1976 Trans Am Resto-Mod

[ryeguy2006a]

Here are the pictures of my C3 new Master Cylinder. I still need to clean up my engine bay so please excuse all of the dust from sitting around.

[ryeguy2006a]

I ended up buying a pair of Bosch E-code glass headlights off of Ebay, for $50 shipped. These will allow me to do the H4/9003 upgrade for a much brighter headlights during the night. Also allows me to have a replacable bulbs incase one blows, the whole headlight doesn't need to be replaced. I am very happy with the quaility when I opened them and they look more clear than what was shown in the pictures. From what I read online these headlights are on par with Hella, but are 1/3 the price. Now I had to buy some bulbs from the auto parts store, so all in I have $80 into them. I will give a better review once they are installed.







I hope to get some time in the garage this weekend, but no guarantees. If I do, I will get the hood and wheel spoilers on and possibly the shaker. It would sure be nice to see the car complete.

Cheers,
Ryan

[ryeguy2006a]

I was able to put in some time this Friday to get some more accomplished on the car. I have been trying to just get as much done on the car as I can. I worked on the car from Friday at around 7:30 and continued on until 4am the next day! Once I start working on the car I just don't want to start. I didn't get as much done as I wanted, but that is how it goes.

The first thing I wanted to do was get my dash bezel ready to install. It was super dirty and wanted it to look as good as it could without being refinished. Eventually would like to send it out to Randy Combs to be refinished, but at this time I need to focus on getting the car on the road and things like that for a later date. Here is what I started with.





I got it cleaned up and installed, after I got the wipers working that is. I am not sure what I did to get the wipers working, but I just started to move things around inside and it finally started to work? The wipers were a mystery to me, so I am glad that they are working now. I no longer have any wiring issues, so that was a great weight lifted off my shoulders.

Here is the bezel installed.





I also installed the door lock switch that I bought a few months ago. I bought it from ILLTA77, and he included the wiring pigtail and a new decal for the switch. Here is what it looks like installed. I don't have the power locks installed yet, but it will be something I do in the future.



Now here is what I was really excited about. I was finally able to get my wheel spoilers on! When I originally bought the front fenders I was told they were off of a 79 and I knew that we had to change the front of the fenders where the mount to accept the front bumper. But to my surprise, the must have been off of a 77-78, because my front spoilers bolted right on. I thought I was going to have to drill new holes for the front fenders. I am super happy with the fit and finish of the spoilers. They all fit so nicely. I have no regrets to buying original oem wheel spoilers.













I also put a different nose emblem on. It is chrome and black, instead of the original red one. I think that it looks much better than the red one.





And to top it all off, I was able to get the hood on. I still need to get the gaps all worked out on the hood, but it's on! I couldn't be happier, well I will be when I get the shaker I guess. I really feel like the car will be done soon. It has been so long since I have seen the car in one piece that it almost sounds unreal to have it all done. Also, don't mind the hood, it has been wet sanded and not buffed. I hope to have that done next weekend.





That is all for now, Enjoy.

Ryan

[peices of eight...]

Nice job Ryan ! way to keep at it !

[LeighP]

I like your choice on the nose badge...fits in with the colour theme nicely. Looks good with the flares. If you were missing all the flares before, don't forget that there are small clips that fit between the flares and the centre spoiler...on the back edge...to help things line up. Often those are missing and people don't realise they exist.

[ryeguy2006a]

I didn't get a whole lot done on Friday, but it was a very rewarding step. I had my paint guy come over and wet sand and buff out my car. It looks absolutely fantastic. I took it outside to get some pictures of the car in the sun. I was just taken back at how much I love the color. It took most of the afternoon to get done, but was worth it. It was nice to see the car complete and what it will look like once I have all of the little details worked out and the bugs all taken care of. Here is what we started with first thing in the afternoon and where we finished later in the day.















I sanded and hand buffed the shaker. I think that it turned out pretty good for my first time.


And outside with the new stance with the GT springs from PTFB. I am absolutely happy with the stance. Possibly lower the rear slightly, but overall very happy. I also just threw the shaker under the hood to get an idea of what it will eventually look like.

[ryeguy2006a]

Saturday we went over the car again with a couple other compounds to really make the paint pop, and get rid of some of the small swirls. I thought that it looked good yesterday, and when he got done today, I was just amazed. it just looks so clear and reflective. I took some more pictures of the paint, it looks like a mirror!











I also did a little work here and there. I put in my Bosch H4/9003 conversion headlights in and realized that I only had one headlight bucket retainer for the lights. So looks like I need to find one in order to finish those. I did test them and they bolted right in. Very happy with the fit of those.



I also modified my stock shaker base to lower it in order to fit it over the Holley carb. I have to finish adjusting the hood before I finalize the fitment of the shaker, but here is the trial run for the height. Let me know if you think that it is too low? I feel that it is slightly too low, but then again the hood isn't completely fit yet.







