What did you do with your Trans Am today?

I fixed the damn window for now on the drivers side. The front of the glass kept dropping about an inch. So after going over it for about 20 mins I found the issue. One of the fiberglass hole that the motor is mounted to has elongated, more like it's eating the hole longer. So after some thought I grabbed an aluminum shelf that I was going to shit can and cut out a few square pieces. I then drilled out the rivet on the motor and then ran a bolt with some locktite on the nut and attached it to one of the square pieces. Next having my son hole the glass in the right place I drilled 2 holes in opposite corners and then rivet them to the fiberglass. After a few tests of opening and closing the window it no longer moves. I also had to do the same for that one screw that holds the plastic plate that has the door handle and lock. That hole was stripped out as well. Old girl is starting to show her age....:sulk:


http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...psdze0biry.jpg



After I installed the panel back on I used the plastic piece to drill the hole so I know it was in the correct spot.
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps5fg57reo.jpg

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Originally Posted by kingls1

How is your passenger side visor? Mine is missing completely and would like to replace....I could help you with the purchase of plates if it's usable!

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It falls forward when the brakes are applied hard. I wouldn't dare sell them. The drivers side has cloth sag and they both are dog eared. If you would like to look at them on the next track day, or have them for a project, i'm sure something can be worked out.

I always tint my vehicles, and put decent sized sunvisor/eye brow tint strips on the windshields for that reason. OEM fold down sun visors annoy me, mostly the Trans Am because they sag down and block my view. As mentioned, hitting the brakes hard enough causes the passenger side one to fall. The main only use my car's visor has is it has my 3 best time slips from the track. I think they are more of a visibility hazard in my opinion. At least I can see though my visor is my thought. I've told a cop this before too :lol:. Here are a couple photos of my Trans Am with the sun visor inside an out.

http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/v...psnkflgavv.jpg http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/v...psnmcu5y0i.jpg

The difference is all on the inside. Since the windshield has a factory type sunvisor in the glass, 20% was used for the custom tint eye brow, comes right out to the 5% sunvisors I have on my other two vehicles. This photo somewhat shows the cloth sag my drivers side has, and how it is in the way of my view.
http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/v...psdmn3x2y6.jpg

I had mine done 3 something yrs ago. I now need to do the head liner.

How many miles on your 98 SMWS6TA?

She currently has 169,000ish miles but blew up the LS1 on Nov 2012.
Spent 9 months piece milling parts, then get back together only to spend 7 months chasing noises and found it had a rod bolt failure that killed the stock crank. So after another 4 months of part purchasing I get it together. Took it to get tune and had a list of issues plus broke my transmission. :growl: The last pull before it broke it pulled 450hp/445tq. My tuner had me get new injectors because the ones I had were a POS brand I took a risk on. My transmission turn out to be a minor issue. The 4th gear blocker ring cracked letting the gears move. $60 for the part $150 for labor it's like butter (also while it was down I did a stage 2.5 build, parts from Tick). So after getting LS3 injectors and some other stuff I go for another try at getting it Tune. This time with EPS. Geoff was great but still no tune. He gives me a list of possibilities that was better & cheaper for me to chase then paying him. So over New Years while relocating my MAP sensor I found that the back 5 bolts on my FAST intake where missing the nuts giving me an 8" vacuum leak.

So now it's I hope & pray is now ready to go back for tuning.

I've only put 6 miles since Nov 2012.

I should add that I also built my 8.8 rear during the first 12 months too.

Dang that's a lot of work and a lot of down time. Mine sat for 2 1/2 years before I was finally able to piece it together. It really was not by choice why it sat for so long but due to an Ex wife that loathed me putting any money into it...needless to say shes gone and the Trans Am is still around. I have only put about 3k miles on it since I rebuilt the transmission myself with help from a buddy of mine. I know shortly though that the fuel pump is going to go along with the rear and possibly some of the coil packs. I have a wicked steering issue right now that I have a few buddies trying to help me figure out. Starting to see this car as always down for something rather than getting to enjoy driving it.

