83TransAmRECARO

everything looks awesome... Great Job so far...

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I had my dad hold up the whole thing while I worked on cutting through the sealant but I'm sure if you leaned it against something you could do it yourself. Plus, there is some adjustment if it doesn't line up with the sides of the quarter panel. If you remove the headliner and the plastic trim panel at the top, there are 4 bolts holding the entire hatch to the body. I believe that you can pull it back some by loosening those bolts and you may be able to get it to line up that way. Cars don't come perfect from the factory...all that stuff is made to have some adjustment to align panels. I'd give that a shot first. Good luck!

1985-f-bomb

yeah mine over laps as well, im redoing the interior over the winter so ill give that a try.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Today was a good day! Got my BMR torque arm and T56 crossmember and she's on all 4 wheels now! Ran into a very minor clearence issue that I'll take care of tomorrow. One of my brake line brackets is JUST touching the torque arm so I'll have to remove it and just move the brake line a half inch or so up. No big deal. Other than that, the BMR parts fit excellent as always, and man is that torque arm a beefy piece! Still have to drill the ground fx holes in my driver door since it's off a formula too.......and I never thought I'd say this, but I scheduled wednesday for bringing the car to the body shop!! Going to be making big progress soon so check back.

By the way, sorry for the dark pics! The suns starting to go down early over here unfortunately.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

And a few more...



Thats what the bumper looks like after getting soda blasted

LilJayV10

iTrader: (5)

Looking good man.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Couple shots I took today out in the driveway. It's the first time the cars been out in months! And looks like the paint is going to be thursday since my body guy is busy all afternoon on wednesday.

Heres another youtube vid as well of the progress...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FitugyhJBd8







Thought this was a cool shot of the suspension!

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Looking good... it'll definitely win some awards if I didn't say that already! lol.

krzyz

car is looking good

67 327/400

Very nice!

talover111

very nice!!! subscribing

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Well little bit of bad news. The body shop guy is giving me the run around. First I wanted to bring it wednesday but he had an appointment right after work that he had to leave early for. Then I wanted to bring it friday (tomorrow) but he said there will be too much rush hour traffic. Well I'm getting out of work at 3 to bring it to him by 5 and he's about 20 minutes away under normal circumstances. I don't see a problem but whatever. Now we have rain until next wednesday and if I get pushed back again, I will look elsewhere. This has got to get done soon and the car sitting in my garage for 2 weeks until he's ready doesn't work for me!

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

That sucks, if he really wants the business he ought to be bending over backwards for you. I'd take the car elsewhere before the rain. But NOT Autostar in Bristol!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

LOL thanks for the heads up. I was recommended to check out auto authority in ellington. I guess they do a lot of paint and fiberglass work for callaway corvettes. Apparently his pricing is very competitive too so I may give him a call and see what he says. A freind of mine has had 2 cars painted there and swears by them.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

VERY much anticipated news....I came to terms with the original paint guy and he appologized for his phone being down on Monday and we planned on getting it there for today (tuesday). Well me and my trusty buddy with the ford lightning towed it there and thats where it'll be for probably the next month. I'll be sure to stop by the shop every few days and snap some pics for you guys. Heres a few pics of the ride there.

Towing in style!



On the road. You should have seen the looks we were getting with this set up haha.

And this will be her home for the next month or so. I miss it already

Dante93GTZ

iTrader: (5)

Any idea if you're going to be wanting a hood with the paintjob?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

YES!! I already mentioned to you that I'd love for you to make one so I could get it since the car will be in paint. I'm only having the chassis and back parts painted for now and the front will be done once the engine goes in. I've got a few months to go but I'd love to get a hood if you decided to produce the heat extractor style everyones been talking about.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Been a long time since my last update. Unfortunately it's been a little slow due to the holiday season but the paint guy has been making some progress such as prepping and priming my rear bumper, ground fx, and gas door. He also filled in 3 wrong holes I drilled in the drivers door for the side ground fx, and he did an excellent job! (I used the pass side piece by mistake to drill the holes LOL!) He started to block the drivers door and rear quarter as well and said that other than a few dings in the door the whole car was exceptionally smooth, which is great news.

