Another 69 TransAm clone

[dhutton]

It's been a year since I posted this and I've made some progress. The car is running and painted. Painting your own car is a very humbling experience. It still needs some wet sanding and buffing but it's not going to be much more than a nice ten footer. Some assembly and the interior to go but hopefully we will be on the road this spring. Just did a test fit on the used HRE wheels that I bought on ebay. Looks like the backspacing was right on. Still have to dial in the stance a little once I get some tires installed in a week or so. Looks like I need the back up a little and the front down a little. Might need to go to 450 pound springs on the front coilovers but I still need to install the Firebird front bumper and grill assembly which is heavier that the Camaro one. The hood is fiberglass so that's not helping much. Here's a picture of where it is today.

Don

[BossaNova]

_That_ is a beautiful car!
Great work.

[Gearhead Dude]

Looks great...keep up the good work! 1st Gen T/As are very cool.

[rlplive]

incredible, keep us posted

[Josh69]

When I put the nose on my car, it went from being 1" higher in the front, to 1" lower in the front. I have Hotchkis BBC springs in mine with iron heads. So you can pretty much count on at least 1.5-2" drop with just the nose. It doesn't weigh that much, but it's way out there, so lots of leverage. My battery is in the trunk. I don't have my hood on yet so that didn't affect it either.

[dhutton]

I've been doing some more assembly. The fiberglass Trans Am hood continues to be a huge POS. The shape of the beak is wrong and I am going to have to give it a nose job. I should have test fit the bumper before I painted it. I went looking at the pics of Empty Nest and found a progress pic where they were doing the same thing to the hood.

I like the look of the wheels. The front is still a little high, might have to go with 450 pound springs on the coilovers.

Decided to go with factory deluxe interior door panels to keep the budget under control. I like the look of them in black.







Don

[Rybar]

OMG Don that thing looks soooooo Badass!!! Sweet I love it!

[Motown 454]

Hey Don The car looks nice !

[69TAPoser]

Very nice!

More pics?

Phil

[BMF Machine]

Man, that is Smok'N!

[dhutton]

Thanks guys. Phil, I don't really have too many more pics but I see the original photos were lost in the hack. Here are some before and during shots. No underhood shots yet. It's just a stock LS1 and it's a little dusty. My build is a home shop budget build so there is not much bling under the hood. The most there will probably be is some coil covers. I plan to start on the interior soon.









Don

[zman1969]

man! talk about rags to riches- looking great! any pics of your nose job? im interested in this myself - keep up the good work

[cdoggy81]

Nice Love them Pontiacs!!!!!

[BA.]

I'm glad you posted up some recent pic's man. It's looking good!

..and those 'before shots'.... wow!

sweet looking car man!

[dhutton]

Had the car out of the shop today. Still a bunch of small things to do but I should have it on the road this fall. I also need to do the front end alignment and install the KRC power steering pump. The front end is a little high so I am going to install some 450 pound springs on the front coilovers before I do the alignment.

[1971CHEVELLE]

awesome car

[BossaNova]

Dayum. That's hawt!

[SamHatco]

Looks awsome, Don. I just wish I was that far along. Have you had it out on the road yet?

Sam

[dhutton]

Looks awsome, Don. I just wish I was that far along. Have you had it out on the road yet?

Sam

Thanks Sam. I've been following your build and I just wish mine was as nice. Not out on the road yet, just a few short burnouts in the driveway. Hopefully soon, within the next month or so.

[cdoggy81]

Yes Don, it looks real sharp. Wheels look great!!!
What are your current spring rates now? What coilovers are you using?