Cascade Crew

[Sellmanb]

Ok, my brother is feeling the urge to get a 2nd gen trans am, he seems to like the smokey and the bandit look (77-79?). He wants a shaker hood, and it must be a V8, plus be T-Top.

He knows dick about cars in general, and I know dick about 2nd gens.

I was looking at all the different motors that can come in trans ams, it looks like everything from a 305 chevy, 350 chevy, 403 olds and a 455 pontiac motor can come in them. Which is the best ? I would assume 455 poncho motor, but how is reliability? What are problems with the 2nd gens? I would assume much of the same as 3rd gens, breathing ability.

Is there a good informational website for 2nd gens (TransAms in specific?) sort of like there's thirdgen.org . That way I can figure out what kind of aftermarket he's lookin for.

If anyone knows much of anything about 2nd gen TransAms, please fill free to enlighten me!

[chevymad]

The 400 and 455 pontiacs are the performers. The 403 olds was pretty fast too.. but think of it like a tpi motor. All low end.. done by 4500. The pontiacs can be built real stout.. the olds had problems with weak mains(windowed). But if you get one with an olds the olds 455 will bolt right in place too. The WS6 cars got 4 wheel discs with the big sway bars etc. Stock pontiac heads in the 70s flowed very well. Amazing for a smog motor. The block is the weak link in the pontiac. You can't build a poncho like a chevy and expect it to hold up. They don't rev the same, or have the same power band.

Best board I found has been the pontiac years board. There are some very very fast cars there. Put tgo and team chevelle to shame.

My dad had a 79 bandit TA. 403 olds, tan interior, ws6. Car handled, stopped, and went very well. In the late 70s the TA was the fastest car made in america. Vette was about 40hp behind.

I've now got 2 2nd gens. A 74 formula 400. And just recently picked up the rest of the parts to a 79 firebird. I'm toying with the idea of making the 79 a bandit clone.

[Sellmanb]

Nice! Great info, thanks Brandon. So what do people w/ pontiac 400's typically do to make up for the shotty design?

[chevymad]

"Shotty" is relative here. Until just recently all pontiacs used cast cranks and cast rods. The crank is actually pretty decent, but the rods gotta go. There are block reinforcements for the lifter valley, but you only need these when running huge rollers. Align bore and careful crank work will usually hold the bottom end together to 6k rpm and lots of horse. But if you go to that pontiac site.. there are people pushing 800hp N/a. The 400 poncho has the exact same bore/stroke as a 400 chevy. .. but the rods are 6.625 long.. not 5.6. Also the heads are 14* from the factory if i remember right. Alot of pontiac v/8s came with windage trays, crank scrapers and baffled pans from the factory. In other words alot of the hot rod stuff we do to chevies is factory on a poncho. The main journals on a 400 are 3.00", and on a 455 they're 3.25". Big, huge, strong cranks. The 4.25" stroke crank will slide right in a 400. Making it like a 461-467 cid.

Check out pontiac dudes website.. oil pan rails are really wide on a pontiac so a huge stroker crank will fit. http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/pontiacdude428/

He sells a motor like he put in his wife's 79 ta.. 455.. 87 octane, 4800rpm shifts.. runs high 12s. That's using mid 70s smogger heads at that.

[BigDaddyVu]

here's one for sale but its a turbo 301.
http://spokane.craigslist.org/car/415706127.html

[Sellmanb]

That's a pretty sweet deal for only 2k. My brother's gunna wait another couple months and try to get one around the 3k mark. Hoping to have one with a good body (doesnt need dents pulled, or paintjob) and then either good running, or good interior (cant get both for that price).

He's pretty much narrowed it down to 76-79 TransAm w/ a 400 Poncho motor, shaker hood and T tops, preferrably black/black.

I think it's a great idea myself... makes me wanna get back into a 3rd gen.... someday.