I also found a 91-92 style wrap around TA spoiler. I had to pick my trunklid up from the body shop to drill the holes for the new spoiler since the trunklid that came with it was junk and had a lot of rust. The holes came out absolutly perfect on my old one though and the spoiler sits 100% even on it. Heres a few pics and I will try to get some of the car when I drop this off to him. Hopefully it's orange soon!!



Here I had to oval a factory bolt access point and also use a 1 1/8" holesaw to make another one since the spoiler mounts in a different spot than the old one. The 2 existing holes will be filled in and smoothed over.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Lookin good RJ! Can't wait to see how a 91-92 spoiler looks on the earlier TAs.

ternandes

iTrader: (7)

Amen! I picked one up a while back for my 88 GTA, but I'll wait until the warm weather returns before I start tackling that project...

In the meantime, I'll be interested to see how this one turns out... one thing that comes up a lot is what do you do about the clips? They are different on the 91-92.

FueledSoul

iTrader: (18)

Looks awesome so far! i cant help but notice the 2 ton craftsman jack... i have the same, they sure don't make them like they use too! I wish i had soda blasted my bay back when i was doing mine it would have saved me so much time...

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Me either. Hopefully it looks good haha, but I can picture it in my mind and I think it will. I found one pic of it on my style TA and it looked great but the pic sucked.

I bought an entire trunklid so I'll be taking off the window side trim with the newer style clips I need and transfer them to my window since I want to stick with the 86 high brake light.

That jack is awesome. Never had a single problem with it and my father got it from his father so it's oooold. And no they definately don't make them like they used to!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Well, I have some great news for you all! Unfortunately no pics on this one, but I have been talking back and forth to the paint guy and he has made HUGE progress. At the middle of this week he said he was 100% done with body work. All he had left to do was put the polyfil primer on the car, block it, and then do a final thin white primer coat to brighten the orange paint. I just talked to him Friday afternoon and he said the car was sprayed with the polyfil, blocked to perfection, and then he said he was staying a little late tonight to get it in the thin white primer coat. Only step left is paint and clearcoat, so he is guessing I should have it back in about a week and a half!!

He told me to feel free to stop by and snap some pics at the beggining of next week so I will try to get you guys some shots of the progress. He understands that this will be a show car and he has been real excited to be a part of the project. Every time someone comes into the shop and starts asking about the car he told me he talks it up and start bragging about it lol. Nice to have someone working on it that really appreciates all the hard work I put into it. Stay tuned guys.....pics coming soon, I promise!

rogslayer

Wow, thats great news. I can't wait to see the pics, I bet she looks great.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Well I went and made a visit to the paint shop today and wow....car looks GREAT! He fixed every little dent and ding possible and the body crease lines are perfect. He even added a real nice factory looking seam sealer in the trunk area and door jambs as kind of a finishing touch just in case water tries to settle into the seams. I am extremely happy with his work so far and we always end up BSing about cars and drag racing when I Stop by.

He actually still owns his first car as well which happens to be a 1967 camaro. It's sitting in his barn and he said it'll be his retirement project. Back when he got it around when he was 15, his father worked for chevy and apparently got him all NOS GM original camaro quarters, fenders, hood, etc which he has stored for when he restores it......it's basically going to be a "brand new" 67 camaro when it's done!

Anyways, ebough blabbing, heres the progress shots!



Heres the new seam sealer

You can also see it in the 4 corners of the hatch are here too

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

And more...

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

And last but not least, thought this was a cool pic! It's a 70 challenger with a brand new 5.7 hemi swap and 6 speed tranny. The engines been converted from FI to a dual 4 barrel carb set up. This car was a DISASTER when he got it and he's been slowly bringing it back. As you can see in the pic, the rear quarters are what he has done so far and he's making his way up to the front. He said nothing lined up when he got it and he's been cutting and shimming a lot but it's getting there. Should be a real nice car when it's done!



