Catalytic converters get stolen in the U.K. Something to do with the value of the metals or something inside it. There was a spate of thefts in my area.
Later, if you really keep that car for the long time, I watched one very much like it get a engine swap with a LS3, qudra-link suspension on the rear with new rear axle, a new suspension on the front with a high performance K-member and Willowwood brakes all the way around. Front had 9 1/2 inch wide wheels on the front with 11 1/2 on the back. New dual-exhaust with Magna-flows, it rode, performed, and sounded frickin' awesum bro.
Did you hear him he traded it not built it he only replaced parts an things built is when you start from scratch witch is either only engine or only body smh
Most people buy their dream cars ?! I personally dont know one Person who actually Buy/Drive their Dream Car. And when i look on the Road, than 99,9% of People dont drive their Dream Car.
Thanks for the clip. My dream car was a `79 Firebird that I bought at 20 but had to sell because I couldn't afford the car payment. I bought a `73 Grand Am and loved that car until I found the `79 that I have now. It was an absolute dog. It had the 301 and I think it was rated at 150 HP. One day making a left hand turn, I heard this horrible knocking sound and could feel it at the clutch pedal. The crank shaft had broken in half. Best thing that ever happened. After replacing it with a `77 Lemans 350 which was also a dog at 170 HP, emissions came to my county and i decided to park it. It sat for 10 years until I no longer had to test for emissions. I found a 400 block out of an early `70s GTO, cammed it, used my 6x-4 heads (shaved) and it's a very fun car to drive now with 400 HP. I paid 1750.00 for the car and it's a trans am clone with all the flares and spoilers. What was once a dog is a fast dream car that I love
Love it! Please don't be shy about sharing details, either. Love hearing all the details. That's like, wish fulfilment. Have had three 'vintage' cars so far that need(ed) that kind of TLC, but it was/is a struggle just to work a full-time job and keep up with the basics.
Not too bad of a deal. I too am an impulsive buyer when it came to my dream car which also happens to be a Pontiac Trans Am. Ever since I was five years old I wanted one after seeing the Bandit for the first time and I promised myself that I would buy one like it. Fast forward to 2019 when I was 21 and an opportunity came along that would be life changing. My Grandparents' neighbor had a 79 Special Edition Bandit Trans Am outside for many years and I would go over to see it many times. Sadly the owner passed away and her son asked me to make him an offer since he knew how much I wanted a Trans Am. It was in need of a frame-off restoration and I offered $3,000 for it since it was a rare SE Bandit T/A with the Pontiac 400 and 4-speed transmission. He said that if I promised to show him the progress and let him see the car when its done, he would let me have it for $1,000 along with all of the parts for it. I am working hard to restore my dream car and pay tribute to the original owner and the Bandit himself, Burt Reynolds.
Damn, Currently I am 15 and am restoring my grandparents 1979 trans am that has 403, with an auto, not sure specs on that. Its All gold, with the Rally II wheels, nice black leather interior, but its the "plain" variant not the special Edition or any bandit of any sort, but in my opinion, I'm just not a fan of the look of a bandit, but I didn't grow up in that era. Anyways, dude, I hope all goes well on that car, I would love to see stock power numbers, since the 400 makes a bit more than the 403. -Good luck!
I lost a quarter mile street race to one of those in the mid 80's I was (attempting to drive) my friends 71 Plymouth GTX with 440 six pack. My other friend was driving the Pontiac He let some air out of his rear wheels, loosened the belts, and put moth balls in his gas tank. I couldn't get any bite from the rear tires. He jumped to about 6 car lengths because of his setup, probably better driver...but GTX got almost all of it back in the last 16th to about half a car length. It was a bitter loss, we were teenagers and we had talked it up for about 1 week. I like your channel.
It's a shame you think of that as bitter. For us the best street races were always bumper to bumper at the end, win or lose those races were what it was all about - I personally remember losing a few that couldn't have been more fun, even if I'd won!
Me, 1970 stock Tempest 350 2bl., Them, 1966 Impala 396 4bl. Quarter mile race. I win, hands down, let off before town. They blow by, never letting off til town, where they tell everyone They won. Lol. Gotta love the sore losers.🏁
Your a car guy Winston. And blessed to be able to do a lot of the work yourself.This is what we car guys do. It's all a part of enjoying a classic vehicle. Your making your car better and better each time you work on it. You have a classic and iconic piece of American motoring history. Here in Australia, they've become very collectible and expensive. Enjoy. Any enjoy the moments you'll have owning and driving it.
Ripped off? No absolutely not! By fixing all these little things , you know more about the car and you know the fixes match your quality preference. Im doing the same with my recent car purchase. Cheers, glad to see you staying awesome
Really enjoying the Firebird videos. Replacing all those little odds and ends really makes a difference and it just feels so satisfying to see the car turning back to its original glory. Great job on the shaker mod, it looks the way it should have come from the factory!
@@VL1975 Georgia here, and I would agree with you and J Glass. I have been to Wilmington, but I was young. Edisto Beach is one of my favorite beaches I have ever visited. I'm in mid 40's now. Thinking of moving to North Georgia or North Carolina. The older I get, I get tired of the long hot and humid Summer's. A spot in the mountains would be nice and vacation to the Coast from time to time is what I'm looking for. Take care
I loved my '78 T/A, although mine was in good shape...it still had a lot to be done. Seems no matter how much you tackle, there is always something else to be done on it.
Winston, you're a smart guy with a multitude of skills. My advice? Learn to gas weld: with a simple, small oxyacetylene rig, you can fix a variety of automotive ills and ...save money! That, and the satisfaction of DIY. A case in point; I had a SS flex connector (exhaust manifold to catalytic convertor) go bad. The new convertor (NY and CA approved) was beaucoup bucks. My thought was, "there has to be a repair piece on the market." Yes, there was. Since I knew the convertor was good (low ppm NOx etc) last year, I ordered the part, welded a 2 1/4" steel spool piece ($3 at Advance Auto) to the convertor and and attached it to the new flex with an exhaust clamp. Total cost to repair? 50 bucks for the parts and since I don't bill myself for my time, that was all vs over $750 for the NY approved new convertor. On another note, sometimes the gauges in these older cars have a spot of corrosion between the case and car grounds. Try the gauge with an alligator clip to the instrument ground (could be just the case) and a good ground on the car (a common ground point under the dash, usually). If the gauge is intermittent, this could well be your problem. Love the latitude in your passions: old cars and cultural/political documentaries. Take care and remember...wear that mask and you'll stay awesome.
@@RonaldMcPaul Thank you. Useful criticism is appreciated. What I should probably do, is review my college-level style writing reference book. I do wonder though, that the comments section in UA-cam may be something of a special case. Succinctness may be the central necessity; typically, I avoid run-on sentences, but sometimes the flow of the sentence seems to demand it. This may not be bad grammar so much as a stylistic difference. Take care.
To the point, it is really refreshing to see your devotion to "doing things right" and "to your standard" and it is a fine standard indeed! Looking forward to more vids!
I had one. Built it from thr ground up... wife made me get rid of her... miss her like hell. 383 stroker, th400HD fully upgraded, stock 3.73 rear, pushing 550H 575T (rounded) to the wheels... don't remember everything that was put in/on the engine, but I remember re-wiring the whole care and rebuilding the stock fuze block.
If it's your dream car, price doesn't really matter. What does matter is getting it right. (Plus, this car - unlike your 'Vette - has enough room for your entire family!) Drive it, and enjoy it! P. S. A car like that would look *fantastic* in South Florida!
Had to laugh! Fitting the family in the car. My ex wife and I had a Formula and a Trans Am at the same time. I remember picking her and our new born baby up at the hospital with car seat in back . Kind of pain in the ass getting the baby in and out of the back seat! But we made it work! Wish we still had those cars!! Lol.
