chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

I know I told many of you I was going to save my money till I found the t-top 3rd Gen of my dreams and I am still on the look out for one. However, I started going through F-body withdrawals and just felt an emptiness in my life since I sold my white GTA. Last Thursday I spotted this black GTA at a park and sell down the street from me. I must say the paint scared me to say the least but it had a black interior which looked good through the window and looked 100% complete. I called the owner who was a lady and she met me Friday after work to look at it. I honestly thought if the car runs as good as it looks it will be a short meeting. After an extensive evaluation and a nice long test drive I was pleasantly surprised at how well it ran and the bolt-ons that were already on it. So an offer was made, accepted, and my cash and the title traded hands. What it is...
A 1990 Trans Am GTA, 5.7L 350 TPI, auto trans, Factory dual cat setup, PBR rear calipers, aluminum driveshaft, and all the regular GTA goodies. Some of the bolt on stuff includes the SLP runners, Edelbrock headers, Adj. FPR, and some other stuff I am still finding. Now for the bad, yes it needs paint as everyone can see, a little bit of body work in a few places, a new fiberglass spoiler, a water pump, a few other odds and ends. and oh yeah A/C!!! Since I am classifying it as a project car I come with a name. "Project Black Bird" The sweet part (in my opinion) According to gtasourcepage.com they only made 260 black GTA's in 1990 and only 153 with black leather interior. Considering this has both I am guessing that maybe 100 or less left the factory in this combination. Kinda rare but not really unique but it's all cool to me. I am not really sure if I am just going to get it up to par and paint it or possibly do a full resto on it. Anyway enjoy the pics and let me know what direction I should take on it. I am going to take a shot at documenting my progress on my own website www.hardwayracing.com Updates shall follow over the next few weeks.

Rabbitt

...
DUH
of course you should fully restore it! That car has some AWESOME potential! If you dont mind me asking, how much did you pay?

Klortho

Awesome, I just started a resto of an '87 that I picked up, but yours has way more parts than mine does. I bought basically a shell with no interior at all but that's going to change in the next few weeks.

Good luck with the project.

DonP

I know where another 1990 black/black GTA is - with me.

Mine has T-tops, is a 305 5 speed with dual cats. Mine is 100% original when I bought it, so far the only upgrade has been the aluminum drive shaft.

Even though it's stock, with 76K miles it is kick-*** fun to drive. Yes, leaky intake valves on startup.

1990's rule!

90firebird

if you start with a paint job, you'll have yourself a very nice looking car... this may motivate you to further restore the car over time, which i think you should definitly do. how many miles are on it?

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

A full resto was on my mind but since I would like to afford a house in the near future I think I am just going to get it running good, get it painted, and once I have a house and a garage really dig in to it and restore it. I am happy to hear everyone likes it. The car has right at 114K on it.

Jim Berry

What is the mop handle in the rear seats for?

The rear deck lid "assist" I assume?

Jim.

Rabbitt

hehe.. im restoring my Iroc... and my fiance and I just bought a house, so a lot of stuff got put on hold... 19 and i own a house.. what was i thinking

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

Thumbs up you to you Rabbitt. Your fiance is smart. A house gives you all kinds of financial and tax breaks but you are right, because of the cost alot of things get put on hold but you will make it. As far the mop handle it was used to hold the hood up. I now have new struts installed on the hood and hatch. It made for another bargaining tool.

kretos

nice score, what did it run you if you don't mind me asking?

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

I picked the car up for $1,800. Considering the tumbler has eaten my key and the VATS is all fubar'd I got my money's worth. When I bought it started and worked just fine! Once I get the column a part and fix the tumbler problems the car is getting a full tune up. I also picked up a flowmaster muffler for $20 from a friend of mine so that will be going on in the near future. I did the rear brakes on it this past weekend and I must say I love PBR calipers! They are so easy to work on. I will post more on my site as I do it.

sasser43

1800 was def worth it if it runs good. You should def do a full resto after you get settled down. Good luck with your house and everything cuz crap, im only 17 and i dont even want an actual girlfriend b/c i want to put my money from working into my car, not them. But its ok, my car picks up all the chicks anyways


Actually wait, most of them dont even know what the hell it is. "Is that a camaro?"

chevyguy1969

iTrader: (7)

Thanks for the compliments Sasser. Don't give up on the whole g/f idea just yet. There are girls out there who like and know about cars, they are just hard to find. Heck, my brother had a g/f who had a '67 Mustang and she would just dive right in and start wrenching with him. Never quite understood how that one got away.

Demon355

iTrader: (1)

I've had one girl think my GTA was a ferrari....

At any rate, you picked that up at a bargain man, good find! I wish I could get my hands on some SLP runners. Black on Black is awesome, and leather is just a bonus. Pure potential written all over that car dude, nice!

f355bird

iTrader: (2)

dude i hate you thats a nice find

sasser43

I havent, i have one. We've been dating for over 3 years so it makes it easier. We alternate on who pays. It works great. Too bad she isnt into cars tho...

Wind Charger

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I've had that happen more times than I can count in both my cars. The GTA I have a little more patience with, but the 86 has Trans Am written on the side. D'oh!

Cadillac

I'll give you 200 over what you paid for that car.



Restore it! You already have good start given the condition of that one! And Durnit! I used to live in Pflugerville... I coulda helped!

scribbles

dont worry bout the paint if you want a black one that is what the look like if they still have factory paint... on the black gta's they used a laquer top coat to make the paint look really good wen new.. and aftar bout 10-12 years they look like that.. i am in the middle of painting my 88 gta right now.. black two and it looked twice as bad.. and it was my dads and i know it was always stored in a garage.. just didint matter... sand all that stuff off though if you want the paint to stick... the lowist estimate here was almost 3,000$ so think bout doing it yerself... laters...

Pearl91GTA

Cant wait to look at it when its finished.. I just bought my gta in June and looking forward to start modding it. However i am keeping the stock wheels, but adding the superduty hood.

Demon355

iTrader: (1)

'91T/A, your car doesn't have a stock TH350 unless of course you swapped it in there...try 700R4

Pearl91GTA

The previous owner installed that trannywith a stall converter

Cadillac

DanTheMan_smlk

omg, i say "OH SNAP!!" all the time

now im kicking myself for not getting an 85-90 TA instead of a Gaymaro

Cadillac

I seriously like to kid the 'Maro owners here because in my opinion they just aren't as good as the Poncho.

When I return to reality however, I find out they are pretty close to being the same car and are just a beautiful.

Diggler86

that is a steal man... nice work.

put a fiberglass aerowing on it when you repaint it... its pricey but worth it in the long run if you plan on keeping the car.

ND4SPD86

iTrader: (1)

nice GTA I am in the middle of getting an 87 GTA at the moment to add to my collection.The GTA I am getting has a 305 but it has a five speed trans and digital dash. I am also in the middle of rebuilding my 86 Trans Am