94 trans am im keepin it!
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
Yeah the paint is gone like i said, very cold in new jersey right now, i use a few types of detail sprays/quick wax to keep the plastic looking somewhat black but its back to normal in a few days even without rain. The last wash the car had was Hurricane Sandy.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
Well I just realized I had a build thread here so after almost a year a bit has changed.
A few updates misdiagnosed a misfire and eneded up putting an distributor and waterpump in the car (a 400 dollar parts bill) I ended up with a TSP rumbler exhaust which is uses a Dynomax bullet muffler and is 3" until the tailpipes. Finished it off with some stainless steer 4" corsa clone tips.
Also did a 1LE elbow (rubber elbow that comes off the throttle body) since mine was pretty beat up, it doesnt have the intake silencer and is said to be a bit better flowing. While i was there I put in a SLP air foil, for 30 bucks it gives a solid 2whp by diverting the air into the dual throttle bodies instead of the air hitting inbetween them. Adding it to my order gave me free shipping so it was worth a try. Looking to do a short throw shifter and CAI next.
A few updates misdiagnosed a misfire and eneded up putting an distributor and waterpump in the car (a 400 dollar parts bill) I ended up with a TSP rumbler exhaust which is uses a Dynomax bullet muffler and is 3" until the tailpipes. Finished it off with some stainless steer 4" corsa clone tips.
Also did a 1LE elbow (rubber elbow that comes off the throttle body) since mine was pretty beat up, it doesnt have the intake silencer and is said to be a bit better flowing. While i was there I put in a SLP air foil, for 30 bucks it gives a solid 2whp by diverting the air into the dual throttle bodies instead of the air hitting inbetween them. Adding it to my order gave me free shipping so it was worth a try. Looking to do a short throw shifter and CAI next.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
3/14/13
Well was cruising craigslist and found a black ws6 hood about 50 minutes away from me, what are the chances? There's some scratches on the hood, but hey my stock hood has been blasted with rock chips anyway. Picked it up for about 400 and had it installed today, definitely a reproduction and we aligned it our best, i just found out you can adjust the headlight buckets and fenders so maybe that will help. The hood had been sitting outside for quite a while so i hit it with a power washer real quick but after returning home its still filthy and needs a real wash.
4/01/13
Got a WS6 airbox this passed saturday for 225 bucks about 1 hour and 40 minutes in Delaware. Took my dads 00' DTS for ultimate road tripping with 3 of my friends. Found out its legal to have an open container and have passengers drinking in DE so we hit a liquor store up and they had all the fun while i drove. Pics coming soon, it needs a new filter and i wanna paint the "PONTIAC" and "RAM AIR" back in its original silver.
4/24/13
Ok another update, finally got a filter for the air box, my silver ram air decals came in but I've had yet to put them on. I ordered a pro 5.0 shifter, I absolutely love it, not much shorter than the stock one in length which I love, shifting is a breeze and the 2-3 shift is no longer a pain in the ***.
The buried treasure i found in the console 2 dollar bills and some old postit notes and receipts.
Installed on a test run. Only took about an hour and a half surprisingly just me with no experience doing it, set up the 2 little bolts, i guess they adjust how far the throw is and it works great.
Well was cruising craigslist and found a black ws6 hood about 50 minutes away from me, what are the chances? There's some scratches on the hood, but hey my stock hood has been blasted with rock chips anyway. Picked it up for about 400 and had it installed today, definitely a reproduction and we aligned it our best, i just found out you can adjust the headlight buckets and fenders so maybe that will help. The hood had been sitting outside for quite a while so i hit it with a power washer real quick but after returning home its still filthy and needs a real wash.
4/01/13
Got a WS6 airbox this passed saturday for 225 bucks about 1 hour and 40 minutes in Delaware. Took my dads 00' DTS for ultimate road tripping with 3 of my friends. Found out its legal to have an open container and have passengers drinking in DE so we hit a liquor store up and they had all the fun while i drove. Pics coming soon, it needs a new filter and i wanna paint the "PONTIAC" and "RAM AIR" back in its original silver.
