Started working on the Trans Am

[Neil350]

Cars been seriously neglected over the last year. In that time period, the dash was broken, the interior was trashed, it had all sorts of electrical issues. It was either part it out or start trying to fix it and make it nice again. After reading the thread about the guy who bought his old PPM Z28 back I decided to see what I could get done on the old 93. I didn't take many pictures, I should have but oh well .If you have any questions just ask, I am not mechanically inclined at all, so if I have been able to do this stuff you can too. It helps to have a friend who's letting me use his shop and when I get stuck which happens, I can ask questions. But the key is, if I can do this stuff, any one can.


What it used to look like

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/tahouse1.jpg


The first big issue was the car didn't like starting with out a battery box, starter was acting up, sure it was related to the charging issues, just was doing all sorts of weird stuff. So the solution, new GM LT4 Corvette Starter, Innovative Wiring (http://innovativewiring.com) H.O Cables and a Power Bastards Alternator. You can not get GM battery cables any more and these Innovative cables are really nice, they also fit great.

Next, time to tackle the interior, the dash was broken and it had all sorts of weird electrical issues popping fuses when you tried to use the power accessories. The car had an old after market alarm, it looked a ton worse then it was. Only one wire needed to be repaired on the alarm side, the rest had quick taps so it was just a matter of tracing wires and removing what was tapped in. Luckily the box had a wiring diagram so it was actually really simple. The alarm also had door lock functions, that was a bit more work.

I did find exposed wire so I think that was causing my popping fuses. I had to fix two wires on the key less entry harness. This is the alarm below. I also replaced the passenger door lock actuator and replaced a bent door lock lever rod. The end result was no more popping fuses, dash wiring cleaned up and the car having working power door locks. These never worked right since I have had the car.

Junk Alarm

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/20120826_111506.jpg


The carpet had gotten wet and the car smelled like ass, I decided to pull the carpet. I was able to shampoo it and clean it up.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/taint-1.jpg

Got the carpet back in and started focusing on the dash, the old one had broke on the first ebony conversion. No saving it, so it was pulled. While it was out I changed the a/c evaporator core, heater core and the blower fan. The goal is to put a/c back in this car at some point.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/mailgooglecom_zps26a945b6.jpg

Got everything buttoned up and put the new dash in, the car has now has a complete ebony conversion. I like the ebony a lot more then I did the factory tan.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0512.jpg

Got bored and decided to put in a center filler panel in from a CETA

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0519.jpg

Now it was time for some R&R. My mirrors were faded but worse the mirrors them selves were water etched pretty badly. I found a clean red pair off ebay and swapped them in. Next on the list was ground effects, my passenger ground effect was deformed from some thing years ago and the driver side was cracked to ever living hell. So I found a clean pair again off of ebay, red, and swapped them in.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/20121028_151801.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/20121027_155551.jpg

My 12 Bolt had been leaking, so I knew the cover was coming off plus the wires to the abs sensor were broken so I knew the cover was coming off to fix that as well. So instead of putting the cheapie chrome cover back on, I swapped in a TA performance cover. This is their 12 Bolt cover for low clearances. It fit really nice. I filled the rear end up with Torco 85/140 and their Friction modifier. Was like pumping honey in the rear end.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0522-1.jpg


What's Next

Fix the broken parking brake cable, install the a/c, swap the power accessories bracket for one I had powder coated a while back.

[Fastbird]

Nice Neil! Good to see you working on it again.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[popo8]

Awesome man... maybe a 2013 shootout appearance by her?

[SchaefZ28]

Car is looking great, good work!

[gunters96lt1]

Awesome!

[Fixxer99TA]

Very nice, keep us posted on that progress... Ive always liked that TA

[McCauleyWB]

Very nice transformation!

[Tyler Wheat]

Nice! Lots of work, but I'm sure it was worth it. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to see you at the shootout!

[F.G.]

Very very cool that you're making her pretty again.

[Badbird_96]

You should never part that car out. Its way too nice of a car for that.

[meissen]

Good work man!

