No Quarter.....1973 TA Build Almost there!

[1973ta]

Hey everyone.
I originally posted about building this car in 2008 after beginning the project in the garage and thought I would give an update and share the build. It's about a month away so no waiting on pictures! First I have to say... what started as a inop. brake booster and vacuum issue on a perfectly good "restored" driver got WAAAAAAY out of hand. (understatement) :seizure: I bought the car from a guy in Arizona, started out life as a red 1973 Esprit with red interior and a vinyl top and spent it's whole rust free life out there till i got it. I wanted a non-original car so I would have to feel bad about cutting it up. (that and the real TA's were already getting up there in price) The guy that had it before be had a slightly amateur restoration done along with turning it into a TA with factory parts and a 1974 TA motor less than a year before I bought the car. This whole thing started because the brake booster wasn't working properly so intend of just fixing it i wanted to "upgrade" a little. That was 4 years ago. Everyone here probably understands what happened next. I tore the car down in my garage and started ordering new parts to make a pro-touring ride. Long story short, I did about 85% of a Mini-Tub in my garage on jack stands with no lift. I would not recommend doing this. I basically got it cut, fitted, stripped and ready for welding and had someone that was going to help since I am not a very strong welder. Lets just say he ended up not being able to help and I was stuck. The economy slowed me down after that but I am back on track now!

Almost a year ago the car went to GTS Customs in Baldwin, GA and that's when things got a little out of hand. A simple a-arm swap, springs, bushings and brakes, etc with a mini-tub turned into a full fledged build. I think the only thing that remains from the car I bought is the shell, bodywork, dash, and some interior stuff (carpet, headliner, and door panels) Everything else is new. I have always liked the road race cars from the 70's and 80's growing up watching road racing with my dad and wanted that sort of look incorporated into it. Minus a nice stereo (and a very nice paint job) it is a purpose built car.- GOING FAST! The original plan was white with big gold BBS multi piece race wheels and somewhere along the way we decided on black paint but I still wanted the gold multi-piece race wheel look so now it resembles a bandit car, even though thats not what I was going for originally. Other than some minor mechanical stuff and cutting and fitting of the mini-tub, I have to give a shout out to GTS Customs who has done the rest of the work. http://www.gtscustomsinc.com/.

I'm calling the project "No Quarter" for a few reasons... I love Zepplin, the song "No Quarter" came out in 1973, same as the car, "No quarter" is a term that supposedly comes from pirate times meaning "no mercy" or "take no prisoners". Also, it's a pro-touring car that is going to be driven hard IN CORNERS. It's not just built for the 1/4 mile.

I will give y'all a list of parts/ mods thus far and then get to the pictures. I have learned a lot about these cars and what you can/ can't do with it since the beginning!
I also have to give a huge thank you to my father. He has helped me a ton with this project in many ways and will probably never know how much I appreciate it.
I can't wait to outrun him when it's done! He's got a 61 star liner with power on me but I have traction and rubber on him! :6gears:

