My 84 TA

[L695speed]

Hey guys,
I know I said I had more pics and here they are from when I started to now. The story as to why it took so long is in here as well.

Start during the summer/fall 2004. Engine swap project.



Interior when started the project. Yes that is an old Cell phone I don't want to hear it.


View of the back that same year.


and the passenger side. Thats me by the far left side. Dad took these photos.

[wildjeff]

love the 90's car phone. When I was in highschool I was going to buy a phone to go into my car. then the cell phone it the market.

[L695speed]

More photos

Here is the blown L69 305 HO I still have the block and cam for a rebuild.


My brother somehow managed to the the hatch release in the back. Then the moron closed the compartment and closed the hatch so we could not get it open again until we got the engine back in.


Engine is out of the car finally (we could not see the last two bolts up at the top at the bellhousing.


Now we have a hole to fill....I believe that was the summer of 2005.


Engine from the caprice with the TA everything else installed. Ready to go in or so we thought.....

[L695speed]

More photos, Fall 2007.

Here is another photo of the engine. Lets see if anyone can guess the yet to be discovered problem....


Problem we ran into.....Clutch and flywheel are the wrong setup...


Because of the fact that we discovered we had the wrong clutch and flywheel...I decided to pull the tranny as well because it would make the installation easier.


Now we have a bigger hole to fill


Interior in pieces because console was taken apart.


Another interior pic after I pulled the tranny.


Pushed the TA into the garage in January 2008 while we wait for money and parts. I was leaving to go back to campus as well. There had not been a car in that side of the garage in more than 12 years because of it being used for storage. I cleaned it out. Most of it was garbage anyway.
The other cars in the photo are the 86 MR2 which was having starter issues and the 86 Fiero in the other garage.

[Dens71TA]

I spy a factory subwoofer option switch on the dash. Must be nice!

One of my friends has a '84 T/A in the same color as yours. His is optioned with the L69 5.0L HO and 5-speed manual too. He bought it from the original owner back in 1987. The car has always been garaged and still looks new. I think it has around 55K miles now.

[L695speed]

Dens71 it is indeed a subwoofer switch. Jeff (Wildjeff) pointed that out to me and stated it was only the second car that hes seen with that option besides his SE when he did my build sheet repro. I knew it was for speakers but I couldn't remember what it was for because the car had been off the road for 6 years and counting. Do you have photos of that Gray TA? I have yet to see a decent gray one that is still original.

More photos coming.

[Dens71TA]

My friends '84 T/A also has the subwoofer option. It sounds nice but the amp isn't very reliable from what I've heard. Its not very common in '84 but I still wouldn't call it rare. I've seen quite a few '85-88 cars with it.

I don't current have any pictures of his '84 T/A.

[L695speed]

I am not saying its rare, I am sure more will pop up when people pay attention to it. I think our Amp might be broken. I will find out this summer. I wonder what else his and my car have in common.....twin cars perhaps

[Dens71TA]

I found this pic of '79 T/A he is selling. You can see the '84 in the background.

His car has the L69/T5, WY6 suspension, W62 aero package, Air conditioning, gray/off white deluxe interior, leather wrapped steering wheel and handles/knobs, power antenna, rear defog, AM/FM stereo with cassette,audio boost subwoofer, courtesy and trunk lights, rear cargo trim and storage well cover. It has manual windows, locks, and mirrors.

[TAdan]

Chris, your car looks very nice and complete

I do love the W62 cars.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

[L695speed]

Dens71, Sorry but I have that one beat out on options Have power windows and locks, WS6, UU6 Stereo, T-tops, Charcoal interior, B20 and I know there is more. It looked like a nice blend of luxury and performance. To be fair I don't have the L69 in there anymore as I am sure you know but I still have the block and cam for a future rebuild as well as just about everything else. I will have to get new internals (pistons, crank etc.) as well as new heads for the rebuild. Lasted 100,000 miles with low compression in cylinder #3. Still from what I can see that car looks to be in excellent condition. I would take either one of the second gens too.

[L695speed]

Here are some more pics. I am having senioritis out here on campus.

Underside doesn't look that bad. I might have all that oil to thank for that when the motor blew up.


Engine went in over Spring Break 2008. Once I got the tranny bolted up I got the engine in the car in three hours with just a crane, floor jack and me. Called up Dad and told him to bring home beer.


Car back in the garage was able to pop the hatch thanks to the battery, took the roof off to dry it out. You can see the deteriorated condition of the paint that time and weather has taken a toll on it. This is the main reason I am thinking about the Macco Paint job......cheap and preserves whats left so I am doing less in the future as far as metal work.


