Today I... "Redux Edition"

[roadking77]

Luke, sounds like my wife. If its 60 deg she is cold! Looks like fun but I have stated my stance on cold weather/snow before. I dont like it  I was surprised though that on our recent trip to the rockies it was indeed cold and snowy and we had a good time. Proper attire and I may be able to warm up to some 'sled' action. I love that Model A snow cat.

[72projectbird]

Got it outside today. I can see a few small spots where I need to go back over it with the buffer, but overall I'm happy with it.

[RamblerRacer]

^^^^^^ Very Nice!

[76455sd]

‘72:  the paint and decals look great.  Nicely done.

As far as doctors, our company requires an annual checkup and a signed preventive care form from the doctor saying you’re up to date as far as routine procedures like colonoscopy, etc. in order to qualify for lower insurance premiums.  It’s like a 20% reduction of the employee contribution. 

[Jack]

Got it outside today. I can see a few small spots where I need to go back over it with the buffer, but overall I'm happy with it.

Looks great, I'm glad you are taking advantage of the good weather.

[Jack]

Luke, sounds like my wife. If its 60 deg she is cold! Looks like fun but I have stated my stance on cold weather/snow before. I dont like it  I was surprised though that on our recent trip to the rockies it was indeed cold and snowy and we had a good time. Proper attire and I may be able to warm up to some 'sled' action. I love that Model A snow cat.

I'm with you there, to me it's self inflicted punishment.

[Jack]

As far as doctors, our company requires an annual checkup and a signed preventive care form from the doctor saying you’re up to date as far as routine procedures like colonoscopy, etc. in order to qualify for lower insurance premiums.  It’s like a 20% reduction of the employee contribution.

I was going to say is that legal until I saw that its for a discount.

[FormTA]

At the place I worked for 25 years before they went out of business was like that but it was like a 75% discount so I did participate in that. Now insurance is so expensive and doesn't cover squat so I don't go just to pay a bunch of $$$ (man I am starting to sound like Decaf).

[roadking77]

Blast from our past, our old buddy decaff. I hope he is doing well, i always enjoyed his posts 

[scarebird]

[nas t eh]

Miss him too, wish he could have kept it civil and stayed. Sure was entertaining.

[72projectbird]

‘72:  the paint and decals look great.  Nicely done.

As far as doctors, our company requires an annual checkup and a signed preventive care form from the doctor saying you’re up to date as far as routine procedures like colonoscopy, etc. in order to qualify for lower insurance premiums.  It’s like a 20% reduction of the employee contribution.

Thanks!

When I was a DoD guy, we had mandatory yearly checkups from the Navy Docs. They mostly were interested in our hearing and lung function. It's strange having to drive across the base to the infirmary for a hearing check lol

[Jack]

Why did he leave? It was around the start of covid, he was being decaff but I don't remember anything out of the ordinary.

[FormTA]

I don't know. I have texted him a couple times and he hasn't replied. I had his number because I sold him my ST10 trans and we met halfway.  I too really enjoyed his posts, they were very detailed and almost magazine like.

[scarebird]

Why did he leave? It was around the start of covid, he was being decaff but I don't remember anything out of the ordinary.

I knew a few people who have died from it - he might be another.  We did lose 1.1mm people in the US alone to Covid.

[nas t eh]

Why did he leave? It was around the start of covid, he was being decaff but I don't remember anything out of the ordinary.

I recall that he was not willing to adjust his behaviour enough to stay and got suspended.

[79GoldnTan]

Yea, nothing the same since 2020. Any time I'm on interstate 81 in the Hazelton area I'm on the lookout for a crazy man in a Chevy pickup or beat up bird. Lol. Hope he's ok.

[72projectbird]

25 years old and still putting in the work. Just rolled over 82k miles. Gets washed at least once a month, and hit with a clay bar and buffer at least twice a year (usually 3-4 times). Goes to show if you take care of your stuff, it'll take care of you. It has worked its ass off since rolling off the dealer lot, bouncing between private and commercial work. Now it lives on easy street compared to what it used to do. Just chills in the garage most days.

[79GoldnTan]

Nice!! 82 k, that's about 3 years for me. Lol I run my trucks up 250/275 k before they get retired. They still run great but hard to keep the rust away. I bought a 2021 in Oct. Of 21 , my last truck.......

