My 75 Trans Am Project

[Pontiac Dreamer]

I've been lurking here for a couple of years since I got my 75 in April of 2019.  As with most projects, the progress seems to come in spurts.  Below is what I started with and where I am now.  I bought the car in Minneapolis from a classic car body shop guy - it was his car for about 10 years before I bought it.  He took it off the road in 2012ish and started a full rotisserie restoration in his spare time.  All bad sheet metal was replaced, car was prepped and painted black.  He didn't do anything to the 400 from a 77 other than replace some gaskets and paint it.  It was a bare shell when I got it, but had all of the interior parts in pretty decent shape except for the front seats that needed new foam and covers.

Here she is loaded up for the 5 hour drive home. 


And safely tucked in my garage!
IMG_20190407_120928 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

I was never a fan of the 74/75 front ends and since I would still need to paint the nose I had, I decided to swap out to a 73 nose I picked up.  It wasn't in the worst shape and was complete.  A little love at the body shop and it bolted up nicely.  Still need to tweak the alignment some.
IMG_20190531_195307 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

IMG_20200502_154704 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

The interior was lined with Lizard Skin and ready for reassembly.  I scored a set of seats from a G8 for next to nothing so I added those instead of redoing the original seats.  I also plan on using a 5th gen center console that i picked up for cheap as well.  I restored all the plastic using the SEM products and am very happy with how they turned out.  Also added a carbon fiber wrap to the dash bezel.

How the interior looked when I got  it.
IMG_20190922_162003 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

After restoring the plastic and installing the carpet, door panels, etc.
IMG_20190925_212603 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

IMG_20190925_212615 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

After installing Vintage Air, I put the dash back in, set the console in place and fabbed some brackets for the G8 seats.
IMG_20200607_111111 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

IMG_20200607_111039 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

Close up of dash bezel.
IMG_20190901_134428 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

Put the rest of the front end together, added LED halo headlights.  I added PTFB GT front springs, 17" Year One Honeycombs and Nitto 275/40 17 tires and she is starting to look pretty good!
IMG_20200607_105826 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

IMG_20200607_110434 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

Most of this was done in the first year or so and it has sat in the garage mostly untouched since then as life got in the way - rehabbed 2 houses for the kids, 2 new grandbabies, work stuff, etc.  I recently started back up on it and got most of the wiring figured out - I messed something up with the new headlights that I gotta track down, but it was pretty cool seeing it light up for the first time in almost 10 years!
PXL_20210805_201002359 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

It has a posi rear end but not the most desirable gearing, either a 2.41 or 2.56 (can't remember) but I picked up a 3.23 posi rear end, cleaned it up, added rear disc brakes and am waiting to get that swapped out soon.
PXL_20210908_233424295 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

When I swap out the rear end, I will be adding PTFB GT rear leaf springs that I purchased a few months back.  I also just ordered a Holley Sniper Master kit with the in-tank fuel pump, so while the leaf springs and axle are out I will drop the tank and get that installed at the same time.  Will also be going with the full Holley Hyperspark Ignition set up as well.

Other things left to do yet:
- Fab brackets for driver's side seat.  Hoping to be able to retain power functions.
- Figure out how I'm going to mount the center console.
- Fix wiring issue with headlights
- Install Sniper EFI and fire engine for first time!
- Long list of little things.

I have a 200r4 that I may also install.  That may wait for a bit.  I also picked up a 455 from a big car that needs rebuilt so will probably wait and swap it all out at once.

So there ya go - 2.5 years of work summed in one long post!

[Jack]

Great work and progress, I just love 70-73 front and the bolt on so easily on a 75.

[FormTA]

Sweet car! I like the front ed and the carbon fiber dash wrap! Great work!

[T/A Addict]

Great work... Sure is looking outstanding.

[NOT A TA]

Looking good! Thanks for sharing it with us.

[5th T/A]

Great looking project. You have accomplished a lot in 2 1/2 years.

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Sweet car! I like the front ed and the carbon fiber dash wrap! Great work!

Thanks - original plan was to be driving within a year.  That didn't happen!  I'm considering removing the front wheel flares and chin spoiler and going with a cleaner look  - maybe a different chin spoiler like Spoilers by Randy has.  We'll see.

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Great looking project. You have accomplished a lot in 2 1/2 years.

Thanks - Didn't plan on taking so long to get to this point, but it is what it is!

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Great work and progress, I just love 70-73 front and the bolt on so easily on a 75.