[Neil350]

Thanks, I can’t drive a manual to save my life so not sure how much you want to see that car at the LTX shoot out, with me behind the wheel at least. The car got to the point where it was a lot of nice parts on a car that used to be nice. The main thing was at the end of the day if I was going to be happy with the car I had to start fixing all the stuff that bothered me about it.
I thought this was interesting though; the passenger side skirt was bent out. Made it a pain to take off since the bracket was all jacked up, but I figured it would have broken because the other one came off in 30 different pieces. No damage to the fender so I was surprised at that also.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/grongfx.jpg

[Neil350]

Started getting my hand dirty today and working in the engine bay. Swapped out the old accessory bracket for a powder coated one. The old one was just spray painted black, the new one is powder coated to match the intake and WP. Wasn't that bad, getting it to line up was kind of a pain in the ass. If I had to do it again it would go a lot faster.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/olnewbrk.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/engbrk.jpg

The a/c will go back in tomorrow after 10 years of not having a/c. Was making sure I had every thing to to put it all back in. I put the dryer bracket back on, I had to stop and think about it because it's been so long since I saw how one went on. Infamous parts pile pic.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/mailgooglecom.jpg

New Griffin radiator and new a/c condenser getting ready.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/engbrol.jpg

[CamaroZGuy]

i like seeing all these 93's coming back to life!

[Fastbird]

Neil do yourself a favor. Where the accessory bracket touches the block, grind the powdercoat off. Where the alternator mounts, grind the powdercoat off. Trust me on this. Mine is powdercoated black and I didn't grind the coat off the back side where it touches the head/block, and I got a TERRIBLE alternator ground. To the point that I had to add a supplemental ground strap at the back of the alternator.

[Neil350]

I'll have to look out for that, I may have to add the strap if need be. Already have all the a/c back in the car. Should start it up Tuesday night so I'll check for problems, what was your alternator doing?

[CamaroZGuy]

Are you going verticle mount with the rad.?

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[Neil350]

No, I tried to mount it like stock and the fans won't clear the ewp. So I put the stock radiator back in with the condenser.

[Fastbird]

I'll have to look out for that, I may have to add the strap if need be. Already have all the a/c back in the car. Should start it up Tuesday night so I'll check for problems, what was your alternator doing?

I was getting like NO voltage from the alternator. 10-11 Volts max. Wasn't charging, etc. Added a strap from the rear of the alternator to the shock tower, instant upgrade to 13-14.7 volts depending on load.

[Neil350]

Yikes, that sounds a lot easier then taking off the bracket! I did start the car up with the belt, new compressor is quiet as a mouse and looking at the gauge the alternator is charging strong. You know what's funny is, my stock alternator never charged that strong when the car was all stock, I wonder if that would have helped, who knows.

A/C back in, radtaor fans, condenser also in, cooling system bled and junky old nitrous kit removed. Hopefully charge the a/c this weekend. I need to bring my digital camera as I am the guy I used to hate who took pics of everything with a dang cell phone.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/20121106_192456.jpg

After this I plan to fix the broken parking brake cable, swap rear calipers to some new ones, fresh pads on all four and new Power Slot Rotors for the rear. Then bleed the brakes, that should be it, take it home and clean this thing up.

[Badbird_96]

Nice glad to see it almost ready

[popo8]

Movin right along man... hope to see you and it in KY this year (you dont have to race).

[Fastbird]

Good stuff Neil!

[Neil350]

Charged the ac, it was weird you could hear the compressor kicking on but no matter what there was nothing but heat coming from the vents. Pulled the hvac controls and saw that my blend door cable had come undone, fixed and the ac blows cold.

Replaced the broken parking brake cable, noticed it was only attached to one of the lever mechanisms on the back brake, driver side, not attached at all on the passenger side. Tried to actuate the lever mechanism to put the cable on, wouldn't budge. Looked at the rotor, rusted badly where the pad should have contacted the brake rotor, so it looks like that caliper was seized open. I noticed all the pads all had evidence of glazing as well. Replaced both back brake calipers with some re-manufactured units and replaced all the pads with Porterfield pads. Also replaced the rear rotors with some new Power Slots. On first impressions the car stopped worse, pedal was hitting the floor and it was barley stopping. I drove it around the shop parking lot, taking it to 30-40 applying moderate pressure, but never coming to a dead stop, after a couple laps like that the brakes started really coming back. It got good enough where if I stood on them I could actually accuate the abs again, some thing I haven't been able to do.

Took it out side and washed a years worth of dirt off, paints pretty trashed but it still looks ok 10' away

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/20121111_122207.jpg

[popo8]

Wow man...what a great lookin ta. So glad to see u with the drive again...


Larry (Popo8) Co-owner
LTXtech.com

[thunderkyss]

12590

Sweet

[Neil350]

Going to take all the Fikses off this weekend and have them all refinished. Needed some wheels to put on the car so it's not on jack stands, I also want to have some spares for when I get the car painted. Picked these puppies up for $60, they were filthy and the tires are all shot but after some cleaning they came back to life. They had been sitting in the guys back yard for the last couple years. I plan to use at least two of them for some drag radials or ET streets.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0752.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0754.jpg

[popo8]

Damn... They came up nice...


