HOME TRANS AM FOR SALE RESTORATIONS OTHER CARS
LOCATED IN
MIAMI-FLORIDA
|
|
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FAQS
You now own a car from the 70’s era, you need to get familiar with things were designed in a way and some of them seem illogical or designed poorly, here we go:
Q: How do I open the hood?
How to Open the Hood on a 1973–1981 Pontiac Trans Am
(For first-time owners or anyone unfamiliar with this unique setup)
⚠️ Important Note:
Unlike many other vehicles,
these cars do not have a hood release handle inside the interior.
Instead, the hood release is hidden in the
lower front bumper,
just to the driver’s side of
center.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1.
Approach the Front of the Car
Walk to the front of the Trans Am. Stand directly in front of the
driver’s side headlight.
2. Locate the Hood Latch Handle
Look just below the bumper — there's a
recessed area in the
lower grille opening on the driver's side.
Reach your hand in and feel for a
metal handle or lever
tucked just behind the grille.
3. Pull
the Handle Firmly
Pull the handle straight back. You’ll hear or feel the hood pop up
slightly.
4. Move
to the Center of the Hood
Go to the center front edge of
the hood and slide your hand just under it.
There is a secondary safety
latch that must be lifted upward.
5. Lift the Hood
Once the safety latch is released,
lift the hood upward.
It’s heavy but should stay up thanks to the factory hood springs (if
they’re still working!).
Q: How do you remove the ignition key on a 4 speed manual transmission TA?
⚠️ Important Note:
These cars have a built-in
ignition lockout safety feature that requires the
gear shifter to be placed in
reverse before the ignition key can be removed. This is a
factory anti-theft mechanism unique to GM’s 4-speed cars of the era.
A: Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Come to a Complete Stop
Ensure the car is completely parked and the parking brake is engaged.
2. Shift into Reverse (R)
Push the gear shifter firmly into the
Reverse position. On
most 4-speed Hurst shifters, that’s usually to the far right and down.
This action mechanically unlocks the ignition cylinder.
🡒 (Look for the “R” on the shift pattern and push until you feel it engage.)
3. Turn the Ignition Key to
the Off Position
With the car in reverse,
rotate the key fully counterclockwise to the OFF position.
4. Remove the Key
Now you can safely pull the
key out of the ignition cylinder. If it doesn’t come
out, double-check that the gear shifter is completely locked into
reverse.
Q: My car seems to have misalignments and gaps here and there on body panels, is this normal?
A: This cars were not perfect from factory, misalignments in doors, hood, flares and spoilers are part of the nature of the car.
Q: Is it normal that the t tops leak?
A: well, yes, THEY ALL LEAK, if you have a trans am from the 70's with 100% leak free t tops please call me, yours is possible the only one on earth, worth to be put in a record book.
Q: The car is restored but the t tops have scratches here and there?
A: unfortunately Pontiac solution to store and transport the t tops inside the car was a simple bag that has poor protection capacity, t tops are prone to shift and move inside the trunk when not in use and they are prone to get scratched and even dented sometimes. Unfortunately no one makes t top reproductions and perfect t tops are virtually impossible to find and glass polishing we tried to the years doesn’t really remove them.
Q: My TA was restored and the doors and or windows don't shut properly?
A: this is pretty common, and the reason is the new seals for the doors that are manufactured this days are made of harder rubber compared with the soft factory latex, unfortunately this is an issue we are still trying to get solved with the manufacturing companies, hopefully they will change the quality of the rubber soon, now we have noticed that with time the rubber gets softer, but as said takes time for them to get shaped by door/window pressure. Also the WINDOWS TURN SLOW because same issue with new rubber and the best option is to roll up the window with the door open before closing it.
Q: My e-brake cable runs on top of the exhaust, is this right, my mechanic says this is incorrect?
A: that's the way was done from the factory, your mechanic not familiar with 2nd gen firebirds.
Q: The trunk has some sealer marks under the trunk lid on the corners, looks terrible, was this car in an accident?
A: No, those patches are factory sealer and yes they look terrible but that's the way this cars were put together by the plant and it truly makes you think was an unprofessional repair, but is not, there are several places in the trunk and other places in the car where you will find this sealer.
