'76 Trans Am

[76TA]

Hello fellas,

A bit of a backstory: My father ordered the car new in September of '75 and picked it up on Christmas Eve of '75. It was his daily driver until 1978 and met my mom that same year. Life, marriage and kids got in the way so the car went in to storage. In 1985 it was re-painted in '77 Cadillac silver (lacquer) and finished with '79 decals. When I turned 18 (in 2005) I joined the Army and served 6 years. While serving the car was given to me. I immediately installed mini tubs, a Strange rear end, ladder-bars and had the interior re-done. The car has 38,800 original miles on the odometer. It is rust free; garage kept.

After the Army I went to the University at Buffalo for economics and finance. Post college I purchased a home with a garage and picked up the build again. I decided to pull the trigger on a Detroit Speed front sub-frame and their sub-frame connectors. In order to get it ready for the frame I pulled the drivetrain, gutted the interior, removed sheet metal, dropped brake / fuel line, dropped the tank, pulled the exhaust, heater core...essentially stripped the car down to a rolling chassis.

During the tear down process I realized that I'll probably never have it down to this point again and decided to have the under-carriage, firewall, trunk, and interior floor pans media blasted and sprayed.

Here are a few photos of the car during my tear-out process and then a photo of the now blasted under-carriage.

Also of note: I have a powder-coated Detroit Speed sub-frame sitting on a wooden pallet already. I also have a new tank from Tanks Inc. (EFI - 800hp+ pump kit), Pro-Touring F-Bodies' solid body mounts, Detroit Speed's Ls7 engine mounts (hint hint), Holley's T-56 conversion hump panel, Detroit Speed's firewall fill panel, Detroit Speed's sub-frame connectors sitting over at the shop. I also have a donor Ls1 and T56 to mock up the trans. tunnel / driveline.

In the end it's not going to be anything out of this world:

Front Suspension:
Detroit Speed Front Sub Frame
315s
6 Piston Wilwoods
Manual Brake Set up

Motor:
Mast 427 Black Series 427 (Dry sump)



Trans:
Tranzilla T56

Rear:
Strange F body Dana 60 set up for a torque arm
Ladder Bars
335s
4 Piston Wilwoods

Misc.
Stretching the rear quarters out 1 or 2 inches
8 point cage
Sub Frame Connectors

[76TA]

Now that the car is nearing the end of its stay with the media shop I'm hoping to get back home and lay eyes on it in person after the New Year. I'll be able to grab some additional post-media shop photos.

[76TA]

A few photos of the engine mounts, body mounts and tank kit laying in my living room:




Photos of car prior to tear down:

[mert.celet]

Gonna be awesome

[grendel]

In for the ride.

[76TA]

12/21: Out of media

Picked up the car last night and dropped it off at the shop around 2:00 am. I was pretty beat and light was less than ideal so we rolled it in and called it. Grabbing some photos this evening.

[76TA]

12/22: Update

Stopped by the shop and took a few photos.

I'm pretty happy with how it came back from the media shop. The car came back without any warped panels and no significant rot; always a plus.

The trunk came back with only two areas that warrant patch work. A full trunk replacement is not required. The lack of rot back there and the fact I don't need a trunk replacement is a giant plus and money saver.

The firewall / cowl area came out alright. Some seam sealer didn't lift which is somewhat unfortunate. The drivers side cowl area had been damaged in an accident back in the 70s. I still have to decide if I want that portion replaced or just hammered out. If I have it hammered out I'll have a body guy lay some fiberglass on it to make it as smooth as possible.

[76TA]

Media Blast:


Exterior / Firewall -












Undercarriage:














Interior Pans:







Attachment 147770

[Dragonfly]

looks like a great canvas, good luck with the build

[FormTA]

Looks great! Much better then the two Firebirds I've been working on. Break out the wire wheel if you want to finish removing everything and have a smooth surface.

[76TA]

On the list for this and next week:

1 Weld in the heater core/blower motor fill panel from Detroit Speed
2 Patch all holes, drill holes, all rot in trunk
3 Cut the new transmission tunnel for an Ls7 / T56 combo using the Holley T56 Hump panel and Detroit Speed LS Motor mounts
4 Prime and paint the two small sections of floorpan above the front sub frame rails (since the paint guy won’t be able to get to them)
5 Mount the new Detroit Speed front sub frame (use the 4 pro-touring F-Body chassis mounts in their highest setting)
6 Install Detroit Speed sub-frame connectors
7 Re-install rear suspension
8 Spray all sandblasted areas with SPI Epoxy primer
9 Wire-wheel firewall to remove the last bit of paint/under-coating to prep for primer
10 Pound-out and smooth the damaged driver’s side cowl area
11 Patch/smooth emergency brake-cable hole in floorpan
12 Remove all exhaust hangers, brake line clips/clamps and plug and weld smooth

[jasonsnova]

make #8 #1......epoxy sand blasted areas asap, you can always sand off or do body work over it . this way you don't get flash rust( I own a body shop).....then procede.

[76TA]

I forget who suggested using the Holley panel but what a time saver!

I'm having the paint guy stop by the shop tomorrow for an estimate. It took about 4 hours to install the firewall fill panel.

[76TA]

1/10: Update

Finished cleaning up the immediate area around where the Detroit Speed A/C delete/smooth panel resides. Ended up getting it installed last evening. I still have to do some minor touch up prior to dropping it off to the paint shop.




Also got the Holley T56 Hump panel installed.

[76TA]

1/15: Update

Took a few photos of the undercarriage after media blast round 2. Still want to tighten up a few areas with some extra welding prior to laying more seam-sealer / dropping it off for paint (toe panel/firewall seams). Here are a few photos of that.

I also did a rough price out of how much it would cost to lay Lizard Skin Thermal and Sound in the interior. That stuff isn't cheap. Supplies alone with 4 gallons of each runs roughly $450.

[F-Body International]

Rock n roll on this one. Nice.

[76TA]

2/2: Update

Back from paint. Solid body mounts, sub frame, sub frame connectors, and rear suspension all installed. Wrapping up a few loose ends and then she goes back in to hibernation while my wallet recuperates.

[76TA]

Next up, brakes and fuel.

[skylark guy]

Car is looking great man! I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and get my Skylark media blasted as well.

[76TA]

It was a royal pain. At least it was for my car; delay after delay after delay. The problem wasn't rust at all. What took so long and what created so much of the struggle was the factory under-coating that was applied to the undercarriage. The trunk also had some seriously think "gunk" on the trunk drop downs and where the trunk pan met the tail-panel (typical of GM cars from the time period). Media shop tried everything from walnut/glass/sand/aircraft stripper and finally an acid. Car was at media for 5 whole months. I was quoted $2,000 for media blasting the firewall, trunk, under-carriage and interior pans. When all was said and done I paid roughly $2,500 to get all of that blasted and pained (that included labor and materials).

From what research and forum hunting I did in terms of pricing I feel pretty comfortable with what I paid but I can see how things can get pricey if your shop/builder isn't a stand up kind of guy.

What kept those costs so low was that I wasn't in a rush to get it back and was alright with letting my car get postponed and pushed back in their respective queues.