1973 TA clone "NO QUARTER"

* BEAUTIFUL black paint. (all trim and rear bumpers blacked out)
* Detroit Speed Full Mini-Tub Kit and leaf spring relocation (keeping leaf spring rear)
* Detroit speed full Hydroformed Front subframe (with Detroit Speed control arms, coil-overs, and corvette type spindles, splined anti-roll bar, and rack and pinion)
* Baer "Extreme Plus" brake system 14'' Front 13'' rear w 6 piston front and 4 piston rear Calipers
* Detroit Speed Booster, master cylinder and proportioning valve
* Stainless Steel braided brake lines
* Moser 9" rear axle (narrowed, Detroit True Trac, 35 spline)
* GM Performance LS3 crate motor (with GM performance cam)
* Stock corvette exhaust manifolds for now (having a 3" stainless exhaust with electric cutouts made when car is done)
* Black Billet Specialties valve covers (coil covers)
* Detroit Speed Stainless narrowed fuel tank
* Tremec T-5 5 speed trans
* Fikse Profil 18x9 front and 19x11 rear wheels (ordered satin centers...painting centers gold)
* Vintage air a/c system and smoothed firewall where the huge old box was
* Recaro Sportster CS full leather front seats
* Custom made rear "shelf" that houses electronics, stereo and a 10''sub (no back seat)
* Sony "head unit-less" stereo (uses a hidden input/output box...stereo full operation with iPod or iPhone through fold up hidden dock they modded)
* 5 Channel Rockford amp, 5 1/4 Rockford Fosgate components in doors, tweeters mounted at top of a pillars, Rockford 6x9's on decklid
* 10" Rockford Fosgate sub in custom made down-firing box in backseat shelf
* Tiger Cage stainless steel 6 point cage with door bars
* Factory dash cover with custom made insert (gold machine turned look with new gauges)
* block off plate where head unit used to be (moved window switches here)
* Stock (modified) center console
--- I know there is probably more details, if ya'll have any questions on anything in particular let me know... I'd be happy to answer and help with any questions if I can.

The first few are pics of the way the car started, the first restoration (making it a TA clone) and how it looked when I got it and started the Mini-tub... ill add more as it looks now once I get them resized.

[john31s]

A t-5 behind an ls3?

[srh3trinity]

Looks like a great build. I like the idea of white with a gold wheel. I have been thinking about doing a white with a gold wheel but with more of a smoked finish over the gold.

[1973ta]

Thank you. Yea we already had the transmission, it was a donor from another car.

Here are some pics I took at GTS Customs where the real work on the car started and some close up views of the subframe when it came in... these guys know how to make a body laser straight. Check out the black ford in the first pic, they painted that car. This made the decision to go black much easier.

[1973ta]

Here's some more from after paint and as the detailed stuff started. The exhaust looks like it's going to be tough, there's not a lot of room under there!

[1973ta]

These seats did not want to fit between the tiger cage (door bar) and center console. The round knob for the seat reclining adjustment was hitting on the door bar. Instead of moving the seats in, we found out you can reverse the knobs on the seat (outside to inside) and knock the bar over so you can move the flat cover outside and the round adjustment inside. It looks cleaner when the door is open also. There is just enough room to reach down between the seat and the center console to adjust the seat. The mount for the iPhone is located where the ash tray used to be in the stock dash. It folds sideways then up and out of sight when not in use.

The Sub is now mounted on the pass side for weight distribution, amps and electronics behind driver. The 2 inch high hole cut in the shelf is to let air out from the down-firing sub. The holes cut in the floor are for the subframe connectors.

[1973ta]

more from the interior. (not particularly in order)

[1973ta]

A t-5 behind an ls3?

I liked the car in white... just couldn't resist how well these guys do black. We have not picked out the color gold for the wheels yet. I'm not sure if I want to match the gold that BBS uses (not easy... there is no "BBS Gold" paint code) or do something different. Maybe a little darker like you are talking about.

I did a quick photoshop rendering to get an idea of how it's going to work. Used all the elements in the bottom pic and got this..... the gold on the back wheel is a little too mustard looking to me, the front is closer to what I was thinking in my head..... I dunno yet??:dunno:

[1973ta]

Damn... wrong quote. My bad, meant to be...


Looks like a great build. I like the idea of white with a gold wheel. I have been thinking about doing a white with a gold wheel but with more of a smoked finish over the gold.

I liked the car in white... just couldn't resist how well these guys do black. We have not picked out the color gold for the wheels yet. I'm not sure if I want to match the gold that BBS uses (not easy... there is no "BBS Gold" paint code) or do something different. Maybe a little darker like you are talking about.

[srh3trinity]

Looks great in black too. Let's face it, second gen 'birds are just great looking cars. I think a BBS gold would look great on a Black car. Search in the wheel section here for a post by the Formula 43 guys. They make a wheel that would probably work for you and have a nice looking gold. I will try to find the thread.