It’s a dog because you have the optional olds 403 In there that was used for California cars. I have owned 2 of these. It’s a good motor but word of advice don’t listen to anybody for advice on how to make it faster. Go to forums and ask advice from real Oldsmobile people. Here’s a few tips I learned: -That carb is good, don’t get rid of it -That intake is good and flows just as good as a performer, so don’t get rid of that( carb and intake Wong increase power) - The heads are junk but you can buy older casting Oldsmobile heads pre 1972 and bump you compression up 1 or 2 points -Olds 403 respond to 220ish duration cams - jet the carb, curve the distributor, lunati cam, and older heads will give you a 13 second machine with about 450 pounds of torque. - Also key note is that you will want to make sure you degree the cam if you do install one. The aftermarket cams suck for these things bc they aren’t ground precisely and if you line it straight up you can be up to 6 degrees off. It’s really annoying, seems like everything is made just for chevys and everything else has to be modded a tad to be its best with olds or Pontiac motors. I guess the smarter way to make it fast and run 14s is jet the carb, curve the distributor, and throw 342 gears in the back. Also, any higher than that you run the risk of grenading the bottom end. It’s kind of a crap shoot lol.
Hey Travis! I'm Filipino American (born in raised in CA) and I love your videos! My parents are from the ilocos region and moved to the US in the 80s. I love old cars as well. I wanted to either get a Trans Am or a 3rd gen Camaro. I'm so glad you have a Trans Am! I look forward to more of your videos as well as it helps me learn about the country from which my parents came and still have family in!
My first car when I was 18 in the mid 90's was a 1978 firebird esprit. It was burgundy and I loved it. It had a 350 with the rochester quadrajet. My God, I had so much fun with that car. It's good to see you loving your trans am.
Looking forward to seeing the mechanical, repairs you've done here. On some level, I'm glad you were able to rescue this car. Getting back to where she should be.
I had a 77 with a bone stock 6.6 Pontiac engine. Z28's used to smoke me. Then, I bought a 79 with the 6.6 and 4-speed. The numbers match 400 engine had been "massaged" by a previous owner. It was a MONSTER!! Huge torque and loads of fun ... and the sound! I have a C7 Vette now and it blows them all out of the water.
Yes! Thank God there is at least one other purist in the world. If you want to lose weight and stay healthy, stay away from high fructose corn syrup. Better to drink less of a higher quality beer; the sort of beer that passes Germany's beer purity law. That would not include Coors.
my grandfather inlaw had one of these and as a kid I thought it was the freakin coolest thing Id ever seen. Godbless you for saving one, to many have gone to scrap.
I love your 78 trans am I just bought my father a 1977 firebird formula. For his 43rd Father’s Day. He and my mom were married in a 77 trans am . He had to sell it because he couldn’t fit a car seat in the back. 43 years later he got his firebird formula and it’s his pride and joy father son project
I wish more people would come over from your main channel to check this out! Pleasantly surprised by what I found. Got a sub right there, chief! Stay awesome! 😎👍
Perfectly done account of your awesome Trans Am. Love that you are doing the long crawl on restoration. The shaker mod is great! It's my dream car too. I had 270 hpr V-6 Firebird Esprit! They need garages and warm weather!
@serpentza, Winston there are a number of things you can do to modify the motor to dramatically increase power and fuel economy and still pass smog. As long as products are C.A.R.B. (California Air Resources Board) certified you can legally install them and still pass the test. Just save your receipts and the certificates which come with these products in case there are issues with the tech doing the exam. Examples are you can remove the smog pump, and the stock EGR system, which are huge parasitic losses because they are belt driven from the crankshaft, by installing an aftermarket intake manifold, throttle body fuel injector (like those made by Holly and others), and a more modern capacitive discharge ignition (like those made by MSD). I recommend you stop by your local speed shop, as there are many in So Cal to give you some guidance. You'll find most of the improvements are bolt-ons, and when you're finished you can take the car to a tuner who can dial it in on a dyno for maximum power while still being smog compliant. Best of luck! Oh BTW, I like what you did with the shaker scoop, but there's something else you may want to look into. The older SD and HD Trans Ams had shaker scoops with functioning doors that were vacuum actuated so that they were only opened when needed at full throttle and closed when not needed for better economy and to prevent a too lean condition at lower speeds and idle. That too is something you may want to check out if you plan on keeping this ride long-term.
@@WorthlessWhips Did you hook it up to manifold or carburetor vacuum? I'm not sure which is correct, because I've never owned a Trans Am, but I'm sure there is a difference between the two, just as there is when you connect distributor advance to the carb vs manifold.
@IT'SME Yes if you replace the stock carburetor with a better controlled fuel delivery system like later model fuel injection which didn't have smog pumps. They were cleaner burning, so upgrading to a newer OEM setup would pass for example. You can replace the stock system with something which pollutes less, but not more (example, later stock or CARB approved aftermarket, but not older OEM or anything marked for off road use only). And no, EGR isn't run by the crankshaft, but it is part of the smog system in conjunction with smog pump, which is run by the crank. (The smog pump adds air post combustion to complete combustion as exhaust gasses flow out exhaust, while the EGR siphons some of those exhaust gases and recirculates them into the intake.)
Those were the days... I had a 1975 base firebird with a straight 6 in high school, wrecked it on a rainy road, frame was rotted out(upstate NY). Bought a 1986 T/A w/5.0 TPI as my first new car, still have it with with 22k on the odometer. Also have a 1976 Formula w/6.6 and factory honeycomb wheels and a 1967 firebird convertible w/326. Looking for a 2002 bird so I have one from each generation. I love them all, but my favorite T/A is the 79-80. Unfortunately, the engines were so underpowered, but they were what we had. Great video, love the car!!!
I went through this entire process you are showing, with my 1981 SE Trans Am back in 1996! I have a logbook that shows 296 [not a typo] entries in the first 26 months of ownership. I understand fully what you experienced. My TA is currently %75 percent completed towards a full restoration.
Thats a nice cruiser, Winston. I had many GM cars and i suggest using Bosch plugs with the same core value. This engines run better then with them then with the faulty Delco plugs. A you save fuel too! At least a contactless electronic ignition and oil flush on the rear end and transmission. Smart idea on the gear cover.
I was actually scouting this exact car out on either Offerup or FB marketplace. Price was solid on it so I think you got a good deal regardless. Ended up grabbing another '78 Firebird TA that was available locally. You nailed it on the California Smog BS. Almost ruined the whole deal on the one I got. Been restoring and fixing bits on it over the last month. Anytime you feel like it's not worth the headaches you just got fire it up and tear down the street and and it allllllll becomes worth it.
What a beauty, I owned the 1981 TA had it for only 1 year, i could not afford all the maintenance and this was back in '99. I wish you the best of luck.
This is an awesome channel. Since I’ve moved out of California, I can find old 70’s cars again. The smog regulations and the old Cash for Clunkers program destroyed the 70’s vehicle market in California. What I’m having problems with, is finding parts for my ‘77 Chevy Malibu 4 door. Things like window sweeps and correct window seals. Lots of that stuff for the 2 doors/El Caminos, nada for 4 doors. I also do the same when I get a new vehicle, total tune up, change out the vacuum hoses, new fluids, lots of little annoying things. It never ceases to amaze me how previous owners of these cars don’t just do the repairs. They are so simple to fix.
Why do you say that. The Olds 403 is one of the best engine ever made. I had ,and will buy one again, in a Buick Riviera 1978 edition. I had it for over 30 years. The Riv. is my dream car. That Olds 403 ran for close to 1 million miles. The engine was fast. And I beat a lot of "kids" who were driving Cameros, Trans Am, and many others.
I have a 1978 TA as well, black with the red interior. I am looking forward to more videos. My car is complete and cranking out about 400 hp now after a total engine rebuild on the original 400. Everyone loves these cars.
Only '77 or '78. Not before or after. Everybody loves these Trans Ams. I always check the prices, they are going up. Black with gold tapes, the only way to go. I'd like to have one, what a fun car.
You are very lucky. You have saved a piece of history, especially with the shaker head working properly. Congratulations on getting and maintaining you dream car. If only I could find my dad's Jaguar Xj6 4.2 1984 saloon, then I would drive it every day.
