77TA Resto Reboot - a long journey to an LS swap

[stros]

Hi TAC folks - I'm going to attempt to reboot my restoration thread, be it a bit condensed vs the old version.

2013 purchase:  1977 Trans Am.  Found out later that a TAC member (no longer on here) had owned it previously.  Car was bought in Sacramento, CA.  It was a very base Trans Am with the L78 Pontiac 400.  All of the other TA's in CA had the Olds engine so I was excited to get a Pontiac engine.  It has the 400 because it’s actually not a CA car.  It moved to CA from Minnesota in the early 80s. 

This T/A didn’t have much in the way of options.  No A/C or power anything. 

In terms of the shape it arrived in, well, it wasn't great.  Paint was rough, the bird had rusted into the hood, headliner material was shot, and pretty much every rubber item in the suspension and gaskets in the engine bay were also shot.  It really needed a new paint job. 

Original plans were to restore it to stock setup.  No plans to restomod at all.  This was my first resto and any mechanic skills I have no have been from restoring this car. 

I'll be re-filling in the details over the next few days. 

[stros]

How she looks now with the E-Rod (CA emissions legal LS3) with 4L70E transmission.  I'll add the parts list shortly.  Last pic is the LS3 before all of the covers, close out panels, and the hydroboost addition.

[5th T/A]

Beautiful transformation, I like the Pontiac blue on the LS engine. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more on your restoration.

[stros]

Thanks 5th TA!  Yeah the LS3 is a bit of an ugly motor and I had some leftover paint from the original 400

Here are the engine and transmission details for the LS3 and Engine
•   E-Rod GM Chevy LS3 Engine (425HP/425TQ). 
•   Holley Mid Mount Accessory Drive Kit (includes A/C, Alternator & Steering Pump
•   BRP Muscle Rods LS3 Conversion/Mount Kit
•   AC Delco Starter
•.      Chevy Performance Oil Pan, Pump, Windage Tray
•   Dewitts High Performance Radiator
•   Lokar flexible oil dipstick & tube
-       Custom Engine Covers with Pontiac paint & emblem + Close Out Panels
•   Ram Air Restoration Dual Exhaust System with Pypes Exhaust Tips
•   EFI Fuel Tank, Fuel Pump and fuel lines
Transmission:
•   GM Chevrolet 4L70E Transmission & install kit.
•   B&M Quicksilver Shifter with custom Firebird Shifter Ball Decal
•   Eaton Truetrac differential and differential cover
•   upgraded Dutchman 30 spline rear axles.

[TATurbo]

I like it!  I have a soft spot for 77's...My Dad got a '77 TA in like '83.  That 400 powered TA cemented my love for these cars acting as my daily driver for my last year of so of High School. 
I love the engine covers in blue, looks great.  Where did you get those?

Looking forward to getting to know it better.

[stros]

On to the Tires, Wheels & Suspension
•   YearOne 17x9 Snowflake Wheels and center caps
•   Nitto NT555 255/45/17 and 285/40/17 tires with about 5000 miles
•   Replaced all bushings and ball joints
•.     PTFB front & rear sway bars
•   New Viking Double Adjustable Front & Rear Shocks
•   PTFB GT Front & Rear Lowering Springs
•   PTFB Subframe Connectors & Solid Body Mounts
•   PTFB rear spring anchor plates
•   GM 800 Racing Steering Box
•   TurnOne Steering Pump
Brakes:
•   Hydroboost brake kit
•   Wilwood Corvette C5 Front & Rear Disc Brake kit (red)
•   Wilwood Master Cylinder & Prop Valve
•   Corvette C7 Hubs and C5/C6 Spindle
•   Lokar Parking brake cables
•   Stainless brake lines throughout

[stros]

I like it!  I have a soft spot for 77's...My Dad got a '77 TA in like '83.  That 400 powered TA cemented my love for these cars acting as my daily driver for my last year of so of High School. 
I love the engine covers in blue, looks great.  Where did you get those?

Looking forward to getting to know it better.

Thank you!  The engine covers were actually from a guy on eBay.  I checked today and unfortunately they no longer appear for sale.  They did require a bit of cutting to fit correctly.

[stros]

Exterior: in general while everything is new I’ve stuck with the original colors, decal and emblem styles.  It originally had argent snowflake 15x8 wheels so I went with silver 17x9s.  Over the years I’ve contemplated going with gold snowflakes.