I was surprised at how easy it was.  Still need some tweaking and need to raise it up about 1/4" to get a little better alignment.  That will have to wait until she is on the road though!

[rkellerjr]

Nice job, car looks great.

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Well, I changed directions with my build.  Again. 

Picked up a 2004 GTO with only 70K miles and bone stock.  Plan is to swap the LS1 and 4L60 into the T/A, along with the seats.  My Holley Sniper system was still on backorder from Holley so I was able to cancel that order and ordered the Holley Sniper EFI tank and Holley engine and transmission mounts.

Here is the GTO when I got it home.
PXL_20220224_142604663 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

And here it is now 
PXL_20220426_175341879 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr

Getting close to making my money back on parting out the GTO - goal is to get a free engine and transmission by the time I am done selling parts of both cars.

[ryeguy2006a]

Very cool! That will make for a really nice upgrade! Not sure what your plans are for the harness and ECU, but I'd highly recommend going with a Terminator X Max kit to control it. You'll need that to control your auto transmission. Also, start hunting around for a 4th gen LS1 oil pan. They fit perfectly in 2nd gens. The GTO has a front sump oil pan which is desirable for many folks doing LS swaps.

Keep up the good work!

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Very cool! That will make for a really nice upgrade! Not sure what your plans are for the harness and ECU, but I'd highly recommend going with a Terminator X Max kit to control it. You'll need that to control your auto transmission. Also, start hunting around for a 4th gen LS1 oil pan. They fit perfectly in 2nd gens. The GTO has a front sump oil pan which is desirable for many folks doing LS swaps.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!  Planning on keeping everything stock for now and getting the harness reworked and the ECU reprogrammed.  My 4th Gen oil pan just arrived today from Rockauto as well!  I've enjoyed reading your posts and following the Penny Pincher build.  Looking forward to watching your next project!

[5th T/A]

Dreamer,

I am enjoying your progress, great find with the 2004 GTO motor and transmission.

I like all second generation TA’s. Since I purchased a 1973 TA new I am most fond of the 1970-1973 front and rear treatment. I also was big fan of the front and rear bumpers on the 1976’s.

Looking forward to seeing more of your project.

[ryeguy2006a]

Very cool! That will make for a really nice upgrade! Not sure what your plans are for the harness and ECU, but I'd highly recommend going with a Terminator X Max kit to control it. You'll need that to control your auto transmission. Also, start hunting around for a 4th gen LS1 oil pan. They fit perfectly in 2nd gens. The GTO has a front sump oil pan which is desirable for many folks doing LS swaps.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!  Planning on keeping everything stock for now and getting the harness reworked and the ECU reprogrammed.  My 4th Gen oil pan just arrived today from Rockauto as well!  I've enjoyed reading your posts and following the Penny Pincher build.  Looking forward to watching your next project!

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. The reason that I suggest Terminator X Max is that by the time you pay someone to re-work the harness and tune your ECU you will pay out a good amount of cash and still be on a stock ECU. If you have any future upgrades planned for the LS1, now is the time to do it. I've ran several stock ECU configurations and now that I have used the Holley ECU, I much prefer the interface. Even as a novice, you can easily make changes, and you are free to share tune files in the community.

My mild cammed LS1 ran great right out of the box with the Terminator X. The tune files that come with the system are very good and you can be up and running right away. While the Auto-tune feature only does fuel, it's very good at getting right. So after you get it dialed in and say do a cam swap, or headers; the ECU will revise your fuel trims automatically. Very cool feature.

Stock ECU's work well, but becomes pricy once you start changing anything unless you are able to do it yourself with say HP Tuners. LT1swap.com is a great resource if you wanted to attempt to modify the harness yourself. I've unlocked a few stock ECU's for people here with my HP Tuners, as well as a few stand alone harness modifications. It's not bad if you follow along and take your time.

Look forward to seeing how you do the swap.

Cheers,
Ryan

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Very cool! That will make for a really nice upgrade! Not sure what your plans are for the harness and ECU, but I'd highly recommend going with a Terminator X Max kit to control it. You'll need that to control your auto transmission. Also, start hunting around for a 4th gen LS1 oil pan. They fit perfectly in 2nd gens. The GTO has a front sump oil pan which is desirable for many folks doing LS swaps.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!  Planning on keeping everything stock for now and getting the harness reworked and the ECU reprogrammed.  My 4th Gen oil pan just arrived today from Rockauto as well!  I've enjoyed reading your posts and following the Penny Pincher build.  Looking forward to watching your next project!