4/24/13
Ok another update, finally got a filter for the air box, my silver ram air decals came in but I've had yet to put them on. I ordered a pro 5.0 shifter, I absolutely love it, not much shorter than the stock one in length which I love, shifting is a breeze and the 2-3 shift is no longer a pain in the ***.
The buried treasure i found in the console 2 dollar bills and some old postit notes and receipts.
Installed on a test run. Only took about an hour and a half surprisingly just me with no experience doing it, set up the 2 little bolts, i guess they adjust how far the throw is and it works great.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
5/06/13
Did the wheels today and yesterday, for my first time using plastidip I think it came out good. I used a trigger attachment to the spraycan the second day saving my fingers and encouraging me to go a little heavy. I didn't use alot of dip strangely. It came with 4 cans of black and 3 gloss and I honestly ended up using half that, all my friends who plastidip say they've done more with less, who knows. They look good, you can kinda see that on the hard to reach spaces its not as black and is actually a bit transparent but hopefully the glossifier is covering where I missed in black. My rim paint was trash anyway so Im not too worried. Starting to be a true believer of plastidip, between the 2 cars Ive owned I had to refinish 3 sets of wheels, usually I would get the wheels stripped or blasted, then aluminum etch primer, then duplicolor rim paint (color) then rim paint clear. Worked good until my ws6 rims, used the wrong wheel cleaner or perhaps using cleaner too soon after painted and they were pretty much ruined. Lets see how plastidip holds up Im going to just use soap and water on them. (as of 11/1/13 plastidip is "eh" in terms of longevity, they still gloss up nicely only when you hit them with tire shine since plasti dip is rubber based, also dont plan on using a tire mounting machine or hit any curbs)
Did the wheels today and yesterday, for my first time using plastidip I think it came out good. I used a trigger attachment to the spraycan the second day saving my fingers and encouraging me to go a little heavy. I didn't use alot of dip strangely. It came with 4 cans of black and 3 gloss and I honestly ended up using half that, all my friends who plastidip say they've done more with less, who knows. They look good, you can kinda see that on the hard to reach spaces its not as black and is actually a bit transparent but hopefully the glossifier is covering where I missed in black. My rim paint was trash anyway so Im not too worried. Starting to be a true believer of plastidip, between the 2 cars Ive owned I had to refinish 3 sets of wheels, usually I would get the wheels stripped or blasted, then aluminum etch primer, then duplicolor rim paint (color) then rim paint clear. Worked good until my ws6 rims, used the wrong wheel cleaner or perhaps using cleaner too soon after painted and they were pretty much ruined. Lets see how plastidip holds up Im going to just use soap and water on them. (as of 11/1/13 plastidip is "eh" in terms of longevity, they still gloss up nicely only when you hit them with tire shine since plasti dip is rubber based, also dont plan on using a tire mounting machine or hit any curbs)
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On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
5/09/13
did some basic maintenance today, polyurethane trans mount, tailshaft seal and an oil change, just hit 160k a few days ago.
8/07/13
Well finally got around to fixing up my interior somewhat for only a couple hundred dollars i got back a half-decent interior, sewed the split seams as best as possible (leather was really dry and brittle even with moisturizing) cut and replaced the typical wear on the drivers bolster and the typical rips on the top of the backseat. Beats paying 500 for new upholstery plus labor.
[/QUOTE]
8/12/13
Well tomorrow the car is going in for some much needed paint, going to Accurate Collision in Woodbury to get my entire front end + rear bumper done. Rather paint the pieces that need attention at a quality shop than get the whole thing sprayed at maaco, so half paintjob it is. Should be a two week turnaround. (As of 11/1/13) paint is still not done, a guy quit on them and they're flooded with work, I am driving the car everyday, but hopefully work will slow down so they can fit me in the booth, I am receiving a bit of a discount so I cant be too mad, insurance jobs take priority.)
did some basic maintenance today, polyurethane trans mount, tailshaft seal and an oil change, just hit 160k a few days ago.