•   New Paint - long story but it was in paint jail for about 2 years and then went thru another repaint sans body work last year.
•   New Phoenix Graphix Decal Set
•   New glass – windshield, Auto City Classic gray rear window and door glass
•   Restored / rechromed original window trim as I couldn’t find any good repops that fit.
•   All new Metro weatherstripping
•   Custom E-Rod 6.2 Shaker Decal
•   New Headlamps, Parking lamps, Marker lamps and tail lamps
•   New lower front spoiler and grills
•   I cleaned & repainted entire undercarriage about a year ago.

[stros]

Interior:
•   NOS Vinyl Seats - they do show some patina given how old they are.
-       Morris front and 3 point rear belts with GM buckles
-       B&M Quicksilver shifter (much improved shyer than my original Megashifter
•   New Legendary Door Panels
•   New Leather Dash with custom stitching
•   New carpeting throughout and new headliner & parcel tray
•   Restored Dash Bezel by Randy Combs
•   Upgraded LED gauge lighting
•   New floor mats with Firebird logo
•   New stock replacement gauges from OER
•   New add-on digital map pocket gauges from Speed Hut: Oil Temp, Fuel Pressure and Transmission Temp
•   New Power Window Kit from Nu-Relics with 77 style center console switch.
•   New Pioneer Stereo, Dash Speakers, Kick Panel Speakers, Rear Speakers and Subwoofer and amp.
•   Dynamated the entire interior & underneath the hood & trunk.
•   Repainted all interior plastics, replaced several of them, two tone black and beige/camel. 
•   New sill plates with Fisher emblems

[stros]

Alright that pretty much catches things up to today.  Overall I’m very happy with the T/A now.  430hp/430tq is a lot more fun to drive than what likely was quite a lot less than its original 180hp.
I’d estimate it’s about 4 seconds 0-60 given the weight loss.  The Challenger Scat Pack I posted in one of the pics above next to it definitely was slower and it’s 4.3 seconds 0-60.

It handles like a modern car but the ride can bash you aound a bit.  The ride seems to be improving as I’m finally getting a few miles on it now.  It has about 2500 miles on the new engine.  The L78 came out with 77K on the odometer if that was accurate.

The hydroboost brakes are a big improvement with the upgraded steering pump from TurnOne.  Not quite a modern feel but close.  Performance wise combined with the wilwood setup they can knock you back in your seat.  The Wilwoods are the Corvette C6 design.

[stros]

First major update in a while. Initially I was trying to keep the exterior look stock including the silver wheels.  I’ve always kinda regretted that decision.  Now that Classic Industries has their 17x9 gold snowflakes back in stock for about the 1st time in 2 years for a little over $600, I couldn’t pass ‘em up.

As I have almost 10 years on my Nitto NT555 tires I thought I’d be safe and also replace them.  Bought some Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires.  They’re quite a bit lighter than the Nittos, and a bit more expensive.  Same 255/285 combo as with the Nittos.

Still sticking with the red center caps to match the sail panel emblems.  Will take some better pics later.
I believe there were some early teething issues with the OER wheels but I had no issues mounting and balancing the tires on them and the quality looks the same as my YearOne wheels.  Exact same specs as the YearOne wheels too.

[kentucky yeti]

I really like those 17's.  They just seem to fit the wells so perfectly.  And that T/A 6.2 making torque.  That has to be a dream to drive, with everything you have done inside and outside.  It's just awesome front to back!

[T/A Addict]

She sure looks outstanding Darryl!!

[stros]

Thanks Mike and Jeff!  Appreciate the kind words!

[MNBob]

The gold snowflakes fit the color scheme of your car well.  It ties it together.  I am so used to 17's now that when I see one with 15's, it looks funny and old.

I have been using Continental tires for about 8 years now as my stepdaughter works there.  The give a good ride and good handling; let us know how you like them.

You have really done a lot with the car and quality parts too.  You have stuck with it over time and I'm sure you got a lot of satisfaction in the process.

4 seconds to 60 is fantastic and makes for a fun car!  Just to put that in perspective, my SRT8 Jeep is 420HP with a 3.73 and is somewhere in the 4.7-5.0 second range (and seems plenty fast).

Congratulations for all your hard work.

[Jack]

I'm glad you reposted, LS swap is the best of both worlds, congrats.

[stros]

Thanks Bob and Jack!  And thanks to you both and everyone who has been so helpful to me figuring out this project over the past 8 years!  Definitely a lot of mistakes and frustration along the way, but a lot of learning too. 

