My Free TA

[syco67]

Hello All, just signed up. Thought I would give a little history before I start hitting you guys with questions. I have never had an F-body before, I have always been mostly a ford guy, but by no means am I hardcore, I love all cars, I have always been tempted to try and trade one of my cars for my friends F-body. My best friend has always had a TA, firebird, or camaro. Well my friend just got stationed in Hawaii, and when the axle went out on his 82 TA, he didn't have the time to repair it and get it to the dock, so he gave it to me. I plan on fixing it up real nice and giving it back to him should he return. It's an 1982 Trans Am with a rebuilt 350/350 combo, it has a long tube headers, an I think a weiand intake. He also left me a spare disc brake equipped axle from an 84 TA to swap onto the car. He already found a cowl hood for it, and swapped a 1990 front bumper cover on to it. I am pretty excited about the car, and look forward to working on it. It's still on my flatbed right now, I haven't had much chance to go through it. I will try to get some pics up eventually.

Later,
Dan

[Steel2686]

Are you keeping the car or planning on returning it to him? That will make a diference in how much you would want to dump into it.

[syco67]

It depends, he wants to return in 3 years, but is not sure if he can. He said he would send me some money to help, and reimburse me for whatever I put into it if he does come back. I would love to have him come back, but it's also nice having his car.

[Steel2686]

In my opinion, I would put just enough into it to get it running nice. Take it slowly. You can always add mods as you drive it. This way, you can feel what you think the car needs (top end, bottom end, suspension, etc...).

Just my '02

[TraceZ]

In my opinion, I would put just enough into it to get it running nice. Take it slowly. You can always add mods as you drive it. This way, you can feel what you think the car needs (top end, bottom end, suspension, etc...).

Just my '02

I agree... restoration first, then mods. One thing that always bothers me is when I see a car that is modded up and in terrible shape. I look at the problems and ask myself why the owner spent money on mods when the windshield is cracked, the seats are torn and the paint is shot.

[Steel2686]

I agree... restoration first, then mods. One thing that always bothers me is when I see a car that is modded up and in terrible shape. I look at the problems and ask myself why the owner spent money on mods when the windshield is cracked, the seats are torn and the paint is shot.

Exactly. There are far too many thrid gens out there in rough shape. As Tracy stated, they always seem to have some kind of mod to go with their half primered body and mismatched wheels.

If you bring that T/A back to original first, you'll have something rare... a clean third gen.

[syco67]

The car isn't in too bad a shape right now, the interior was recently redone, fresh upholstry and all, other than the axle, it needs a speedo cable, some suspension bushings, and a paint job. Car is currently silver with a white hood and a black nose.

[TraceZ]

The car isn't in too bad a shape right now, the interior was recently redone, fresh upholstry and all, other than the axle, it needs a speedo cable, some suspension bushings, and a paint job. Car is currently silver with a white hood and a black nose.

My recommended course of action would be replacing the speedo cable, all the suspension bushings and then getting it repainted.

You might decide to replace some of the other suspension stuff while you are doing the bushings, like better anti-sway bars and control arms.

How is the hardware in the front end? Ball joints? Idler arm? Tie rod ends? Does it allign strait?

Are the shocks and struts in good shape?

[syco67]

It's got some play in the wheel, probably go with new everything on the front end. Another nice thing about the 84 axle, is it has a much bigger swaybar attached to it than the 82 currently has. When I saw the swaybar currently on the 82, I thought it was some kind of cable because it was so small.

[Steel2686]

Never hurts to rebuild the front-end on a car of that age. It's a good move. Is there any rust on the car? Check the whole thing over for rust or rot before going too crazy. If it turns out nice, forge ahead with the suspension rebuild and throw a coat af paint on it as Tracy said. You'll have a nice driver at that point.