Pontiac Trans Am Walk Around
Finally Got Around to it !
Today we walk around my 1976 Pontiac Trans Am 400 4spd. Yes she was upgraded to the popular ’77 ’78 Trans Am nose and Interior. The car was perfect until I hit the fence a few times. And to tell the truth the bodywork seemed like it was rushed together. Not to mention It barely ran when I got it. The car was sitting for 10 years and well the owner did not know anything about cars. A few key parts that did not belong were on the car, and he never put the fuel filter in it soooooo. But nevertheless I have it now and most of the bugs were fixed by me so it’s all good now.
Whats Next..
Well I got it a year ago and have not changed the plugs yet so I figure I’ll contact Rock Auto and Get some plugs . If they have the wired I’ll get them too. If not I’ll order them from somewheres else. I still haven’t done the Circuit Board Yet too many things. Not enough time to do it but I will get there eventually. I’m not really worried about the A/C its almost winter so that’s that.But I do gotta send the numbers into PHS so I know what she really is. I really do have a feeling that she is a 50th Anniversary car. As I says the original owner was not a car guy so who really knows.
I am really hoping to keep her a long time I have had over 5 Trans Ams. Two 1978s and Two 2000’s that were both ram air cars with 6spds.
Pictured Above..
That was my 2nd Pontiac Trans Am I had back in 1999. I thought it was a Y88 Gold Edition but sadly it was just a regular gold Trans Am Of that year. It was originally an automatic but the owner before me converted it into a stick. I stuck an old 428 out of a 69 Grand Prix in it with a little work (Cough Ahem) Oh yea she was fast all right ..
The Motor …
This was the 428 out of a ’69 Grand Prix I could not rescue it was sunk into the South Florida Sand for 25 years before I Found it in 1999 the motor itself only had 25,000 miles but I wanted to rebuild it .. At the time there was this guy in Ft Lauderdale Florida Ron of Ron’s Automotive he had the Trans Am in the Paper with no motor or Transmission so we struck a deal I’ll buy the car and he builds the motor and trans and gets me running.. And that he did..
I wanna say it had a little north of 400 Horsepower.. The sad thing was he kept the stock pulleys so if I ran the car really hard the belts would jump. Even worse a year later I would see the dreaded oil pressure drop go and check the oil and it looked like Yoo Hoo.. Yepper a victim of a dreaded blown head gasket.. But considering for a whole year I was not to easy on the car. Hey back then you had Camaro SSs and Trans Am WS6s that needed a good spanking from a Muscle Car even Mustang Cobras never had a chance..
So she needed an Interior and there was a hole in the roof but the frame was perfect everything worked and that car too me everywhere it only cost me 500 bucks for the car another 1,000 for the engine and transmission . It started every time I needed it to. It ran 12s and my dumb ass gave her back to the person I bought her from. He ruined his Corvette when he hit a puddle that turned into a small lake..
I blew the Head Gasket and just bought a used ’97 Firebird Formula Ram Air so I didn’t need it at the time. So I gave it back with the promise that I get first dibs if he ever sells it again.. Well that day never happened and spent the last 20 years or so looking for the right one ..
Not only am I the founder of The JRX Foundation I am also the host of JRX Reviews. I love driving my Trans Am everywhere even state to state when we are helping people. Well weather permitting, She puts a lot of smiles on people’s faces and I love seeing that. This site does contain affiliate links at no extra cost to the customer we get a commission and that goes to keep the doors open and the people fed at our charity.