New to Pro touring...

[Blaze77ta]

first of all im 15 years old... I come from a racing family and when i was 10 i sold my go kart i was racing to buy something a little newer... well i came across a black on black t-top 77 transam with a 79 front clip and some ugly centerline wheels on it... and i fell in love... came up with every excuse to get my dad to take me to look at it... and finially he went up and asked the owners some questions about it... and they said its not for sale it was their dads car and its not for sale... he left his phone number just in case... well a month later he got a call.. it was them, turns out they were meth heads and got cought with not grams POUNDS of meth and crack and stuff... and they thought maybe selling the t/a would get them some bail money... well i guess they were high because we came out and looked at it, and they told my dad theyd sell it for $800 and well i decided i still want to race... and my grandpa went out there and bought it and a blue 78 and a blue 81 t/a for $1500... and he sold the 78 and 81 to some people down south... and sold the 77 to a guy that wanted to restore it... and he bought it from him for $1500... and he took it to my uncles shop to have him take the motor out cause it was locked up... Well he never took the motor out and it sat there for about 6 months... and i still loved the car, so i offered him all i had at the time $800... and he took it.. so i got the car for $800 which i know your thinking thats a deal now, wait till you here the ending... so it sat in my gpas garage for another 6 months... i took the front clip off of it... bought another 77 transam parts car with an original disk brake rear end and a 403 olds running and driving for $500... (another steal) i ordered parts from time to time... bought new carpet... nice console and died it... and some other interior parts... then my grandpa told me he couldnt keep the title since it wasnt liscenced, so i took it home... and i got bored and decided to run the numbers... and it said its a factory 301 automatic car... and i did some more researching and the people i bought it from swore up and down there dad bought it new and the 400 that was in it was original... and it blew up in mid 80s... and then i found out that 301s didnt come out untill 79... so i thought either this website is wrong or my title is... well turns out neither was wrong.. i had a very rare 1 of 10 or so factory 301 77 ta's... if thats not bad enough... turns out they were right and the 400 was original. not factory but it was original.. this car was bought by transam specialties and converted to a real bandit car with all the gold trim and everyting.. so its a factory 301 bandit car and i have the original 400 lol... but anyway... i bought another kart and the transam was stuffed back in the garage, then 2 weeks ago i was looking around and got bored and talked my grandpa into getting it out and letting me clean it up.. and last week i put the new carpet console and some other stuff in... and a buddy of his had a 400 pontiac in his shed he said i could have.. he didnt know anything about it but it was covered up and had a box of parts that he never opened that came with it... it was all greasy and dirty... so i took it home took it apart and cleaned it and painted it the pontiac blue... turns out the box had a brand new 650 edlebrock carb in it never been ran... and on the motor under the dirt was a factory aluminum intake... and i ran the numbers on the block and whadya no... a datecoded 77 block out of a t/a... and i got for free!!! but even though the car will be slick when i get it done... its not what i want anymore... i want a 68-72 nova... and its gonna be a frame off pro touring car with the best of the best... i know the transam will be a $20,000 car after i get it done... and the novas are pretty cheap so if i buy a good roller for $3,000 i dont care to put $8,000 in the suspension/chassis work as long as its gonna make it ride the best and have that great stance.. if i build it the way i want it its gotta be one of the most badass cars in southern il, so if you guys have any ideas on what suspension to use... also i know theres newer cars that people use the disc brakes off of... i know i just said i can spend $8,000 but the cheaper the better... what junkyard parts can i get to build one hell of a street machine??? Shoot some motor/tranny combos that people are using... also some links to subframes or full frame kits for novas that would be a good investment.. its probably gonna be a 500 -600 hp est motor and big drag radials on the back and a prostreet look to it... with all the touring goodies! Shoot some ideas at me and Ps: the story is true... i guess im just very lucky and was in love with the right car and knew the right people

[67 ls1 vert]

Pretty cool story kid. Hope you have some pictures of it to share with us. Good luck with your nova.

Who knows, you might have good luck finding a rare yenko nova for $800 is a shed buried under a cover. :)

[Blaze77ta]

yea right i dont think its possible to get that lucky twice.. if it was id be buying lottery tickets lol... ill see if i can get some pictures.. gonna finish putting the dash and everything back together tomorrow...

[novanutcase]

Blaze,

I'm pretty sure the era Nova you want to build can accomodate most of the F-Body(Camaro) front suspension stuff so you have a real big pool to choose from when it comes to suspension upgrades.

Will you be racing the car at all? If so what type of racing you gonna do? You could go all out and go with a Speed-Tech, DSE or Art Morrison front clip and have all the goodies along with the optimal steering geometry already done for you or you could go the budget route and do a Guldstrand mod along with some adjustable UCA's.

Look around the site. There are a few other guys building the same year car you want to build. You can get some great ideas from them.

John

[79-TA]

Both the Trans Am and Nova are great potential PT platforms.

When looking for performance on a limited budget, just make sure to spend your money on the things really count. Also, always consider the cost of the smaller items that will add up, to prevent going over budget.

So look into:

-tires - one of the mods that improves all aspects of performance
-larger (17") wheels, but only for the sake of mounting some dang good tires and opening up the possibility for bigger brakes when the time comes
- springs - stiffer, lower, more stable (maybe consider coilovers if the price is right)
- shocks - stiffer and adjustable
- sway bars (Trans Ams come with sufficiently thick sway bars to begin with and WS6/7 cars are even better)


As for braking, it's easy to spend a lot of money on kits and stuff. A basic slotted rotor, good pads, and steel brake lines make a huge improvement. After running Hawk HPS pads this weekend, I swear by them. And the great part is they aren't too aggressive for street use.

But remember, great brakes can only do as much as the tires allow them to do. So again, get good tires!


For the drivetrain, I wouldn't even know where to start. There are so many swapping and build possibilities. Just become familiar with your local craigslist etc and look for deals.


Lastly, just look around this site. There's a ton of info in old threads.


Best of luck!

[NOT A TA]

Welcome to the board! Quite a story.

[David Sloan]

Welcome to Pro-Touring
Hope all goes as planed for you.

[protouring70]

Welcome, make your self at home. If you see something someone has don't be afraid to ask about it. No question is too dumb, that is how you learn!!