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Yo extended family,
I just noticed TLS Addict was a 10 year member, and still junior. How do you move up in the rankings? Junior, senior, supremo? Just curious.
Yo extended family,
I just noticed TLS Addict was a 10 year member, and still junior. How do you move up in the rankings? Junior, senior, supremo? Just curious.
How is the car treating you? When you decide to make a road trip out towards Lakeland let me know. There is a Cars and Coffee out here that I've yet to go to.
Yo extended family,
I just noticed TLS Addict was a 10 year member, and still junior. How do you move up in the rankings? Junior, senior, supremo? Just curious.
How is the car treating you? When you decide to make a road trip out towards Lakeland let me know. There is a Cars and Coffee out here that I've yet to go to.
I have no clue about the member status. lol
I am still finishing up some odds and ends on the car, getting ready to spray my turbo-fin wheels in the gold concoction color. I do miss posting pics every day tho.
I have been sorting out issues with no speedometer, thought it was the dash connection, (mine is mechanical), but ended up being the cable from the tranny to the cruise module. It was too close to cylinder 7 header, and ate itself. I had bought a used cruise control from Franks a while ago, so had a replacement. Also my AC was setting off the compressor relief valve intermittently. Finally figured out the issue, it would only happen when starting up a cold engine. With the new radiator with electric fans, there is no air flow thru the condenser for several minutes until the engine reaches 200 degrees, and the fans turn on. With no flow, there is no condensation in the condenser and gas takes up a lot more space than liquid, explaining why my relief valve was relieving. Also painted and buffed out the spoiler, the louvers behind my front wheels, and the hood bulge insert.
Finally got a front end alignment today, and then hung around the race trac for a while
Soooo much fun to finally drive the old girl again!
Last edited by stuartswede; 10-12-2021 at 06:38 PM.
Finally had some time to nurture the bird. Sand blasted the wheels, then sanded and polished the silver/aluminum to a pretty good shine.
Masked and ready to paint with my gold concoction.
Post paint, I also sprayed 3 coats of clear on the bare aluminum after removing the masking. Hope this keeps them looking shiny.
I dug out the gold decals for the front fenders, and installed
Had new P245 - 60 - R15 tires mounted on my old rims, installed the new rubber and went for a ride.
I really like the turbofins.
Will probably sell the US Mags with the wider tires.
My gold mixture really matched nice, even on the bearing cap cover. Cheers!
Last edited by stuartswede; 11-15-2021 at 05:44 PM.
Thanks guys, a couple more pics following. The paint manufacturer said not to wax the car for a while after painting. Yesterday I applied a couple coats of carnuba wax, and it really looks good.
Reassuring to know that my bird is fully waxed!
First trip to the golf course, many "likes" from everyone. Even a couple thumbs up from pedestrians and on-coming traffic. Of course it rained on the way home, had to deal with water spots the next day
Hey Battmann,
I was just perusing my thread and noticed one pic you posted when answering a question of mine, in the background is the rear panel I need to go with the rear hatch door that I added. I have been unable to find one. Would you be willing to part with it? Or did you use it already on one of your projects? Thanks
That was the panel for the 1984 TA I restored this past year. I may have a dark brown version in my stash of parts - can’t remember. I’ll try to go take a look later this week.
That was the panel for the 1984 TA I restored this past year. I may have a dark brown version in my stash of parts - can’t remember. I’ll try to go take a look later this week.
Thanks Dude,
I can use any color since I will be painting and covering like I did the rest of my interior, just need the lid seating feature. Appreciate the response as always.
Amazingly, I've just been turned on to this thread. Have an 84 in the same colors, but not as nice as yours. Thanks for posting your journey, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Course, it is Dec., so I'm sure you're protecting it from the elements. But what a spring you have to look fwd to. A "big" congrats, from this end.
Thanks TAJOE,
Luckily I live in Stuart, Fl, so can have the fun of driving her year round. I just try to avoid the monsoons during the rainy season. BTW, I noticed that my placement of the TRANS AM decals on the side quarters were a little mis-placed, so ordered a couple more and corrected making them closer to the door seam. Good to have it more correct.
Glad to hear your car is safe from the nastiness we are exposed to up here in New England. You really post some great pictures, and they give recognition to the exceptional job you've done on your resto. When I just saw your 1st pics of the new paint, and the chrome slots, I really liked the looks. I'm a bit of a nostalgia fan, but your overhauled turbine wheels bring it back to the OEM look, which also looks great. Once again, well done, and Merry Christmas to you and yours.
I'm not on here much anymore but looked through your whole thread today......great job! Hopefully I'll be starting a thread like this in the next year or so on my Mecham T/A.
I'm not on here much anymore but looked through your whole thread today......great job! Hopefully I'll be starting a thread like this in the next year or so on my Mecham T/A.
Roadthrills,
Thanks so much for the reply and taking time to check out my thread. Hope you have good luck on your build. I was thrilled and surprised to see that my rebuild was top billing on the popular threads of the year email that went out, truly humbling.