Larry (Popo8) Co-owner
LTXtech.com

[Neil350]

Got the rear Fikses back, the lips had some rash and they also had issues with the clear coat failing on the centers.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0811.jpg

[popo8]

Got the rear Fikses back, the lips had some rash and they also had issues with the clear coat failing on the centers.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0811.jpg

LOOKIN GOOD!!!!

[Badbird_96]

I love those wheels. I would have a set if they werent so expensive

[popo8]

So are we gonna see u and the ta in ky in 2013????

Missed u last year.


Larry (Popo8) Co-owner
LTXtech.com

[Fastbird]

MMMM.......Fikse goodness. Do like.

[Neil350]

I want to come for sure, I want to go every year. I like the event. This years hurricane made it some what precarious, because I would have been it's path both coming and going.

What's your opinions on the fuse cover? I have the original on, but it doesn't match. I don't want to chance loosing it if I ever needed it.



http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0816_zpscf60cf3b.jpg


You can really see the difference in finish from the non finished wheels to the finished wheels.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0824_zpsc4b3ce01.jpg

[Chris]

Never see the cover anyways.

God I love me some hard top

Sent from my Galaxy IIIs via Tapatalk

[popo8]

Agreed....cover is a non issue.




Larry (Popo8) Co-owner
LTXtech.com

[Neil350]

Chris,

Your Z28 is super clean, if you had a hard top you may want T-tops.

I am going to spend some time and fix the wiper motor. Mine is broken and does stupid stuff. Also started restoring all that trim. The weather stripping cleaned up nice. Started cleaning the plastic pieces, I saw on LS1tech some folks had spray painted their trim pieces. I am guessing a semi gloss black should work. Thinking about it today, I am terrible at working on cars, so if I have been able to do this stuff any one with tools can. So if some thing bothers you, just fix it. No one is going to care as much about your Lt1 as you do, so it's up to you to make yourself happy with it

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0825_zps78ef93ba.jpg

The stupid windhsielf wiper sprayer broke, was old and broke

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0830_zps572df6a4.jpg

Pretty clean looking motor from a '02 Z28, I am going to swap the pulse board out for a new one just in case and install it in the car.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0833_zps7986e011.jpg

[Fastbird]

Very nice Neil. That's the same thing I've thought of doing, that being spray painting those trim pieces.

[Neil350]

Very nice Neil. That's the same thing I've thought of doing, that being spray painting those trim pieces.

I bought some Duplicolor trim paint and redid one of them, came out well, still needs a final light coat.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0835_zpsb258aaf1.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0837_zps441fc0af.jpg

[Chris]

That trim paint works out pretty nice. I painted a few pieces on the blue car with it

Sent from my Galaxy IIIs via Tapatalk

[Fastbird]

Wow.....know something else I'm doing to my car. I wonder how body color would look on those. Some of the C5 guys do it and it looks GREAT IMO. Not sure on an F-Car though.

[BLK95-Z]

Looks great. These ltx ta's are really starting to grow on me

[Neil350]

Wow.....know something else I'm doing to my car. I wonder how body color would look on those. Some of the C5 guys do it and it looks GREAT IMO. Not sure on an F-Car though.

I think it could work if you sanded them smooth and painted it, with the grain it may look a little odd. But even if you sanded it down and painted them gloss black, it would look good. I just wanted it to look like new again.

[BaddAss93TA]

i dont know how I missed this thread. Car looks great man. Ive always kinda considered your car my step sister car, haha.

[CamaroGirl]

Looking so awesome buddy, this is inspiring me to give my Z some love this winter....ahh...

[MEAN LT1]

Looking good Neil. I seriosly need to this to my car. I need to put a motor back in it first.

[Neil350]

The other build threads motivated me, I am not mechanically inclined at all, so that shouldn't stop any one. I started taking all the window tint off, when I get back to Houston next week I'll finish the hatch and the car will get fresh tint. The wiper motor is installed, wasn't sure how to set the timing of it. I just turned it on and off a bunch of times with no arms. Where it sounded like it finally set in the park position I just bolted the arms on. Seemed to work fine? yikes

[Badbird_96]

It should have came in the park position. Make sure you snapped the inner arms on two clicks if not they will pop off. Learned that the hard way

[Neil350]

It probably was until I started messing with it. It made a bunch of racket when I first installed it. I found the stupid GM tools on ebay, so I pressed with the linkages back on with that nut cracker looking tool.