I had a 78 Transam limited edition Desperado. Same car except for the decals on the lower portion of the doors and a few factory performance parts in the engine. Back then , I added a B&M Transpack to the transmission and swapped the rear axle from a 68 Camaro that I used nickel welding rods to weld the spider gears giving the car positive traction. In the day , it was a screaming demon street car. Loved it! I even had the exact same interior as this car. My factory paint was a metallic charcoal gray. Thankfully, I didn’t have the T- tops.
you got to remember from post 1976 when these things came out they had no balls at all it was all show and no go they were smogged to the hilt. leave California and move out to the country out-of-state and let that Poncho run
@@bcubed72 yeah even Illinois cuts it at 25.. you can officially apply for an antique vehicle.. exempt from emission testing. and we got some of the most stringent EPA standards around other than La La Land.
Winston, i am watching your video and as a car nut in Australia, i keep looking at your Trans Am & cant help but noticing how much GM-H ( Holden) had raided the GM parts bin international for the Australian built Torana's & Holdens in the 70's & 80's.. Stuff like the steering column, shifter plate & even the wheels were used for the Aussie LE Holden Monaro coupe.. Its nice to see the origin of so many hard to get car parts here !!!
5:00 I don't work that way, I'm a procrastinator. I work on the things I won't notice daily first and leave the things that bug me for last... Just gives me motivation to keep working.
I recently smogged my brothers ‘78 Transam. Yup, there was a fume leak around the gas tank filler neck. We fixed it, and now we’re working on the ac. He bought it new in ‘78. Thanks for the vids.
It's not a ripoff unless purposely misrepresented. Old cars need love, and everyone has their own idea as to what is a priority. If you are inspired to make it better, in whatever way, then it was a worthwhile purchase. I've bought new a couple times, and used/old well, lots! And I love them all. Now my son is learning what it takes to fix things up. More life lessons in used car repair than anything else either of my kids have undertaken.
Dude. Seriously. Just get a Camry Hybrid for times when you need to transport your Female Companionship Unit and your Legacy Propagation Unit. Then you can drive the Firebird the rest of the time.
Why? There is nothing more badass than driving your dream car daily. I daily my supra a70 as well, even in winter. I bought the car to be driven, no matter the circumstances. Fuck having a boring daily.
It's very cool to see you working on your dream (classic) car. I've got a '73 240z I'm replacing the master cylinder on and watching you do this keeps me motivated. Your work is much harder because I was able to yank all that smog stuff off! Good luck with that beauty and stay awesome!
I feel you @serpentza. I bought a Toyota Supra a70 with the 7mgte Turbo engine last year. It ran from the start but needed some love as well and still does. I daily drive it and it has never let me down so far. Its a different feeling daily driving your dream car. Youre always smiling and in a good mood.
Wow! What a project. I've "rebuilt" a few Jags in my lifetime, but nothing like that project. Nothing even close. You must really, really enjoy that kind of work.
My late brother had a 79 firebird. He loved that car, sold it to a friend when his son was born, his friend kept it for 20 years then my brother bought it back and him and his son were restoring it when my brother passed away. Now his son is restoring it by himself. Him and his dad had a vision and that’s what he’s going for even though he stands there in tears most of the time work on it.
Back in 79 I special ordered a TA at a dealership that my father was a mechanic. The first thing my father told me was NOT to order T-Tops that eventually they Will leak. I ordered just about everything but the T-Tops and A/C or a radio. I also ordered the same engine that you have, the Oldsmobile 403 because it was reliable and could take a beating as I did at Englishtown Raceway Park. It did a best of 15.00 on street tires, could have used slicks because the shitty Uniroyals that cane with the car were bad on wet roads even worse at the track. Being in New Jersey I modified the Q-Jet carburetor, recurved the distributor, removed the catalytic converter, opened up the hood scoop. It's funny that you showed the cracked spark plug, that must have been the one on the passengers side up against the firewall, it was a bitch to get to! Unfortunately my ownership of my TA was cut short, only two years. I was a sheet medal mechanic in a very small company that went bankrupt, was out of work and couldn't make the payments so I sold it to some chick. She paid the car off at the GMAC finance department and I got $450 from her.😭 Needless to say this really sucked, I bought a 1967 Chevy Nova two door from a friend of mine, it had a lot of potential but never did anything to it. BTY I put the catalytic converter back on when I sold it.
Good to see that you're going to stick with it; and make it the car of your dreams, Winston! Seriously, the '78 Firebird Trans AM is an iconic vehicle. Any of them that were well maintained are just good cars to drive. As for them being "gutless", you need to keep in mind that there were different drive train options. I grew up in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, where GM Canada Head Office is. There were three auto plants there at the time. Trans AMs and Camaros were so common, I took them for granted as being ubiquitous. If your car had the Chevy 305 engine, it only came out with about 155 HP. It wasn't tuned. It was just a basic engine, which had the potential to be tuned. Others came with the Pontiac 400 with the 350 heads. Those bumped it up to 230 HP, which was considered a lot, in the 1970's. Since you want to keep this as your personal dream car for good, I highly recommend that you simply replace the current engine with a crate engine. Not only will it last much longer than the original engine, it won't break down nearly as much; and you have the option of crate engines that can provide upwards of 300, or 400 HP. Yes, they'll be a bit pricey, but if you do the math you'll find that projected (realistic) repairs over the course of 10 years will add up for the original engine to well beyond what you'll pay for a decent crate engine; and you wouldn't even need to go to a 400+ HP engine. Just keep in mind that if you're going to replace the engine with something with a bit more balls, you'll want to either rebuild the original transmission, or (preferably) replace the transmission and gears altogether; and I'd even some modest suspension upgrades. You'd be looking at an under $10K investment, but you'll love the end product. Probably a long term project. You can find the crate engines online. Places like O'Reilly Auto Parts, or any number of well-known performance auto part supplier offer some good choices.
I plan to do an engine swap but California laws prevent it unless I get the very expensive e-rod LS3 package which costs about 18k and then I still need to install it myself...
@@serpentza Too bad about that. What about getting the service done out of state? Would it change things if you _'sold'_ that car to a shop that can do the engine upgrade; and then merely _'sell'_ it back to you + the cost of the parts and labour? By the sound of it, I'll bet it's the Chevy 305 in there, now; and if their laws are that strict, you might be stuck with it.
@@serpentza Just a little something for those who really love this car: It earned its place in the hearts and minds of car enthusiasts from the movie, _"Smoky and the Bandit."_ If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Keep in mind the fact that after the early 1970's, Muscle Cars were being phased out due to the alleged gas shortage _'crisis.'_ everyone was coming out with small block 6-cyl. and 4-cyl. cars, 99% of which sucked eggs! When Smoky and the Bandit was released, the popular demand for more muscle was stoked; and North American auto manufacturers started Ty respond to demand again, albeit mostly with economic muscle cars. It culminated with the Buick Grand National GNX in the 1980's.aside from a few minor efforts, here and there in the 90's, it wasn't until Dodge reintroduced the new HEMI vehicles, that muscle cars properly re-emerged.
I have a 79 thats nocturn blue and I love it, I'm in the process of putting in all new interior, some mechanical, and I'm doing touch ups on the body and painting it.
I had a 1973 Firebird and my father had a 1977 Bandit clone (Formula, not T/A). They leaked, they were gutless, they had horrible blind spots...but man they were beautiful. Great video!
No way did you get ripped off. You bought a piece of Americana auto history & all the problems that come with it. This is your passion so follow it, don’t ever let it go & bring the subscribers & Patreon supporters along for the ride every step of the way in your journey.
Awesome progress Winston! My dream car, that I purchased in high-school and kept until I was 31, was a 1969 Chevy Nova SS. Much like your Firebird it needed a lot of work. It took me 5 years, which included a complete engine and rear-end rebuild. Not to mention the head-liner, the bench front seats (re-upholstered then converted to bucket), the pressure-plate, heater, exhaust system, brakes, radiator and on and on ... man, I miss that car. Living in San Diego allowed me to work on it and drive it constantly. Also, the car scene is amazing here. I always had someone to either help or ask advice. I sold it before heading over to Japan for 6 years. Keep at it, love the content on this channel too!
