78' trans-am redbird

[jerrys85iroc]

I have a 1978 trans-am and it has the pontiac 400 in it but the car has drum brakes all the way around...does that seem weird to anyone else???

[southernfriedcj]

Sure does. Front drums were not available in '78. Why would someone swap them on?

[Randy67]

And where did they get the front drums from? No 2nd gen had front drums so it would be interesting to see what they came from.

[jerrys85iroc]

Yeah, i mentioned it to a friend and he said he's never se that before so i decided to see what anyone else thought about it...and on the subject does anyone know anything about redbirds??? i have some options on the car that i have not seen on other redbirds???(shaker hood). Can anyone help me out???

[Mathius]

Did any 2nd gens have drum brakes? Could they have swapped out the whole front clip for some reason?

Don't the front subframes on the 2nd gens just unbolt?

Mathius

[jerrys85iroc]

thats the thing i dont thing anyone changed it out it hasnt had but 2 other owners(from what i was told) and i know one of them and they know the other guy...i think they came on the car????

[Mathius]

thats the thing i dont thing anyone changed it out it hasnt had but 2 other owners(from what i was told) and i know one of them and they know the other guy...i think they came on the car????

Well, I suppose it could have been special optioned. I don't know why someone would request them, but who knows.... maybe some old geezer stuck on "reliable" technology that didn't trust disc brakes? Kinda like the old guys stuck on carbs 5-10 years ago?

I have no idea.

The only other thing I can think of, is my uncle used to work for a pontiac dealership and he said sometimes when they ran low on parts for something they used to swap them around and use what they had, but I wouldn't think they'd go so far as to throw a set of drum brakes on a car.

Who knows?

Mathius

[jerrys85iroc]

well since he worked at a pontiac dealership would he know anything about redbirds???

[WS6]

red birds were just red through out really. The shaker hood was added by someone at some point. It has nothing to do with it being a Red Bird. People like the Red Birds though as they are something different. There were also blue ones and I think yellow ones. I can't remember there names but I don't recall them being the color. I think the blue ones were called Sky Birds maybe. Honestly, I don't remember. I just know that they were all one color and had special colored rims and different interiors.

[jerrys85iroc]

i knew all that but im looking for anyone that has one or knows how many they made with what options...and how many they made of my car.

[maldo]

get some pictures if you can

[jerrys85iroc]

i will it may take me a few days

[gateman]

First off, it is not a trans am ( rear spoilers, wheel flares, or fender vents ) You have a basic firebird with a special clolor scheme. They made three of them; Sky bird - light blue, Yellow bird and Red bird.
They had no performace upgrdaes at all, they were just special color cars. Alotof the girls drove the light blue and yellow ones.. The red ones weren't popular ( that is a good thing, less in the market place) The interiors were cool..About the 400, it is most likely a different motor that stock.. All of those Firebirds came with
305's, unless of course someone ordered it that way.. I think that you have a "*******" car with a little bit of evrything thown into the mix.. The shakers were not part of the redbirds, yellowbirds or sky birds..They also had a pinstriping kit on them (ugly).. I have never ever seen any 2nd gen with drums.. Sorry dude...

[HILROD]

There were early 1st gen Camaro's that had front drums. I don't know the cutoff year. I have never seen one myself, past '72.

[PonchoJohn]

Most of what Gateman said is true, except for the engines- Any engine available in the Esprit (since the Sky/Red/Yellowbird was an Espirit) was available.
In 1977 a prototype show car called Bluebird was a huge hit, so Pontiac added it (except under the name Skybird, since the Bluebird Body Co. wouldn't sell/lease them the name) to 1977 Firebird Espirit production. As typical with Espirits, it had the plush Trans Am interior and the T/A's Formula steering wheel. It also received the new snowflake (non-WS6 version) wheels w/ blue/red/yellow accent painting, and the goofy-scrollesque "pinstripe bird."
The 78 Redbird looked the same, except it was red and had the new Loumbardy interior fabric. The 79 was also red, and had the new 79 model years fascias, etc.
The Yellow bird was the last of the series, starting in 1980. Same idea as the 79, except it was yellow.

There were NEVER any 2nd gen Firebirds w/ front drum brakes- NEVER. Nope, not even your friend's uncle's cousin's brother's car that was special ordered-- NEVER!

Are you sure you don't have a Trans Am in a red/red color scheme? Look at the cowl tag(under your hood- you have to stand next to the driver's fender and read it while looking toward the passenger side)- there could be a code on it that reads WS4-- that's a Trans Am.

[gateman]

Thanks PonchoJohn... I did find some info that said the base engine for all of the late 2nd gen espirits were V-6 and any of the engine options for that year were available in the Espirits... Right again, PonchoJohn, you know your Pontiacs:1st:

[barno68]

I had one of the skybirds way back when, all one color was a bit much on the eyes. The pin stripping was a bit girly also, but the interior was really comfortable.

[Takid455]

A shop that has since closed up had all 3 ladybirds. I had a chance to obtain them all for under 1k. this was about 8yrs ago. I passed.

[jerrys85iroc]

Ok.............i feel kinda dumb...........when i went to go first look at the car i didnt get too close to and and pay attention to the details but the car DOES have disk brakes in the front but i gave the car away because i dont have the time or money to do what needs done on the car so im looking for a more sutable drivable project.......Sorry for any of the confusion......