Driving Excitement...85 Trans Am Project. New Plan as of 5/3

[SSEiMan01]

Bump.

Also, I would like some opinions. My brother has a shaker hood he made for his 84 in his basement, he can't use it on his GTA because it won't clear the motor. It would clear mine though, and I have always LOVED that hood. It's fully functional and custom made, I was thinking if I could get it from him (likely) I would use that hood instead of my current ram air hood. The shaker would fit better and probably look better. If I had known he couldn't use the shaker on his car I wouldn't have bought this one. I could probably sell this hood and break even on it. ($500) Only downside to this, if you can call it that, this motor doesn't move a bit when it's running. Instead it shakes the whole *dang* car. Solid motor mounts ftw!

Opinions?

EDIT: The pictures I have of his 84 are at my place in Orland, so I can't use them, but here are a couple similar to his as an example.









Not sure if ya'll can see the pictures or not. You might have to be on TGO to see them. I'll get pictures of the actual hood soon. But I'm sure ya'll get the idea.

[Squilliam]

See, now with the shaker hood I'm torn. It's a great throwback to the 2Gs and one of those all time classic T/A flairs that never gets old. However, that being said, I really dont think that the shaker hood compliments the body lines on a 3G or 4G at all. You have a low, low slung, and typical 80's aero style. A blister shaker would just be out of place. But thats just my opinion. I know in alot of cases pics dont do cars justice even though the 3G Fs are just as much gorgeous in pics as they are in person.

[SSEiMan01]

Once I can post pics of the hood on my brother's old 84 it'll be clear why I like it. He had it on the 88 for a bit but he had clearance issues. He told me today I can has it. So, nuff said. It looked sweet on the 84, and a little better on the 88 (Same GFX as my car) I wish I had the picture of it on the GTA still.

That last pic (if you can see it) is the closest thing I could find to how it looked on his GTA/how it would look on my car. (Just imagine it being red. Someday )

[SSEiMan01]

This is the car that started it all. (84 Trans Am) The pictures are in chronological order. The last one is the 88 GTA, the only picture I have of it.


(Yes that's our 87 Celebrity in the background. Wish we still had it. Thing would not die, fun little beater.)

[Squilliam]

With the 'birds, I've always kind of liked that offset scoop on the Formulas, but the best hood has to be the Camaro louvered hood.

[SSEiMan01]

The offset scoop on the older T/A's and Formy's was a nice hood. But to a point it bugs my ocd.

I guess another part of why I like the shaker hood is the sentimentality. I was a kid when he was building that 84, and now that it's gone its living on mostly through my car, since his is an 80k mile gem. Between hearing the gear drive and the loud ass exhaust and then seeing that black T/A pull up I always knew when Tony was around.

[SSEiMan01]

After three years of being tempted. I think now is the time I want to build either a 350, 355 or 383. Though I'm leaning toward the latter. 400-500hp is very tempting, and the way the rest of the car is built it can handle it. Plus, most of my parts I have on this motor will swap over, and the swap itself would take like a day... I'm going to be looking at some things.

Anybody know someone selling a Chevy 350/355/383??

[Jfridge92]

I think the T/A is begging you to LS swap it Will.

[00Beast]

Yes, but you have to drive to MN for it Will!

[SSEiMan01]

Worth it?

LS swap would mean wiring and scary stuff like that....

Carb'd 350 would be a swap in a day drive it by night.

[nos4blood70]

Road trip to Ed's? lol

As they say, there's no replacement for displacement.

[SSEiMan01]

Exactly. This wouldn't be something I would be swapping in this year of course. I have to save for that trip to Spain. But if I can pick something up cheap I would.

If I do end up going to SD again this year I'd just stop and pick it up. But from what Ed told me it's a bone stock truck motor, unknown main bolt count, unknown mileage. So idk.

[MattStrike]

If it's a truck 350 it's more likely to have a 4-bolt main, as well as provisions for oil coolers, torque cam and heads, and carb and timing are different.

I think you have more headroom to build up a truck 350, but it's still going to be a slug without a decent set of heads and a cam.

[SSEiMan01]

I'm fortunate to be able to have time to hunt around at this point. Or save and buy a crate.

[gonzo4191]

whats your budget? i know of a guy selling a 350

[SSEiMan01]

So... Remember how the T/A liked to die in hard left turns?

Lucas (Wake) has been driving this car because his Cutlass is awaiting repair, so I lent him my T/A to drive.

Anyway, he swapped gas caps since the one it had didn't ever seal well, and he says that so far it has had no problem with left hand turns and is running smooth and with proper fueling.

Go figure?

[nos4blood70]

Awko Taco

[SSEiMan01]

Ya think with my colossal OCD I would have replaced that sometime in the last four years... But nope.

[wake]

ill double check it today and make sure that was the culprit but i tell ya what..its not dogging out anymore and you can actually feel the compression and cam..

i think it was getting air into the fuel and running lean..

[SSEiMan01]

Or that ancient pump wasn't able to hold pressure with basically an open gas cap...