455 4 speed Trans Am. You found a unicorn. Thank you for not LS swapping it. Pontiacs are fun engines and by 1973 the 455 was the last of the American muscle cars. Enjoy the ride!
I had a 71 Pontiac GrandeVille with a 455. The lady I bought it from in 1993 bought it new off the lot in 1971. She said a couple months after she bought it the motor "came apart" and they replaced it under warranty. They told her it would be about 4 weeks to get a new motor from Detroit, BUT they had a totaled "sports car" out back with only 10,000 miles on it and if she wanted they would pull that motor and put it in the GrandeVille to get her back on the road faster. Anyway, wind the clock ahead 23 years to me going to Western Auto to get a water pump for it. The employee came out and was looking under the hood, and Im assuming read the block numbers or something. He told me my engine was an HO455, not the SD455, from a Trans Am which verified what the lady had told me. Anyway the guy at Western Auto wanted to buy the whole car on the spot just for the motor.
On your other short clip, I see you're from Altus...my Dad was born in Martha and my grandmother's brother was the police chief there in the 20's and 30's.
Awesome find! And Brewster green. Thanks for saving it! BTW, my dad bought a new 70 Bonneville 455 and that thing drove him crazy with oil consumption. Used a quart every 300 miles. Dealer wouldn't or couldn't fix it, so he only hsd it two years. I hope your rebuild goes well. Again, great find!
What you found is very rare! Only 146 trans am's were painted Brewster Green. For the 455, I agree with the other commenter saying have Butler Performance rebuild it, but see if they can build it up to Super Duty specs
Yes sir! I think only 46 with the 4 speed and even lower when you factor in the A/C in this car. I may see about upgrading the engine a bit but want to keep it mostly factory.
I remember when this guy found this car And another pontiac on the southside of chicago i was trying to make a deal with one of my mopars never happened he was high as a kite on his price at that time he said he was looking for fenders i advised him i had a set never got back to me forgot about that car until i seen the video tonight good luck to you on the build i have no ill will towards the former owner of this t a if it is the same person just couldnt come to terms i still have that set of 1973 nos fenders i am glad i kept my 1970 dodge coronet though recyle and repurpose america
Yes same person. He was still high as hell on his price but I got him down a little bit. Still paid too much but that’s okay it’s a rare car and will still be worth more when I’m done with it. The right side fender on the car is dated with a correct NOS fender. It does need a driver if I can’t have the original one repaired.
I'm subscribing. I'd like to see the restoration of the car. I had a chance to buy a 73 Brewster green TA auto with white interior, no AC. Still kicking myself 6 years later for not buying it. I do have a 74 455 Trans Am. I understand exactly what you went through with the interior. I bought a 70 Olds Rallye 350 and had to replace the entire interior because the car was infested with mice. Mouse piss and shit everywhere. I'm a shade tree home restorer. My TA isn't an all-original restoration but I have a lot of videos of it on my channel.
What a cool car, and thank you for planning to return it to stock. Brewster Green is an awesome color! Please do a full restoration series, I am huge Trans Am fan, and will enjoy watching your progress.
Looks like you are close to South Central KS. Just picked up an all original 76 that has been sitting for about 15 years. Always garage kept one owner car. Very solid but needs some love. Will enjoy watching your progress on this car. The 76 will start a body off restoration this winter. If you are where I think you are, we are nearby. Maybe will see you at a car show next year.
Mike - Congrats on the find. I think you will love this car when it is completed. For an incentive check out what it could look like when you are done. The car is highly modified, but the intension is to make it look stock with a lot going on underneath. ua-cam.com/video/LCVaZqP-PNo/v-deo.html and the finished product ua-cam.com/video/941I2R4IVzY/v-deo.html. it was an automatic Brewster Green. Changed it to a Tremec T-56 6 speed.
