1979 Trans Am

[Josh@Ridetech]

On a side note, I've always wanted a set of these but I haven't had the car to put them on. Now I do

[Protour_Pinto]

I think what 76TA meant was it was the last year of the Pontiac 400, only available with the 4 speed, production of 2200 out of 200,000 cars...Not just another Trans Am. '79 Pontiac block was thick web like the early blocks. Pretty rare car.

There are plenty of restored Fbodys. Just think how much this will raise their value.

Mod 'em all!

[Josh@Ridetech]

There are plenty of restored Fbodys. Just think how much this will raise their value.

Mod 'em all!

Hey, there you go! Good thought process!

[keepat]

Congrats on the awesome TA and love the new wheels!
Pat

[xsboost90]

very cool. My dad had a 78 when i was a kid and got rid of it when my parents split up. Lots of memories of cruising around in that thing. Pull that heavy chunk out of the front and put some power in there!

[70CougarXr7]

Always loved those wheels, but as you said, need to have a matching car for those...
Well you do, so points for styling there ;).

[Steve Chryssos]

Congrats on the wheels.

[jlcustomz]

Looks pretty god from the pics. Only thing that bothers me right off is those replacement tailpipes that look like half a splitter.
The older olds & Pontiac engines in stock form took a beating pretty good as long as you didn't spend too much time above 4000 or so rpm. Definitely hard to go wrong with a classic with some functional upgrades.
A friend of mine has had his 79' TA since brand new.

[Josh@Ridetech]

Congrats on the awesome TA and love the new wheels!
Pat

Thanks, Pat!

very cool. My dad had a 78 when i was a kid and got rid of it when my parents split up. Lots of memories of cruising around in that thing. Pull that heavy chunk out of the front and put some power in there!

About the same situation that I went through! It'll have a new powerplant at some point .

Always loved those wheels, but as you said, need to have a matching car for those...
Well you do, so points for styling there ;).

Congrats on the wheels.

Thanks guys!

Looks pretty god from the pics. Only thing that bothers me right off is those replacement tailpipes that look like half a splitter.
The older olds & Pontiac engines in stock form took a beating pretty good as long as you didn't spend too much time above 4000 or so rpm. Definitely hard to go wrong with a classic with some functional upgrades.
A friend of mine has had his 79' TA since brand new.

Don't worry, those tips were the first thing to go when I got the car in the garage. I can't wait to get some more power into this thing along with some modern technology. It definitely drives like a stock 70's car at the moment.

[FoxGranadaChuck]

There is a huge part of me that wished this was an '80-81 Turbo T/A with that notoriously unreliable turbo 301 engine. Replace the turbo 301 with a twin-turbo LS engine. But that was already done by Jeff Schwartz a few years ago. LOL.

Still a good-looking car...

[Josh@Ridetech]

There is a huge part of me that wished this was an '80-81 Turbo T/A with that notoriously unreliable turbo 301 engine. Replace the turbo 301 with a twin-turbo LS engine. But that was already done by Jeff Schwartz a few years ago. LOL.

Still a good-looking car...

Haha, me and you both! Sadly, the only way for that's going to happen for me is if someone decides that they just want to donate that engine to me .

and thanks!!

[kochevy67]

I have a 1980 with those 17 inch wheels and a LS2 that I am building with my son. Damn near the same color as well.

[Josh@Ridetech]

I have a 1980 with those 17 inch wheels and a LS2 that I am building with my son. Damn near the same color as well.

You've got me on the engine, still the old pontiac here! As long as it's running, I'll leave it in. You have a thread for that car going on here?

[Josh@Ridetech]

Last week, I brought my car into the shop to do a quick install video on the Streetgrip kit that we offer for the 70-81 cars. Because the Pontiac's are kind of neglected, we thought this would be a good opportunity to take some pictures of my car in four wheel drive, and then with our SG kit on it! It definitely helped out with the stance and drivability, now I'm just lacking some horsepower. Next stop, the coilover kit!

Pictures of stock height vs Streetgrip:



Link to this kit:
https://www.ridetech.com/products/su...etgrip-system/

[cornfedbill]

I'm eager to see how this project turns out.

By the way, my Nova is a real numbers matching 97k original miles Spirit of America that I bought back in 1974. It was a one year only option, and is rarer than a Super Sport. As you may have guessed, a purist I am not. So I won't complain if you take a Sawzall to the underside to make room for the right engine, transmission and suspension.

I do, however, like the styling of the second gen T/A's. It would be hard to make it look better in my opinion. I've seen it done though with very subtle mods.

[Josh@Ridetech]

I'm eager to see how this project turns out.

By the way, my Nova is a real numbers matching 97k original miles Spirit of America that I bought back in 1974. It was a one year only option, and is rarer than a Super Sport. As you may have guessed, a purist I am not. So I won't complain if you take a Sawzall to the underside to make room for the right engine, transmission and suspension.

I do, however, like the styling of the second gen T/A's. It would be hard to make it look better in my opinion. I've seen it done though with very subtle mods.

Thanks! I'm eager myself. Sadly, I may be eager for a while. I'm about to welcome a baby into the world so I'm sure time won't be found as easily in the next few months. I'm going to try like hell to work on it as long as the wife doesn't kill me.

This car isn't perfect nor a collector's item so I don't feel bad about cutting it up. The cutting that will be done is going to be small though, I think the swap and other modifications will be very subtle. The 2nd gens have always been one of my favorite body styles as well, I think they hit the nail on the head with this design!

[cornfedbill]

Thanks! I'm eager myself. Sadly, I may be eager for a while. I'm about to welcome a baby into the world so I'm sure time won't be found as easily in the next few months. I'm going to try like hell to work on it as long as the wife doesn't kill me.

This car isn't perfect nor a collector's item so I don't feel bad about cutting it up. The cutting that will be done is going to be small though, I think the swap and other modifications will be very subtle. The 2nd gens have always been one of my favorite body styles as well, I think they hit the nail on the head with this design!

Also, the second gens have pretty good suspension geometry from the factory compared to the fist gens. Not much cutting is generally needed.

I started my project before my 19 year old daughter was born. She is the last of 5 children. Now that she is generally independent as well as her older siblings, my progress has accelerated dramatically. I have made more progress in the past year than in the first ten years. It is always a balance of time and money.

[Martin71RS]

I like the ride height before and after pic.... makes the difference very clear! :-)

[kochevy67]

No I don't have a thread going I have no idea on how to upload the pics from my phone.

[Josh@Ridetech]

Also, the second gens have pretty good suspension geometry from the factory compared to the fist gens. Not much cutting is generally needed.

I started my project before my 19 year old daughter was born. She is the last of 5 children. Now that she is generally independent as well as her older siblings, my progress has accelerated dramatically. I have made more progress in the past year than in the first ten years. It is always a balance of time and money.

Much better than the first gen cars. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll want to be in the garage all the time early on in life! Haha

I like the ride height before and after pic.... makes the difference very clear! :-)

Thanks! I thought that'd be a good way to do a comparison. I like it much better now!

No I don't have a thread going I have no idea on how to upload the pics from my phone.

Ah, off of a phone I have no idea. Maybe one of the other guys can chime in and help.