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Thread: A Tale of two TA's
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04-26-2022 #1
A Tale of 3 TA's
TA #2
I haven't posted a build thread on here in quite a while if ever so I guess its time to start. Im self employed with my own shop and have 3 kids that have all grown up and flown the coup so I seem to have a bit extra time on my hands. So far I've built a nice custom 71 C10 with an LS 5.3 for daughter #2, plus a really nice 72 C10 for my son with a Roadster shop Fast track chassis and a crate LSA. However, Daughter #1(the oldest) has eluded me with her choice of favorite car. Ive offered to build her whatever custom she wants but has always been content with her daily. Last year, she surprised me with the revelation that her absolute favorite was a Brown Trans Am. She says "Dad, Its gotta be brown! No smoky n the bandit for me! OK! So after several months of internet searches, I finally found an original Brentwood Brown 1977 Trans am in relatively good shape. She has maintained that she doesnt want a show car, just a cool classic she and her husband can cruise around in. My specialty or favorite custom is a classic muscle car or truck resto-mod with mostly original paint and interior but with modern suspension, brakes and driveline. So Im going to try to keep the TA mostly original with all the changes being reversible, I.E. the original 400 and 10 bolt will be preserved and go with the car if she ever wants to sell it.
TA #1
The other Blue TA is my personal ride. Its a slightly modified '74 I got off ebay about 8 years ago and havent had time to work on. The only mods it has is a 70-73 front clip and 17" wheels, I still has the 400 ram air and 4 speed. Since its not original, I plan to do a few more mods to mine but they will be subtle and tasteful I hope. Plans are a Roadster Shop Spec chassis and a crate LT4-8l90 combo. Stock interior with some updated guages and reworking the console to accept the 8l90 tap shifter. 18" honeycombs and some big Baer brakes. Again, not a show car but a nice street cruiser.
So here are few pics of the two cars. Currently, Ive received the roadster shop frame and LT4 for the '74 TA and have mounted the engine, tranny and baer brakes. 4 new Gunni wheels makes it a roller to move it around the shop. The Brown 77 is on deck currently as Im trying to get it done before my Daughter's birthday which is fast approaching.
Evan Q.
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04-26-2022 #2So here's where I'm at with the blue '74. Probably no further progress until the Brown '77 is done.
Roadster shop really makes a nice chassis. This one I ordered already powdercoated which really saved some time.
E.
04-26-2022 #3So for the Brown TA, I had a left over 6.0 iron block truck crate motor not doing anything and since I don't want my daughter driving with too much HP, I thought it would be perfect and reliable. First step was to clean the motor and apply some fresh Pontiac Metallic blue along with Holley's Accessory drive and accessories. The stock truck intake was ditched in favor of an LS3 lower profile intake. I also got some new year one gold snowflakes in 17" so I can keep the stock look and run some bigger wilwood brakes. After that, the old brown bird was put up on the lift to start the tear down.
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04-26-2022 #4So tear down on the 77 went smoothly, I yanked the front clip and found a nice surprise when I got to the core support. The driver's side core support mount had died a lonely death some time back and you could move the entire core support about 3" fore and aft. Not good. Proceeded to yank the crusty but running original 400 and Th350. I then rolled it outside and powerwashed and degreased the front end to make it easier to work on.
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04-26-2022 #5Then pulled all the suspension off and dropped the subframe. Found more rusty mount stands and wasted body mounts.
Ill post more pics tomorrow.
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04-26-2022 #6Next step was to wire wheel the subframe and then take it outside and blast it. I had some 1/8" pieces of sheet steel in the shop and proceeded to make new subframe mount pads to weld into the frame. I also took the time to clean up the nasty factory welds
E.
04-27-2022 #7