I was just watching your video and i noticed the kiss of deaf attached to your engine, a FRAM oil filter. Every single video i have watched and the engine was shot, a FRAM oil filter was on the engine. My dad use to use FRAM filters, and yes his engine was shot with just 100K on the clock
For future reference, the Olds 403 you have in this TA is a dog of an engine and takes quite a bit to make it build enough power to get it down the road like a real muscle car. The exhaust manifolds are replaceable so long as you port the header tubes to mate up to the air injection pump the same way the stock manifolds are. This way you don't have your exhaust system going from the drivers side manifold (2in pipe), into the passenger side manifold, then going out the back as a 2 1/4 inch pipe, then into a highly restrictive CAT that Cali approves use for, then into an anchor worthy muffler, then out to the twin dual exhaust tips which are larger than the overall pipe is through the whole system. I came up with a system that seems to work well enough to build good flow numbers and pass the sniffer since most of it is just a visual confirmation that the air injection system is hooked into the exhaust manifold (headers) and that it has 1 CAT (can't use 2 in Cali). I have much more on my build for the Cali legal Olds 403 if your interested.
I owned a 1974 4speed 400, dark blue. I lived in Pennsylvania at the time and it completely rusted out. So cool to see your car. I have wanted to find one again, it's very hard to do. There really getting expive. My dream car to. Thanks for the video.🏁🏁🏁🏁😀👍🏁.
Good work and nice car. Now that is..... I have a 75. Love it. Was my favorite car when I was a teenager then but I couldn't afford it. Keep up the great work and stay well!
Reminds me of my 79' Trans Am with a 403, it was sluggish and had all the problems of an old car but there was just something special about those Second gens...Hopefully someday I will find another one. Your car at least is not rusty, where I am everything but the roof will rot on them.
Memories! I drove my 1984 Camaro Z28 HO 5sp for more then a decade. I call it my lost decade. Standing 14 mile 15.00 seconds. Road course was fun though! My last hot rod a recent Cadilac CTS V SPort twin turbo 1/2 mile drag about 140 mph. D
Yeah I had a 1981 trans am with those same t-tops. They were made by cars & concepts and parts are hard to find for those. At least they were 8 years ago when I had my TA. The aluminum frame / rivets actually ripped completely out of sheet metal / roof one day. Thankfully I was only about a block from my house. I sold the car and picked up a 69 cutlass project soon after that...🤣
"Did I Get RIPPED OFF?". Well, the guy you traded with got the better deal. For sure. He must be super happy with having met you. Though he should have disclosed the issues with the vehicle, if he had any honor. Surely he knew all what was wrong. But I know, a guy's dream car is just within his grasp and cold logic takes a back seat. It will make for great videos for the rebuilds and restorations of it.
The car looks beautiful Winston! So beautiful it makes me want one too. I know you're doing a calculation on costs and I hope you share that with us eventually. It'd be worth knowing for people interested in going down a similar path.
I clicked on this because I love American muscle cars, then I heard that distinctive voice, I recognised from all the videos of China that I watched. Well done on getting this American icon Winston.
I have had 4 1978 Trans-Am's. Two of them were black S/E. I am surprised you were able to get yours smogged here in Commiefornia, but glad you did. I miss mine terribly. I do have a nice collection of Mopar muscle cars anyway.... cheers !
Very nice! I’ve owned a few 4th gen Trans Ams, obviously very different than these 2nd gens, but the TA has always been one of my favorite cars from 1st to 4th. Despite being such a popular and beloved model, we don’t see many of these on the road anymore. In fact, I see more 1st and 4th gens than anything else. Congrats on the car! These ones are getting harder to find!
I enjoy you going in depth... Unless a liitle old lady from Pasadena owned it, everything will need attention by owners who HOT ROD pushing it to 8000rpm
Especially being a 45 year old TA, Not at all. It's amazing a car that was in so high demand 70-80 is so unappreciated today. I purchased a used 78 around 1990 jet-black, no decal on hood, but shaker in tact(repainted obviously), and it still needed TLC. Ten miles/gal , a bear to stomp the clutch, but loved it. Kept it until I had to commute 50 miles to work. Nice find though, not many left.Cheers!
Hey guys, it’s not for sure yet, but I think I’ll be getting me first project car this weekend. It’s an 08 CVPI. I’ll be checking it out in person Saturday, but supposedly it runs and drives with cold ac. Has about 120k miles which is nothing on a Crown Vic. BUT... All the seats have been ripped out except the drivers. It’s cosmetically in rough shape. And, according to the guy, the rear bearings need to be replaced. I’m sure there’s lots of deferred maintenance too. I actually think it sounds perfect for me. Just the kind of stuff I can handle, but not too much for me. Also, it drives now, so I can be driving it in between fixing things. Wish me luck!
My best friend has a 77 TA Bandit addition 4 speed that has been in his garage for at least 20 yrs. now with a bent fender and hood from where he had a fender bender years ago. It's in decent shape other than the body damage but would be fairly easy to fix. It is a classic/iconic car no doubt.
It's amazing how much money goes into just little plastic parts. you'll be spending forever....Nice work. Its funny that some of those parts you changed are what caught my eye in your first video of this car.
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Catalytic converters get stolen in the U.K. Something to do with the value of the metals or something inside it. There was a spate of thefts in my area.
My first “favorite car”. Black/Gold Firebird Trans Am
Don't forget you're in the car theft capitol of the world. Had my '68 Mustang 2+2 stolen and trashed there.
Later, if you really keep that car for the long time, I watched one very much like it get a engine swap with a LS3, qudra-link suspension on the rear with new rear axle, a new suspension on the front with a high performance K-member and Willowwood brakes all the way around. Front had 9 1/2 inch wide wheels on the front with 11 1/2 on the back. New dual-exhaust with Magna-flows, it rode, performed, and sounded frickin' awesum bro.
Carbage Man I'm sure Winston has some kind of immobiliser on it. He's no fool!
Most people buy their dream car, you build your dream car. Mad respect Winston!
Thanks mate! It's far more satisfying this way
He did buy it. There was no "build". He made some minor repairs. 😂
Did you hear him he traded it not built it he only replaced parts an things built is when you start from scratch witch is either only engine or only body smh
I like the upgrades
Most people buy their dream cars ?!
I personally dont know one Person who actually Buy/Drive their Dream Car.
And when i look on the Road, than 99,9% of People dont drive their Dream Car.
Thanks for the clip. My dream car was a `79 Firebird that I bought at 20 but had to sell because I couldn't afford the car payment. I bought a `73 Grand Am and loved that car until I found the `79 that I have now. It was an absolute dog. It had the 301 and I think it was rated at 150 HP. One day making a left hand turn, I heard this horrible knocking sound and could feel it at the clutch pedal. The crank shaft had broken in half. Best thing that ever happened. After replacing it with a `77 Lemans 350 which was also a dog at 170 HP, emissions came to my county and i decided to park it. It sat for 10 years until I no longer had to test for emissions. I found a 400 block out of an early `70s GTO, cammed it, used my 6x-4 heads (shaved) and it's a very fun car to drive now with 400 HP. I paid 1750.00 for the car and it's a trans am clone with all the flares and spoilers. What was once a dog is a fast dream car that I love
Love it! Please don't be shy about sharing details, either. Love hearing all the details. That's like, wish fulfilment. Have had three 'vintage' cars so far that need(ed) that kind of TLC, but it was/is a struggle just to work a full-time job and keep up with the basics.
These old cars have something that they need to bring back. The Ball cooler under the steering column.
We called them crotch coolers!!!
Now they have air conditioned seats, which is such an awesome feature
Not too bad of a deal. I too am an impulsive buyer when it came to my dream car which also happens to be a Pontiac Trans Am. Ever since I was five years old I wanted one after seeing the Bandit for the first time and I promised myself that I would buy one like it. Fast forward to 2019 when I was 21 and an opportunity came along that would be life changing. My Grandparents' neighbor had a 79 Special Edition Bandit Trans Am outside for many years and I would go over to see it many times. Sadly the owner passed away and her son asked me to make him an offer since he knew how much I wanted a Trans Am. It was in need of a frame-off restoration and I offered $3,000 for it since it was a rare SE Bandit T/A with the Pontiac 400 and 4-speed transmission. He said that if I promised to show him the progress and let him see the car when its done, he would let me have it for $1,000 along with all of the parts for it. I am working hard to restore my dream car and pay tribute to the original owner and the Bandit himself, Burt Reynolds.
Wow! Outstanding deal.
