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1986 Trans AM Progression


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:welcomeFP: wow. thats gonna need a bit of work. cant wait to see the first stage of complete.

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The only thing I don't like is that they are 15 inches :rofl: the Vibe has 18 inches stock

You have the GTA wheels on that bad boy, as far as the 3rd gen enthusiasts likings, you have quite the desirable set of wheels. The biggest you can go is 16", anything else will just look odd and out of place. Honestly, those Formula wheels are a step back in style if you ask me, they'll take away from the Trans Am look. If you really want to be different, look for some C4 wheels, they have the same offset IIRC, and I don't see too many 3rd gens with C4 wheels. :welcomeFP:

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I would agree keep the honeycomb rims, thats the stock ones most people want.

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Well, one way or another, it's going to need new rims as the ones on it now are curb rashed to hell... I would go as far as saying dented, and my reason for the 16" Turbo rims is this...

Trans-am3.jpg

...that would be me, bad pic I know, this was my dad's 1985 Trans AM... I was in love with this car (480 something hp's), but sadly, it was stolen by kids who wanted to go on a joy ride... the frame was twisted and the TA was replace with a C4 Vette... which was replaced by a C6 Vette, which was totaled, and replaced by another C6 Vette... wanna see some sad photos? (don't have any crash photos of the TA)

Vette2.jpg

Vette.jpg

which was not 2 weeks after this....

VibeCrash1.jpg

DSCF0722.jpg

No drivers were harmed in the crashing of these cars.

Getting back on topic, my Trans AM is like a tribute to my dad's long gone Trans AM... hence the text in my sig.

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I'd look into a rim repair shop. They can refinish the wheels back to new. Whether you keep them on the T/A or not, they are both valueable, and desirable. So I'd invest in repairing them. Just sayin' :lol2:

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' date='Mar 17 2010, 07:22 PM' post='17642']

I'd look into a rim repair shop. They can refinish the wheels back to new. Whether you keep them on the T/A or not, they are both valueable, and desirable. So I'd invest in repairing them. Just sayin' :lol2:

:lol2: Those honey combs are the tits!! I love those wheels!!!

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that totaled the vette? Doesn't look all that bad

I think they total it out at 70% of the value, they stopped at $30,000...

It hit a guard rail around 50mph after it hydroplaned. The back clipped the guard rail first which sent it into a spin then the front hit... there was frame damage as you can see, the bumper was crushed in. The battery might have been damaged or the wires came undone as OnStar was no help.

Vette4.jpg

Vette3.jpg

Vette5.jpg

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' date='Mar 18 2010, 12:30 AM' post='17696']

Did you strip it of useful parts? I know the 4th gen F-body guys would pounce on those C6 wheels in a heartbeat.

Nope, even a trashed C6 is way out of my price range... my dad's not really into parting out... but if you can afford it, it sure does pay well.

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Damn, if you couldn't have grabbed the motor and trans and those wheels, you would have one hell of a set up in your car man. But oh well. I'm not going to agree with everyone here about the honeycomb wheels. I kinda like the turbo wheels, it would be different.

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  • 2 months later...

Just a quick update, I just noticed that there is no coolant in the car, just a very small amount of water in the reservoir, the reservoir itself is also nasty on the inside (might have to get a new one)... which I have to scratch my head at, as I was well aware of a leak... the fluid was red which I thought would be coolant, now I'm thinking it maybe tranny fluid?

...If I ever find the PO, bodily harm... that's all for now.

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Whoa, that doesn't sound too good.

Sounds like a good ol' fashioned coolant flush is needed. Prestone sells different types of flush formulas. Most Autozone, and other part stores have them.

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' date='May 21 2010, 12:37 AM' post='26088']

Whoa, that doesn't sound too good.

Sounds like a good ol' fashioned coolant flush is needed. Prestone sells different types of flush formulas. Most Autozone, and other part stores have them.

Do I need any special kind of coolant, or is it a one size fits all?

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I know I touched on this earlier, but I wanted to post the full story of why I got my POS T/A..

On the Third Gen site, there's a topic that asks why the members got their Third Gens, here's my answer...

I've been meaning to post here for a while, so sorry for the long post...

Like others, my story starts with my dad and his new 3rd gen. It was a black 1985 T/A beast with about 480hp. He had all kinds of mod done to it, stealth ram, a 350 replaced the 305, sub frame connectors... He'd take me to Bradenton Motorsports Park every Friday night, I was always disappointed if we missed just one week of the drag strip. I loved watching that car go... (I have some videos of it, I'll have to get it converted and posted up).

I have so many memories in that car...

I can remember being around the age of 6 or so and being as sick as a dog, my dad drove me around in the T/A going from doctor to doctor trying to get me looked at (I was either too young or not one of their patient).

I also remember being in 3rd grade and telling all the boys that my dad's Trans AM could kick their dad's car's butts.

My dad use to call me wheel girl, (on the account of I was really too short when I was little to reach anything else) I was in charge of cleaning the wheels every Saturday morning.

Then in March of 1999, when the Citrus Park Mall open in Tampa, someone stole my dad's Trans AM... they took it out joy riding, the cops saw them, when to pull them over, but the teens driving the car took off. They decided to go off-roading , and in Knight Rider style, they hit a ditch, went airborne and landed. In landing they twisted the frame, totaling my dad's prize car. The kids got away... I hated them when I was 10 and I still do.

Trans-am1.jpg

Trans-am2.jpg

Trans-am3.jpg

(yes, that's me and yes that is a mullet)

Ever sense I wanted one of my own, it just fit. I decided to get one when I was passed by a gray Trans AM one morning and I couldn't take the smile off my face... So, about a year of looking I found this POS...

DSCF2237.jpg

DSCF2324.jpg

DSCF2234.jpg

DSCF2314.jpg

Even with the rust holes, crappy wiring, and trap door 'mod', I love this damn car... every time I see it, I smile and that makes it worth it. This is my secret tribute to my dad's '85 T/A.

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  • 4 weeks later...

So, took out what ever it was sitting in the coolant overflow...

PICT0549.jpg

PICT0550.jpg

So, I changed out all the spark plugs and wires (waiting on a timing light), as well as a broken O2 sensor, and radiator cap. I changed out the driver's side headlight motor, and no dice... it still won't go up, but it will go down.

Now once we got everything put back together we started it up. The car ran poorly, the check engine light came on then turned off, the exhaust smoked like crazy, which it hadn't before, I had to feather the gas to keep it from stalling out. The car also made a ticking noise at idle that went away when I revved the engine. After the car was shut off smoke began to come out of the engine bay, I open the hood and and found smoke coming from under the engine on the driver's side. The spark plug wires were checked and none were touching anything hot. Any ideas?

I just found out how to get the code of the check engine light for older cars, so I'll get that tonight.

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ya. that definitely looks nasty.

i would check that CEL and see if that could be your cause of the smoke or could lead you to the cause of the smoke. that might be your best bet. well... i dont know too much about these cars as well so i can't really say much myself.

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mmmmmmmmmmmm Publix water...

As a slave of Publix, I feel it is my duty to tell you that I switched out the Publix water with some from Sweetbay. :P

Viva La Publix!

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