Welcome to my 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Cardomain page!
Ever had a car that regardless of what day it is, no matter where you are going, even if you are going to work, you couldn't wait to get in it and drive there? Well, for me, this is one of those cars. I'm 22 and have only owned about 5 cars in my life but this has definately been the coolest one yet, and probably will be for 10 cars to come. The car is a 1977 Trans Am with T-tops, mostly restored a few years ago. It doesn't have more than a few thousand miles on it. As you can see, there's no 6.6 in here...It's got a Chevy BB 502ci motor (yes, 8.3L), with a TH400 and a Dana 60 4.23 posi rear on its way to the rear wheels.
The motor is pretty built and probably pushes out over 570 lbs/ft. of torque, even at around 2500-3000 rpm. It also likely makes around 500 hp, revving to 5800 or so. And, the motor is so well-balanced, that even at that rpm, you can barely feel it vibrating at all. It is a perfectly smooth ride. Quiet, too (from the inside at least!) Ignoring any traction issues, depressing the throttle to the floor yields a perfectly smooth pull from 1500-5800 rpm, throughout each of the 3 gears. By smooth, I mean a constant rate of acceleration; no waiting until 4500 to feel the pull. It once smoked the tires in 3rd (its highest) gear. The amount of torque that is availble to play with is mind blowing. A pair of subframe connectors make it go straight and keep it from twisting too much. This is why we say there is no replacement for displacement! There is no such thing as waiting to reach your "power band" to smile; it's all there, no matter which gear you are in! Do you drive a turbo'd 1.8L or 2.0L? Nothing against you or your car whatsoever (my brother has a totally awesome modified awd dsm that keeps up with me even), but ride in this TA and you may begin to hate your turbo lag and learn what you've been missing all this time. Of course, the amount of gas this thing drinks is enough for four 2.0L turbo'd 4cyl cars, but hey, it's worth it!
An 850 cfm Holley sits up top, featuring mechanical secondaries, double accelerator pumps, a manual choke, and a four-point idling circuit. Its two fuel bowls are supplied by a 150 GPH electric fuel pump in back, regluated by an Aeromotive FPR. (Pictures are about 6 months old, sorry, some info here may not be accurate!) Stainless braided hose all the way.
Interior: Various Autometer gauges tell me what's going on. They include water, oil, and trans temperature gauges mounted on the center console and a vaccum and a/f ratio mounted in two of the AC vents. Yes, stock tach. I love my stock tach. It kicks ass. I don't care if it gets stuck sometimes and says my redline is 4500 something rpm. I still like it. Actually, I think the entire interior (mainly the dash/console/seats/steering wheel) of these Firebirds is the coolest muscle car interior ever (if you can consider a late 70's car a 'muscle' car, ha). Especially when it's black and there is leather around, like in mine. And this one has power locks and windows also. VERY comfortable seats, too! But that's just my opinion. Let me know in your comments which car you think has the best muscle car interior! I also have a knock sensor with the indicator mounted near the console as well since I was planning on installing a wet nitrous system eventually (never got to it...) Stereo is nothing special, although the Alpine 9815 head unit is extremely nice. Speakers don't sound too bad, but normally I just listen to the motor firing instead anyway. That's music enough for me.
There is too much to say about this car. Sorry I can't just drive over and give you a ride. That would be kind of cool I guess. But, you'll just have to trust me, it's a lot of fun. It's fast and for a car with like a 99% / 1% weight ratio, handles all right. Drives awesome though. Thanks for reading my Cardomain page. Check out the next page for pictures of some of my family and friends' cars.
