1974 Pontiac Transam 455 - Page 2 - Specifications and Cleanup!
After getting the car to my place (thanks to Towie) the first thing that the car desperately needed was a major wash and a total cleanup. There was dirt, spider webs, spiders, and piles of leaves and garbage absolutely everywhere. This was the dirtiest car I have ever seen in my life and I spent 3 full days just cleaning it. Even then there was still lots more cleaning to be done. Once the initial cleanup was completed I felt much better, the car was beginning to look the way I remembered it 15 years ago.
The Transam was pretty much original and as it had left the Pontiac factory in 1974 when I bought it. Cameo white in colour with white interior, matching numbers 455 engine, and Turbo 400 transmission. It also has an original steel electric sunroof, which is an extremely rare option. The sunroofs were installed by G.M. contractor "A.S.C." (American Sunroof Company), and are very neatly done.
Tony had the car resprayed in around 1992, in the original cameo white colour. At the same time all the factory decals and badges were removed and the holes filled, as he preferred the look of the car that way. I have now refitted all the factory badges and decals, including the famous "screamin chicken" hood bird.
The motor was also modified by the previous owner, and I believe that all the work was performed by a mechanic out at St Mary's in Sydney's west. That whereabouts of that shop are now unfortunately unknown. I'm pretty sure that Tony would have just told them to make it faster (as if a 455 T/A isn't fast enough already), and thrown some money at them. So the original motor has been modified, but I really don't know what's been done to it. These are the things I have found to date:
- Holley carburettor, 800 cfm spreadbore, double pumper.
- Edelbrock Performer intake manifold
- Yella Terra YT5010 aluminium full roller rocker arms
- Modified stock exhaust manifolds
- Hi-torque mini starter motor
- Full stainless steel 2.25 inch dual exhaust, and stainless mufflers, following the original pattern.
- Transmission oil cooler
- 9 inch Ford rear axle with disc brakes and a 2.7 ratio.
Here's some pictures after the initial cleanup, I was starting to feel a lot better about the car now since it no longer looked like such a heap of crap!
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6