.aspx

I have a 72 base model bird that is being restomoded it will look similar to raggedjim's when done. It was a mutt when I bought it and it will still be one when I finish but know one will give me grief about incorrectly restoring a Trans Am.:lol:

One way to go is find a like a 77 V6 car swap in a V8 and an early front clip and you have a lower entry fee.

And if I could have driven one off the lot in the day it would have been a 70 RAIV four speed with no power accessories in white.

68Gold/white 03-11-2024 04:01 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
I bought a 1977 Trans Am, May 7th, 1977, black. It didn't have lots of options, mostly the stuff that didn't cost a lot. It did come with AC, AM/FM radio.
No electric windows, locks or 8 track, or T tops, thankfully.
Mine came with the lowest HP Pontiac 400. It ran pretty good. Was fun to drive, got 20 MPG easily. I couldn't find ANY info on the rear gear ratio??? When I did, I laughed discovering why it was NOT advertised, it had the 2.41 gears, although a posi. I've read tht ALL T/A's had posi...

Best part is I still have it. Bringing it back to life. It's never been wrecked, just needs TLC.

bnorth 03-11-2024 05:46 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
I'm partial to the 77 bandit TA's.
I also have a soft spot for the 4th gen WS6's with those totally over the top hood scoops.

CG 03-11-2024 07:57 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white (Post 9295009)
I bought a 1977 Trans Am, May 7th, 1977, black. It didn't have lots of options, mostly the stuff that didn't cost a lot. It did come with AC, AM/FM radio.
No electric windows, locks or 8 track, or T tops, thankfully.
Mine came with the lowest HP Pontiac 400. It ran pretty good. Was fun to drive, got 20 MPG easily. I couldn't find ANY info on the rear gear ratio??? When I did, I laughed discovering why it was NOT advertised, it had the 2.41 gears, although a posi. I've read tht ALL T/A's had posi...

Best part is I still have it. Bringing it back to life. It's never been wrecked, just needs TLC.

That's great that you still have this. I wish I had the discipline to hang on to vehicles instead always constantly moving on to the next one that catches my eye

raggedjim 03-11-2024 08:25 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Well, I had a '73 Tran Am when I was in the Navy. It was fast, but it was problematic. The '73 firebird I have now is pretty reliable and draws a lot of attention. Everyone talks about how bad the later TA's were but almost any 400 Pontiac can be woke up with a little bit of work.

The 73 and 74 super duty's were running in the low 14's/ high 13's in the day when most cars were running 15's or worse. Pontiac had great engineer's who understood the American market. Low end torque and gearing is what makes me smile, Horsepower is a fools game for most drivers. I had a 68 Corvette that would turn 7,500 rpm all day but it never felt as fast as my 73 TA with 450 ft/pounds of torque.

Steeveedee 03-11-2024 08:38 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by 68Gold/white (Post 9295009)
I bought a 1977 Trans Am, May 7th, 1977, black. It didn't have lots of options, mostly the stuff that didn't cost a lot. It did come with AC, AM/FM radio.
No electric windows, locks or 8 track, or T tops, thankfully.
Mine came with the lowest HP Pontiac 400. It ran pretty good. Was fun to drive, got 20 MPG easily. I couldn't find ANY info on the rear gear ratio??? When I did, I laughed discovering why it was NOT advertised, it had the 2.41 gears, although a posi. I've read tht ALL T/A's had posi...

Best part is I still have it. Bringing it back to life. It's never been wrecked, just needs TLC.

I had a '69 Camaro with a 327 and a 4-speed that got that kind of mileage (best, just over 24). It would turn high 15s in the 1/4, but I could get 140+ MPH out of it in the Nevada desert, back before the speed limit was reduced. I had a '66 LeMans with an RAIII 400 that I blew up in '75 driving through Nevada. I wound the snot out of it. Didn't realize how tight, until I went through a dip and the tach needle, which was sitting on 5500 (adjustable redline) popped over to 6800. DOH! By the time I slowed to 80, I could hear all those rods knocking. Spun 4. :waah:

LS short box 03-11-2024 08:40 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
1 Attachment(s)
Pic of one the first cars I restored from the ground up. 73 TA clone. 455/400 turbo combo.
Very fun car. Went down the road a number of years ago to make room for other projects.

raggedjim 03-11-2024 08:44 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by LS short box (Post 9295056)
Pic of one the first cars I restored from the ground up. 73 TA clone. 455/400 turbo combo.
Very fun car. Went down the road a number of years ago to make room for other projects.