[srh3trinity]

Here it is, different from the BBS color, but it would pop on black. Check their website for their designs. The lineup is very similar to Fikse's. Clean/strong designs. https://www.pro-touring.com/showthread.php?91259-Formula-43-AU&highlight=

[Ron.in.SoCal]

Great build! Keep goin' man...:cheers:

[Chadman27]

That looks nice!

[Later-A-body]

Everything looks real nice. I can relate to the build getting out of hand, but in the end you get what you want without having to compromise. '70-'73's are the best looking second generation F-bodies.

[tazzz25906112]

Great looking car,,,, just subscribe.... Keep up the good work.

[NOT A TA]

Very Nice!

[68firebird]

Sweet!!! looking extremely nice! great job

[LeighP]

Terrific! Just my kind of car!

[ryeguy2006a]

Awesome work. That black with the multi-spoke rims looks drop dead goregous. What gauges are you using?

[yellow1098Greg]

Car looks great perfect inspiration for my car!

[1973ta]

Awesome work. That black with the multi-spoke rims looks drop dead goregous. What gauges are you using?

Thanks... I really wish I had the ability to do this kind of work myself, but it has been really cool getting to know the guys building the car and seeing them get excited by the same stuff as me on the car. It's so exciting to see this thing come to life. The finished product has only lived in my head until now... it's starting to resemble the picture that's been in my head and keeping me awake at night. We went with Classic Instruments for the gauges. They have a gauge set that has an aviator look. Iv'e seen them on a few other cars on here. The dash insert was difficult because I knew I wanted the machine - turned gold look but also wanted a "custom" dash (non-factory holes, switches, etc...). It was difficult to find someone who would do both the dash in the right material and the machine-turning and THEN get it sent off to get anodized. The guys at GTS ended up fabbing up a dash insert themselves for the gauges we bought and we used a really nice vinyl that has the EXACT color gold machine-turned look to it. I was really skeptical at first about the idea of vinyl at all but it turned out looking really good. They used it for the head unit block-off plate as well. In person the vinyl reflects light like machine turned aluminum can't. (it's also WAAAY cheaper).

I also found (after A LOT of searching) a company that sells the exact BBS light gold color. It's a company that does subaru stuff called Grimmspeed. They have made a spray paint that is the same color used on the BBS wheels that come on Subarus. I have ordered a can of it so we can paint a piece of scrap metal and have the paint suppliers match the color. BBS doesn't have/ won't give out a paint code for their "proprietary" color. I am thinking this color with a satin clear on the wheel centers.

Heres how the dash came out...

[LeighP]

Hey, I think you have great taste in gauges.......
I don't know, maybe I'm biased.

My 71 -
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[WS6]

Looking good Kyle. Welcome to the site.

[1973ta]

Hey, I think you have great taste in gauges.......
I don't know, maybe I'm biased.

Very Nice!! Great minds think alike! What are you using the panel on the left side for? (where the vent would be on an a/c car)

[LeighP]

Light switches and trunk release....I tried these little billet switches that looked like a good idea, but when I had them in the car I found them to be finicky to operate and not particularly positive in the switch action. To go with the aviation theme, I switched to a couple of guarded aircraft toggles for the lights, and moved the other switches to guarded toggles on the centre console.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

My car was an A/C car (long gone), so no dash vent fitted.....looked like a good place to fit some switches.

[1973ta]

looks good. I am using smaller toggle switches for my window switches... found some three way toggle switches that will spring back to the middle. We moved them to a billet plate mounted where the head unit used to be. I see your gauges are new also. 2/10's of a Kilometer!

I was trying to figure out a way to wire a small LED to the center hole (between the blinker indicators) on the gauge bezel to use as a Shift light. Do you know if this would be possible with these gauges without too much difficulty? It would look A LOT cleaner than a huge shift light on the dash.