@@z06_mike65 Mike - It is a standard D-port 455 with Auto and Brewster Green from the factory. Always wanted a SD, but couldn't afford it. Instead, I had one made. The original intension was to just throw in a Muncie 4-speed I had leftover from another project. However, I sent it to a shop that turned out to be a mistake. The original engine ran fine when I purchased the car and when I gave the shop the car. When I got it back it ran like garbage. Did a compression test and cylinder 6 was dead - no compression. This is when the direction changed on the project. Both the original engine and automatic are in storage. What is in the car now is a production 1974 455 out of a Catalina. The engine has a steel forged Scat crank with a 4.5 inch stroke to get to the current 496 cubes. The 455 from the factory comes from the factory with a cast nodular crank that has a 4.21 inch stroke. The only thing super duty on the engine is the main ingredient - the number 16 heads. Thanks for the comment on the car. Contact Randy Combs on the dash. He may have a core to work with. www.transamdashbezels.com/
Looks like you have screw-in rocker studs, which is better than the press-in on mine. Pontiac had a design change going from the press-in to the screw-in around May of 73. Good luck with it ... looks like a fun project.
My TA drinks oil through the valve seals too. With the engine running and hot, I just pour water down the carb to clean the plugs once in a while. I've been doing that for the last 11 years. I'll fix it properly one day. (too many restos on the go). The up side being it runs on new oil all the time.
Great find, very nice project. And yes, let us follow your efforts to restore. I enjoyed the viseo, done a few a few old car road trips myself and they always have their nail biting (Now what?) moments.
Treasure! Treat that baby like treasure! I have a 77 bird that turns heads, but that 73 TA sweet, build it right and enjoy it even it your misses don`t! :) Amen
Back when I was in college in circa 1991, an old friend from high school came across a 1972 Trans Am with a 4-speed and 455 in Ventura, California (my friend was at UCSB). It looked very similar to this '73--beat up, and white with blue stripes. The guy he bought it off didn't speak English and was asking $1000. My friend, with the help of the guy's wife interpreting, dealt him down to $900. Even back in the late 80s/early 90s and without the internet, my friend knew he found a unicorn (we did have magazines that had numbers and all that, lol).
@@z06_mike65 My beat up '78 with the California 403 I bought in 1989 cost more than his. I paid $1200 for mine, lol. I was looking specifically for a '78 or '79 at the time, and came across a 1979 Macho TA with the 400/4-speed that was very driveable but the guy had spun it around hitting all 4 'corners' on a center divider on one of L.A.'s many freeways for $1500. In fact, my friend with the '72 was going in on the car with me because I wanted the drivetrain, and he needed the windshield and side glass windows and interior (his '72 was lacking seatbelts and the seats were beat up). When I showed up, a guy in a '78 Macho also showed up, and the seller refused to sell it to me because he was aghast at the idea of me parting it out. During the search, there was also the time I came across a '76 Trans Am with an automatic and 400 that was used in a straight-to-video horror movie featuring Todd Bridges from the 70s TV show, 'Diff'rent Strokes'. The movie is called 'Twice Dead' and I believe is available here on UA-cam for free; the car was used throughout the film, but if you want to see the car you can also just catch the preview here on YT. It was slow and the producer wanted $4k. This was before I bought my '78, and I offered $2k which the producer balked at. However, several months went by, I had bought my '78, and the guy called me up and said I could have the '76 for $2200, lol. Good times and cheap TAs and Firebirds back then...
Just finished watching another video about the fastest GM muscle cars of the golden era, and while there was much talk of the 1970 A bodies, they did make special mention of the '73 Trans Am 455 because of how it was a final holdover. They didn't get into specifics but said that it had something to do with Pontiac's taking advantage of a loophole relating to the way in which the 455 had been "grandfathered in".
Yes, the SD 455 had a few massages to get around some stuff. Pontiac also trick some emissions stuff on the regular 455 but the EPA found out halfway through 73. Before the EPA found out the blocks were coded with a “W” after they were all “Z” block codes.
Yeah they really killed the power off! I will deck the heads and maybe put in a larger stock cam when I rebuild it to get some more power but maintain originality. The transmission is the original Muncie M21.
If you are interested I have a set of 7f6 super duty heads round port that I would sell. One is perfect the other has a very small crack between 2 and 3 cylinder.
Mike - BTW, if you intend to road race the car I suggest you change the oil pan for that purpose. The stock oil pan will not be correct for that usage. You will lose oil pressure and in the process lose the engine due to oil starvation. Jim
Nice save! I had a 70 1/2 TA with a RAIII. Brewster green is an awesome color and you definitely found a great car! Thanks for not LS swapping it! I have a 68 GTO and a 65 GTO now. Good to see another one saved.