[5th T/A]

Projectbird, I am not surprised to see a 25 year old truck still running. But most of them have giant rust holes providing flow through ventilation and they often sag in the middle. I know the rust isn't just a problem in the Midwest. Over the last 47 years I worked for IT companies based out of Massachusetts, vehicles out there are also subject to corrosion from the elements and road salt. How you managed to keep your truck so clean and rust free is beyond me. You must give it an incredible amount of TLC!

[72projectbird]

Projectbird, I am not surprised to see a 25 year old truck still running. But most of them have giant rust holes providing flow through ventilation and they often sag in the middle. I know the rust isn't just a problem in the Midwest. Over the last 47 years I worked for IT companies based out of Massachusetts, vehicles out there are also subject to corrosion from the elements and road salt. How you managed to keep your truck so clean and rust free is beyond me. You must give it an incredible amount of TLC!

It gets washed once a week in the winter months, regardless of how dirty it actually gets. Plus the underside is covered in cosmoline. All up in the bedsides, rockers, behind the taillights, the entire frame and floors are all cosmoline. The salt doesn't touch the stuff.

[5th T/A]

This topic was one of my favorites. I can't believe it's over two months since anyone has posted here.

First off, I wonder how Casey is doing. I haven't seen anything from her in a long time. Hope all is good.


This last week we had mild weather in the Chicago area for this time of year. I spent about two days sanding the railings on my deck. I didn't finish but got 2/3's of it done and slapped a coat of stain on the sanded areas because it was due to rain in a couple days. I also got in a couple motorcycle rides in and took my Trans Am out. I had hoped to take it to the monthly meeting at the Cruisin Tigers Pontiac club, but the skies literally opened up 20 minutes before it was time to leave.

IMG_1655 by Lawrence Alexander, on Flickr

[FormTA]

Looks good. You should be glad it rained before you left instead of after!


 I have been busy with replacing fence posts amd other yard work. I haven't had much time to work on my projects but I did dr8ve my Trans Am every day last week to work. It was fun to get some seat time in her. It was so weird driving my truck to work today.

[79GoldnTan]

. What is cosmoline? I have my truck done with fluid film, is that similar  to cosmoline?

[stros]

A couple weeks back I fixed the mount for my aftermarket coolant overflow jar by using a plumbing pipe clamp from my local Lowe’s.  The jar was bouncing around, loosening the cap and causing fluid to spill out.

When fixing it I realized the inner fenders could use some new paint.  Painted them
gloss black.

[FormTA]

Looks great! Who made the engine bay cover? That looks pretty neat!

[stros]

Looks great! Who made the engine bay cover? That looks pretty neat!

Thanks!  A Local fabrication shop in San Jose custom made the black close out panels. The valve covers I bought off some guy on eBay who custom built them as well - he doesn’t seem to be around any more.  The plenum covers are readily available from several companies.  I bought mine from Roto-Fab.

I never found a great solution for the shaker so it’s still mounted to the hood.

The LS3 isn’t the most beautiful of engines .  Here’s how it looked before.

[FormTA]

Yup, that's how mine looks now.... 

[FormTA]

Today I drove my car to work as accuweather said 0% chance of rain.... Well it started raining.... I parked my car in the shop... T Tops at home (plus I don't get my car wet, rain leaves marks in the mirror paint). I love/hate black paint.

Front rims need some cleaning! Oof.

[b_hill_86]

Not today but been there ….. https://youtube.com/shorts/hxlXjgZvgpw?feature=share …. Three minutes from my house lol

[stros]

Not today but been there ….. https://youtube.com/shorts/hxlXjgZvgpw?feature=share …. Three minutes from my house lol

Yeah I've always hated driving my TA in the rain.  It's a bit more bearable with the rear disc brakes now - really scary to brake with the drums.

For some reason my windshield wipers always chip the paint on the hood when I use them too.  Not sure if you guys also have that issue.

[scarebird]

Had the opposite problem yesterday; big wind storm kicking up dirt and grit - Lemans said nope, take the truck.

[FormTA]

I haven't even put my wiper motor back in (I got the car looking finished but it's not). I have heard it's more of a modern wiper problem than a car problem. The original wipers are smaller in size and fit under the hood. You may have to buy some repop original style ones so they clear.