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. The reason that I suggest Terminator X Max is that by the time you pay someone to re-work the harness and tune your ECU you will pay out a good amount of cash and still be on a stock ECU. If you have any future upgrades planned for the LS1, now is the time to do it. I've ran several stock ECU configurations and now that I have used the Holley ECU, I much prefer the interface. Even as a novice, you can easily make changes, and you are free to share tune files in the community.

My mild cammed LS1 ran great right out of the box with the Terminator X. The tune files that come with the system are very good and you can be up and running right away. While the Auto-tune feature only does fuel, it's very good at getting right. So after you get it dialed in and say do a cam swap, or headers; the ECU will revise your fuel trims automatically. Very cool feature.

Stock ECU's work well, but becomes pricy once you start changing anything unless you are able to do it yourself with say HP Tuners. LT1swap.com is a great resource if you wanted to attempt to modify the harness yourself. I've unlocked a few stock ECU's for people here with my HP Tuners, as well as a few stand alone harness modifications. It's not bad if you follow along and take your time.

Look forward to seeing how you do the swap.

Cheers,
Ryan

Appreciate the info on the Terminator X.  I'm probably thinking about this too much, but I wanted to keep everything as stock as possible to hopefully prevent problems.  I read a lot of posts where people start running into problems when running non-stock ECUs, fans, etc.  They usually get those fixed fairly easily with some troubleshooting, but I'm afraid of getting in over my head, lol! I'm not very skilled in this so I figured keep as stock as possible and hopefully run into fewer issues.  I was going to use LT1swap for the ECU work ($75) and LSXharness.com for the harness rework ($360), so a total of $435 vs $1,100 to $1,450 for the Terminator X or Max.  At this point, I'm not planning any upgrades to the LS1 besides some headers.  I figure the 350 hp is just about double the stock 180 hp has - good enough for me! 

[FormTA]

If stock is all you think you'll need you'll be fine. I too thought  just like you. I swapped in a 98 LS1 and I did the all the work to my stock harness with all the info online. Everything worked great for me, I even soldered in a VATS pulse module so I wouldn't even need a tune but I couldn't get it to run right so I ended up working with Ryan (Reyguy2006) to tune out VATS as I thought that was the problem but it ended up being a dirty Mass Airflow Sensor.  Who knew that would throw it off so bad. Anyway just saying stock can be fine for some folks like us. The stock power of my LS1 is awesome and enough for me (probably going to get me in trouble some day too). Again, your car looks great! If my car wasn't my first car and in my possession for over 25 years I would swap a 71-73 front and rear on too (ya, I know my glass is wrong and I have T tops but it would still be cool).

[ryeguy2006a]

Appreciate the info on the Terminator X.  I'm probably thinking about this too much, but I wanted to keep everything as stock as possible to hopefully prevent problems.  I read a lot of posts where people start running into problems when running non-stock ECUs, fans, etc.  They usually get those fixed fairly easily with some troubleshooting, but I'm afraid of getting in over my head, lol! I'm not very skilled in this so I figured keep as stock as possible and hopefully run into fewer issues.  I was going to use LT1swap for the ECU work ($75) and LSXharness.com for the harness rework ($360), so a total of $435 vs $1,100 to $1,450 for the Terminator X or Max.  At this point, I'm not planning any upgrades to the LS1 besides some headers.  I figure the 350 hp is just about double the stock 180 hp has - good enough for me! 

That makes complete sense, and if you don't plan on any huge future upgrades, the stock ECU will be great for you. You can likely get away with running headers without a re-tune too. I've never tried them before, but there are also some swap harnesses on eBay/Amazon that are in the $200 dollar range. Not sure about the quality compared to a stock harness, but I'd bet that they work pretty well. When I get a new project I'm going to try one.

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Appreciate the info on the Terminator X.  I'm probably thinking about this too much, but I wanted to keep everything as stock as possible to hopefully prevent problems.  I read a lot of posts where people start running into problems when running non-stock ECUs, fans, etc.  They usually get those fixed fairly easily with some troubleshooting, but I'm afraid of getting in over my head, lol! I'm not very skilled in this so I figured keep as stock as possible and hopefully run into fewer issues.  I was going to use LT1swap for the ECU work ($75) and LSXharness.com for the harness rework ($360), so a total of $435 vs $1,100 to $1,450 for the Terminator X or Max.  At this point, I'm not planning any upgrades to the LS1 besides some headers.  I figure the 350 hp is just about double the stock 180 hp has - good enough for me! 