Damn, Currently I am 15 and am restoring my grandparents 1979 trans am that has 403, with an auto, not sure specs on that. Its All gold, with the Rally II wheels, nice black leather interior, but its the "plain" variant not the special Edition or any bandit of any sort, but in my opinion, I'm just not a fan of the look of a bandit, but I didn't grow up in that era. Anyways, dude, I hope all goes well on that car, I would love to see stock power numbers, since the 400 makes a bit more than the 403.
-Good luck!
Make videos and share your progress with the whole world!!!
excellent, got one of the ones with the manual transmission
@@12yearssober I will. I'd like to do a documentary series on it when I make big progress.
Winston, make the Transam episodes longer please. It is very interesting to watch you restoring this car, more please :) 10min is not enough.
Okay, will do!
I absolutely agree!
Ditto, more please!!
Burt Reynolds would be proud.
God old hooper trans am
@@glenquagmire5071 Yep I agree with Winston! This is a dream car. I love this and the 1st Gen NSX with t-tops. Gitty gitty!
Marko Polo now that I think of it the hooper ta was his red one but both classic
But Winston needs to grow a moustache in order to make it perfect.
@@matthewkeith8605 Yes sir! 😁
I lost a quarter mile street race to one of those in the mid 80's I was (attempting to drive) my friends 71 Plymouth GTX with 440 six pack. My other friend was driving the Pontiac He let some air out of his rear wheels, loosened the belts, and put moth balls in his gas tank. I couldn't get any bite from the rear tires. He jumped to about 6 car lengths because of his setup, probably better driver...but GTX got almost all of it back in the last 16th to about half a car length. It was a bitter loss, we were teenagers and we had talked it up for about 1 week. I like your channel.
It's a shame you think of that as bitter.
For us the best street races were always bumper to bumper at the end, win or lose those races were what it was all about - I personally remember losing a few that couldn't have been more fun, even if I'd won!
Mothballs in the fuel tank?? What?
Me, 1970 stock Tempest 350 2bl., Them, 1966 Impala 396 4bl. Quarter mile race. I win, hands down, let off before town. They blow by, never letting off til town, where they tell everyone They won. Lol. Gotta love the sore losers.🏁
@Steven Lindsey aha grasshopper, obviously you don't know our hways, deep down in the South. Less pull on the engine from AC compressor ect....
@@Motor-City-Mike I would say bitter at the time, I was about 16, but nice memory now. I still hate loosing though...
Your a car guy Winston. And blessed to be able to do a lot of the work yourself.This is what we car guys do. It's all a part of enjoying a classic vehicle. Your making your car better and better each time you work on it. You have a classic and iconic piece of American motoring history. Here in Australia, they've become very collectible and expensive. Enjoy. Any enjoy the moments you'll have owning and driving it.
Ripped off? No absolutely not! By fixing all these little things , you know more about the car and you know the fixes match your quality preference. Im doing the same with my recent car purchase. Cheers, glad to see you staying awesome
Really enjoying the Firebird videos. Replacing all those little odds and ends really makes a difference and it just feels so satisfying to see the car turning back to its original glory. Great job on the shaker mod, it looks the way it should have come from the factory!
Get out of Cali man! some of their car laws are ridiculous.
People are leaving CA in mass and these guys decide to move there! They need to move to TX, AZ, or FL.
The locals don't refer to it as the Peoples Republic of California for no reason. Maybe Cali reminds them of their old home in some ways.
lmao imagine me and the laws in germany.. cant do ANYTHING
@J Glass Some of it. I live in SC. Wilmington is nice. I've always enjoyed Charlotte. It is a beautiful state. I also like GA. Esp North GA.
@@VL1975 Georgia here, and I would agree with you and J Glass. I have been to Wilmington, but I was young. Edisto Beach is one of my favorite beaches I have ever visited. I'm in mid 40's now. Thinking of moving to North Georgia or North Carolina. The older I get, I get tired of the long hot and humid Summer's. A spot in the mountains would be nice and vacation to the Coast from time to time is what I'm looking for. Take care
I loved my '78 T/A, although mine was in good shape...it still had a lot to be done. Seems no matter how much you tackle, there is always something else to be done on it.
The price of a MINT TRANS AM has become PRICELE$$....
Winston, you're a smart guy with a multitude of skills. My advice? Learn to gas weld: with a simple, small oxyacetylene rig, you can fix a variety of automotive ills and ...save money! That, and the satisfaction of DIY.
A case in point; I had a SS flex connector (exhaust manifold to catalytic convertor) go bad. The new convertor (NY and CA approved) was beaucoup bucks. My thought was, "there has to be a repair piece on the market." Yes, there was. Since I knew the convertor was good (low ppm NOx etc) last year, I ordered the part, welded a 2 1/4" steel spool piece ($3 at Advance Auto) to the convertor and and attached it to the new flex with an exhaust clamp. Total cost to repair? 50 bucks for the parts and since I don't bill myself for my time, that was all vs over $750 for the NY approved new convertor.
On another note, sometimes the gauges in these older cars have a spot of corrosion between the case and car grounds. Try the gauge with an alligator clip to the instrument ground (could be just the case) and a good ground on the car (a common ground point under the dash, usually). If the gauge is intermittent, this could well be your problem.
Love the latitude in your passions: old cars and cultural/political documentaries. Take care and remember...wear that mask and you'll stay awesome.
Very cool and pragmatic. Writing tip: Use paragraph breaks liberally, especially in comment sections like this.
@@RonaldMcPaul Thank you. Useful criticism is appreciated. What I should probably do, is review my college-level style writing reference book. I do wonder though, that the comments section in UA-cam may be something of a special case. Succinctness may be the central necessity; typically, I avoid run-on sentences, but sometimes the flow of the sentence seems to demand it. This may not be bad grammar so much as a stylistic difference. Take care.
@@RonaldMcPaul A follow-on to my previous reply; I inserted paragraph breaks to make the extended comment more readable. It does help. Thanks again. W
To the point, it is really refreshing to see your devotion to "doing things right" and "to your standard" and it is a fine standard indeed! Looking forward to more vids!
I had one. Built it from thr ground up... wife made me get rid of her... miss her like hell. 383 stroker, th400HD fully upgraded, stock 3.73 rear, pushing 550H 575T (rounded) to the wheels... don't remember everything that was put in/on the engine, but I remember re-wiring the whole care and rebuilding the stock fuze block.
You can share as much details as you have! Even if those videos are an hour long, I‘d still be watching them.
Unfortunately you and I are the minority it would appear... and you have to that which makes you $$$
Looks fantastic, you've done a great job!
If it's your dream car, price doesn't really matter. What does matter is getting it right. (Plus, this car - unlike your 'Vette - has enough room for your entire family!)
Drive it, and enjoy it!
P. S. A car like that would look *fantastic* in South Florida!
Had a 1980 TA down on power with the 301 and the screaming chicken was a bit large , but that car was so comfy, cruised so nice and looked so good !
Had to laugh! Fitting the family in the car. My ex wife and I had a Formula and a Trans Am at the same time. I remember picking her and our new born baby up at the hospital with car seat in back . Kind of pain in the ass getting the baby in and out of the back seat! But we made it work! Wish we still had those cars!! Lol.
It’s a dog because you have the optional olds 403 In there that was used for California cars. I have owned 2 of these. It’s a good motor but word of advice don’t listen to anybody for advice on how to make it faster. Go to forums and ask advice from real Oldsmobile people. Here’s a few tips I learned:
-That carb is good, don’t get rid of it
-That intake is good and flows just as good as a performer, so don’t get rid of that( carb and intake Wong increase power)
- The heads are junk but you can buy older casting Oldsmobile heads pre 1972 and bump you compression up 1 or 2 points
-Olds 403 respond to 220ish duration cams
- jet the carb, curve the distributor, lunati cam, and older heads will give you a 13 second machine with about 450 pounds of torque.
- Also key note is that you will want to make sure you degree the cam if you do install one. The aftermarket cams suck for these things bc they aren’t ground precisely and if you line it straight up you can be up to 6 degrees off. It’s really annoying, seems like everything is made just for chevys and everything else has to be modded a tad to be its best with olds or Pontiac motors.