[Badbird_96]

Glad you did. I spent 4 hours trying to figure that one out. Had to walk away twice or I would have burned it to the ground.

[Neil350]

It took a while to find all the tools, like the seprator, the press tool and the Kent Moore puller arm because I bought them all used off ebay. Longest part was waiting for the paint to dry on the cowl trim. Having the special GM tools made this entire job pretty simple. Over the years a lot of the stuff I read made it seem harder than it was. I also replaced the Wiper Transmission with a new one from GM, Rock Auto had one on close out so it wasn't to bad. My old one had a ton of play in it. I doubt I'll ever use the wipers since this car never sees rain, it just bothered me the wipers didn't work right. I also converted to the 98+ wiper arms while I was doing it.

[Neil350]

Started messing with it again, had the car re-tinted and started messing with more broken stuff

On to more things that don't act right, rebuilt both head light motors. The passenger had the gear spin trick at some point and was working fine but I figure if I was going to rebuild one may as well rebuild both and be done with it. The driver side the epoxy failed and the motor was separated, rebuilt a core I had. Used the Top Down Solution Kit, seems nice and it did the trick. I also repainted the bezels with the same dupli color trim paint. Not as shiny as factory but better than before. I figure now I could do a BLS type set up, would look pretty stupid if I had balled HIDs on nonworking head light motors.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0927_zpsfb4075ea.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/neil350/media/SAM_0927_zpsfb4075ea.jpg.html)

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0947_zpsc9c1a656.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/neil350/media/SAM_0947_zpsc9c1a656.jpg.html)

(The p.s fluid reservoir is zip tied away because I had to swap the battery, it's a pain in the ass to get the big ass H.O cables off with the reservoir in place)
I had a local interior shop wrap all the ebony panels in suede. The panels were scartched and kind of beat up. My friend used to do this in the Supras he would build, comes out fairly nice. I spent a bit of time trying to get every panel to fit like factory.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0930_zps3a29c341.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/neil350/media/SAM_0930_zps3a29c341.jpg.html)

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0931_zpsda85620e.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/neil350/media/SAM_0931_zpsda85620e.jpg.html)

You get the idea, same guy also wrapped the Pillar moldings in vinyl, he's currently doing the cluster bezel

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0933_zpsb23ff514.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/neil350/media/SAM_0933_zpsb23ff514.jpg.html)

New front wheels, lol. Front Fikses are being refinished.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0928_zps0c58aa0c.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/neil350/media/SAM_0928_zps0c58aa0c.jpg.html)

[Fastbird]

Neil, how much did the suede wrapping of the interior plastics run? That's exactly what I want to do to mine.

[Cliff30thZ]

Looks good

[Neil350]

Thanks Cliff.

Sean,

It was at least a couple hundred, I brought him the interior in stages, he also did the pillars and cluster trim. I imagine with some patience you could wrap everything your self. Picked the cluster trim up the other day. Hopefully I get the Fikses back tomorrow.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/SAM_0951_zps93548d66.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/neil350/media/SAM_0951_zps93548d66.jpg.html)

[Neil350]

Got the front Fikses back today, tomorrow it leaves for a single plane swap and tuning.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/neil350/20130517_150419_zps0b68802e.jpg (http://s9.photobucket.com/user/neil350/media/20130517_150419_zps0b68802e.jpg.html)

[96lt1m6]

Looking great buddy

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2

[Neil350]

So a decent word of advice, if you ever need to adjust the felt fuzzies on the top of the doors, don't go nuts trying to get it super tight. I did and broke the window track and the metal piece on the bottom of the glass the roller goes in. This past weekend was spent taking apart the driver side door to pull the regulator and glass out to have that stuff fixed. Luckily it was able to be rewelded back together.

[popo8]

Good advice....guess u were gettig some annoying rattle?

MEMBER @ LTXtech.com

[Neil350]

Yeah, it was actually due to the window sweeps. On the inside of the window sweeps there like a padded area, on mine that was all pretty much deteriorated. So with the windows partly down the glass sounded like it was about to fall apart. I ordered a new set from Firebird central, they were decent quality but the clips they attached were in the wrong spot so they wouldn't fit at all. They were a pain because they only wanted to give me store credit and not a refund. Sent them back and ordered a new set off ebay that were GM old stock and they fit fine and fixed the issue. A lot of time has been spent trying to fix the stupid rattles with this car, now thats done I can listen to the worlds loudest 12 Bolt.

[popo8]

Mine do thw same thing...i just bump it a lil up or down and it stops for a bit.

MEMBER @ LTXtech.com