Mark's '73 Pontiac Trans Am

This is a '73 TA I found in a machine shed in '99. It actually belonged to a friend and I didn't know that he owned it. It is an original show car that he bought and started using for everyday transportation. It started to surface rust on the hood underside and a judge at a car show somewhere asked him to not put the car in judging. It was fine for him to bring it to the show but they could not judge it due to the surface rust. So he put it in the machine shed at a friends house and totally dismantled the car.

When he offered it to me he had completely taken out the motor, drive train, rear end, and dropped the front frame stub out the bottom. Because the spoilers and flairs were all moulded in and painted he could not dismantle the sheet metal so that is how I found it. Sitting on make shift saw horses like a model car body, completely intact with no frame and or running gear.

Once I started to reconstruct it I had to build it all back together with the sheet metal all installed. The pics you see above are the first days on the street. First car show in 2002. While it was apart I built the motor (see below for specs).

Dyno results with the turbo system installed:

The first run was at 10 psi and it hit 788 HP and 744 ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheels. The next 2 pulls were at 12 psi and it reached 789.7 HP and 827.9 ft-lbs. The last run was at 15 psi and it hit 886.8 HP and 822.3 ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheels. The drivetrain loss is 20%, so that converts to 1064 HP and 987 foot-pounds of torque at the motor.

I built the turbo system completely by myself with a real welder finish-welding the parts. The TA is in the shop because they won't let me run down here without side bars on the roll bar so I'm getting a full cage (good for an 8.5 second ET) installed for future use. If I can get that 1064 HP down I might actually be pushing that area.

Anonymous on May 21, 2008 at 08:40 a.m. said:

very nice

raspantienator on Aug 19, 2008 at 05:15 a.m. said:

Nice-I had a 74 455 but I prefer your style bumper to the 74's

snakepitt1 on Aug 11, 2009 at 06:38 a.m. said:

Pontiac power is alive and well!!!!

Anonymous on Sep 11, 2009 at 05:42 p.m. said:

sweet ride ,good luck

Anonymous on Sep 15, 2009 at 05:07 p.m. said:

Thanks for sharing this with me, Mark! You always were my auto expert.

~ Al Thomas

Anonymous on Dec 23, 2009 at 03:56 a.m. said:

Very nicely done,super rwhp numbers WOW !!! That (if you can get it to hook) will easily make some low 9's runs, tune it a season, you got that 8's ET slip we all so want! Congratulations on finishing the turbo setup, must have been a bit of nerve racking experience to learn about what all you needed to match it all up to each component. If you don't mine could you send me some info on the turbo,"electric dump gate" and what is in the engine now down to the smallest level. I am getting ready to do a "Turbo" on my 66', 421 four bolt main, now a 462ci engine for next year. Please contact me at freedomsoul36@hotmail.com

Kind Regards, jts

Anonymous on Dec 28, 2009 at 10:34 a.m. said:

thats badass dude

Anonymous on Jan 16, 2010 at 02:38 p.m. said:

Hi, that's a mega nice looking car, well done for getting it going again.

Andy, Wales, UK.

Anonymous on Feb 25, 2010 at 01:18 p.m. said:

car looks good