That makes complete sense, and if you don't plan on any huge future upgrades, the stock ECU will be great for you. You can likely get away with running headers without a re-tune too. I've never tried them before, but there are also some swap harnesses on eBay/Amazon that are in the $200 dollar range. Not sure about the quality compared to a stock harness, but I'd bet that they work pretty well. When I get a new project I'm going to try one.

I had read your 76 TA build awhile ago, but it is gone now after the crash.  I wouldn't mind reading it again - is it posted somewhere else as well?

[ryeguy2006a]

When I get some time, I'll transfer the posts back over here. It seems like things have stabilized with the site. It's also posted here:

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/87762-1976-Trans-Am-Resto-Mod

[Pontiac Dreamer]

When I get some time, I'll transfer the posts back over here. It seems like things have stabilized with the site. It's also posted here:

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/87762-1976-Trans-Am-Resto-Mod

Thanks for the link - I went through the build again yesterday.  Good stuff!  I got your PM and responded twice, but I'm not sure if you are getting them as they don't show up in my sent messages.  I'm headed out on vacation  next week and will reach out when I get back.

[TATurbo]

Great looking car! 
I've been very happy with the pull-out '99 LS1 in my '81 TA.  If you plan on putting miles on the car, and the original motor's already gone...It's hard to argue with this type of swap.   I wasn't looking for big power with my LS swap. I was focused on reliability and being able to just get in and drive wherever, whenever.  The LS/4L60E combo fit the bill perfectly.   

Let us know if you run into any questions with the swap.  I was in the same boat as you (Newby to the LS swap thing) with my project.  Thankfully, there aren't many issues someone else hasn't already figured out.

Good luck! I'm looking forward to following along.

Take care.
-Tom

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Great looking car! 
I've been pretty happy with the pull-out '99 LS1 in my '81 TA.  If you plan on putting miles on the car, and the original motor's already gone...It's hard to argue with this type of swap. 

Let us know if you run into any questions with the swap.  I was in the same boat as you (Newby to the LS swap thing) when I started.  The great thing is there aren't many issues someone else hasn't already figured out.

Good luck! I'm looking forward to following along.

Take care.
-Tom

Appreciate the post Tom!  Hoping to get moving forward here in the next couple weeks after vacation!

[Pontiac Dreamer]

It's been quite awhile since I updated my build.  Progress has been slow but steady!  My goal is to have the car driveable by April 7th, the 4-yr anniversary of it's purchase.  Gotta lot to do by then!

I did some sketchy doo doo^ and pulled the motor and trans out from underneath the GTO using my engine hoist and some jack stands under the back end.  I was pretty happy with how easily it came out, but my wife was less than impressed with my creativity.  Something about how she would finally get to cash in that big life insurance policy when it fell on me  .

Got the chain hooked up to the top of the radiator support to start lifting it.  Engine and transmission were supported by a couple of furniture moving dollies.
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeQvxt]]PXL_20220617_202110263 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

That worked fairly well but I couldn't get the front end high enough so there was some more sketchy doo doo^ involving a 2x4 supporting the those thing while I reattached the hoist arm to a lower anchor point.
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeKHwa]]PXL_20220617_205033597 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

I finally got the body high enough to roll the engine/trans combo out from underneath it!
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeNgzZ]]PXL_20220617_210010511 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

A few days later after I picked a few more parts of the carcass of the GTO, off it went to the scrapyard.
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeKHtE]]PXL_20220708_132836099 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

It's final resting place it gets crushed. 
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oePLxK]]PXL_20220708_132900945 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

Safely tucked away under the workbench!
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeKHqJ]]PXL_20220924_141212034 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

It sat here from June until January as other projects always seemed to get in the way of quality time with the Trans Am.  Started working on the swap again in early January by removing the front end of the Trans Am and getting the 400 ready for removal.  I got the nose pulled and safely stored away and then removed the radiator support to gain better access to the engine bay.  I wasn't too keen on lifting the engine above the radiator support and really didn't want to remove the fenders as the door gaps are perfectly aligned.  Might not be the way it's usually done, but made sense to me and didn't take too long to get to this point.
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeQvmG]]PXL_20230106_221901748 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeNgsp]]PXL_20230106_221933372 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeKHmR]]PXL_20230106_224952759 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

While cleaning up the engine to prep for paint, I decided to pull the valve cover and hope I wasn't sad about what I found.  I was worried that even though the GTO only had 70K miles on it, maybe the engine wasn't in the best shape.  It ran fine with no CEL but I was still a bit worried.  I was pretty happy with what I saw!
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeNgoS]]PXL_20230113_205249464 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

