1973 Pontiac Grand Am LS7 Swap

[CruizinKev]

wow nice!!!

[Later-A-body]

Chuckd71, I get that reation all the time. Most people have no idea what car it is. That is why I always loved this car. It remains unique. You never see them on the road, even out here in California. Most of these later year A-bodies are just not that popular, and you have to be real good at knowing what othet parts fit them, because the aftermarket does not cater to these cars. Some vendors like Global West have parts for them. I already have all of thier suspension on the car.

[alowerlevel]

Sweet, another Gen 3 A-body

I will be taking notes on your LS swap as well, Im currently on the hunt for a decent (and cheap) LS motor to swap into my '73.

Attachment 50003Attachment 50002

If you meant the whole car, here are two pictures.

What size wheels and tires and what backspacing were on the car in those pics?

[Later-A-body]

I went to No Limit Engineering today to see the finished frame modifications. Rob went way over the top and exceeded my expectations. I am very happy with the work. The entire frame was rewelded in addition to the bracing he added. The frame was boxed and then
squared on the rack following all of work to make sure it was true. I had initially intended to do a coil over rear suspension, but decided to stay with the traditional set up and go to an adjustable shock set up. He also built a new transmission crossmember that attatches to the boxed rails. So now I have an an extra trans crossmember for a TKO 5-speed if anyone needs one.

[Later-A-body]

More pictures

[andrewb70]

Great work. However, I hope that the tube in the front doesn't get in the way of your headers.

Andrew

[Later-A-body]

I do have to check that first. I decided to take the frame home and test fit everything first before powdercoating.

[andrewb70]

I do have to check that first. I decided to take the frame home and test fit everything first before powdercoating.

That is a very good idea. I wish I had done that with my car before getting the frame powder coated. That's one downfall of powder coating. If any changes need to be made afterwards there is no easy way to recoat the frame. With paint you can just touch it up and you are good to go. Nice progress.

Why did you decide not to do the coilovers?

Andrew

[aps63]

Great car. You don't see these often.
Good luck with the build.

[Later-A-body]

Andrew: It came down to money for now. A decent set of coil overs plus the labor for the fab work on the rear housing is going to be at least $1000. It is not a priority. The car is not an all out roadrace car. I can dial in the rear suspension with adjustable shocks and a new custom set of traditional springs.

[alowerlevel]

...

Attachment 50003Attachment 50002

If you meant the whole car, here are two pictures.

What size wheels and tires and what backspacing were on the car in those pics?

[andrewb70]

Andrew: It came down to money for now. A decent set of coil overs plus the labor for the fab work on the rear housing is going to be at least $1000. It is not a priority. The car is not an all out roadrace car. I can dial in the rear suspension with adjustable shocks and a new custom set of traditional springs.

There is nothing wrong with that. There is no technical advantage to coil overs besides the easy ride adjustability. A good set of regular coils and a excellent set of shocks will work just as well as coilovers. In fact, the extra money spent on shocks would be a better investment. I would check out the new three way adjustable shocks from Ride Tech.

Andrew

[Later-A-body]

Yeah, I agree 100%. I will look into the Ride Tech shocks like you suggested. I appreciate the tip. This is why I post this information. I know I will get good feedback and information from people that have already done these projects like your GTO. Now I will need to wait until the engine is finished in order to get it into the chassis and start mocking it all up. I ordered the headers from BRP/Musclerods yesterday. I went with the 1 7/8" long tubes. I ordered them raw in order to break in the motor without burning the coating off....been there before. I will ceramic coat them after.

[LeighP]

usuaully, the lower control arm mount brace shouldn't interfere with headers...I fitted a similiar style brace on my 71 Firebird subframe and it's no where near the headers on my 455.
Great progress.....70's A bodies are cool!

[Later-A-body]

Well since the engine is still a few weeks away I am looking for a junk LS block locally to trial fit into the chassis to check everything. I was not able to get one before the frame was worked on. Working backwards. Oh well.

[compos mentis]

I remember when these cars first came out and getting a ride in one. No other car manufacturer had anything like it. It's like some folks at Pontiac were trying to do the first PT style car for the masses.

IMO the 73's are the best looking year of the Grand-Ams. So rare to see these of course and I've never seen one with these style wheels, which certainly compliment the car. It looks great in silver btw.

[Later-A-body]

Thanks Skip. I remember seeing them when I was pretty young in the mid 70's and thinking how cool they looked. Grand Am's are not a popular car in the musclecar world, but they are unique. Considering what most mid 70's cars looked like with their big ugly mandated bumpers, I think Pontiac did a great job on the styling.

[73z-6sp]

fvgbhnjm

[vintageracer]

A good friend of mine just purchased a 74 4 door 400 CI Four (4) Speed Grand Am. Supposedly one of 5 built.

Nice original paint car with honeycombs, buckets, console and a hog leg! That would make a neat BIG PT car. All the original paperwork also! I have sent him a link to this thread as I am sure he will be interested.

He also has a 74 Black/Gold Lemans Sport Coupe Factory 400 4 Speed car if anyone else is interested in building another different but neat PT Project. Complete car not running.

PM me if interested in the 74 and I will hook you up!

[SRD art]

Ha! Neat Ride! Back when I was first getting rolling doing renderings for $ I had a client that had one of these, it was black with wide meats on Centerlines all around. I did a cartoon style drawing for him.

While I was doing his I also did a pencil sketch with a Pro-touring flair and wondered what one would really look like all done up. Nice to see a PT version actually getting built out of such a unique ride. Looking forward to more progress! Keep up the good work!