[TRADERMIKE 2012]

For the new commers this Vehicle is a 1979 Pontiac Trans-am with T-Tops. It once housed an Olds 403 ci with 4bbl that I have never seen, it was gone long before I purchased this second-hand project. I have had to undo my predecessor's errors; however, his body work was impeccable and I give him credit for that. Alot of work went into this show car, along with ware house costs and elec... He gave me the Upholstery and Carpet and the interior was gutted, when I took possession. I painted the interior with SEM Black Lundu and cleared over that paint. First, we painted the floor with waterproofing and laid over it with some Tar-type material that can't absorb moisture. This Tar was 1/2" thick and forms a barrier over the metal floor.

I would imagine that if water were to get on the floor, that the heat from the exhaust system under the car would melt it in place and make the water molecules dissipate into the air. We added three layers of Insulation and sound proofing over that and then the Carpet was installed with the padding already adhered to the back of it. We used insulation behind each and every panel as we finished off the interior installation. We even added Mylar on the doors for moister proofing and weather proofing them. The inside walls and ceiling received yellow paint as depicted in the photos. The door panels were refurbished and installed. The roof received two layers of insulation. We remanufactured the Head liner ourselves and the waist material from the T-Tops was a lot, but I manufactured custom insulated panels under the T-Tops, so that when they are removed, the T-Tops contain insulation and Black Headliner material.

All the Trim and seat Belts received SEM paint and clear. New console top and the entire Dash and Glove Box was painted with SEM Black. We installed a good heater box with a new core as well as the new Evaporator core. Replaced the AC controller mechanism with a remanufactured one. All the AC ducts were sourced online as well and every AC part is new around the vehicle. The Hush panel is under the steering wheel. Purchased the Tilt steering with cruise control, all serviced from the vendor. My roommate went over all the wires under the dash, every end, ground and all wires are wrapped in electrical tape and marked for the future. He fixed the Elec. coupler that goes through the Dash Bulk Head and made the entire Under Hood Motor Harness from scratch, using the schematics that I bought. Proper grade wires, all heat shrink wrapped and directly coupled into all Elec. parts that are needed to run a vehicle. Later we wrapped the Under-hood wires in a cloth type wire loom in order to look period correct. Every were else we wrapped the wire in Black plastic loom.

Under the hood, we rebuilt the Windshield wiper motor. Rebuilt the water pump motor to W.W. Installed a Mini-starter new. Replaced the Power steering pump and we now need another. Rebuilt the water pump for less tolerance. Added a sidekick fan and a condenser fan. Added an elec. fuel pump. Hid an on/off switch, but I can't say where. Made full factory linkage work, so that the car steering wheel locks with the B+M shifter and neutral safety switch. Added a Sudbury switch in the Trunk for dual Batt. Installed an Inverter in the Trunk that runs the side kick on 110 volts and can also be used for a light, for example.

We installed a special switch at the oil sender for the fuel pump emergency cut off. We have a direct fuel pump switch, so that we can get fuel to the Carbs. to prime them. The rear glass is heated. We have all the normal added accessories that a car should, including a stereo and amp. and four speakers. OfCourse, one is never done, I can think of a few more things to add, but that is futuristic. The next option to finish is cruise control. I have half installed and the other half of the parts are in stock. The car came with the full roll cage. We have a four-wheel disc and Posi- traction. We have a Gear vendor over under drive. We have a B+M shifter and a Turbo 400 remanufactured Trans. I had to re- cut the drive shaft to fit correctly between the motor and rear end.I painted the car yellow and black two tone. If I forgot something I am sorry.

P.S. Mikes final theory is this:

The Trans. broke from going over a root under an asphalt driveway. Continuous driving (300 miles) developed into a stress on the drivetrain, going forward. The torque from the Trans. (broken) increased the forces along the drive line, forward resulting in breaking/cracking the Harmonic Balancer on one end of the motor and Flexplate holes got out of round on the end of the motor.

There is "no" rebuilding the motor yet, I learned a lot and there is no bad advice and there are no bad questions. Thank you for your input and further testing will tell if there are any other issues. I owe it to myself to put the pressure gauge on the Trans. while it is still up in the air and run the various pressure tests that the book and others told me to do. When I have recorded this data, I will post it, until then this motor WORKS and we will see for how long.

Someone tell me how long of a video clip that I can send with the Engine running, I can't get a 30 second clip to send to my email and then to the forum? Why?

What don't I know, some help please.