Newbie with 78 Trans Am

[pw455]

Hi Everyone. My name's Pete and I've been thinking about converting my 78 Trans Am to a pro-touring car. I've owned it for about 30 years and have it setup for drag racing right now. I'm really looking for something I can drive more on the street and get some enjoyment out of it.

Besides wheels and tires, I know it'll take some money to get things going. Right now leaning towards the following:

Brakes - probably Baer SS4 rear and Track4
Wheels/Tires - Not sure on brand, but somewhere around 18x9 up front and 18x10 or 11 in the rear with 275/35 and 295/35 tires (or bigger if I can make them fit)
Suspension - Leaning towards Ridetech, but have a lot of questions

Long term would like to convert the TH350 to a 5 or 6 speed manual. Also need to drop some compression and go with a little milder cam.

I've already learned a lot searching through this site and hope to continue learning...

[Angelo]

Great car to pro-tour Pete. All those ideas sound like money but if your doing your own work you can pay yourself in pizza and beer. Looking forward to what you eventually put together. Need lots of pics.

[Angelo]

Year One has you covered on a lot of the cool parts I think. They made a killer 77.

[NOT A TA]

Welcome! Should be a nice project since you don't have to restore and do body/paint.

[Zspoiler]

You have nice car to start with .Paint and body work are usually what kill a project first.And you seem to have that covered.Plus a T/A has a lot of nice pieces from the factory.You will just have to decide how extreme you will go.

[pw455]

Thanks guys. I'll need to check out Year One. I definitely need a few pieces to replace my missing front spoilers and some interior parts. Luckily, it's been garaged the last 25 years so the elements haven't beat it up too much.

@Zspoiler, You have a nice car. Looks to be in great shape.

Pete

[Angelo]

http://ghostworks.yearone.com/the-burt-reynolds-edition-trans-am/
For your viewing pleasure.

[rreichert82]

I am working on a 79 Trans Am. It is great you are starting with a solid car with good paint. Had to blast mine and start from the ground up. I just did a 1LE conversion on the front using the B body spindles to get a 12" rotor with factory upgrade wildwood calipers in the front and the wildwood rear disc brake kit. I am going to be running Ridler 695 wheels in gunmetal with a machined lip with 285/35R18 Pirelli PZero Nero's on all 4 corners. I am swapping an 8.1L Vortec from a 2500HD and a T56 from a 97 firebird. After a lot of research I decided to go with the Gen II suspension system from pro-touring fbody. seemed like a great system for the money. Good luck with the build and I will be following your thread.