Regarding the Continentals, I've only gotten in a couple of drives so far.  Obviously I need to break them in more but they do immediately feel more planted than the Nittos did under acceleration.  Not the best comparison given the age of the Nittos though.  Will report back as I get more miles on them. 

Nice to see traffic picking up a bit on TAC again.

[stros]

Quick update on the new wheels.  I think the old backspacing was better.  I do have to be very careful to not hit my sway bar in u turns or or other tight turning scenarios. 

I believe the Continental tires are significantly better than the Nitto NT555s so far, in all aspects. 

[stros]

Happy holidays!  Couple of recent upgrades.
Added the fast steering kit from PTFB which includes tie rods, tie rod sleeves, center link and pitman arm from 2nd gen Camaro.  Need to get more mileage on it but it seems to make a good difference so far.

[stros]

Redid the trunk carpeting and the subwoofer setup.  First pic is how it looked before with the sub just laying right in the middle.  I bought a JBL Fuse subwoofer that can split in 2 and mounted one in each corner.  Not quite the booming bass from before but now less rattling going on.  Also hid the tail light wires with some carpeting as well

[kentucky yeti]

What a car!!!  You have created a dream ride!

[stros]

What a car!!!  You have created a dream ride!

Thanks Mike!

[stros]

As it’s been a while here’s an update on my 77.  Overall it continues to run well.  Now that they’re broken in I think the Continental tires were a huge improvement over the Nittos.

The rear bumper has gone in for surgery - the same surgery the front bumper went in for a while back.  After starting to put some decent miles on the TA the paint started cracking in about 6 different places. This will make it 3 paint jobs on that bumper now

When removing the bumper I found the lower brace to have about 30 rust holes in it.  Going to take a stab at patching it myself this weekend as I can’t find any used braces in good shape available.  The top brace is still in good shape.  While the bumper was off I painted the under structure as it had some surface rust.  It helps make the missing rear bumper less noticeable when driving it back to the bumper repair shop.

I’m also trying to figure out why my AC is blowing cold when the engine is cold but hot when the engine is hot. 

Non specific to TA items:

We redid our garage flooring with some PVC tiles.  The only thing I don’t like about them is the light color staining where the tires normally sit.  Should’ve bought black tiles instead for those locations. 

I also bought a Jeep Gladiator a while back to make up for my lack of T tops on my T/A😀.

[kentucky yeti]

Hopefully 3 is the charm for the bumper paint.  And a Gladiator too?  I'm definitely jealous 

[FormTA]

Ya those bumpers are a pain. I did so much work to alivat any cracks showing through mine and you can see ghost lines now after 4 years. But hey, we're enjoying the cars.

Yous looks amazing!

[roadking77]

I posted in the other thread about the bumper piece. Looking at what you have I would try to patch. It looks about 100% better than what I had. You guys in CA know nothing about rust!,lol 
Im not really a jeep guy but that is a pretty nice looking vehicle. My wife wants one bad.

[stros]

Thanks guys - regarding the bumper repair, I had tried a repop front and rear bumper in the past, but the fit was horrible.  Since the urethane repair looks to be holding up well so far on the front, I decided to take a stab with the same shop on the rear. 

Regarding the bumper brace, thanks Kerry and Wallington for the suggestions.  I'll proceed with trying to patch it and add some washers to cover up where rust was close to the bolt/rivet holes. 

I won't spend too much time reviewing the Gladiator here, but we really do enjoy having a convertible pick up truck.  That being said, it's had a few teething issues.  Biggest issue I had was a rear axle leaking fluid on to the rear brakes -  that took the dealership 4 attempts to repair.  And now the auto/start stop feature is broken.  It could also benefit from more power than that from its archaic 3.6L Pentastar minivan engine.  MPG is about 16-17 as it has the aerodynamic qualities of a brick but it's not a huge deal since my commute mileage has decreased a ton since COVID.  I haven't modified it too much so far, other than adding a pedal controller (which helps mask the weak engine a bit), a steering stabilizer and a rear sway bar.   It is pretty easy to work on, especially after all of these years messing with the TA.

[stros]

Just got the rear bumper back from the shop.  I also used a JB Weld Steel stick to fill in the holes in the bumper brace and gave it a new coat of paint. I managed to resolve the AC issue as well.  It was low on refrigerant and the valve under the hood which switches between A/C and Heat was stuck.  Seems to be blowing nice and cool now. 

[stros]

Hi guys - not much happening on my TA until yesterday when the rear diff started leaking. 

