BANDITCAR

Sweet Mary, I love black wheels! Looks great!

It's actually the same size as a single filter CAI, it just has split for another filter. I just like how it looks better than the single. I'm not worried about performance with this as most times the gains are not significant. I just wanted a CAI that looked good and filled up the front of the engine bay. It is by no means a Short Ram, the filters sit in front near where the OEM was. This is a modified dual on a Solstice Made to come even further down into the grill. Here's the single CAI setup The single just leaves too much open area for me. Tru dat! Local GXP owner just had it sitting in his garage for a year after he put an aftermarket exhaust on and didn't want to sell it, so listed it for Free, Pick up only. I pm'd him immediately and told him I'd take it! ahha. Now it's been sitting in my Garage for about 6 months waiting for me to polish it.

No, I didn't order the lower valance as of yet. I found out that Fujita discontinued this dual filter set up and only what suppliers have left will be able to be bought. So thats getting purchased first. The valance will come from GM parts direct cause there really isn't a cheaper place to get it and it runs around $300 Plus, the GXP exhaust I had gotten for free I wanted to completely polish it before I put it on, so that's gonna take some time too. haha

So I came upon this in a thread over at the Solstice forums and once I saw it I knew I had to have it for my 2.4L. Just have to wait for next payday and it is goin on. I figure I won't gain much from it, but it will dress up the engine bay by getting rid of all those plastic silencers. This with the GXP exhaust I have waiting to go on...with maybe some headers down the line. I think I'll be good.

Worth the wait...Seeing all that Black and Gold on a Pontiac is just how its supposed to be! Love the wheels! The red interior lighting accents are perfect. Gotta match the stock interior colors pretty well.

Arrgh, I can't see the pics at work! I'll have to check it out when I get home and believe that I will, after all these comments.

Thanks for all the kind comments guys. You know how it is...always a work in progress. You add something you take something away. Crimson, dude...I about fell outta my chair laughing when I saw that pic. Killiger, The T/A came with a completely bare LS1. No nothing to it as far as looks. I felt the need to dress the engine to the outlandish degree to go with the exterior of the car. After all, Trans Am has always been about, "hey look at me!" haha

Great Looking G5. In my neck of the woods, G5's are very rare. I've only seen a handful and none of them were past stock. Yours is very well done and I love the Black accents to the Red. Makes me think that it would be something that Darth Maul would sport. Kudos!

Looks like a four-eyed fire breathing demon with those lights on! Really sweet. Keep that Black shiny, I know how tough it can be.

In 1998, I saw the "Hungry" commercial for the new Trans Am and I fell in love. Up to that time I had been saving for down payment on a new Corvette, but with the menacing presense of the new T/A...I decided to go where my heart has always been, with Pontiac. So on August 15th, 1999 I had a Brand New Black Trans Am delivered from Texas to a dealership in Baton Rouge. My only "must haves" for the car were it had to be Manual Transmission and had to have Chrome wheels. I figured, if you get a Trans Am..you gotta get a Black Trans Am! So that is what I got. This was my first Brand new Pontiac, but was far from being my Last. At the time in 1999, WS6's were hard to come by, so I was okay with getting a "sleek beak" T/A and eventually adding the hood. After getting the car I became part of the online LS1 community and started to learn so much about what it meant to have these cars. Please forgive the quality of the photos. These were taken with 35mm before I had a digicam and before I learned how to take a good shot, haha. "The Bandit" Stock Modifications Exterior After having the car for a year with no changes I got the idea in my head to do my own version of a "Bandit" or "SE" Trans Am. Since I had a 1999, which was the 30th Anniversary of the T/A, I decided to use the design of the Anniversery Edition as a starting point. Joining the SE and 30th together to make my own Special Edition. A Black and Gold 30th, which I was able to become an honorary member of the 30th club with. haha Started out by painting the "Trans Am" on the doors and the "Bird" on the front plate a nice metallic gold. From there I purchased and had painted a Suncoast Creations WS6-style hood. Once the hood was installed I got a local sign shop to apply the "30th-style" stripes that I also purchased from Suncoast Creations. S.C. was the only company at the time offering the strip package and you could get it in Two colors just like the actual 30th stripes. Suncoast at the time also offered a "WS7" badge that you could purchase with the hood to take the place of where the WS6 badge would go. Then, working with the sign shop I had them duplicate the "30th" badges for the door and wheel centercaps. The last touch I wanted to do was cover the Red "Trans Am" lettering and "Phoenix" with Black vinyl so I could overlay it with the lettering and a correct style bird in Gold. Interior I felt I needed to do something with the interior so I had some custom floormats made. Black with "Trans Am" in Gold embroidery from Lloyds. (no pic) Also added a Real Carbon Fiber dash overlay kit. Firsts The very first car show I entered was in 2001 at Autozone, called Muscle Car Madness. It was a spectator voted show and I ended up winning in the "Best of Show" class. Bonus Pics Sadly, I no longer have my first Trans Am. But I was able to trade it in on my Dream Trans Am. The very Last Special Edition Trans Am to come from Pontiac, the 2002 Collector Edition Trans Am WS6.

Gotta love the LS1! I guess I'm a little biased, but 2004 was my favorite Goat.

Really like all the accent work done to the car with the Red. Some others mentioned White rims for the car...I would say Black, with a Red lip would be awesome. Hope to see more progression soon once you work things out.

Always had a thing for Silver Grand Am's with dark tint. Look so good! Keep it up!