Pulled off all the accessories and after about an hour of scrubbing with some Purple Power and small brush, it cleaned up pretty nicely!
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeQvg1]]PXL_20230113_231946675 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

Next I taped it all up and shot some Dupli-color Engine Enamel Ceramic Primer.
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeQPFq]]PXL_20230114_175822127 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

Once that dried and cured, I sprayed it with Dupli-Color Engine Enamel Ceramic Pontiac Blue DE1610.  It went on really nicely and I love how it turned out!
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeKHgf]]PXL_20230114_230511126 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

I went with the Holley Mid-Mount accessory system.  I didn't use all their parts as it gets pretty pricey and I'll detail in another post what I used and didn't use from Holley.  Here is it all cleaned up with the accessories and headers.  Also painted the trans as well because it looked pretty ugly not painted!!
http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oePLfW]]PXL_20230125_230129073 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oePLed]]PXL_20230125_230150220 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

[5th T/A]

I like the way you painted the engine, beautiful headers. Did the black coil covers come with the engine or is that aftermarket? They look very nice.

[FormTA]

Great looking engine! I really wished I would have done more detail cleaning and painting when I did my swap. At the time I was just going for a quick engine swap and primer paint job but that all changed.


I was cheap and ran the stock manifolds from the 98 TA. I often wonder what the sound and HP bonus would be if I used headers.

I bet that thing is really going to surprise you when you get it on the road! What rear gears do you have? I have my stock 273 gears and my car still moves!

[Pontiac Dreamer]

I like the way you painted the engine, beautiful headers. Did the black coil covers come with the engine or is that aftermarket? They look very nice.

I was really happy with how it turned out.  It took a little bit of time but wasn't as bad as I thought it would be time wise!  I bought the coil covers online from Karl Kustoms.  It is the performance parts dept of a large Chevy dealer here in Iowa - Karl Chevrolet.  They are pretty nice and were only $125!

[Pontiac Dreamer]

Great looking engine! I really wished I would have done more detail cleaning and painting when I did my swap. At the time I was just going for a quick engine swap and primer paint job but that all changed.


I was cheap and ran the stock manifolds from the 98 TA. I often wonder what the sound and HP bonus would be if I used headers.

I bet that thing is really going to surprise you when you get it on the road! What rear gears do you have? I have my stock 273 gears and my car still moves!

Appreciate the compliments!  It took a little while to clean up but wasn't nearly as bad as I originally thought it would be. I swapped the original 2:56 for 3:23s and did a disc brake conversion as well.  I never got to drive the car with the 400 in it, so I will be comparing it to the 77 Firebird with a 350 that I had in HS back in the late 80's!

[Pontiac Dreamer]

So I mentioned I did the Holley Mid-Mount accessory drive on my build, but really I did a hybrid system using their manifold, crank pulley, water pump and hardware kit.  Their total system in black runs about $2,350.  I saved about $655 by sourcing a different alternator and AC compressor, and finding the same tensioner and PS pump pulley cheaper elsewhere.  Hope this helps someone else!!

The tensioner in the Holley kit is a Gates 38163.  They wanted $132 for it - Amazon had it for $35.  Same for the PS pully.  Same part number GM12568997 (as shown on Holley's site) was $22 on eBay from a Chevy dealer in Arizona vs $75 for Holley.  The AC Compressor was $428 for the Holley version.  It says it is a Sanden manufactured compressor but does not have the Sanden label on it.  I found an identical looking one from Karl Kustoms for $190.  So far, I'm up to $388 in savings.

For the alternator, I had to get creative and found some videos on Youtube that helped me.  Basically the Holley alternator is similar in size to the GM AD244 size alternator but the charging post exits on the side instead o fin the back.  Due to the position of the alternator up against the driver's side head, the post has to be out the side, not the back.  The video I watched showed how a simple $12 part could fix the issue:

http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeUYpG]]Screenshot 2023-02-02 164731 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

I popped the plastic cover off the back of the alternator, trimmed a little of the plastic under the charging post, then trimmed the cover to let it exit on the side and it fit perfectly.  Once assembled I cut the excess post off and it's good to go!  Looks like it came that like that from the manufacturer!

http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeQv9T]]PXL_20230124_231810778 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeQPyM]]PXL_20230124_231842896 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]

http://[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oeQdSB]]PXL_20230124_231846599 by Rob Armstrong, on Flickr[/img][/url]