New Trans Am to the community! My first F-Body!

**fastls1ta** · 12-16-2012, 05:08 PM

Well everyone, the search is over! After a 9hr trip to Kansas City, Missouri for graduation and looking at a car, I’ve finally found my first F-Body!

I am a proud owner of a Bright Green Metallic 1998 Trans Am. *Applause…the community goes wild!*

There are only 98 Trans Am with this color made, and Pontiac never brought it back. So…please help me welcome “Jade” to the F-Body club!

Exterior:

The body of the car looks really good and clean. There are some fades/nicks on the weather strips, but that is expected for a 14 year old car. After winter, I planned on replacing all the weather strips.

Interior:

The inside of the car is “immaculate” compared to other cars I have looked at! Haha. The leather is in good condition. The only issue is the head liner/ visors. There are some rips/saggy spots; Nothing to major though. I have already called a few upholstery shops for some rough estimates. Within a few weeks I will have the headliner redone.
The visors have some tears in the liner and are starting to crack. I can get “new” visors on eBay for around $50-$100.

Engine:

The engine sounds are runs mechanically well. I drove the car all the way from Kansas City to Ohio. She purred all the way! The engine/bay is dirty. I have an appointment this week to get the car detailed. The will clean/degrease the engine bay and make it look as “new” as possible.

There is a small issue with the high beams. One, they do not work, and two, the high beam light is on the dash. The car is going to the mechanic tomorrow for a tune up, and to see if any/all belts need replaced, so I will find out what the issue is.

I am going to make a mod log for this car in the "Show your car off forums" so check back often for any updates!

Enough with all the talking…time to introduce you to Jade!

**fastls1ta** · 12-16-2012, 05:09 PM

Engine:

**fastls1ta** · 12-16-2012, 05:10 PM

**pajeff02** · 12-16-2012, 06:31 PM

Looks like a clean car in great shape. Engine bay should clean up fine with a little elbow grease. Take a look at your radiator hoses -- almost looks like the hose directly under the intake bellows is bulging in front of the hose clamp (second post - sixth pic).

**fastls1ta** · 12-16-2012, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by pajeff02

Looks like a clean car in great shape. Engine bay should clean up fine with a little elbow grease. Take a look at your radiator hoses -- almost looks like the hose directly under the intake bellows is bulging in front of the hose clamp (second post - sixth pic).

Thanks!

Good eye, I didn't even notice it. When I take the car to the local mechanic tomorrow, I will mention it to him. I'll let you know what he finds.

**35th-ANV-SS** · 12-16-2012, 08:15 PM

Congrats. Glad you finally found one you liked.

**Knight** · 12-17-2012, 03:16 AM

Very nice!

**fastls1ta** · 12-17-2012, 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by Knight

Very nice!

Thanks!

**fastls1ta** · 12-17-2012, 07:13 AM

I fixed the high beam light on the dash issue. Someone recommended I hold down on the steering wheel while I turn of the high beams. Sure enough, the light turned off (on the dash), and the fog lights came on!

Also, I dropped the car off at the local mechanic today for a complete inspection and possible tune up. I will update you with his findings when I find out.

***SMWS6TA*** · 12-17-2012, 08:02 AM

Congrats, glad to see you picked this one up. Pics look much better then the ones you showed me.

So.......any plans yet?

**fastls1ta** · 12-17-2012, 09:48 AM

Thanks!

My wife ordered me the SLP Loudmouth 1 exhaust! I should have it this week!

**fastls1ta** · 12-17-2012, 10:13 AM

What do you all think about this hood? The seller/shop is local.

Fiberglass 98 02 Firebird Trans Am Superhawk Hood | eBay

***SMWS6TA*** · 12-17-2012, 11:16 AM

not sure, I don't see a shop name that made it.

This is what I plan on getting. VFN WSQ Hood

**fastls1ta** · 12-17-2012, 11:20 AM

These hoods look nice!

After thinking about it, I am going to concentrate on the car detail and headliner replacement first.

***SMWS6TA*** · 12-17-2012, 01:01 PM

smart move, work on making it a solid car first.

Besides a few mild bolt on's wait and research what you want to do.

You have so many options. DD/show/street/track or any combo.

Me personnally I'd stick with show with a touch of a few street mods.

Reason being that you have one hell of a rare car. SLP Air Lid, headers, LS6 intake, P&P TB and a couple of wire hide mods to clean up the engine bay, a couple of suspension pieces along with some nice wheels will give it a nice look.

Some will say swapping the hood for another will take away from the form of the car, me meh....ram air hoods look so much better and this is coming from someone that has a slick beak (non-ram air hood) for the moment.

Also don't get stuck on just SLP products. Opinions range on the quality of what is good and what is crap. Their air lid, line locks and to some LM I is a good muffler (if you can stand the drone on long trips) other then that opinions get pretty negative.

**fastls1ta** · 12-17-2012, 02:09 PM

Well, the mechanic was unable to get to my car today. The two cars he was working on, the owners wanted everything repaired (which he was not expecting them to do today). The car is going to the detail shop first thing in the morning, then going back to the mechanic for him to look at it on Wednesday.

The driver side headlight is making the grinding noise when it closes. Is this the gear that everyone is buying? 1993 2002 Firebird Trans Am Aluminum Headlight Motor Repair Gear Kit 544008 | eBay

**fastls1ta** · 12-17-2012, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by SMWS6TA

smart move, work on making it a solid car first.

Besides a few mild bolt on's wait and research what you want to do.

You have so many options. DD/show/street/track or any combo.

Me personnally I'd stick with show with a touch of a few street mods.

Reason being that you have one hell of a rare car. SLP Air Lid, headers, LS6 intake, P&P TB and a couple of wire hide mods to clean up the engine bay, a couple of suspension pieces along with some nice wheels will give it a nice look.

Some will say swapping the hood for another will take away from the form of the car, me meh....ram air hoods look so much better and this is coming from someone that has a slick beak (non-ram air hood) for the moment.

Also don't get stuck on just SLP products. Opinions range on the quality of what is good and what is crap. Their air lid, line locks and to some LM I is a good muffler (if you can stand the drone on long trips) other then that opinions get pretty negative.

I agree in regards to the Ram Air hood. They do look awesome.

From the research I have done, people either like or hate the SLP LM1 exhaust. Myself on the otherhand, love the way it sounds (and how loud they are). I told myself, if/when I get my car, I want it to sound loud and mean! As this is not going to be a daily driver, only weekend pleasure I don't see the extreme "loudness" bothering me...Although, anything is possible, but I highly doubt it!

**fastls1ta** · 12-18-2012, 03:03 PM

I don't even know where to begin! I am AMAZED with the cleaning job the detail shop did with the car...especially the engine/engine bay. The car looks much better and this was well worth $150! Most of all the minor surface scratches are completely gone. There is some rust on a few parts in the engine area and bolts. I need to find out how to clean the rust, but I will replace the rusted bolts. The interior of the car looks even better. The leather seats have someone of a softer feel to them now, but I need to keep using leather lotion to make them even softer.

To show you the quality and detail the shop did, I parked the car in the exact same spot (as the originaly pictures I took), used the same camera and settings, and took the pictures in the same time frame (maybe + or - 10 minutes difference).

The car is at the mechanic shop now, so tomorrow, I will let you know what he says!

On with the show...Here is Jade!