The T-tops. Weatherstripping doesn't look too bad. Paint is another story.


The L69/LG4 Frankenstein engine.


Another view of Frankenstein


The Interior put back together after I got the engine in.


Console back together.

[L695speed]

More damage to the paint


Here is the dent the bear put in the fender.


Rear of the car. Can still see the dealer sticker, despite it being worn to the point where can barely see it. Don't worry the tow bar is coming off the car as well.


Interior cleaned up.


Running out of parts.


Another interior angle.


Hood back on and Oh SO CLOSE to running.


The mice ate away at the insulation on the hood. Then a Rat Snake decided it was hungry then made itself at home. Thank you to the snake for guarding the car from mice but I had to rip off what was left of the insulation to get him out. No pics of the snake sorry. Hes still around on the property though.


The Back seats are back in. Can see my hood prop for now...yes its a mop handle.


Here is the car as it looks now on the outside. The primer was a failed attempt to clean up rust five years ago. Not so ideal conditions for paint and not enough paint. Lesson learned and will either try again or just take it to the body shop. I do good paint work but don't have the equipment to do it at home.
This image is slightly photoshopped to make the colors pop out a bit more.


Another photo of the car next to the Fiero outside. As it looks now.


There we go...Dad had the heart attack two months after those last two photos were taken. He was more than happy to help me get it running after I got it clicking. He was going to get it running for me then bring the car out for me for the annual campus car show out here. As is life I have no regrets. He had a great life and did things that most people could only dream of despite some of the arguments he wanted to see it done as much as I did. Now the original seats are back in. The recaro seat is in the house as a game chair for now. I got the car cranking on Winter Break and hopefully it will run when I get home in March. It will be back on the road this summer whatever it takes.

[L695speed]

I thought I would bump up this topic as I am going home tomorrow for spring break. Goals:
Get it running (I am praying to god its just the timing otherwise I am out of ideas)
Put new hood struts on (Thanks again bethany)
Remove the tow bar if I can at least get rid of the ball and extension I will be good with that.
and remove the antenna mount for the old car phone. (now to find some paint thinner for that)

I will post pics as I go, with the ideal picture being the car up on the street. I am not burning rubber with it yet so don't expect those photos for some time.

Wish me Luck and I will keep y'all posted. Friends are telling me its going to be a hell of a thing to see if it runs because its been too long, they are saying its gonna be bittersweet too; and I share that sentiment.

[blg0720]

Good luck, hon! I know you're excited. Your friends are right, too. It will be bittersweet, but your Dad will be SO proud of you!

Hope it all works out for you! ...and you're welcome on the hood struts!

[L695speed]

Hey, all. I've got good news...and bad news. The Good news is I am no longer using a broom handle to hold the hood up. Have new struts and they work like a dream. I also may have figured out the issue with the hood alignment, as the passenger side bump stop on the hood was 6 turns higher than the drivers side.

Now the bad news...I re timed the engine to 6 degrees and put the distributor back in. Hooked up the charger, charged up the battery. After about 4 hours on the charger I thought I would try to jump start the engine using the charger. I got the same result. Cranking but not firing. I am going to take the battery up to Advance auto tomorrow and have it checked out and then pull the valve cover on number one and make sure both valves are closed. I am really getting to the point where I am thinking I will have it towed to the mechanic....because by all rights this car should fire up or at least fire stumble and stall.

I am just about out of ideas and things to try. I am also going to check to make sure I do have spark. If I don't have spark then I have no idea what the problem is, and the same could be said about if I do have spark. Any ideas folks?

Thanks

[wildjeff]

Couple of thoughts

Have you tried using starter fluid? If it fires up with starter fluid but dies after you stop spraying down the carb then you have spark and the next thing to check is the fuel system.

Every time I have had problems with cranking but not starting, I had a bad ignition module. The one in the base of the distributor. I have had 6 firebirds and 3 of them had to have the ignition module replaced.

[L695speed]

Ok guys I know I promised pics of the fixed hood.

Here they are.

NO MORE BROOM HANDLE! (sorry if the pic is a lil out of focus)


Hood Alignment





Passenger side seat in (original one)


Interior shot from the passenger side.


The last remnants of the car phone (the mount for the antenna) GONE! it was centered near the top of the hatch glass.

[Raptor]

Nice T/A, it seems like we have practically the same ones except I have the Lear Siegler seats and sand gray interior but mine is in little worse condition and less original.

[blg0720]

Chris, your car is really starting to look like a Trans Am again. A paint job is about all you need to make it look good again. The interior needs cleaning, but that's about it.

And I LOVE seeing your hood up on its own... Nice work!