That is all for this weekend. More to come in the short future.

Ryan

[LeighP]

Ryan,
That looks great! You must be very happy with how it's turning out.
Shaker looks fine.....could sit a little higher if you wanted, but it's fine the way it is...the early 77 shakers sit way lower than yours.

[rfalker1]

Nice build.. I am really liking the color... and the exhaust looks really nice too, i am running spintechs myself. Question one one of your pictures the exhaust looks a little low. Is that how it fits or was it not tucked all the way in??

[reedld]

Looking good Ryan!

I have a link that you may like to read. It is about the voltage at your headlights. I have not yet done this to my car (mainly because I do not drive it at night)...but I plan to. Most of the pre-90's cars are this way...this wiring mod would fix it. Before actually doing it, use a DVM to test the voltage at your headlights.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...adlights.shtml

I first noticed the dim lights as I was driving home at dusk one evening. I was following a car for a short distance, they turned and then nobody was ahead of me. POW! I felt like I was blind!

[ryeguy2006a]

Nice build.. I am really liking the color... and the exhaust looks really nice too, i am running spintechs myself. Question one one of your pictures the exhaust looks a little low. Is that how it fits or was it not tucked all the way in??

Yeah, the exhaust does hang a little low, but I don't think it will be too bad. I haven't gotten the car on the road yet to drive it, but I will have to fix it if it rubs on everything. I have to say that I absolutely love the way that the SpinTech mufflers sound. It is what a muscle car is supposed to sounds like.

Looking good Ryan!

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...adlights.shtml

I first noticed the dim lights as I was driving home at dusk one evening. I was following a car for a short distance, they turned and then nobody was ahead of me. POW! I felt like I was blind!

Thanks for the link Leon, I eventually plan to get this harness, or something similar. I figure for the time being, these are supposed to be twice as bright as factory so I should be fine for now. I am like you though, I don't plan on driving the car at night, but you never know.

[ryeguy2006a]

Worked on the car on Saturday for a few hours and finished up some loose ends that I have been putting off for a while. I spent all of the morning working again on my brakes... The brake lines that I bought weren't going to work with my set-up as they were hitting the frame. I think that they aren't working because of the lowering springs that I bought for the fronts. Fortunately I had a set of stainless steel lines that were from my factory brakes and they worked perfectly with my current set-up. I didn't take any pictures of this because it has been an on-going dilemma and I wasn't happy of how I was spending my morning. Once that was done and I was finally able to bleed my brakes for I hope, the last time I could focus my time on other areas. I had some left over material from my headliner and I had my mom sew me together a shift boot. I tried to do it myself and failed miserably.







I didn't get any pictures of this last time, but I deleted the window guides off my weather stripping rail for a cleaner look. It isn't a big deal, but I think a lot of little things like this add up to make a really clean car.



I painted the rest of my trim, SEM trim black, along with my wiper arms. I installed the door locks and was surprised at how easily I installed them! I was thinking it would be much harder than it was. Good for my time management.





I also put in the rest my interior and got my passengers seat installed. I put in the radio, but didn't get it hooked up. I am not going to worry about that at a later date and just concentrate on getting the car on the road and getting the bugs worked out. Also, I am going to used the spare headliner material to recover my console lid.





Finally, I got the hood aligned and started to get the shaker base modified to accept my Holley carb. Here are some pictures of the height at which I like the shaker. Let me know if you guys think that is a good height. I moved it up slightly from the previous post. I like it much better.





All for now.

Ryan

[tflyboy77]

Very nice car!!! I'm running a lot of the ptfb equipment on my 77 and love all of it. I think I have just about one of everything Dave makes.

[PonchoJohn]

Paint looks AWESOME!!
Your shaker is much better looking at the raised height. I never did like the "sunk in" '77 shaker look. 70-76 shakers fly high!

[Carter]

Looking good! This is almost blow for blow what I am doing to my car.

[ryeguy2006a]

Thanks guys. I am getting really excited to get the car on the road. I am hoping to get it registered in the next week or so. Then I can work some of the bugs out of the car.

Carter, your car looks awesome! I have a nice DD, but not like your Vette, that is a nice car.

[CruizinKev]

very nice man! looks great!

[ryeguy2006a]

Since I have a different intake, Holley carb and run a spacer I needed to do something about my base to run the shaker at the right height. I modified my original one, but am not happy with it. I am going to run it like this for the summer, but will get something different over the winter. Here is what I came up with. I grafted in an Edelbrock Pro-Flow air cleaner to fit under the shaker.











Here is a quick video of the shaker doing what it does best... Shaking. Click the photo to view.



I also swapped out the 650 holley for a 750. I like the throttle response better. I am very happy. I am going to get her registered this week sometime and possibly drive it around next weekend! I can't wait.

All for now.

[LeighP]

Good luck on the registration thing.

[PA Formula 78]

I would lose that air cleaner, those are known to catch fire. The car is looking really sharp.