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Thread: 1977 Trans Am LS1/T56 Build
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01-03-2018 #1Registered User
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
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1977 Trans Am LS1/T56 Build
Hi All,
I wanted to create a thread to log the progress of my 1977 T/A project. This project will be a slow moving project but the plan is to take my time and do this on somewhat of a budget. I'll give details on the car and what the plans are, etc.
Backstory:
I've been an fbody guy for a long time, I've owned mostly 3rd gens. But about a year and a half ago a family member was moving and had this 77 T/A tucked away in his garage, I got it basically for a song, I know it's rough but this is the kind of project I've always wanted, 2nd gens have always been a favorite of mine, so this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. the plans for the car is to make it a well rounded driver / it will probably see very little track time, if any, but would like it to handle well in case the want to go racing arises
The car is an authentic 77 T/A with the TH350 auto trans and W72 400 Pontiac engine. I was looking into what it would take to build up the 400 and do a manual swap and after doing all my research i decided doing a t56 swap to the 400 would make the most sense, but it looked like the best t56 to swap would be from and LS1 fbody car. so after finding a donor car for the transmission and doing even more research on my engine build, I decided that it was going to make more sense for me to do the whole LS1/T56 swap instead of worrying about building up the 400. I know that is going to make some people mad, but best band for the buck the LS1 just seems to make more sense for me (cheapness of building, fuel injected, decent fuel economy, etc, etc). so my donor car is a 98 Z28 car from TN that has just over 100k miles and is completely stock, the plan is to use as many parts from the donor car as possible and part the rest of it out.
Plan:
Mildly Built LS1 (lookin to get in the 400hp+ range) (Cam/Intake/Tune/exhaust/etc)
Rebuild the T56 and upgrade to an LS7 clutch
Upgrade Suspension for better handling
Fix body issues (replace panels to remove rust issues)
Paint
fix any broken interior pieces/panels
I know this is super simplified plan, but ya'll get the general idea. The first step is going to be pulling the car apart and build a cart/dolly to put the shell on to start working on. after that I'll be figuring out what parts can be sold off and what needs to stay (engine/trans/etc) and then I can start on body work and so forth. excited to get started on this project. (the 98 is a salvage title car, so don't worry about me parting out a "good" car)
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01-03-2018 #2