Anyways, thats it for now. I asked him about a time-frame estimate and he said with Christmas coming and a few other things going on at the shop, it's looking like right after Christmas it'll be done. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but he's doing excellent work and I don't mind waiting.

jarretthise

Looks good man. Keep up the pics and updates. It'll b sweet when done.

sk8r fer life

awesome job so far. can't wait to see it done!

bob8703

cant wait to see this car painted. Great work on her man.

92_T-5

iTrader: (1)

nice thats where my dad got that color from , a prowler for his 86 elcamino

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Nice looking el camino....and good year too! LOL. And I am counting the days down for it to be done. It's been a looong time since the cars been all one color so I'm pretty excited to see it!

quickkris2006

iTrader: (2)

nice man i cant wait to have mine painted.. got a long while for that tho im just started my lt1 swap.. check out my build its in my sig

92_T-5

iTrader: (1)

sorry its a 87 , pretty much same . my dad painted a while back an restored the whole front end cuz i was almost totaled when he bought it lol cant wait to see that color for your TA

JBert

Is it done yet!!?!?

I want to come over and start wrenching!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

LOL should be done with paint after christmas I was told. As soon as it comes back, I have a WHOLE lot of re-assembly to do! I'm expecting that basically the entire car should be pretty much back together with the exception of the front fenders, bumper, and hood by early February.

When it's back from paint, your more than welcome to swing by and check it out!

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

I am really looking forward to seeing this car in color, beautiful build, looks fantastic!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

You and me both! By the way, your camaro looks beautiful in your sig. My brother had a 90 RS in maui blue. His wasn't as nice though, haha.

sailtexas186548

iTrader: (2)

hey man bad *** build, your really doing everything right

with that said, make SURE your front brake lines are not going to contact your calipers. I have the same c5 front brake conversion, and the same braided stainless lines that run from the hard line to the calipers, and i recently had one of my lines ripped off while i was driving. I was going slow so i got the car stopped so its ok but it was NOT fun.

the problem was the c5 caliper was hitting the brake line at full lock, the place where it hits is where the hardline connects to the braided (or "soft") line. my car is lowered and that is why I have the problem. I'm going to redo my front brake lines and move the stock brackets or make new ones for the hard to soft line connection, and relocate that connection so i don't lose my brakes again. I also think the fact i was on a bumpy road contributed to the line getting ruptured due to suspension trouble and the caliper-line contact.

anyways just wanted to give you a heads up to check the clearances lock to lock with the suspension loaded

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Wow thanks for the heads up. I will definately keep that in mind and check it out once the car is pretty much back together. My car is lowered as well so I may very well have that same problem. Thats all I need is to lose my brakes after I finish restoring the entire car, lol! And as always, thanks for the compliments as well.

cruisnhard

very nice build. im getting ready to start up a similar build on an 86 camaro. This is great inspiration.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Hey guys, just talked to the paint guy today.......and I'm very excited to announce, the car is painted!!! All he needs to do is wet sand and buff it now and I'll be taking her back home. Been a long wait to this point but it was well worth it. Heres a bunch of pics I took at the shop.

He started wet sanding the B pillar here

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

And a few more...

He was starting to wet sand when I showed up as you can see on this side



And the trunklid

chevydrvr

iTrader: (1)

Wow, that looks amazing! I can't wait to see it put all back together!

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

That looks sick RJ! It looks like I might be heading up to Fred's to get some parts for my TA within the next week or so, perhaps I'll be able to see this beauty in person?

F-Body Demon

iTrader: (1)

Looks great man!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Yea deffinately feel free to stop by and check it out. I'm really hoping he'll be done with wetsanding and buffing by the end of this week but I'll still have to figure out transportation to get it back to the house. It's going to be hard especially with the storm coming wednesday since the roads are gonna be sloppy! I have a freind with an enclosed trailor so that could be an option. I'll let ya know though when I'm expecting it to be back.

And thanks everyone for the compliments!

defaced

iTrader: (6)

Wow, all I can say man. Beautiful build. Definitely subscribing to this.

The_Maniac

iTrader: (2)

Lovin' the color! Firebirds have looked sharp in that color! Be great to see it back together!

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

That car looks absolutely fantastic. Really can't wait to see this out in the daylight, put back together. Do update ASAP!