I guess the smarter way to make it fast and run 14s is jet the carb, curve the distributor, and throw 342 gears in the back. Also, any higher than that you run the risk of grenading the bottom end. It’s kind of a crap shoot lol.
All good points about the Olds 403.
I drive a 86 Trans Am and I love it.
Hey Travis! I'm Filipino American (born in raised in CA) and I love your videos! My parents are from the ilocos region and moved to the US in the 80s. I love old cars as well. I wanted to either get a Trans Am or a 3rd gen Camaro. I'm so glad you have a Trans Am! I look forward to more of your videos as well as it helps me learn about the country from which my parents came and still have family in!
I just bought an 85 the kid I bought it from says its a 350 v8 I'm afraid its the 305 but no biggie either way I love mine to
I just bought an 85 the kid I bought it from says its a 350 v8 I'm afraid its the 305 but no biggie either way I love mine to
My first car when I was 18 in the mid 90's was a 1978 firebird esprit. It was burgundy and I loved it. It had a 350 with the rochester quadrajet. My God, I had so much fun with that car. It's good to see you loving your trans am.
Looking forward to seeing the mechanical, repairs you've done here.
On some level, I'm glad you were able to rescue this car. Getting back to where she should be.
I had a 77 with a bone stock 6.6 Pontiac engine. Z28's used to smoke me. Then, I bought a 79 with the 6.6 and 4-speed. The numbers match 400 engine had been "massaged" by a previous owner. It was a MONSTER!! Huge torque and loads of fun ... and the sound! I have a C7 Vette now and it blows them all out of the water.
Coors light does not qualify as beer. It is made from corn syrup. Real beer come from barley and hops.
@Sean Ware Ah, that so important qualifier...
Yes! Thank God there is at least one other purist in the world. If you want to lose weight and stay healthy, stay away from high fructose corn syrup. Better to drink less of a higher quality beer; the sort of beer that passes Germany's beer purity law. That would not include Coors.
my grandfather inlaw had one of these and as a kid I thought it was the freakin coolest thing Id ever seen. Godbless you for saving one, to many have gone to scrap.
Using Chinese newpapers for your spray-painting
lmao 🔥
Hey, we gotta keep up with the news!
Glorious revolutionary socialist people's news, unmasked. But enough about the New York Times.
🤣🤣🤣
I love your 78 trans am I just bought my father a 1977 firebird formula. For his 43rd Father’s Day. He and my mom were married in a 77 trans am . He had to sell it because he couldn’t fit a car seat in the back. 43 years later he got his firebird formula and it’s his pride and joy father son project
I wish more people would come over from your main channel to check this out!
Pleasantly surprised by what I found.
Got a sub right there, chief! Stay awesome! 😎👍
Thanks!
Perfectly done account of your awesome Trans Am. Love that you are doing the long crawl on restoration. The shaker mod is great! It's my dream car too. I had 270 hpr V-6 Firebird Esprit! They need garages and warm weather!
270 hp v-6?
@@jameskoett 270 horse power V-6...yes.
@@garyhoffman503 Not 270 horsepower from factory.
@serpentza, Winston there are a number of things you can do to modify the motor to dramatically increase power and fuel economy and still pass smog. As long as products are C.A.R.B. (California Air Resources Board) certified you can legally install them and still pass the test. Just save your receipts and the certificates which come with these products in case there are issues with the tech doing the exam.
Examples are you can remove the smog pump, and the stock EGR system, which are huge parasitic losses because they are belt driven from the crankshaft, by installing an aftermarket intake manifold, throttle body fuel injector (like those made by Holly and others), and a more modern capacitive discharge ignition (like those made by MSD). I recommend you stop by your local speed shop, as there are many in So Cal to give you some guidance. You'll find most of the improvements are bolt-ons, and when you're finished you can take the car to a tuner who can dial it in on a dyno for maximum power while still being smog compliant. Best of luck!
Oh BTW, I like what you did with the shaker scoop, but there's something else you may want to look into. The older SD and HD Trans Ams had shaker scoops with functioning doors that were vacuum actuated so that they were only opened when needed at full throttle and closed when not needed for better economy and to prevent a too lean condition at lower speeds and idle. That too is something you may want to check out if you plan on keeping this ride long-term.
I actually got the flapper kit but it wasn't working out as hoped so I opted for open all the time
@@WorthlessWhips Did you hook it up to manifold or carburetor vacuum? I'm not sure which is correct, because I've never owned a Trans Am, but I'm sure there is a difference between the two, just as there is when you connect distributor advance to the carb vs manifold.
@IT'SME Yes if you replace the stock carburetor with a better controlled fuel delivery system like later model fuel injection which didn't have smog pumps. They were cleaner burning, so upgrading to a newer OEM setup would pass for example. You can replace the stock system with something which pollutes less, but not more (example, later stock or CARB approved aftermarket, but not older OEM or anything marked for off road use only).
And no, EGR isn't run by the crankshaft, but it is part of the smog system in conjunction with smog pump, which is run by the crank. (The smog pump adds air post combustion to complete combustion as exhaust gasses flow out exhaust, while the EGR siphons some of those exhaust gases and recirculates them into the intake.)
Those were the days... I had a 1975 base firebird with a straight 6 in high school, wrecked it on a rainy road, frame was rotted out(upstate NY). Bought a 1986 T/A w/5.0 TPI as my first new car, still have it with with 22k on the odometer. Also have a 1976 Formula w/6.6 and factory honeycomb wheels and a 1967 firebird convertible w/326. Looking for a 2002 bird so I have one from each generation. I love them all, but my favorite T/A is the 79-80. Unfortunately, the engines were so underpowered, but they were what we had. Great video, love the car!!!
One of the gorgeous car I ever seen. Glad you have it Bro.
I went through this entire process you are showing, with my 1981 SE Trans Am back in 1996! I have a logbook that shows 296 [not a typo] entries in the first 26 months of ownership. I understand fully what you experienced. My TA is currently %75 percent completed towards a full restoration.
There all gutless but, they are super cool to look at. Not to mention more comfortable than most modern cars.. Looking forward to more videos!
They're
Thats a nice cruiser, Winston. I had many GM cars and
i suggest using Bosch plugs with the same core value.
This engines run better then with them then with the
faulty Delco plugs. A you save fuel too! At least a
contactless electronic ignition and oil flush on the
rear end and transmission. Smart idea on the gear cover.
AHHHHH! NOOOOOO! You traded a '68 Corvette for that? 😟
Well, it's not what I would have done, but to each his own.
A soul for a soul -Thanos
Yup. Remember, it's a dream car that pulls the heart strings of a lost and distant time in one's life.
I was actually scouting this exact car out on either Offerup or FB marketplace. Price was solid on it so I think you got a good deal regardless. Ended up grabbing another '78 Firebird TA that was available locally. You nailed it on the California Smog BS. Almost ruined the whole deal on the one I got. Been restoring and fixing bits on it over the last month. Anytime you feel like it's not worth the headaches you just got fire it up and tear down the street and and it allllllll becomes worth it.
Did you get ripped off? Nah! She just needed a little loving is all.
What a beauty, I owned the 1981 TA had it for only 1 year, i could not afford all the maintenance and this was back in '99. I wish you the best of luck.
"All the cars I buy these days, for some mysterious reason, have their catalytic converters missing." Haha. Welcome to California.
Had a 76 Trans Am. Drilled out the scoop and flipped the air cleaner cover. Sounded great!
I would just about kill to have that car and I would love every bit of work I got to do on it.
👍
Glad to see you're back in the states, you need to stay here FOREVER. Be careful, don't let down your guard. STAY AWESOME !!!!!
The "Friend from High School that never left your hometown" car
lmao
This is an awesome channel. Since I’ve moved out of California, I can find old 70’s cars again. The smog regulations and the old Cash for Clunkers program destroyed the 70’s vehicle market in California. What I’m having problems with, is finding parts for my ‘77 Chevy Malibu 4 door. Things like window sweeps and correct window seals. Lots of that stuff for the 2 doors/El Caminos, nada for 4 doors. I also do the same when I get a new vehicle, total tune up, change out the vacuum hoses, new fluids, lots of little annoying things. It never ceases to amaze me how previous owners of these cars don’t just do the repairs. They are so simple to fix.