Great looking car! I love it.

Rg

Keith Seymore 03-11-2024 08:45 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by raggedjim (Post 9294763)
Well, I voted '73 because the of the SD455. But I know I'll never own one of those!

Any 70-73 is my favorite, but I like all of the second gen f-bodies, up to 79.

Not a Trans Am but as close as I can get!

That formula hood is way better than a T/A.

K

Keith Seymore 03-11-2024 08:47 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by raggedjim (Post 9294770)
Those off color welts aren't original.

Unfortunately they probably are.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/restor...7720314923447/

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=872329

They were originally body color but discolor with age.

K

71CHEVYSHORTBED402 03-12-2024 12:12 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
1 Attachment(s)
I wanted to see the performance specs. for 1969 through 1974 Trans AMs. Then thought to compare that to Z28s. Made a small project of it, please let me know if you see an error, I'll straighten it up. Unfortunately an image is too small to read, sorry;)

I'll paste the data here....

Car - Engines Available - Compression - Torque @ RPM - HP - 0-60 Time - Quarter Mile - Comments

1969 Trans Am Ram Air III and IV, 400, 4 bolt main - 10.5:1, and 10.75:1 - 430 @ 3400, and 430 @ 3700 - 330-345 - 5.4-6.5 - 13.7-14.2

1969 Z28 302, 4 bolt main - 11.0:1 - 290 @ 4200 - 290 - 7.4 - 14.8

1969 Camaro 427 - Yenko Camaro 427 - 4 bolt main - 11.0:1 - 460 @ 4000 - 430-450 - 5.4 -12.59 -"For comparison. 427s were options in Camaros, but not Z28s. 427 data is limited to the 1969 year, for this writing.

1970 Trans Am Ram Air III & IV 400, 4 bolt main - 10.5:1, and 10.75:1 - 430 @ 3400, and 430 @ 3700 - 335-345 - 5.4-5.6 - 13.9-14.9

1970 Z28 350 LT1, 4 bolt main - 11.0:1 - 370 @ 4000 - 360 - 5.3-5.8 - 13.9-14.2

1971 Trans Am 455 High Output, 4 bolt main - 8.4:1 - 480 @ 3600 -340-345 - 5.4-5.9 - 14.3

1971 Z28 350 LT1, 4 bolt main -9.0.1 - 360 @ 4000 - 330 - 6.6 -14.5

1972 Trans Am 455 High Output, 4 bolt main - 8.4:1 - 415 @ 3600 - 345 - 5.4-5.8 - 14.3

1972 Z28 350 LT1, 4 bolt main -9.0.1 - 280 @ 4000 -10 less HP than the 1971 Z28 - 6.5 - 15

1973 Trans Am 455, and 455 Super Duty (SD) 4 bolt main - 8.0:1 - 370 @ 3400, and 390 @ 3400 - 250, and 290-310 - 5.6 - 13.75-14.3 - 0-60, and Quarter Mile times are for the 455 SD.

1973 Z28 350 L82, 4 bolt main - 9.0:1 - 280 @ 4000 - 10 less HP than the 1972 Z28 - 6.7 - 15.2

1974 Trans Am 400, 455, and 455 Super Duty (SD) 4 bolt main - 8:0:1, and 8.4:1 - 330 @ 2800, 355 @ 2800, and 395 @ 3200 - 240, 250, and 290 - 7.5, and 5.8 - 15.8, and 13.75-14.3 0-60, and - Quarter Mile times are for the 400, and the 455 SD.

1974 Z28 350 L82, 4 bolt main - 9.0:1 - 280 @ 4000 - See 1973 Z28 - 7-7.8 - 15.5

The performance measures are per research, though may not reflect official specifications. Ranges are provided where source data is found conflicting.