I try to drive my car every chance I get but I won't drive in rain.  Again it seems to leave stains like hard water rings on the finish.  Now, that was before I waxed it and it does have a good coat of carnauba on it now, so maybe it's better but I still avoid it.

As for brakes, I feel like my car has modern capabilities.  I have the 4th gen rear disks with factory 79 front disks. The car stops amazing but I have never driven in the rain and with the wide tires and way more HP than the 301 ever had. So it could be horrible....

[FormTA]

Today I went back to the beginning of this thread and found the pictures of some of my friends on here. I forgot we did that. It's actually pretty neat to see everyone again.

[stros]

I haven't even put my wiper motor back in (I got the car looking finished but it's not). I have heard it's more of a modern wiper problem than a car problem. The original wipers are smaller in size and fit under the hood. You may have to buy some repop original style ones so they clear.

I try to drive my car every chance I get but I won't drive in rain.  Again it seems to leave stains like hard water rings on the finish.  Now, that was before I waxed it and it does have a good coat of carnauba on it now, so maybe it's better but I still avoid it.

As for brakes, I feel like my car has modern capabilities.  I have the 4th gen rear disks with factory 79 front disks. The car stops amazing but I have never driven in the rain and with the wide tires and way more HP than the 301 ever had. So it could be horrible....

Thanks, I had bought what I thought was a repop wiper but they still have clearance issues.  Maybe it's a bad repop part. 

Regarding the brakes, I added a hydroboost setup with a Wilwood C5/C6 Corvette derived setup.  It works great but it can overwhelm my 255/285 width tires if I get too aggressive.  Got too used to modern anti-lock brakes

[5th T/A]

Luke, glad you had a nice dry area to pull your car into.

Back in the day when I used my 73, 75 and 78 TA’s as daily drivers I never gave rain a second thought. I don’t recall any issues with braking or cornering in the rain. Even accelerating from a dead stop was doable as long as I used a light foot. What I do recall is they were terrible in the snow. In general rear wheel drive cars had poor traction, but the TA’s rear ends wanted to slide left or right way too easily. I remember one time trying to go up a slightly icy grade and it was just about impossible to get the car to move.

I am spoiled today with front or all wheel drive and traction control.

[b_hill_86]

I haven't even put my wiper motor back in (I got the car looking finished but it's not). I have heard it's more of a modern wiper problem than a car problem. The original wipers are smaller in size and fit under the hood. You may have to buy some repop original style ones so they clear.

I try to drive my car every chance I get but I won't drive in rain.  Again it seems to leave stains like hard water rings on the finish.  Now, that was before I waxed it and it does have a good coat of carnauba on it now, so maybe it's better but I still avoid it.

As for brakes, I feel like my car has modern capabilities.  I have the 4th gen rear disks with factory 79 front disks. The car stops amazing but I have never driven in the rain and with the wide tires and way more HP than the 301 ever had. So it could be horrible....

I think I got my wipers from Amazon actually. There is an amco blade available that is correct height. Haven’t had any issues with them hitting the hood. Should say “didn’t have any issues”. Only been caught  in the rain that and one other time. I can look for the part number if anyone’s interested.

[FormTA]

Ya, back in the day I drove my TA in some bad snow storms as it was my only car. And like Larry said, the rear end came around quite a few times. You all have probably heard my story when I got out with it in gear and tried to push it through the snow at a stop light and fell as the car drove away but I also remember trying to start out from lights in the snow and the car would spin around and I'd just end up going the opposite way.... The tailnof these are just heavy or the rear wheel location just makes them spin around in the snow.

[roadking77]

I wont take my car out if its raining, but have been caught in a few showers. Didnt break my heart, LOL. I am more worried about the underside getting dirty than the top   I restored the bottom with paint to look like the red oxide and everything was pristine when I finished. Now no way I can clean under there. I can wax and clean the top part pretty easy.

[b_hill_86]

For the record, the blades I found that worked and are the proper height are Trico 18-2. As you can see in my video they work just fine lol.

Kerry, I don’t blame you about the bottom getting dirty. My car is a driver, not a restoration. And although I often have the desire to clean up the bottom side, I know with how much I drive it it’ll jus make me mad when it gets filthy. That’s my story anyway 😁