Vehicle Owner

Member ID: jRaskell

Location: Manchester, NH

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Vehicle Info

1999 Pontiac Trans Am

Bragging Rights

  • 1/4 Mile0 sec @ -1 mph
  • 0-600sec
  • Top Speed165mph
  • HP350
  • Weight3500lbs

Major Upgrades

  • turbo
  • nitrous
  • bore increase
  • port and polish
  • supercharger
  • extrude honed
  • stroke increase
  • engine swap

Modifications

Performance Parts

  • Flowmaster Exhaust 
  • PaceSetter Header 
  • Brembo Brakes 
  • KONI Shocks 

Exterior Styling

  • Goodyear Tires 

Car Audio & Video

Ratings

    • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.

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Last updated: Dec 21, 2004

Hits: 3,598

Joe’s Pontiac Trans Am
“Joe's TA”

  • Currently 2.96 /5 Stars.
19 guestbook comments

Misc. Mods
Brakes
The stock LS1 front brakes, when pushed hard, will warp the rotors very easily. The primary culprit here are actually the pads. GM chose a pad that created very little brake dust, but created a lot of heat that soaked into the rotors. The stock rotors can only take so much heat before they warp under the stress.
Brembo makes an inexpensive OEM replacement rotor that better stands up to heat soak. I also opted for a pair of aftermarket brake pads as well, in this case the PBR metalmaster pads. These pads do create more dust than stock pads (better clean the front wheels on at least a weekly basis or they're going to look like crap), but they are more rotor friendly and have better bite.

Lou's short shifter
Cheap and easy mod to replace the stock shift handle. This does not replace the entire shifter assembly like the Hurst or Pro 5.0 units. It is also not nearly as expensive as these units, and can be used in conjunction with these units if you so wish.
This handle is about 1.5 inches shorter than the stock handle, and it eliminates the rubber isolator that is in the stock handle. You end up with a shorter throw, and firmer feeling shift, but also get a bit more vibration through the shifter as well. What vibrations I've experienced have been very minor (and I've felt worse vibrations on stock shifts for other vehicles before). Overall this mod was well worth it, and I feel less like I'm shifting a truck and more like a pony car.

Kenwood CD player
MP3 is a great format. Nothing beats packing high quality music into a tenth of the space. I replaced the stock head unit with an MP3 compatible Kenwood CD player. I can fit 8-10 CDs worth of music onto a single CD and basically get all my current stuff onto a total of 4 disks (which gives me roughly 40 hours of music). It's not the greatest CD player in the world, and I lose my steering wheel controls, but it's worth the added flexibility. I would not enjoy going back to a regular CD player at all.
I also have a bazooka sub amp (600watts peak, 300watts RMS) and 2 10" subs waiting for install. These were originally installed in my previous 88 GTA (This is my 4th F-body). I have to get a new enclosure for the new TA though and run the wiring for the amp. Gonna wait till spring to mess with that.

Guestbook Ratings

Displaying entries 1-5 of 19

surrealfx  

Posted by: surrealfx

11/29/2004 08:39PM

To my knowledge it is possible for the sterring wheel controls to work with aftermarket headunits. Maybe not, but I have seen some adapters for steering wheel controls that work on the infared signals used by the remote. You should look into that if your headunit has a remote.

raceguy333  

Posted by: raceguy333

03/04/2004 11:46AM

nice looking TA! cant wait to see it all modded out! thanks for the help on the forums too!

Bad30th  

Posted by: Bad30th

12/04/2003 08:35AM

Sweet looking black TA ! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my 30th. Good luck with the mods and engine buildup. Happy driving, Bad30th

5pnt7nova  

Posted by: 5pnt7nova

12/03/2003 11:57AM

Very nice T/A. Come check out my Nova sometime.

jRaskell  

Posted by: jRaskell

12/03/2003 11:49AM

Those are stock TA wheels. The Vette belongs to my brother in law.

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Vehicle Owner

Member ID: jRaskell

Location: Manchester, NH