Q: My car partial Vin on engine or transmission is off by one digit, or 10 or 100
A: This is not common but has been reported many times and has been proved that workers made mistakes with the stamping machine back in the day at the plant, usually the error is by one sequential digit, sometimes 10 and 100, we have personally seen one digit dozen times in the 2+ decades restoring trans ams, there is not question under this circumstances that the cars are matching numbers.
Q: My bumpers have stress marks, cracks or hairlines, why?
A: This is very common, specially early models, and also 1979-81models, the material used in the 70's probably lost its flexibility making this parts prone to cracks, even with the addition of modern flex agent added to the paint they will eventually develop some type of marks or hairlines, pleas be extra careful with this parts and most importantly avoid pushing the car by the bumpers in case you need to push it, push by sail panels or pillars with the windows down, do not EVER push the car by rear spoiler fins. the 1970-73 models front fascias are very delicate and they tend to develop hairlines and cracks at some point, is not if is when. Rubber on front and rear fascias on 1974-75 also very delicate and doesn't reacts well to new chemicals when trying to refinish and may end damaging what's left of that rubber area after 50 years (know that bumper rubber part is not available and near impossible to find)
Q: My car has a stress hairline crack by the corner of the sail panel by the L shaped part were the roof rail weather stripping is.
A: this is common, and most frequent in cars with t top cars, the reason lies on the Unibody construction with a partial sub-frame which allows this kind of cars to flex under stress, this cracks are pretty common and will eventually show up.
Q: when I switch the ignition key to the on position I hear the fan working, but my a/c control is off.
A: Yes, that's the way they were wired, fan always running, even if your a/c is off, this was purposely designed to keep the front windshield fog free.
If you have any other questions please call 1.305.412.5000
___________________________
PONTIAC ADS TROUGH THE YEARS:
the y
ears
.
TRANS AM IN MOVIES AND TV SHOWS
SMOKEY AND
THE BANDIT 1-2-3
HOOPER
CANNONBALL (DAVID CARRADINE)
THE PRESIDIO (YELLOW T/A KILLED INFORMANT)
THE DRIVER-RYAN O'NEIL
ROCKY 2
THE HUNTER-STEVE MCQUEEN
THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT-CLINT EASTWOOD
EYE FOR AN EYE-CHUCK NORRIS
A FORCE OF ONE- CHUCK NORRIS
BORDERLINE -CHARLIE BRONSON BORDER PATROL
KNIGHT RIDER-DUH
HIP HOP VIDEO "MUST BE THE MONEY" RIDE WITH ME
MEATBALLS
DAZED AND CONFUZED
OLD SKOOL
DETROIT ROCK CITY
JOE DIRT
THE WRAITH
AMERICAN WEDDING
JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE
CHARLIE'S ANGELS 2
BAD BOYS 2
SON IN LAW
CANNONBALL RUN
CRASH AND BURN
THE JERK- STEVE MARTIN (BARRIS CUSTOMIZED)
ROCKFORD FILES
Mc Q- JOHN WAYNE
BLUE THUNDER
SLEEPWALKERS-TRANS-AM CHANGES TO MUSTANG
FIREBIRD 2015
LONGEST YARD (ADAM SANDLER)1 BEHIND BARN
SIMPSONS-APU DRIVES ONE
AMERICAN BEAUTY
CHIP'S-PONCHE'S BIRD
OLDER EP OF SOUTHPARK
GEORGIA PEACHES- LATE 70'S FLICK W/ CONVERT '79T/
BIG BOB JOHNSON'S FANTASTIC SPEED CIRCUS----------
(CHARLES NAPIER)
AN EPISODE OF RENO 911-CROWN VIC CAN'T CATCH IT!
A VIDEO BY JASON ALDEAN-JOHNNY CASH'S( GAS UP THE PONTIAC)
PAYBACK-MEL GIBSON
2 diff episodes of MY NAME IS EARL
2 EPISODES OF THAT 70'S SHOW
POLICE ACADEMY 1st movie
TRAVIS TRIIT video" Long Way to Richmond"
List of cars on the movie Smokey and the Bandit I
1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Special Edition
1977 Pontiac Lemans 4 door
1975 Plymouth fury
1976 Cadillac El Dorado Convertible
History Source *source 2Gta.com
|
CALL 1.305.412.5000 OR EMAIL rick@transamflorida.com OR TEXT 1.786.218.1763 |
|
© 2020 Trans Am Specialties of Florida. All rights reserved.