Really like the new wheels, they look reminiscent of Z06 wheels. Looking forward to seeing them on the G6

So much great work done I don't know where to start! The latest hood stripe you have is awesome. Love that it looks so stealth and that matte black is popular right now. The lighting and audio are clean and well done. Looks great. Great job on the calipers and nice rotors...really helps clean up the wheel well. Finally the engine with that CAI really sets it off. Oh and congrats on your awards....the first of many I'm thinking.

Thanks! Yup, just a vinyl decal. I thought heat might be a problem but it isn't.

On May 17th, 2008 I participated in a Dealer carshow in Slidell, LA. The Brian Harris Custom Car show held at the Pontiac Buick GMC Dealership. During the show I was walking around the building and I spied where they put all the lot cars. A long line of about 8 Solstices sat lined up in various colors and appointments. There was a salesman talking to another attendee and letting him "try one on for size". After they talked he asked me if I would like to take one out, I said an emphatic, "YES" and he went to get the keys to a 08 Brazen GXP with manual. I took it out and fell in love. I had to have one. But, I wanted to have it the way I wanted one. So I had to order one. I spent the next few weeks doing research and found that waiting for the 2009 model year would be ideal since so much optional equipment would be standard, like Limited Slip and Stabilitrak. As well as a new Wheel design for the 2009 model year. So on June 28, 2008 I went back to Brian Harris Autoplex and placed the order for my 2009. The only choices that had to be made were color and A/C. I didn't want any other options because I wanted as close to a "Bare Bones" roadster as I could get without sacrificing comfort for those Hot Louisiana Summers. I chose Aggressive for the color since I felt that my first Roadster should be Red. I then waited for the Build and Delivery. Chief was Built on July 23rd, 2008 and Delivered to me on September 12th, 2008. "Chief Sideswipe" Pick Up Day I had requested from the Dealer that all the plastic and shipping protection be left on the car for delivery to me. I wanted to be the one to pull it all off and give the car its first detail. Modifications Appearance My first mod and probably cheapest was a "stubby" antenna. Just a black screw cap over the antenna post. I didn't install the antenna since I was gonna use XM only and my mp3 player. My next mod was to take care of what some call "annoying". The Airbag warning light on the top section of the dash. I found ASAP designs made a cover plate for it and ordered one. Before and After My next two modifications deal with cleaing up the appearance of the Wheel area. Specifically the Rotors and the Calipers. Didn't want to change out anything yet so just decided to paint. I wanted to keep the look of the modification simple and something that you might see come from the factory. So I stuck with Silver and Black. Front and Back Rotors Before and After Calipers with Caliper Decal Custom Floor Mats from Lloyds Sticking with my theme of keeping things looking like they came from the factory and my color theme of Red, Silver and Black. Mechanical My first mechanical mod was just a mod of convenience. The trunk on the Solstice can only be opened by either the button in the Glove Box or on the Key fob remote. Since I don't have power locks I didn't get a remote fob so the only way I open it is in the glove box. The main thing was that when you "pop the trunk" the lid didn't come up as far as I wanted it to. I figured that it should open all the way and I discovered that someone else had thought the same and came up with a simple solution of adding a certain spring to the hinges. So I added the spring and now instead of the lid popping up 4 inches, it raises all the way to the open position by itself Video of Trunk Assist Spring Performance Not a lot has been done performance wise since this is my Daily Driver, I am trying to keep it stock for now. Only upgrade has been a Drop-In K&N filter Bonus Pics Yes, it snows in Southern Louisiana! ahah

My LS1 as it is right now Fuel Rail Covers were the first thing I had done in 2002. From there I added some acrylic mirrored pieces to the underside of the hood. Added some polished covers for the PCM, fuse boxes and battery. Most recently was finally adding the air lid which I painted myself to get the look I wanted. Added various production number decals and an LS1 head plate and some chrome wire loom for the shows. My Solstice's Ecotec 2.4 Completely Stock engine and compartment.

Welcome to the Board! I would comment on your G6, but images are blocked here at work so I will have to check it out when I get back to mi casa. keep it shiny!

Welcome! Glad to have you here and can't wait to see more pics of the build.

Welcome Frosty!! Great googley moogley that is a B-E-A-Utiful Bird. Just like you, Smokey and the Bandit influenced my love for the Trans Am and I think that everyone should own a Black and Gold T/A at some point in their life! Keep it shiny!

Black cars got to have Love...I know how it is to take care of that Black. I used to carry a California car duster with my 99 and before I went somewhere, I would dust it. When I got where I was going, I would dust it. When I was going to leave....I would dust it! ahha. Those calipers are hard to "stumble" on but I will keep an eye peeled.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! I really do love my Pontiacs and plan on keeping them forever and hopefully adding more to the flock. I will take some time and do progression threads. I have tons of pics to use and lots of things that I have done so It might take some time to put together, but its now on my list. Thanks for having such a cool site to talk Pontiac and not just be model specific.

I agree, the 5 spoke were definitely the right decision for the Grand Am. Always liked the Grand Am's in Silver and also in Metallic Green. Good luck with getting the G8...The last great Pontiac.

Thanks for the welcome! My solstice is the base 2.4 liter. I ordered it with only one option, A/C. No power options at all...not even cruise control or electric locks. I wanted it to be a Bare Bones Roadster. heh heh, I knew that. Just makin a little joke The Vikings v. Saints game was one HELLUVA GAME! I think I almost died during it. hahah