Two years ago I bought this 1977 Trans Am. I really wasn’t looking for another Firebird, but this one I did not want to pass on. My neighbor introduced me to a fellow that worked for him. This guy had a Trans Am that he wanted to sell. At first I really was t interested, The more he told me about it, the more I was interested. He said it was a 77 Trans Am with T tops and was originally black and gold. He said his parents bought it brand new in 1977 and gave it to him in the mid eighties. The car was repainted at that time to a light metallic blue . He said in 1988 or so he decided to re paint it again but stopped at the primer stage . The car basically sat from 1989 till present. I asked if he had the title and he said yes. I asked what was the selling price, and he said $700.......
I went and took a look at the car and saw some potential, I figured if anything I could sell the car for parts if it was too far gone.
The car was originally purchased in mid 1977 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sometime in 1990 , if I remember, the previous owner brought it to Las Vegas and there it stayed till present. It had the Oldsmobile 403 motor, deluxe interior, and later when I got the PHS info, I found it was a a pretty well equipped Y82 car.
My first impression were a little skeptical. Certainly not in the best condition but overall I felt it was worth it to buy. The car was a in basket case condition to be honest, really that is what I was thinking. The only big issues was a few rust issues. The rust issues were ones that could be fixed without any major bodywork.
So this week I started looking it over and making some notes. I decided to go ahead and remove the motor and transmission. The motor turned over by hand and I wanted to see if I could get the motor to start and run. I looked everything over and put in a charged battery. The starter did engage but very slow, and the cables got real warm. I decided against trying to get it too run, the car had been sitting for awhile and I did not think it was worth the time.
I did not plan on keeping the Olds 403. A friend of mine expressed interest in it, so we worked out a deal in trades. My plan is to install a Pontiac 400 or 455, and I am contemplating a LS swap. Right now I am leaning toward a Pontiac motor, preferably a 400.
This car is really dirty, that is probably the most noticeable issue. Fortunately dirt cleans off. The engine area was really filthy but after a quick vacuum and cleaning revealed more positive vibes. The motor looked really good, no leaks were evident and all the fluids were the right colors. From I know, the car was not roadworthy since 1989, so I had to assume all the fluids were over 30 years old.
I started removing the motor, and I drained all the fluids from engine radiator and power steering. Additionally I checked to see if the AC had any pressure. Surprisingly, the AC system still had a charge in it. All of this was a good sign , even though I have no intention of keeping the motor. The exhaust system was east to remove because there really wasn’t much to remove. The olds 403 had aftermarket headers and two mufflers attached to them. I removed the U clamps and within. A few strokes of a dead blow hammer and the mufflers came right off.
I removed the engine wire harness and the brake booster and this made access to the motor and bit easier. When I removed the transmission flex plate bolts, I had to use an impact wrench because they were previously torqued to 3000 ft lbs.! The transmission bell housing bolts came out without much issue.
The body over is in good shape. There are just a few rust issues to address. The one issue is on the driver side quarter panel. It has tro rust rot spots which can be repaired with a patch panel. The only other rust issue I have discovered is the passenger side toe panel. It has a some small pin hole rust spots and again fixable with a patch panel.
There is one body issue I am concerned about. The driver side rocker panel has a crack in it . Beyond trying to figure out how it got there, I am hoping that it isn’t a major problem. I did stop drill the crack and I cannot find any other issue in that area. Hopefully no one was trying to jump a bridge with this car!
I am getting my 72 Firebird back from paint here shortly, so I am not going to go much further with this one until I finish the 72. Really I wanted to remove the motor and transmission to make the car easier to move about.
I am getting more and more excited about this project . Despite the endless hours of cleaning ahead I am looking forward to this one!
Jim
