This is an original Special Edition Trans Am, aka "Bandit" edition car, although now heavily modified from stock. It came with black paint, gold decals and tan interior, and has the Fisher T-tops.

I was initially building this car to go fast in a straight line, but lately it has taken on more of a "pro-touring" theme. For those not familiar with the term, this is basically any road going machine that has been upgraded to accelerate, handle, and stop better than it ever did stock.

This Bandit originally came with the anemic Pontiac 301 4-barrel engine (est. 165 bhp), TH350 3-speed autotragic "granny tranny," and "snoozer" 3:08 rear ring and pinion gas mileage gears.

The first major upgrade I undertook was to ditch the tiny stock 301 4-barrel in favor of a big-block Chevy 402.

Only high-quality parts were used on the engine buildup, and although it is a fairly mild street/strip build, it runs very strong and puts out well over 400hp at the flywheel.
However, this is not a race engine; although it had to make power, I also wanted to be able to drive this car anywhere. It idles decent and runs on 92 octane fuel. I was able to get away with a pretty healthy cam grind thanks to the hydraulic roller camshaft.

Some specs on the engine:

Chevy Big Block 402/bored .010 over
Forged crank
Wiseco domed forged 9:6:1 pistons
Comp Cams hydraulic roller cam
Crane hydraulic roller lifters
Crane Gold Race roller lifters 1:7 ratio

Edelbrock Performer aluminum intake
Holley 750 vaccuum secondaries
Edelbrock Victor Jr alum water pump
March pulleys

The cooling system was also upgraded with the biggest 4-row stock-type radiator I could fit, and 2 electric puller fans.
(A Howe custom 2-row aluminum radiator will be installed soon)

This car came with the best suspension available for a 2nd-generation F-body, the WS-6 package. This means 4-wheel disc brakes. The stock system has sufficed until now, but a Wilwood front kit with 4-piston calipers and a Hurst line lock are now being installed. A Hydroboost hydraulic brake booster will compliment the new brakes and provide serious pressure to the calipers.

After 25 years of hard use, even the relatively beefy WS-6 "radial-tuned suspension" needed some help, so I pulled all 4 stock springs and the factory shocks and installed a Hotchkis TVS kit.

The Hotchkis TVS includes:

Front springs 600lb 2" lowering
Front hollow swaybar 1 5/8" and endlinks
Solid alloy tie rod connectors
Rear leaf springs 200lb 1 1/2" lowering
Hollow rear swaybar

I also added a full set of Hotchkis-valved Bilstein shocks.

To keep wheelhop under control, I researched traction bars and it didn't take me long to figure out that Competition Engineering has this area well-covered with their high-tech Slide-Link traction bars (Shown next to the Bilsteins)

And installed on the car:

Slide-Links allow custom preloading of either side of the rear axle for straight and consistent launches.

I also upgraded the body mount bushings to a full set of Global West Interloc solid aluminum bushings. They eliminate flex between the body and subframe.

This car came from the factory with the more desirable 15x8" snowflake rims; these rims have a dish to them and are the best-looking of the stock rims, as well as adding an extra inch of width over the standard 15x7" wide snowflakes. However, with all the new suspension uprades, I needed a high-performance tire, and the rock-hard 225/65 Coopers just wouldn't cut it anymore. I needed a wider and taller rim to accept performance tires. I decided to add some bling in the process (why not?). Boyd Coddington Junkyard Dogs in an 18x8 front and 18x9 rear were just the ticket!

I opted to wrap the new wheels with Nitto NT555 tires. (245/35 R18 front 285/35 R18 rear.) These tires are very grippy, and with the new suspension mods, the difference in handling is night and day! I can now tromp the gas pedal at 30 mph without fishtailing all over the road!

I think they look pretty darn good!

After frying the clutches in one TH-350 "slush box" tranny and grenading the torque drum in my next one on a hard manual downshift, along with having to deal with only 3 forward gears--I had enough. I stopped screwing around and ordered up a modern Tremec TKO-600 5 speed manual transmission complete swap kit from Keisler Engineering. This swap is another story unto itself, but I got it accomplished, a step at a time, with some help from a few good buddies. I currently have about 1000 miles on the new tranny, and once again, the difference such a quality drivetrain part makes is amazing!! The car now launches harder than it ever did. Cruising along on the highway at 80 mph in 5th gear is no sweat--the engine loafs along at about 2200 rpm thanks to a tall .64 overdrive. I have a blast slamming through the gears myself! The TKO with its overdrive truly gives you the best of both worlds-awesome strength and driveability-and in my humble opinion is well worth the purchase price and labor to install.

3:73 Motive gears and an Eaton clutch-type posi differential help put the Chevy torque to the pavement. The steeper gear ratio would be a bit too deep for the typical daily driver with a 3-speed tranny, but it works perfectly married to the TKO 5-speed's overdrive.

Eventually I will get around to finishing the body work and interior. The body remains stock except for a 4" fiberglass cowl hood which clears the taller profile of the BB Chevy intake. The car has been repainted in black and is currently devoid of decals. When I get the paint perfect again, I will probably add some of the stock decal package to it. The interior is basically stock except for Autometer gauges, as shown below. (No making fun of the genuine tiger-fur seats, the chicks dig 'em!)

"The Trans" is a constant work in progress, and it is doubtful it will ever be truly finished. But that's the fun of it all!

For more details, check out the next page...