New member says hello!

[ertugg63]

Oops, I just reread your threads and see that Bad beige is the hot rod! Small block chevy’s can really put out the power. Although a 383 isn’t far from a BB 396. I bet this car is a thrill to drive.

Yes, Beige is a real kick in the pants, old school style, to drive. He’s a hoot!

[5th T/A]

You asked for it, who in this group doesn’t want to talk about their cars.

 I will start how I got hooked on these cars and my handle, 5th TA. In 1070 when I turned 16, I enrolled in a work study program. I would go to high school half a day and work at the transmission shop in the afternoon. Did this until I graduated in 1972 and worked full time at the transmission shop until 1976 when I went back to school and got a degree in computer technology. I worked doing hardware repair on mainframe, mini computers and large disk arrays until I retired in 2018.

In January of 1973 I purchased my first TA new. As years went by I went on to buy a 1975, 1978, 1982. Once retired and without a TA for decades I started looking for a nice Gen II. In 2020 I found my current car a 1980. It had 6600 original miles, always stored  inside and I don’t believe it ever got very wet. My documentation says I am the 4th owner. Whiles the car was clean, it needed some maintenance work. The tires were original, as were all the belts and hoses. This was a very clean original car. Unfortunately, 1980 was kind of the pinnacle of no performance. The 301 normally aspirated engine was rated at 150 hp. The 2.41 axle ratio did little to help. I located a 1974 Pontiac 455 and intended to do a mild performance upgrade rebuild. Before I got started another member of TAC had a Pontiac 400 for sale, stroked to 461. It was a pretty high end build done by Butler Performance. The engine was never installed. If if recall the dyno numbers correctly it was 489 hp and 580 ft pounds. Making for a good street engine.

It was supposed to be just an engine upgrade, one thing led to another. If interested you can read about it here. Or just scan through the pictures.

http://www.transamcountry.com/community/index.php?topic=83455.0

[ertugg63]

@5th T/ A ;

 Wow! I am at Al loss for words, the amount of time, skill, detail and determination / perseverance is overwhelming. Salute to you, sir! Great story, excellent photo documentation, too. That is a really nice motor and your T/A is a beautiful Firebird, well done.

 I am still re reading your build to make sure I’m understanding it all. I can change belts and plugs and other regular maintenance items, but what you accomplished is way beyond, musta been awesome to take her out for that first drive afterwards? Amazing…

 What do you think you’ll do with that 455?