Some Sources:
https://www.nastyz28.com/camaro/z28lt1.html
https://www.thepontiactransampage.com/engspec.html
https://www.pontiactransamforum.com/...d-trans-am.14/
https://www.nastyz28.com/camaro/camaro73.html#73-z28
https://www.chevyhardcore.com/featur...nd-generation/

Sheepdip 03-12-2024 12:30 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by LS short box (Post 9295056)
Pic of one the first cars I restored from the ground up. 73 TA clone. 455/400 turbo combo.
Very fun car. Went down the road a number of years ago to make room for other projects.

Nice looking Bird!

raggedjim 03-12-2024 09:36 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore (Post 9295058)
That formula hood is way better than a T/A.

K

I agree, but that particular hood is a complete cobbled up mess. One of the original design guys wanted the formula hood on the TA but upper manglement preferred the look of the shaker hood.

I have some HPP magazine that have articles that interviewed you dad!

Boog 03-12-2024 10:38 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
While the formula hood is cool, I always preferred the shaker. After all, it worked very well for Mopar. ;)

71CHEVYSHORTBED402 03-12-2024 07:14 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
1 Attachment(s)
Quote:

Originally Posted by Boog (Post 9295173)
While the formula hood is cool, I always preferred the shaker. After all, it worked very well for Mopar. ;)

The formula is a sharp sharp car. I just prefer the TA by a little bit. Here's a 71.

Safe to assume Formula and TA performed equal or close enough for like drivetrains? Seems a Formula could be ordered without GM's best performance engines, perhaps even standard, not sure. TA and Z28 seem to have always got GM's best, short no sight of a 427.

Cool video, I thought shakers were vacuum operated anyhow. Hmm, maybe they shouldn't be:lol: not sure. https://youtu.be/kZ4g_XKia1I

HO455 03-12-2024 08:59 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Here's the scoop on shaker scoops.

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/04...r-hood-scoops/

CG 03-12-2024 09:42 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Boog (Post 9295173)
While the formula hood is cool, I always preferred the shaker. After all, it worked very well for Mopar. ;)

HAHA! Shots fired!

CAMAROBOY68SS 03-13-2024 01:27 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
5 Attachment(s)
69 T/A's will always be my favorite and my go to if I was looking for a Pontiac F body, but I have always had Camaro's (my current 68 was my first car) and have just liked the Camaro styling just a bit better. I am sucker for first gens even though Ive had more 4th gen F bodies over the years.

I did get to go through a massive car collection recently where there were quite a few trans am, even 4 of the 8 69 T/A convertibles built.

Keith Seymore 03-14-2024 11:15 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by CAMAROBOY68SS (Post 9295401)

I did get to go through a massive car collection recently where there were quite a few trans am, even 4 of the 8 69 T/A convertibles built.

That's gotta be "the Brothers" collection -

K

71CHEVYSHORTBED402 03-14-2024 03:06 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
That's amazing, just eight built, wow - Brothers cornered four, not a bad spot to be in. Never heard of them. Apparently they made their fortune in the print bus. Distant relatives Richard Nixon. The 1969 ZL1 Camaro and plum crazy Hemi stand out for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZWYuCHtEj0

Shifty One 03-14-2024 03:56 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
I actually liked the 70-72 Formulas better than the T/A's.

CAMAROBOY68SS 03-14-2024 04:41 PM

Re: Trans Ams
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402 (Post 9295722)
That's amazing, just eight built, wow - Brothers cornered four, not a bad spot to be in. Never heard of them. Apparently they made their fortune in the print bus. Distant relatives Richard Nixon. The 1969 ZL1 Camaro and plum crazy Hemi stand out for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZWYuCHtEj0

Never heard that one, the most common story I have heard time and time again was their parents had nursing homes and they expanded that over the years.

joedoh 03-17-2024 11:34 AM

Re: Trans Ams
 
one of my neighbors has a rusty 72 formula with the ram air hood sitting next to his shop 5 years now. i want to stop and ask about it but i have enough irons in the fire


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