Those are beautiful! Yeah the green is ultra rare too rumored this is one of 46 with the 4 speed. I will definitely be keeping it all original. LS engines are great but not what I’m going for.
@@z06_mike65 Sweet! My 68 is a HO 400 4 speed and the 65 was an auto car but going back with a 4 speed and a 69 428 motor. Street strip car. Building it for drag week hopefully ready for next year.
455 4 speed Trans Am. You found a unicorn. Thank you for not LS swapping it. Pontiacs are fun engines and by 1973 the 455 was the last of the American muscle cars. Enjoy the ride!
Yeah I will be keeping it all Pontiac. The engine and transmission are numbers matching. 👍🏻
And Brewster Green means $$$ when restored!
Told me he's going to ls swap it
@@silverback8183 it was a joke. 🤣 If I wanted an LS 2nd gen I would’ve bought a roller.
@@z06_mike65 oh thank goodness 😂
Call Butler Performance when you rebuild that 455. They have LOT'S of tricks for performance upgrades, yet keep the engine overall stock looking.
Butler is the best...
Great find, thanks for not changing it to an LS.
Keeping it original! I have a new ZL1 with the LT4 that’s my fast car. 🤣
One of the best years for these cars , build that 455 right and it will slay !
I had a 71 Pontiac GrandeVille with a 455. The lady I bought it from in 1993 bought it new off the lot in 1971. She said a couple months after she bought it the motor "came apart" and they replaced it under warranty. They told her it would be about 4 weeks to get a new motor from Detroit, BUT they had a totaled "sports car" out back with only 10,000 miles on it and if she wanted they would pull that motor and put it in the GrandeVille to get her back on the road faster. Anyway, wind the clock ahead 23 years to me going to Western Auto to get a water pump for it. The employee came out and was looking under the hood, and Im assuming read the block numbers or something. He told me my engine was an HO455, not the SD455, from a Trans Am which verified what the lady had told me. Anyway the guy at Western Auto wanted to buy the whole car on the spot just for the motor.
On your other short clip, I see you're from Altus...my Dad was born in Martha and my grandmother's brother was the police chief there in the 20's and 30's.
It’s a small town but the car hobby is big here!
Great find! Love those year cars. How much$$ for it?
Too much 😂
Awesome find! And Brewster green. Thanks for saving it! BTW, my dad bought a new 70 Bonneville 455 and that thing drove him crazy with oil consumption. Used a quart every 300 miles. Dealer wouldn't or couldn't fix it, so he only hsd it two years. I hope your rebuild goes well. Again, great find!
The green is pretty rare! Yeah hopefully it’s nothing too crazy but I will be rebuilding it anyway so I’ll find out sometime. 😂
What you found is very rare! Only 146 trans am's were painted Brewster Green. For the 455, I agree with the other commenter saying have Butler Performance rebuild it, but see if they can build it up to Super Duty specs
Yes sir! I think only 46 with the 4 speed and even lower when you factor in the A/C in this car. I may see about upgrading the engine a bit but want to keep it mostly factory.
I would love to see a update on the Pontiac 👍
I remember when this guy found this car And another pontiac on the southside of chicago i was trying to make a deal with one of my mopars never happened he was high as a kite on his price at that time he said he was looking for fenders i advised him i had a set never got back to me forgot about that car until i seen the video tonight good luck to you on the build i have no ill will towards the former owner of this t a if it is the same person just couldnt come to terms i still have that set of 1973 nos fenders i am glad i kept my 1970 dodge coronet though recyle and repurpose america
Yes same person. He was still high as hell on his price but I got him down a little bit. Still paid too much but that’s okay it’s a rare car and will still be worth more when I’m done with it. The right side fender on the car is dated with a correct NOS fender. It does need a driver if I can’t have the original one repaired.
Great car, not too cool that the seller was in a hurry. Have loved the T/A since I was a kid, good luck with it.
Thanks! Yeah it kinda ruined my whole vision for the video but it’s all good.
I'm subscribing. I'd like to see the restoration of the car. I had a chance to buy a 73 Brewster green TA auto with white interior, no AC. Still kicking myself 6 years later for not buying it. I do have a 74 455 Trans Am. I understand exactly what you went through with the interior. I bought a 70 Olds Rallye 350 and had to replace the entire interior because the car was infested with mice. Mouse piss and shit everywhere. I'm a shade tree home restorer. My TA isn't an all-original restoration but I have a lot of videos of it on my channel.