8/07/13
Well finally got around to fixing up my interior somewhat for only a couple hundred dollars i got back a half-decent interior, sewed the split seams as best as possible (leather was really dry and brittle even with moisturizing) cut and replaced the typical wear on the drivers bolster and the typical rips on the top of the backseat. Beats paying 500 for new upholstery plus labor.
[/QUOTE]8/12/13
Well tomorrow the car is going in for some much needed paint, going to Accurate Collision in Woodbury to get my entire front end + rear bumper done. Rather paint the pieces that need attention at a quality shop than get the whole thing sprayed at maaco, so half paintjob it is. Should be a two week turnaround. (As of 11/1/13) paint is still not done, a guy quit on them and they're flooded with work, I am driving the car everyday, but hopefully work will slow down so they can fit me in the booth, I am receiving a bit of a discount so I cant be too mad, insurance jobs take priority.)
Launching!
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 258
Likes: 0
From: Canada
Looking good, sure the paint is going to be a vast improvement. Try Zaino clay bar, Z5 and Z2 on it when you get it back... it will knock your socks off!! Black just loves Zaino. Do not polish or wax the new paint for 3 months if at all possible. If you can, hold out and just keep the new panels clean for that amount of time you'll stand up as well as the factory paint for years to come
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
Yeah I've heard of zaino, right now I use a big jug of Meguiars professional series mirroz glaze or whatever its basically a cleaner wax. And thinking about the rest of the car being old paint I should clay the rest of it, but I was thinking about just using one of those clay kits designed for black cars, I forget who makes it. Yeah its going to be so hard not to wax it, it was about a 3 month wait with my monte carlo when I got it painted.
TECH Resident
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 869
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From: In the moment...
There is truth to this, but it would still be a good idea to do a leakdown on a higher mileage engine before tearing into it to see if the compression rings are still in good shape.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
Yeah I know the car was taken care of but its secondly a money thing, about to graduate college in a year and I've never been more strapped for cash despite getting a car for free. I'm lucky that I have my dad to help me with major engine stuff, but even with free labor cars as a hobby isn't cheap. I think I still have a few things to tick off around the motor before I do anything to the motor itself. Gears, headers, and possibly strano swaybars and springs are parts I really would like to have. I wouldn't be too upset putting in a stock rebuild or even a used stock lt1 in if the engine does go. (Seems unlikely the way I drive it)
As a professional iphone photographer I give you a nice fall shoot of the car
As a professional iphone photographer I give you a nice fall shoot of the car
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
Well a bit of an update, my paint guy says january for the bird, also me and my dad are going to be removing and installing the panels to save myself about 350 bucks so I can't complain too much. Oh and I'm ditching my WS6 wheels for something a whole lot nicer...
That's right Firehawk wheels, in Chevy drag! Story is the guy bought these for his C4 vette new from American Racing 9 Years ago, I research a bit and AR either made these wheels for SLP or got the rights to reproduce them or something? Correct me if I'm wrong. So yeah they still look great after 9 years no pitting or curb rash anywhere barrels need to be cleaned up but thats it. I'm guessing these are chrome? I know real firehawk wheels came painted, polished or chrome and these look pretty shiny so Im guessing chrome. Oh and the real kicker is I picked these up for 375 bucks, Craiglist is a love-hate relationship but after this I made out great for once. WS6 wheels will be dismounted and sold if anyone is interested.
That's right Firehawk wheels, in Chevy drag! Story is the guy bought these for his C4 vette new from American Racing 9 Years ago, I research a bit and AR either made these wheels for SLP or got the rights to reproduce them or something? Correct me if I'm wrong. So yeah they still look great after 9 years no pitting or curb rash anywhere barrels need to be cleaned up but thats it. I'm guessing these are chrome? I know real firehawk wheels came painted, polished or chrome and these look pretty shiny so Im guessing chrome. Oh and the real kicker is I picked these up for 375 bucks, Craiglist is a love-hate relationship but after this I made out great for once. WS6 wheels will be dismounted and sold if anyone is interested.