SFC's are very simple to install, but you want to do it with the weight of the car on the suspension. The rear portion sandwiches the front lower control arm mount (only do one side at a time), the front bolts to a plate that you slide into an existing slot in the underbody (no drilling required), and the center bolts to the tunnel brace brackets.

http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/v...o/DSC05892.jpg

Well, its was sunny and around 80' here in good ol Maryland yesterday. A beautiful day to go out for a topless cruise in the TA on some back roads. I have about 20 miles of various twisties that I enjoy traveling on nice days. Most of the driving is just cruising looking at the trees around 30 mph and some is at a little more "spirited" speeds. I don't even turn on the radio. I just listen to the beautiful sounds of blower wine, blow off valve, exhaust notes and tire squealing. The old girl ran flawlessly. The only issue I had was some traction issues. I believe the rear tires have served their time, and its time for a new set. (the front tires still have the nipples on them. LOL) After all, it has been 3 years since I installed them. It may have something to do with the WOT pulls from a stop that has shortened the life of the rear tires. I wonder if Kumho will warranty a set of tires with less then 10,000 miles on them? LOL

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Originally Posted by pajeff02

SFC's are very simple to install, but you want to do it with the weight of the car on the suspension. The rear portion sandwiches the front lower control arm mount (only do one side at a time), the front bolts to a plate that you slide into an existing slot in the underbody (no drilling required), and the center bolts to the tunnel brace brackets.

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Good tip. Ready to do it next month? :)

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Originally Posted by RedFenix_68

Dang that's a lot of work and a lot of down time. Mine sat for 2 1/2 years before I was finally able to piece it together. It really was not by choice why it sat for so long but due to an Ex wife that loathed me putting any money into it...needless to say shes gone and the Trans Am is still around. I have only put about 3k miles on it since I rebuilt the transmission myself with help from a buddy of mine. I know shortly though that the fuel pump is going to go along with the rear and possibly some of the coil packs. I have a wicked steering issue right now that I have a few buddies trying to help me figure out. Starting to see this car as always down for something rather than getting to enjoy driving it.

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You gotta remember that these cars are about to qualify as "Antique" so you need to expect some issues to pop up.

Fuel Pump - can't recommend highly enough to get a Racetronix fuel pump. Very easy to install and a good base for most upgrades in power.

Wife/Ex-wife - I can't thank of any man that hasn't had or will have this issue.....:lol: My wife knows I never plan on selling mine, worked to hard to get it. Current argument is why it's not running right, trying to explain it needs to be tuned properly to her means more $$$ on top of the huge amount $$$ I've already spent. I'll send her to Panama in June to see her family so it will smooth over her ruffle feathers.

Coil Packs - Look for 5.3 truck coils, with a slight tune modification you reap a benefit from them, hotter spark and quicker firing from them. The Dim table needs to be updated in order to get full benefit. I picked up mine used for $75 for the whole set. I've seen as high as $200. :dunno:

Steering Issue - what's it doing?

I report to me, myself and I. Always have, always will! Maybe lol.

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Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS

I report to me, myself and I. Always have, always will! Maybe lol.

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Never married here... except to the car and bike.

Well my wife is fine with me doing whatever to my cars well more than fine lol actually she can't wait to go for a ride in mine when it's up.

My wife is as nuts about cars as I am. We both need counseling!

Yup same

You guys lost me at wife.

Well today my wife is going to help me put all the miscellaneous stuff I can on before installing my engine.

I haven't had any trouble with spending money, mostly because I save , sell stuff or do some side work to raise the funds so I take nothing from our family money. However she did bitch a little last fall when I bought drag radials just before winter. I told her don't blame me blame a 13.008 and Jeff for letting me use his track tires on our last trip to the Beaver as my goal was to hit the 12 second bracket. After that story she rolled her eyes and said ok....hahaha.... hey it worked I got the tires and went 12.7

Removed AIR/EGR yesterday!

Jeff! I shoulda read further! Those cowl seal pins are the suck!

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/w...8FC7EE52E4.jpg

Lots of "stuff" out of the way!

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/w...58D09F8A59.jpg

Freeze plug for now!

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/w...2E788FC000.jpg

Space...

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/w...8459B944D5.jpg

Impulse bling!

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/w...B5650EBF73.jpg

Today is jack the car up day!