What a cool car, and thank you for planning to return it to stock. Brewster Green is an awesome color! Please do a full restoration series, I am huge Trans Am fan, and will enjoy watching your progress.
Looks like you are close to South Central KS. Just picked up an all original 76 that has been sitting for about 15 years. Always garage kept one owner car. Very solid but needs some love. Will enjoy watching your progress on this car. The 76 will start a body off restoration this winter. If you are where I think you are, we are nearby. Maybe will see you at a car show next year.
Mike - Congrats on the find. I think you will love this car when it is completed. For an incentive check out what it could look like when you are done. The car is highly modified, but the intension is to make it look stock with a lot going on underneath. ua-cam.com/video/LCVaZqP-PNo/v-deo.html and the finished product ua-cam.com/video/941I2R4IVzY/v-deo.html. it was an automatic Brewster Green. Changed it to a Tremec T-56 6 speed.
Your car looks and sounds so good. Is it a real Green SD-455?
@@z06_mike65 Mike - It is a standard D-port 455 with Auto and Brewster Green from the factory. Always wanted a SD, but couldn't afford it. Instead, I had one made. The original intension was to just throw in a Muncie 4-speed I had leftover from another project. However, I sent it to a shop that turned out to be a mistake. The original engine ran fine when I purchased the car and when I gave the shop the car. When I got it back it ran like garbage. Did a compression test and cylinder 6 was dead - no compression. This is when the direction changed on the project.
Both the original engine and automatic are in storage. What is in the car now is a production 1974 455 out of a Catalina. The engine has a steel forged Scat crank with a 4.5 inch stroke to get to the current 496 cubes. The 455 from the factory comes from the factory with a cast nodular crank that has a 4.21 inch stroke. The only thing super duty on the engine is the main ingredient - the number 16 heads.
Thanks for the comment on the car.
Contact Randy Combs on the dash. He may have a core to work with. www.transamdashbezels.com/
Pre '73 paint scheme. Neat car though.
Yupp it was repainted unfortunately. It’s originally Brewster Green and will be going back to that color.
Looks like you have screw-in rocker studs, which is better than the press-in on mine. Pontiac had a design change going from the press-in to the screw-in around May of 73. Good luck with it ... looks like a fun project.
Yes, i definitely want to see 👀 more about the rebuilding of this rare bird 🐦... just subscribed.
Might be sucking oil through the PCV…
My TA drinks oil through the valve seals too. With the engine running and hot, I just pour water down the carb to clean the plugs once in a while. I've been doing that for the last 11 years. I'll fix it properly one day. (too many restos on the go). The up side being it runs on new oil all the time.
Great project car! I’m envious as hell. I sold my ‘72 T/A - one of only 1286 built, about 25 years ago and still regret it to this day…
Those were beautiful! I’ve sold a few I regret selling as well.
Great find, very nice project. And yes, let us follow your efforts to restore. I enjoyed the viseo, done a few a few old car road trips myself and they always have their nail biting (Now what?) moments.
Thank you! It’s going to be a long road but it’s a solid car.
Treasure! Treat that baby like treasure! I have a 77 bird that turns heads, but that 73 TA sweet, build it right and enjoy it even it your misses don`t! :) Amen
Back when I was in college in circa 1991, an old friend from high school came across a 1972 Trans Am with a 4-speed and 455 in Ventura, California (my friend was at UCSB). It looked very similar to this '73--beat up, and white with blue stripes. The guy he bought it off didn't speak English and was asking $1000. My friend, with the help of the guy's wife interpreting, dealt him down to $900. Even back in the late 80s/early 90s and without the internet, my friend knew he found a unicorn (we did have magazines that had numbers and all that, lol).
