1980 Trans Am. Childhood dream car.

[AR Stang]

By the luck of a coworker needing a rear end out this 1980 Trans Am for his Camaro I will be getting the car from him in a month and I am as giddy as a kid about it. The reason this car means so much to me is my dad had one when I was a kid. I remember being about 4 years old in the front seat with the t-tops off, and us goofing off in a parking lot. His was gray, and this one will be too. It is the only memory I have of him that is car related before he had a stroke and was unable to walk and barely speak before he died some years later.

It will be a long project for me, but the memory with it will be worth it, and I will get to make new memories in it down the line. I am thinking Magnetic or Dark Shadow Gray for paint, 1978 front end swap, black screaming chicken, engine undecided, 17 inch snowflake wheels color matched to car, and manual trans. Here are a couple pictures he got for me as it sits on his trailer.

 

[waylander]

wish you well with this project

 

[weather man]

Good luck man!

 

[Johnf78]

I always loved those cars. My first car was a 1980 Trans Am. It had a God awful 301 in it, I put a 454 in it and it woke it right up. Unfortunately the rest of the car didn't appreciate the added HP and TQ... Lol

Good luck with the car and I look forward to seeing the progress.

 

[AR Stang]

Thanks all!

I always loved those cars. My first car was a 1980 Trans Am. It had a God awful 301 in it, I put a 454 in it and it woke it right up. Unfortunately the rest of the car didn't appreciate the added HP and TQ... Lol

Good luck with the car and I look forward to seeing the progress.

Luckily this is a blank slate for me. No motor/trans with it so I get to go whatever route I want and throw whatever I need to at it to make sure it appreciate's it. My buddy is trying to get me to go the LSx route with it. I like the idea, but it is not set in stone yet. I have plenty of time to decide on that. I just look forward to weekends in the garage with my future step kid teaching her how to work on this stuff.

 

[R1V3R5]

Always partial to those. Good luck with the build. Please keep us posted!

Sent from my 6045I using Tapatalk

 

[stkjock]

Our a 5.8l mod motor in it and piss off the Pontiac purists. Good luck

 

[AR Stang]

Our a 5.8l mod motor in it and piss off the Pontiac purists. Good luck

I don't mind pissing purists off one bit, but I have a few motors in the garage already if I wanted to do that, but none of them Ford or GM. I have an rv 440, a 1969(iirc) HP440, and a little 318 that came out of my old Dart. One is destined to be a coffee table, the other I will build and put in a duster when I find one I like, and the HP will find its way into a charger or challenger years from now.

 

[Jason09GT]

Ls based 427, t56, viper steel gray, with the polished 20" snowflake reproduction wheels. Not quite pro-touring styling, but modern flair on a nostalgic platform.

Best of luck with it! Start a thread, I know everybody wouldbe interested in watching.

 

[tjm73]

6.0 LS.

 

[46Tbird]

My dad took me home from the hospital in his new Trans Am. This one had the "real" Pontiac 400 (the Olds 403 was also offered).

Later, he had a gray '81 Turbo Trans Am. The '78 was a faster car but I always liked that cool offset scoop hood of the Turbo T/As.

I'm partial to them for a lot of the same reasons you are. Good luck with it!

 

[Johnf78]

My dad took me home from the hospital in his new Trans Am. This one had the "real" Pontiac 400 (the Olds 403 was also offered).

Later, he had a gray '81 Turbo Trans Am. The '78 was a faster car but I always liked that cool offset scoop hood of the Turbo T/As.

I'm partial to them for a lot of the same reasons you are. Good luck with it!

That's an awesome picture. Pretty cool.

 

[IndyEric]

When I was a kid my uncle used to race against his friends formula 400, pretty cool car. He had a 64 1/2 red 289 4v convertible. It was always a close run

 

[GallopingFord]

Very cool! My vote is LS3.

 

[MGT2009]

Stroked 455 based pontiac.

 

[waylander]

Stroked 455 based pontiac.

if you're going to go big... go BIG

 

[thundr306]

Always loved these cars.

I vote for a grand national 3.8 swap.

 

[AR Stang]

Love all the replies and personal stories with older cars. He knows I am itching to bring it home. Even offered to help him swap the rear ends out on the thing so it can be done sooner. Hopefully I have it at my place, and starting to work on in the next couple weeks.

 

[TGR96]

That is one of my dream cars as well. I hope to have one someday. Congrats on picking this one up!

But you are a danged fool if you don't paint it black with the gold decals. Bandit FTW!

 

[VA Raptor]

Good luck with the project! I wish I had luck finding the car my mom had when I was little. But, even if I did find one the sticker shock would ruin it for me most likely. It was a 1970 Hemi Cuda in Plum Crazy purple that she sold for $3,500 in late 1979 when I was 5. I can still remember her telling me to hold on tight, while sitting in the front seat with a lap belt on, when she used to race people to the speed limit from stoplights.

Needless to say I have a hard time watching Mecum and Barrett Jackson auctions.