Oh! you have a 403 Oldsmobile motor, You poor man!
Why do you say that. The Olds 403 is one of the best engine ever made.
I had ,and will buy one again, in a Buick Riviera 1978 edition. I had it for over 30 years. The Riv. is my dream car. That Olds 403 ran for close to 1 million miles. The engine was fast. And I beat a lot of "kids" who were driving Cameros, Trans Am, and many others.
THIS IS MY DREAM CAR
That loud red interior is as awful and wonderful as the loud blue interior of my first Mercedes. Wonderful!
Yeah the red on black is awesome
I have a 1978 TA as well, black with the red interior. I am looking forward to more videos. My car is complete and cranking out about 400 hp now after a total engine rebuild on the original 400. Everyone loves these cars.
You gotta recreate some scenes with c-milk as sally field and you can wear a nice fake mustache and do burt reynolds' lines.
Yes, C-Milk can do the part as Matt playing Xi pretending to be Sally. I like it.
@Rob Torres With the Afrikaner accent; too priceless.
Only '77 or '78. Not before or after. Everybody loves these Trans Ams. I always check the prices, they are going up. Black with gold tapes, the only way to go. I'd like to have one, what a fun car.
C-Milk in a wedding dress? 😂
You are very lucky. You have saved a piece of history, especially with the shaker head working properly. Congratulations on getting and maintaining you dream car. If only I could find my dad's
Jaguar Xj6 4.2 1984 saloon, then I would drive it every day.
Thats the burt reynolds trans am... with the firebird grill .... looks a million times better imo
I had a 78 Transam limited edition Desperado. Same car except for the decals on the lower portion of the doors and a few factory performance parts in the engine. Back then , I added a B&M Transpack to the transmission and swapped the rear axle from a 68 Camaro that I used nickel welding rods to weld the spider gears giving the car positive traction. In the day , it was a screaming demon street car. Loved it! I even had the exact same interior as this car. My factory paint was a metallic charcoal gray. Thankfully, I didn’t have the T- tops.
It's not worthless whips unless the car fails smog!
Have we ever been lucky?
This channel has been proof to me that I should never buy anything older than a later C4. The amount of work Winston has to do is insane.
you got to remember from post 1976 when these things came out they had no balls at all it was all show and no go they were smogged to the hilt.
leave California and move out to the country out-of-state and let that Poncho run
Repugnant that a 40+ y.o. car has to pass smog in the first place.
@@bcubed72 yeah even Illinois cuts it at 25.. you can officially apply for an antique vehicle.. exempt from emission testing. and we got some of the most stringent EPA standards around other than La La Land.
Winston, i am watching your video and as a car nut in Australia, i keep looking at your Trans Am & cant help but noticing how much GM-H ( Holden) had raided the GM parts bin international for the Australian built Torana's & Holdens in the 70's & 80's.. Stuff like the steering column, shifter plate & even the wheels were used for the Aussie LE Holden Monaro coupe..
Its nice to see the origin of so many hard to get car parts here !!!
1:48 "Turns out there were other issues as well: it didn't start or run well." 😂😂😂
I can tell that your Trans Am is in good hands. You're doing tremendous work. It's very inspiring.
8:05 Aww, that's adorable!
5:00 I don't work that way, I'm a procrastinator. I work on the things I won't notice daily first and leave the things that bug me for last... Just gives me motivation to keep working.
I purposely live where emission inspections aren’t necessary.
I recently smogged my brothers ‘78 Transam. Yup, there was a fume leak around the gas tank filler neck. We fixed it, and now we’re working on the ac. He bought it new in ‘78. Thanks for the vids.
Please lose the background music while you're speaking.
You did the right thing Winston, you smile every time you sit in the drivers seat. If the car is truly rust free then you're golden.
It's not a ripoff unless purposely misrepresented. Old cars need love, and everyone has their own idea as to what is a priority. If you are inspired to make it better, in whatever way, then it was a worthwhile purchase. I've bought new a couple times, and used/old well, lots! And I love them all. Now my son is learning what it takes to fix things up. More life lessons in used car repair than anything else either of my kids have undertaken.
Dude. Seriously. Just get a Camry Hybrid for times when you need to transport your Female Companionship Unit and your Legacy Propagation Unit. Then you can drive the Firebird the rest of the time.
Why? There is nothing more badass than driving your dream car daily. I daily my supra a70 as well, even in winter.
I bought the car to be driven, no matter the circumstances. Fuck having a boring daily.
It's very cool to see you working on your dream (classic) car. I've got a '73 240z I'm replacing the master cylinder on and watching you do this keeps me motivated. Your work is much harder because I was able to yank all that smog stuff off! Good luck with that beauty and stay awesome!
I feel you @serpentza.
I bought a Toyota Supra a70 with the 7mgte Turbo engine last year. It ran from the start but needed some love as well and still does. I daily drive it and it has never let me down so far. Its a different feeling daily driving your dream car. Youre always smiling and in a good mood.
Wow! What a project. I've "rebuilt" a few Jags in my lifetime, but nothing like that project. Nothing even close. You must really, really enjoy that kind of work.
My late brother had a 79 firebird. He loved that car, sold it to a friend when his son was born, his friend kept it for 20 years then my brother bought it back and him and his son were restoring it when my brother passed away. Now his son is restoring it by himself. Him and his dad had a vision and that’s what he’s going for even though he stands there in tears most of the time work on it.
Back in 79 I special ordered a TA at a dealership that my father was a mechanic. The first thing my father told me was NOT to order T-Tops that eventually they Will leak. I ordered just about everything but the T-Tops and A/C or a radio. I also ordered the same engine that you have, the Oldsmobile 403 because it was reliable and could take a beating as I did at Englishtown Raceway Park. It did a best of 15.00 on street tires, could have used slicks because the shitty Uniroyals that cane with the car were bad on wet roads even worse at the track. Being in New Jersey I modified the Q-Jet carburetor, recurved the distributor, removed the catalytic converter, opened up the hood scoop. It's funny that you showed the cracked spark plug, that must have been the one on the passengers side up against the firewall, it was a bitch to get to! Unfortunately my ownership of my TA was cut short, only two years. I was a sheet medal mechanic in a very small company that went bankrupt, was out of work and couldn't make the payments so I sold it to some chick. She paid the car off at the GMAC finance department and I got $450 from her.😭 Needless to say this really sucked, I bought a 1967 Chevy Nova two door from a friend of mine, it had a lot of potential but never did anything to it. BTY I put the catalytic converter back on when I sold it.
Good to see that you're going to stick with it; and make it the car of your dreams, Winston! Seriously, the '78 Firebird Trans AM is an iconic vehicle. Any of them that were well maintained are just good cars to drive. As for them being "gutless", you need to keep in mind that there were different drive train options. I grew up in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, where GM Canada Head Office is. There were three auto plants there at the time. Trans AMs and Camaros were so common, I took them for granted as being ubiquitous.
If your car had the Chevy 305 engine, it only came out with about 155 HP. It wasn't tuned. It was just a basic engine, which had the potential to be tuned. Others came with the Pontiac 400 with the 350 heads. Those bumped it up to 230 HP, which was considered a lot, in the 1970's.
Since you want to keep this as your personal dream car for good, I highly recommend that you simply replace the current engine with a crate engine. Not only will it last much longer than the original engine, it won't break down nearly as much; and you have the option of crate engines that can provide upwards of 300, or 400 HP. Yes, they'll be a bit pricey, but if you do the math you'll find that projected (realistic) repairs over the course of 10 years will add up for the original engine to well beyond what you'll pay for a decent crate engine; and you wouldn't even need to go to a 400+ HP engine. Just keep in mind that if you're going to replace the engine with something with a bit more balls, you'll want to either rebuild the original transmission, or (preferably) replace the transmission and gears altogether; and I'd even some modest suspension upgrades. You'd be looking at an under $10K investment, but you'll love the end product. Probably a long term project.
You can find the crate engines online. Places like O'Reilly Auto Parts, or any number of well-known performance auto part supplier offer some good choices.
I plan to do an engine swap but California laws prevent it unless I get the very expensive e-rod LS3 package which costs about 18k and then I still need to install it myself...