I wish those deals were still around! Long gone though. 😂
@@z06_mike65 My beat up '78 with the California 403 I bought in 1989 cost more than his. I paid $1200 for mine, lol. I was looking specifically for a '78 or '79 at the time, and came across a 1979 Macho TA with the 400/4-speed that was very driveable but the guy had spun it around hitting all 4 'corners' on a center divider on one of L.A.'s many freeways for $1500. In fact, my friend with the '72 was going in on the car with me because I wanted the drivetrain, and he needed the windshield and side glass windows and interior (his '72 was lacking seatbelts and the seats were beat up). When I showed up, a guy in a '78 Macho also showed up, and the seller refused to sell it to me because he was aghast at the idea of me parting it out. During the search, there was also the time I came across a '76 Trans Am with an automatic and 400 that was used in a straight-to-video horror movie featuring Todd Bridges from the 70s TV show, 'Diff'rent Strokes'. The movie is called 'Twice Dead' and I believe is available here on UA-cam for free; the car was used throughout the film, but if you want to see the car you can also just catch the preview here on YT. It was slow and the producer wanted $4k. This was before I bought my '78, and I offered $2k which the producer balked at. However, several months went by, I had bought my '78, and the guy called me up and said I could have the '76 for $2200, lol. Good times and cheap TAs and Firebirds back then...
That $60 U-Haul trailer looks pretty good right now, huh?
Just finished watching another video about the fastest GM muscle cars of the golden era, and while there was much talk of the 1970 A bodies, they did make special mention of the '73 Trans Am 455 because of how it was a final holdover. They didn't get into specifics but said that it had something to do with Pontiac's taking advantage of a loophole relating to the way in which the 455 had been "grandfathered in".
Yes, the SD 455 had a few massages to get around some stuff. Pontiac also trick some emissions stuff on the regular 455 but the EPA found out halfway through 73. Before the EPA found out the blocks were coded with a “W” after they were all “Z” block codes.
Badass!! That sucks a few years prior that motor made 2x the power 🤣…is the 4spd a Saginaw? Or Muncie??
Yeah they really killed the power off! I will deck the heads and maybe put in a larger stock cam when I rebuild it to get some more power but maintain originality. The transmission is the original Muncie M21.
You call that an oil leak? It's an old Chevy. Just overfill it a little bit and keep driving
Beautiful car!!! I'd like to see it go back to the Brewster Green.
shaker looks good, nice score, great cars, dial it in man!
Nice Barn find. I there is just something about a Trans Am
Pretty sure I heard the whine of a rock crushers straight cut gears. (M22)
New Sub, look forward to watching this series on the TA
I’ll try and post as much as I can. Working on my video and editing as well.
Finishing up the rotisserie resto if a 70 T/A myself. Good luck with your project and enjoy the process.
That’s awesome. Rotisserie is the goal with this once I get settled in to a new place.
Sitting for 40 years = valve seals, no question.
Rare badd ass ride man thanks for the content 😮
Put it on the trailer save yourself the headache.
Thats a really awesome ride big block 4 speed
Is this a Super Duty? What heads you have on it?
Just a regular 455 with 4X heads. Engine is all original.
If you are interested I have a set of 7f6 super duty heads round port that I would sell. One is perfect the other has a very small crack between 2 and 3 cylinder.
Mike - BTW, if you intend to road race the car I suggest you change the oil pan for that purpose. The stock oil pan will not be correct for that usage. You will lose oil pressure and in the process lose the engine due to oil starvation. Jim
Thanks Jim. Randy Probst just blew up his Pontiac from oil starvation issues. Haha But I won't be road racing. Just cruising in this one!
awesome car gonna be cool colour
great car good luck
Yes more please
Awesome find!!!!!👍👍
What an amazing find.
Subbed for the 73
Nice save! I had a 70 1/2 TA with a RAIII. Brewster green is an awesome color and you definitely found a great car! Thanks for not LS swapping it! I have a 68 GTO and a 65 GTO now. Good to see another one saved.
Those are beautiful! Yeah the green is ultra rare too rumored this is one of 46 with the 4 speed. I will definitely be keeping it all original. LS engines are great but not what I’m going for.
@@z06_mike65 Sweet! My 68 is a HO 400 4 speed and the 65 was an auto car but going back with a 4 speed and a 69 428 motor. Street strip car. Building it for drag week hopefully ready for next year.
Green with gold honeycombs and accents would look very smart.
What a great project!
i am here for the rebuild
Imagine seeing VGG and just not trying to copy him.
Yeah I know right. I wasn’t able to get any
footage I really wanted due to let’s say “external circumstances”.
I am sure it will be a beautiful gem
Hopefully within two years!
Man the camera angles is not nice
Yes, unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the footage I wanted.
Trailer that bad boy wtf lol
Part of the adventure 🤣
t5his is my #1 favorite car dude I'm pissed