Funny thing happened last nite; my Bride and I were headed down US1 in the Trans am, going to Carrabbas for our weekly date, when all of a sudden the exhaust tone went to open header noise level! She thought the engine had exploded or something, but I told her we had just developed an exhaust leak. So we pulled in with essentially open headers, got a few looks from people in the parking lot. I checked and sure enough, the Y pipe had jiggled loose from the exhaust pipe right at the clamp behind the passenger wheel. Made for a fun ride home. Will be welding it up today, at least a couple of spot welds.
Last edited by stuartswede; 12-15-2021 at 07:26 AM.
Greetings from Stuart, Hope everyone had a great holiday. We drove the TA to the in-laws for Christmas, first extended flight on I-95. Granted was only 25 miles, but was a milestone nonetheless. Gaining confidence in the road worthiness of the restore. I am loving my car, it is so fun to drive. Closing in on 400 miles on the trip counter. I installed my door edge molding today, looks good, and will finally be protected to a degree from careless door swingers. Also gave her a good cleaning for her first "show" this Saturday. It is sponsored by the Treasure Coast Vintage Car Club. Here is a link to a previous show, there is a thirdgen official pace car in one of the pics, hopefully make some new friends: https://treasurecoast.aaca.com/cool-show/
Weather is supposed to be perfect but cold (for Florida folks anyhow), high only in the mid 50s, and low Saturday night is supposed to be in the low 30s, burr. Will post some pictures if I don't freeze to death.
Wow, you must've read my mind! While at work today I was thinking to myself, wondering how things were going with you. I get home and see this new post from you. The car looks great. Mine should be running properly soon. I found a Quadrajet guru here in my state (although in a different county) and had him work his magic on it, so I'm looking forward to the results of that...
Wow, you must've read my mind! While at work today I was thinking to myself, wondering how things were going with you. I get home and see this new post from you. The car looks great. Mine should be running properly soon. I found a Quadrajet guru here in my state (although in a different county) and had him work his magic on it, so I'm looking forward to the results of that...
Hey TL, hope you get your carb sorted out. Are you still able to drive with the weather? I don't know if this makes sense, but it feels like my engine is getting stronger after the rebuild the more I drive it. Not sure if the computer is just "learning" my driving habits better, or if I am just getting reacquainted with dancing around the red line with my 700R4, or if the rings are sealing better? It is only a 305, but feeling beastly! Anyone have insight?
I don't know that OBD-1 is smart enough to learn and adjust to your driving habbits. I have heard that as a new engine "breaks in", it picks up some power. Maybe it's the rings wearing into the cylinder walls, or maybe the bearing clearances loosening up a little bit for reduced friction. I don't really know the science behind it, but that would be my guess...
And still the perfect pictures are posted. You have a knack for capturing the cars fine lines. Thanks for posting, and glad to hear you're still having fun with the car.
And still the perfect pictures are posted. You have a knack for capturing the cars fine lines. Thanks for posting, and glad to hear you're still having fun with the car.
Thanks TAJOE,
My wife says I worship my car, she may be right.
Funny you should comment on the pictures, my phone carrier forced me to retire my old LG android, and since most of my family use iphones, I went with one myself, just because I knew the camera quality was far above the android. Most of my thread is pictures from a Nikon coolpix I bought because my phone camera sucked so bad. Yesterday I did a comparison between my new iphone and the Nikon, here are the results and the iphone wins IMO, its an iphone XR btw iphone XR Nikon - lighter colors a little washed out...
Last edited by stuartswede; 01-28-2022 at 06:49 AM.
OMG that's funny! I looked at your pics before reading your titles, and I was thinking, the Nikon pic looks a little washed out. Then I read the title. Great minds think alike, I guess? lol
Made our maiden flight to a show today, it was great. A lot of work to try and have her looking her best. Weather was cold, which made a lot of people stay home. It was windy and high 40s but still an absolutely beautiful day. There were around 30 cars there. Everyone told me they usually have 3-4 times that number. Here are some pics, I am biased to the muscle cars so most of my pics are of them.
I had a 67 Camaro in the Navy. This one was sweet. Love the green color. See the purple Vega in the background. He put a 350 in it. I remember a buddy of mine in high school did the same thing. Vega, man that was a long time ago... This one was cool
Have to split up this post to add more pics
I hope these pics are a bright spot to those who shutter their cars for the winter. I am here for you,
This was great, you think its a fire truck, NOT!, its a beer truck, the thirst responders! This car is a Sovereign, but what caught my eye is the parabolic depressions in the top of the center grill that at first looked like gems reflecting colors. Upon further review, the depressions were concentrating and reflecting images from around the car. It was fascinating, if you zoom in you can see me in my jeans and tan jacket taking a picture, but from a few feet back it looks like little gemstones, Brilliant!! The license plate on this car said "2DAPOKY" See the detainees? LMAO
I had at least 10 people say how much they loved my car, nostalgic for the era, or as kids having KITT car toys or big wheels. Most spent 5-10 minutes asking me about the restore and everything, it was a blast. Thanks for tuning in.
Since Black Beauty was all gussied up for the show on Saturday, we took her for a ride yesterday for an early dinner on Hutchinson Island, and took some scenic photos. Figured I would bore you with a few of them. I like this one the best, cheers
08-14-2021, 02:58 PM
