Figured I would share my numbers matching 1977 Goldenrod yellow w72 400 4 speed Trans Am.
Dad saw this T/A deteriorating at a neighbors house, I'll call him Tony, and one day Tony agreed to sell it. He purchased it for around $2,000 with the intention to some day give it to me. Tony was supposedly the "third '' owner of this car, his dad bought it from the original owner and eventually passed it onto him. We have 0 idea on the previous history of the car but the car mostly speaks for itself in terms of work done on it and what not. Unfortunately I live in Minnesota and this is where the car lives and to make it worse it was a snow car as well, it's relatively rusted but for a Minnesota car it's basically brand new. The car is rust free in terms of structural integrity and only has minor rust around the body.
Everything in the picture is nearly how it came from the factory (Dealership in this case, ill elaborate more later) aside from a maintenance upgrades, I'll try my best to list major ones that I remember, brake booster, master cylinder, cat delete, leaf springs, radiator, wider tires (265s I think, might go back to skinny ones), ignition system clean up, fuel tank, and some other minor ones. Nearly everything that matters is original to our knowledge, W72 engine, 4 Speed, Goldenrod yellow, etc. There is one slight issue that has to do with why I mentioned the dealer, American T-Tops, this has been a source of pain since we've owned the car. If anyone has tips on keeping the T-Tops secure with less rattle please let me know, I could care less about leaking. At the moment we have some really really really cheap weather stripping on it that is nearly shot, my new plan is to try and use trunk seals since they are cheap. Also have dealer installed speakers and an anti-theft system we removed, down side is we have a destroyed console and some 6x9s in the rear. I really want to get an original or near original radio just for the look and small noise, I am a big fan of just listening to the car though, especially for issues.
Currently the car is in a really good point of its life, no major issues. I probably drive this car way too much but I enjoy it. I average probably 5-10 hours a week of driving, Definitely isn’t babied, gotta make sure the rubber can still burn every now and again. The only project that is feasible at the moment is a carburetor rebuild which I have everything I need thanks to the cliff, and some other minor things to keep it running well. Down the road is when we get to exhaust overhaul, body work, interior, etc. I'm 19 so money isn't flowing, this car is gonna stay with me forever.
My dad is the one who has helped me all this time with it, it's been our main project and it's great for bonding. I am the patience he doesn't have. Dad's owned quite a few cars in the past, since he was 15 he's had a 1968 firebird which is barely drive-able and rough, just sitting waiting for a restore down the road, in his words "appreciating in value". Supposedly it is an original 400 4 speed but that was all ripped out before he acquired it, now it’s a 350 with 7 working cylinders. Very recently he bought a 1959 F-100 and that is now our main project, that one is quite a mess in terms of the way it's built, runs and drives well though. We do this for fun not the value, we will keep all of these cars for as long as we can, especially this T/A.
I think that will conclude this post, I'll answer any and all questions. This post was just a long rant with little revision so I am definitely missing some things.