Question about adding fluid.  I’m planning to put the TA up on my ramps to do the repair.  Does it need to be on flat ground to add the fluid or should it be ok to add it when up on the ramps?

The diff cover also has a fill valve but it sounds like it’s best to add it in tue factory location until full.

I’m thinking to use a lube locker gasket this time.
Lube Locker GM 8.5" Corporate 10 Bolt Truck Differential Gasket
 https://a.co/d/aFc1K2G

[stros]

We’re officially back under construction again.  Gotta love fixing something that was replaced once before due to an inept repair shop.

Both my diff and pinion seal are actually leaking.  The diff was installed without a gasket.  Instead they used a horrible sealer that made it nearly impossible to get the cover off.  Had to use brute force and hammer the diff off.  Now I need to get a new diff cover.  The shop also overtorqued the load bolts and stripped them, and stripped the drain plug as well.

Awaiting the replacement diff cover and as mentioned above bought a Lube locker gasket which requires no sealant.  This should make this serviceable again. 

[FormTA]

Hope you have been able to get some miles on her before it started leaking.

[stros]

Hope you have been able to get some miles on her before it started leaking.

About 8K miles since the pinion seal was replaced in 2015, about 5K miles since the diff cover was replaced in 2017. 

The goal is to drive the TA to work at least 2x/week after getting the rear end issues dealt with.  I had just started that 2x/week routine and that's when the seals gave out. 

[scarebird]

...Both my diff and pinion seal are actually leaking.  The diff was installed without a gasket.  Instead they used a horrible sealer that made it nearly impossible to get the cover off.  Had to use brute force and hammer the diff off.  Now I need to get a new diff cover.  The shop also overtorqued the load bolts and stripped them, and stripped the drain plug as well...

Who are these meatheads?

[roadking77]

Good that youre driving your car, bad that some idiot didnt know what they were doing and messed stuff up.

[stros]

...Both my diff and pinion seal are actually leaking.  The diff was installed without a gasket.  Instead they used a horrible sealer that made it nearly impossible to get the cover off.  Had to use brute force and hammer the diff off.  Now I need to get a new diff cover.  The shop also overtorqued the load bolts and stripped them, and stripped the drain plug as well...

Who are these meatheads?

It is really hard finding good mechanics in the Bay Area now, especially for old cars.  If I hire anyone now, I will only be using mobile mechanics where I can watch the entire job myself.  You can't trust the reviews on google/yelp any more either - all of the folks I have gone thru over the years seemed to have fantastic reviews/ratings but they still sucked.  I've gotten a little better at doing this stuff over the years myself, but this is why this will be my last resto ever.  From crappy aftermarket parts to crappy mechanics to the sheer amount of $s invested, this is not an easy endeavor. 

Luckily the end result of this is having a car that is really fun to drive, but as the subject says it was a long, painful, yet sometimes rewarding journey   It has been a nice hobby/distraction to have though.

[stros]

All back together again.  New diff cover, new diff cover gasket, new Valvoline 80w-90 gear oil, and new pinion seal all done.  Just picked up my daughter from her dance class and got her some Mickey D’s.  TA sure seemed to drive smoother than I ever remember.  Makes me also wonder if the shop used the right gear oil.  I have an Eaton TrueTrac diff which takes non synthetic fluid without friction modifier (like the Valvoline I just added).

[stros]

I missed researching parts and working on the T/A so I decided to upgrade the sound system with some new 6.5” kick panel and rear 6x9 Infinity Reference speakers.  They just arrived.  I’ll install them over the weekend. 

I added some similar speakers recently in my Gladiator and they were really impressive for the price.

The T/A is driving well and I’ve had a chance to get some freeway miles on the LS3 recently.  We’re starting to go back into the office much more frequently now so I’ll have some more chances to drive it to work.  Gives me some incentive to go in.

[roadking77]

Very nice.

[scarebird]

Have you had a chance to calculate your mileage?

[Wallington]

http://www.transamcountry.com/community/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=83837.0;attach=7362;image

Is your rear bumper cover still the rubber type? I noticed the 499735 strip installed. My 78 bumper cover was close to immaculate but had slight ripples or waves between each hole where riveted. So I've also sourced a couple of the strips to clamp it all down. Not original, don't care. The jacking brackets often had me thinking too. Originality aside, not going to ever use them and they are a tad clumsy otherwise. Could just as easily unbolt, leave off and panel over the cutouts if respraying covers. I'm sure others have done it but not really noticed. And cheaper to do nothing.