1981 Trans-Am

[VF101_jay]

The Trans-Am has gone to the shop for repair and paint today, here are some pics of where it was and where it is now...
pic 1 - interior after 3 years of storage, pic 2 - after hours of cleaning, pic 3 - just to see what they should look like, and pic 4 - what it looked like when I took it down.


Two weeks is going to take soooo long to go by...good thing that I have a few small projects to keep me busy, I have some interior plastic that I am going to freshen up with some color match paint that I picked up through NPD...what would be the best paint to use on the plastic grill inserts? also should I go flat or gloss black for the grills?

[Bandit]

I would use flat black, I can't recommend a specific type or brand, just make sure you avoid any hard enamels because they will crack and peel later when they dry.

Good luck with the project!

[Takid455]

looks like a good start. i would use a semi gloss for the grills. dupont, ppg alll carry decent paint. io prefer dupont ot house of kolors. whatever you do, add much flex additive to them as well as your bumpers and spoilers. add this to the primer/ sealer as well.

[VF101_jay]

Thanks for the advice guys, the car itself is going down to a professional shop to have the work done (they have done a few second gen F bodies that I have noticed at local show-n-shines the last few years, and their work seems to hold up). I think I will go with a flat/matt style black finish on the grills. They are in good shape with decent finish, just seem to be a little grayed from age, fresh paint should fix them right up. A couple of other decisions that I am struggling with is whether to paint the headlight trim/rings to match the grills or the body color. And one of the big ones is should I put all of the decals back on, or only the lettering (no bird), or leave it clean? I am leaning toward having dark blue lettering custom made, and leave the bird off (switch to 5.7 liter of course). Any opinions???

[NOT A TA]

SEM Trim Black is available in spray cans and gives the matte look and dark black color of trim on newer cars. It holds up very well over long periods of time even on a daily driver. I've used it on many of my cars over the years with no problems on plastic grills.
If you paint the headlight surround the same as the grills the lights might seem dimmer than they did before because the light isn't reflected as much. At least thats what seemed to happen when I blacked out the trim buckets on my 74 Camaro headlights.
As for the decals IMO they look good on restored /restified cars with stock color paint jobs and wheels but on modified birds they draw attention away from the smooth muscular bodylines and cool wheels like the one in the your pic. And most people know its a TA (or Camaro) LOL
Looks like a nice project you've got going!
John

[VF101_jay]

Thanks for the info John, and with the way you put it...the clean look (no decals) would update the feel of the car, I think you are right and it would be best left with no dacals (hard to ignore the advice of a guy who has his car on the cover of Hot Rodding Magazine!...lol). As for the light surrounds...I will only be driving this car in the city, so I am not to worried about the brightness (they were painted black from factory also).

[VF101_jay]

painted some interior pieces today, think they are going to turn out nice with a few more coats...before and after shots.

[Roger Poirier]

Progress! :bananna2::bananna2::bananna2: I love those SEM spary cans.

[VF101_jay]

Got my car back today, I am happy with it, I think the color looks good and I really like the rims on it. Any suggestions of anything that looks wrong or missing?

[NOT A TA]

Sweet! Like the wheels, good choice! Did you eliminate chrome trim on the rear edge of hood and fenders?

[69TAPoser]

Very nice! I like the color. :twothumbs

Personally, I think that color would look great with the decals back on it.

Phil

[68Formula]

What a difference. Have to agree with 69TA, with the decals it would even look better.

[Martin71RS]

looks good! I would lower it a bit though, otherwise it's a clean car.
Martin

[curly]

Looks great, I really like the color!! The wheels look good but I would trade them out for a set of factory snowflakes or the ones like were on the pace car T/A (I am a fan of factory wheels). Decals would also look awesome!

[WS6]

Nice color. Have to agree on the decals though. You don't need them all, but some just to break things up would look nice. Maybe tint the windows too. That has a huge impact on how a car looks.

[VF101_jay]

Thanks for the input guys, it has a blue interior so I was tossing arround the idea of putting just the bird decals back on, just in a darker blue than factory. But after seeing the bandit edition car that year one did, I have been thinking that having the birds painted on in a matt finish of the same color as the body might look wild too. That will have to wait though, topped out the budget for this year...lol. I agree that the factory wheels can look good on these cars (I have collected quite a few sets for this car over the years, the turbo's it came with, a set of honeycombs and a set of rally's off of a 79 TA) but I wanted something a little more agressive with a modern look, but still had that retro musscle car feel...so I went for the Boss 304's. By the way, for anyone else out there putting rims on, the 5" backspacing on this car (stock suspension W/4wheel disk) leaves lots of clearance with 245/40/18's.

