1980 TA, engine upgrade from 301 to 461 (resurrected)

[5th T/A]

Thank You Rambler and Scarebird, both are considerably less expensive than the BFG’s.

[ryeguy2006a]

5th, Do you need to run that size? Are the rears 15x8? If they are, the general consensus is that you can run up to a 245 rear tire with an 8" wheel. But, with a larger sidewall, there is more give. You can probably run a 255 rear tire safely. I checked a calculator online and if you went to a 255/60-15 over your current 225/70, you'd have 12.4% more tire width.

I saw that Wheel Vintiques sells a 15x10" Pontiac Rally wheel, that you could get a 285 or 295 tire on! I believe that a 275 tire fits really easily in 2nd gens, and the 285 or 295 will fit, but you need the backspacing spot on.

I have traction issues with my car so I've given this area some thought haha.

[5th T/A]

Ryan,

You make a great point about trying a different size tire on the back. I don’t want to go with 10” wide wheels and I still might switch to 15X8 snowflake wheels. I need to take some measurements and give it some thought. 12.4% more with and a better tire might be enough.

[5th T/A]

I have had a problem with my shaker hood scoop not being centered. This may not bother most people, but I am kind of an obsessive individual. Since my engine upgrade the shaker scoop has been offset about 5/8" towards the driver side and sat almost 1/2" higher on the driver's side. This was not an issue with the original 301 and I used the original 301 mounts. I double checked making sure I was using the correct holes in the subframe.  I purchased stock replacement mounts from Rock Auto for $6.68 each. I toyed with the idea of aftermarket polyurethane mounts, but they were well over $100.00 a pair and I was concerned about NVH issues. With the new mounts my shaker/engine is centered and level.

Unfortunately, I did not take any before pictures, this is how the scoop looks now.

IMG_9316 by Lawrence Alexander, on Flickr



On the left is the new mount and the right is the original left mount. When bolted in the tops in the picture would actually be pointed towards the bottom of the subframe. You can see the rubber isolator has shifted on the original mount. This might because of age and maybe torque of new engine? One thing that does concern me a little is the gage of the steel frame is thinner on the new mounts. I have not driven the car yet, hopefully the engine will stay in position.

IMG_9311 by Lawrence Alexander, on Flickr

[Nexus]

Did you get a chance to see how the mounts are handling the torque of the engine?

[5th T/A]

Charlie,

I have driven at least 150 miles since installing the new mounts and beat on it pretty good. So far the engine/shaker hood alignment looks perfect. I am keeping my fingers crossed it stays that way. Changing mounts with the engine in the car, especially with Ram Air exhaust manifolds is not easy. In hindsight I should have installed new mounts before dropping the engine in. If these mounts don’t hold up I will probably replace them with the new Poly mounts that Butler is selling.

[Nexus]

That isn't a bad idea!!

Glad to hear it's working out so far!!

[5th T/A]

I see it has been over a year since I posted on this thread. While pretty much done my car is not finished.

In the last year I evacuated and charged the AC system. The AC works fine but honestly, I do not use it. Most my driving is on country backroads with the windows down. At one point I thought about replacing the stock GM A6 style compressor with a modern compressor that weighs half as much, uses 1/3 the horse power and is half the size. I am torn between keeping a stock look under the hood and modern technology. Soo for now I leave at is.

I tried installing a 160MPH speedometer from classic industries. I thought the original 85MPH speedometer looked a little lame. Also, under hard acceleration my original speedometer would temporally stick. The 160 MPH was supposed to bolt right in, it did not, lots of work was required to make all the lights and indicators work on a 1980 or 1981 gage cluster. Once I had it all in I decided to go back to the original 85 MPH speedometer. Carefully lubing the original speedometer with very light weight oil fixed the problem with the needle sticking under hard acceleration. I did upgrade the original incandescent instrument bulbs to LED's from "Super Bright LED's". I recommend using LED bulbs like these that are not polarity sensitive.

I upgraded my low beam headlamps to Holley LEDS, I am very happy with them as well.

My driveshaft is original untouched with a coat of rust. I want to clean it up and paint it or just put a clear coat on to keep the rust away.

I also have not touched the differential, it is partially covered with undercoating and rust. At one point I wanted to change gear ratios from the stock 2.41 to a 3.08 or 3.23. The more I live with a 2.41, I think I will keep it and just clean and paint the differential.

I also go back and forth between replacing the rally II's with a set of 15 X 8 snowflakes or painting the rally II's white again. I always wanted a set of 15 X 8 but am thinking more of going back to the original white paint on the rally II's?

A couple months back I did upgrade my audio system. I really just wanted the factory radio sound decent, but have no regrets on the upgrade, posted here http://www.transamcountry.com/community/index.php?topic=84623.0

While I had hopes of getting my wish list completed this summer, upcoming hip replacement surgery will likely delay it a little longer.

[FormTA]

You have a good list there. Too bad the speedometer didn't work out for you. I couldn't deal with an 85 MPH speedometer.   

Sorry to hear about your hip replacement, hopefully it all goes well and you bounce back quickly.  Good luck and God speed!

[roadking77]

I top out about 60mph so your speedo would be fine for me 
I need to crawl under my car to see the results of sitting for a couple of years, but all of the bare metal stuff I had I coated with 'Shark Hide'. Its a clear coat kinda product but does not look like a finish is on there. Its made to coat bare metal and prevent rust.

I love the look of the white rally wheels on a white trans am. My first trans am that I owned briefly for a night was equipped that way. Well, not technically owned but I put a down payment on a 81 trans am, only to find the 82 firebird I bought the next day.