Get any pre 1976 gas or pre 98 diesel car in california and you can do anything you want....
@@serpentza
Too bad about that. What about getting the service done out of state? Would it change things if you _'sold'_ that car to a shop that can do the engine upgrade; and then merely _'sell'_ it back to you + the cost of the parts and labour?
By the sound of it, I'll bet it's the Chevy 305 in there, now; and if their laws are that strict, you might be stuck with it.
@@serpentza
Just a little something for those who really love this car: It earned its place in the hearts and minds of car enthusiasts from the movie, _"Smoky and the Bandit."_ If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
Keep in mind the fact that after the early 1970's, Muscle Cars were being phased out due to the alleged gas shortage _'crisis.'_ everyone was coming out with small block 6-cyl. and 4-cyl. cars, 99% of which sucked eggs! When Smoky and the Bandit was released, the popular demand for more muscle was stoked; and North American auto manufacturers started Ty respond to demand again, albeit mostly with economic muscle cars. It culminated with the Buick Grand National GNX in the 1980's.aside from a few minor efforts, here and there in the 90's, it wasn't until Dodge reintroduced the new HEMI vehicles, that muscle cars properly re-emerged.
I have a 79 thats nocturn blue and I love it, I'm in the process of putting in all new interior, some mechanical, and I'm doing touch ups on the body and painting it.
I had a 1973 Firebird and my father had a 1977 Bandit clone (Formula, not T/A). They leaked, they were gutless, they had horrible blind spots...but man they were beautiful. Great video!
There's nothing like the satisfaction you get from working on your own car. Stay awesome Winston
No way did you get ripped off. You bought a piece of Americana auto history & all the problems that come with it. This is your passion so follow it, don’t ever let it go & bring the subscribers & Patreon supporters along for the ride every step of the way in your journey.
Awesome progress Winston! My dream car, that I purchased in high-school and kept until I was 31, was a 1969 Chevy Nova SS. Much like your Firebird it needed a lot of work. It took me 5 years, which included a complete engine and rear-end rebuild. Not to mention the head-liner, the bench front seats (re-upholstered then converted to bucket), the pressure-plate, heater, exhaust system, brakes, radiator and on and on ... man, I miss that car. Living in San Diego allowed me to work on it and drive it constantly. Also, the car scene is amazing here. I always had someone to either help or ask advice. I sold it before heading over to Japan for 6 years. Keep at it, love the content on this channel too!
I was just watching your video and i noticed the kiss of deaf attached to your engine, a FRAM oil filter.
Every single video i have watched and the engine was shot, a FRAM oil filter was on the engine. My dad use to use FRAM filters, and yes his engine was shot with just 100K on the clock
For future reference, the Olds 403 you have in this TA is a dog of an engine and takes quite a bit to make it build enough power to get it down the road like a real muscle car. The exhaust manifolds are replaceable so long as you port the header tubes to mate up to the air injection pump the same way the stock manifolds are. This way you don't have your exhaust system going from the drivers side manifold (2in pipe), into the passenger side manifold, then going out the back as a 2 1/4 inch pipe, then into a highly restrictive CAT that Cali approves use for, then into an anchor worthy muffler, then out to the twin dual exhaust tips which are larger than the overall pipe is through the whole system. I came up with a system that seems to work well enough to build good flow numbers and pass the sniffer since most of it is just a visual confirmation that the air injection system is hooked into the exhaust manifold (headers) and that it has 1 CAT (can't use 2 in Cali). I have much more on my build for the Cali legal Olds 403 if your interested.
I owned a 1974 4speed 400, dark blue. I lived in Pennsylvania at the time and it completely rusted out. So cool to see your car. I have wanted to find one again, it's very hard to do. There really getting expive. My dream car to. Thanks for the video.🏁🏁🏁🏁😀👍🏁.
Good work and nice car. Now that is..... I have a 75. Love it. Was my favorite car when I was a teenager then but I couldn't afford it. Keep up the great work and stay well!
Reminds me of my 79' Trans Am with a 403, it was sluggish and had all the problems of an old car but there was just something special about those Second gens...Hopefully someday I will find another one. Your car at least is not rusty, where I am everything but the roof will rot on them.
Memories! I drove my 1984 Camaro Z28 HO 5sp for more then a decade. I call it my lost decade. Standing 14 mile 15.00 seconds. Road course was fun though!
My last hot rod a recent Cadilac CTS V SPort twin turbo 1/2 mile drag about 140 mph.
D
Yeah I had a 1981 trans am with those same t-tops. They were made by cars & concepts and parts are hard to find for those. At least they were 8 years ago when I had my TA. The aluminum frame / rivets actually ripped completely out of sheet metal / roof one day. Thankfully I was only about a block from my house. I sold the car and picked up a 69 cutlass project soon after that...🤣
"Did I Get RIPPED OFF?". Well, the guy you traded with got the better deal. For sure. He must be super happy with having met you. Though he should have disclosed the issues with the vehicle, if he had any honor. Surely he knew all what was wrong. But I know, a guy's dream car is just within his grasp and cold logic takes a back seat. It will make for great videos for the rebuilds and restorations of it.
Came across this video randomly on the home feed, recognised you're voice straight away, as if you've got a car chanel. This is awesome!
Same here
You are doing exactly what I want to do with an old muscle car. Got a 78 Granada project doing something similar.
The car looks beautiful Winston! So beautiful it makes me want one too. I know you're doing a calculation on costs and I hope you share that with us eventually. It'd be worth knowing for people interested in going down a similar path.
I clicked on this because I love American muscle cars, then I heard that distinctive voice, I recognised from all the videos of China that I watched. Well done on getting this American icon Winston.
Thanks mate! Welcome to my car channel!
I have had 4 1978 Trans-Am's. Two of them were black S/E. I am surprised you were able to get yours smogged here in Commiefornia, but glad you did. I miss mine terribly. I do have a nice collection of Mopar muscle cars anyway.... cheers !
Very nice! I’ve owned a few 4th gen Trans Ams, obviously very different than these 2nd gens, but the TA has always been one of my favorite cars from 1st to 4th. Despite being such a popular and beloved model, we don’t see many of these on the road anymore. In fact, I see more 1st and 4th gens than anything else. Congrats on the car! These ones are getting harder to find!
I enjoy you going in depth... Unless a liitle old lady from Pasadena owned it, everything will need attention by owners who HOT ROD pushing it to 8000rpm
If any part of that engine ever hit 8K rpm it would still be in orbit.
Fantastic car! It's a 42 years old car and bound to need a some work but it looks great! Thanks for the video!
Especially being a 45 year old TA, Not at all. It's amazing a car that was in so high demand 70-80 is so unappreciated today. I purchased a used 78 around 1990 jet-black, no decal on hood, but shaker in tact(repainted obviously), and it still needed TLC. Ten miles/gal , a bear to stomp the clutch, but loved it. Kept it until I had to commute 50 miles to work. Nice find though, not many left.Cheers!
Hey guys, it’s not for sure yet, but I think I’ll be getting me first project car this weekend. It’s an 08 CVPI. I’ll be checking it out in person Saturday, but supposedly it runs and drives with cold ac. Has about 120k miles which is nothing on a Crown Vic. BUT... All the seats have been ripped out except the drivers. It’s cosmetically in rough shape. And, according to the guy, the rear bearings need to be replaced. I’m sure there’s lots of deferred maintenance too. I actually think it sounds perfect for me. Just the kind of stuff I can handle, but not too much for me. Also, it drives now, so I can be driving it in between fixing things. Wish me luck!
I have been rebuilding a 76 from ground up for two years.. Trust me, yours is not bad. Not a dream car just a hobby.
need more videos on this car! Congrats Winston, cant wait to see it all done
My best friend has a 77 TA Bandit addition 4 speed that has been in his garage for at least 20 yrs. now with a bent fender and hood from where he had a fender bender years ago. It's in decent shape other than the body damage but would be fairly easy to fix. It is a classic/iconic car no doubt.
It's amazing how much money goes into just little plastic parts. you'll be spending forever....Nice work. Its funny that some of those parts you changed are what caught my eye in your first video of this car.