[Tony_SS]

It's just begging for a shaker hood, 2" drop, black/dark blue decals, window tint and you've got a solid ride. Nice job!

[79_GBody]

Lower it

[68Formula]

Actually instead of lowering it, I think if you could add another 1-2" tire diameter it would fill the wheelwells better (which will also give a lower appearance) and give it a more proportional wheel to tire sidewall.

[O'Neall]

By the way, for anyone else out there putting rims on, the 5" backspacing on this car (stock suspension W/4wheel disk) leaves lots of clearance with 245/40/18's.

Looks good... what's the width of your 18" rims? 8? 9?

[gearheads78]

Love the paint but drop it a little and lose the wheels. Needs stock wheels or something that NTW or Discount tire does not carry in stock.

[68Formula]

A 255/45 would probably fit as well and the extra overall diameter would fill the openings.

[Roger Poirier]

Love the paint but drop it a little and lose the wheels. Needs stock wheels or something that NTW or Discount tire does not carry in stock.

Agreed. The rims do nothing for the car. Always photoshop wheels before purchase if possible.

R.P.

[VF101_jay]

I have to correct myself, they are 5.5" backspacing (+14mm offset). The rims are 9" wide, and I would agree that after seeing them on that 255's should fit without any problems, I went with the 245/40's to give myself a little extra room as I couldn't get a definitive answer as to what would fit (even for the rims that I did go with, some suppliers said they would fit and some said they wouldn't). I feel a little strange justifying what rims I chose to spend my own money on, but I did do a lot of looking and a lot of photoshop comparisons when choosing a set of rims (money did play a part in my choice...as like I said, I had to pay for them...lol). I kept running into the same problems, either they were far too commonly used or they were yet some slight variation of the same old straight five spoke (don't get me wrong, I like 5 spokes, but I have had them on everything from my old camaro in high school in the 1980's to my 200sx in the 1990's to our family car now), so I felt it was time for something different. As for feeling the rims do nothing for the car, well I guess that if you ever decide to do a second gen Trans-Am, you will know what rims not to buy for your car...lol.

[twosaturns]

I have to correct myself, they are 5.5" backspacing (+14mm offset). The rims are 9" wide, and I would agree that after seeing them on that 255's should fit without any problems, I went with the 245/40's to give myself a little extra room as I couldn't get a definitive answer as to what would fit (even for the rims that I did go with, some suppliers said they would fit and some said they wouldn't). I feel a little strange justifying what rims I chose to spend my own money on, but I did do a lot of looking and a lot of photoshop comparisons when choosing a set of rims (money did play a part in my choice...as like I said, I had to pay for them...lol). I kept running into the same problems, either they were far too commonly used or they were yet some slight variation of the same old straight five spoke (don't get me wrong, I like 5 spokes, but I have had them on everything from my old camaro in high school in the 1980's to my 200sx in the 1990's to our family car now), so I felt it was time for something different. As for feeling the rims do nothing for the car, well I guess that if you ever decide to do a second gen Trans-Am, you will know what rims not to buy for your car...lol.
I see the point of saying that 'the rims do nothing for the car', since they are so 'bling', they look like they were just taken off the rack and bolted on; they don't match anything else on the car. if you like them, cool, but I see the point.
as for the shaker hood comment from someone else, I applaud your choice of the original turbo hood. it's too easy to go w/ the shaker, yours is different, and w/ the turbo bulge, everyone will think your car is slow! I've always liked the offset hood ('cept when they kept it on the 3rd gen and dropped the turbo!)
all that being said, I would think that if you went w/ a matte grey wheel, or had yours beadblasted for a satin finish, it would blend better. and I think the bird would be cool! ('course, I also liked the '4 wheel disc' stickers that they put on the door handles!)

[VF101_jay]

Thanks for the input, when I first noticed these wheels, I thaught they looked a little like the old keystone Classics or Craeger SS rims, only updated, I have had this car since those were in style (keeping in mind that I do live in the middle of Manitoba and that we were usually about 10 years behind the latest styles...especially before the internet) and they made me feel nostalgic. If I hadn't already baught them when I noticed the 18" honeycombs at Year One, I might have chosen differently (If I could have scraped the money up). For now I like them just fine, when they start to show wear...who knows. I had tossed arround the idea of switching to a shaker hood, but beyond the fact that I do like the subtleness of the turbo scoop, I had concerns about adapting the shaker to fit my engine swap. I did swap the Pontiac 301 for a Chevy 350, and when I put it in I hung the engine as far back as I possibly could before attaching the engine mounts to the frame. I was worried that I would have to hang the shaker scoop too far forword on the breather pan for it to mount properly. I still haven't decided if I will put much if anything on it for decals...I think I will drive it for a while and see if I get bored with the clean look.