1979 Trans Am; 383 LT1/M6, running, driving project

[WS6]

Location: Atlanta, GA
Price: $26,000 obo

Well, the time has come to move on. I've owned this car for 19 years now. I'm ready for something else. Wish I could afford to keep it, but that's not the way life works out. I'm just going to copy and paste what I put in the craigslist ad. Please let me know if you have any questions or want more pictures. Thanks

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/c...026171401.html

1979 Trans Am. Was a one family owned WS6 car with the 403 and automatic when I bought it in 2000. Since then, most of the car has been changed in some way or another. I'll give a good but brief run down below. I can supply interested parties with more detailed information.

The car does run and drive great currently. It still needs to have the engine fine tuned for power and drivability. I consider the build to be pushing the limits of a street car given the gearing and size of the cam. It's subjective of course, but this wasn't a mild build. I wanted a fun weekend toy not a daily driver. I'd say the car is at a point where it could be finished out to be a great hot rod or easily turned into a dedicated track/autocross car.

The body is in good condition overall. These cars could have some serious rust and rot issues if not cared for. I've recently replaced the front floors which were rusted out a little. Quarter panels will need further attention as will the rockers. They aren't rusted out, but they aren't perfect. Rear floors, trunk, fenders, core support, tail panel, frame rails, etc are all good or previously fixed by me.

Chassis modifications include through the floor subframe connectors, through the floor transmission cross member, both of which are fully welded to the car, solid subframe bushings, front subframe has been modified for real coil overs, and there are subframe to firewall braces.

Suspension is Viking double adjustable shocks on all four corners. As mentioned, Custom Works coil overs on the front and dearched leaf springs in the rear. Speed Tech upper control arms. All bushings and joints are good and upgraded to Moog brand.

Brakes are C5/C6 fronts and C5 rears from Kore3. Parking brake is foot actuated and works using Lokar cables. Front hubs are billet aluminum units from Kore3.

Wheels are BMW E38 series M Parallels. Hub-centric adapters using ½” ARP studs hold them on. 8.5” front, 9.5” rear. I have a second set of staggered rims so I could put 9.5” rims on all four corners. Dunlop Direzza DZ102 tires with only a couple thousand miles mounted.

Rear end is a fully built 8.5” ten bolt. 31 spline Truetrac posi, 3.90 gears, Moser axles, Torino tapered bearing housing ends, welded axle tubes, and Moser aluminum structural cover. The axles bolt in like a Ford rear end. These are not c-clip eliminator housing ends. The rear end can handle turning. Factory width rear end, not shortened.



Interior dash and center console are in great shape. Nothing else is in good condition which is common given the panels are plastic. Seats are Recaros from a VW. Wedge Engineering seat frame adapters. Custom gauge panel holds New Vintage USA 1969 Series gauges with red back lighting. This was an AC car. The AC is not present currently. The heater core and evaporator box is currently not in the car but in great condition.

The fun part is the engine and transmission. 383 LT1 with Scat forged crank and rods, 4 bolt splayed mains, Mahle pistons, Advanced Induction 200cc LT1 top end, billet steel cam, internally balanced long block built by Goza machine in Acworth. This is a proven 500hp build using the Ai components. They are arguably the best LT1 CNC heads available. I had them port the intake manifold as well. This was not a budget build.

Transmission is a T56 with Tick Stage 2 components. I bought all the parts and did the work myself. Shifter is MGW. Shift fork and t-bolt are brand new from Hawk's Motorsports. Fidanza aluminum flywheel. Clutch is a Center Force dual friction disk and a factory replacement pressure plate. Neutral balanced by Goza. This is all you need for a street LT1 T56 since I don't drag race the car.

Fuel tank is a Tanks Inc EFI unit powder coated black.

The bad is this is still a project car. As I said above, I believe the car is at a good point where it could easily turn into a dedicated track car or be finished to be a pro-touring street car, but it will need work either way.

There are issues to be sorted out, such as, I do have issues getting the car into reverse. It goes but it requires more effort than it should. I should have replaced the bearings in the transmission when I did the rebuild. I have them and the shims necessary. I just haven't had the time to pull the transmission back out and do the work. I also have a high speed vibration issue I have not been able to resolve. I have done so much testing and diagnosing that it's driven me nearly mad. I'm an engineer by trade so throwing parts at it is not how I operate. All I know is it's speed related because it happens at speed with the car in coasting in neutral. So this points to driveshaft and rear end. Keep it below 65mph and there's nothing. Someone smarter or luckier than me will have to figure that one out. The vibration doesn't prevent me from driving the car on the highways. You just have the vibration occuring.

I've done my best to do good, solid work. This is not a show car build. It is not a back yard hack job. The wiring is done right with proper connectors, soldering, and securement. Fuel system is done right with aluminum tubing, fittings, and securement, no rubber fuel hoses and clamps.

So not as brief as I thought. I have many more details for interested parties. I will gladly share any detail concerning the car. I hate typing so phone calls are better if your interested. I can send pictures of anything, or you can simply come out and look the car over with me to get a better idea of what the car is or isn't. I don't expect this to sell quickly so I don't mind spending the time with serious, interested individuals. Don't waste my time, please. I'm very busy which is one of the reasons I'm selling. Even if you don't buy it after viewing it, that's ok. Just don't be a tire kicker who might kind of sort of be interested in something similar to this car.

$26,000 obo. I have to start somewhere, and I can't raise the price during good faith negotiations.

Thanks for looking.

Trades. Since this always seems to come up. I'm not really interested in trading. With that said, the following has my interest for whatever reason right now so I'd possibly consider trading. 67-72 C10 short bed fleet or step side, 86/87 C10 Sierra or Silverado short bed with all power options. 95-97 C1500 regular cab short bed fleet side. Also, 01-03 BMW M5's

[FlyDoc]

It looks like a fun car.
The vibration at speed, where do you feel it? In the seat of you pants, or through the sterling wheel?
i would believe that you had it rebalanced with u joints in. Also look at how much the slip yoke is in the trans. But i would also rebalance tires and wheels, then just start spin balancing every thing.
Post picks of the interior

[WS6]

Thanks Doc. The vibration is mainly seat of the pants not the steering wheel. Trust me, everything has been balanced multiple times. I've been fighting the issue for a long time.

I do need to get interior pictures I realized that when I was making the post. There is no interior besides the front seats, dash, center console, and door panels so all I can show it nicely painted floor pans really. That, and show that the rear floor is solid.

[ryeguy2006a]

Sweet car man! I love the M-Parallel wheels. I'm running the same ones on my car. They look great on muscle cars.