My new 77 Trans Am - 11,700 mile Survivor

[Dave Castine]

Thanks guys - I wasn't looking for a car but a client of mine told me about his late friend's car that his widow was looking to sell and asked me if I could help her. This was on the Friday after Thanksgiving - I was getting ready for my 40th class reunion (yup graduated HS in 1977), Smokey and the Bandit, had a CB - the whole 9 yards...LOL

Once Howard told me the car was a one owner 77 Trans AM with 11k miles on it I was very interested. Then he told me it was a stick car - I had to have it. It started out as a dealer owned car for it's first 8k miles, then sold retail to Tom (Howard's late buddy) - Tom only drove it 3,700 miles since Feb of 1978 - yikes! I have the original Rally wheels with original Uniroyal Steel Belted Radial Tires which I will be putting back on after I swap the BFG's from the Snowflakes over onto the Rally's.

As far as replacing the belts and hoses; I just figured that I "should" - do you actually think that even if they look good, they'd be safe? The last thing I need is to get caught on the side of the road with my wife giving me that look... (been there, done that - X10, LOL)

I opened the trunk and found an NOS SE Hood Decal in the GM shipping tube (this car is not an SE), so Maybe Tom was looking to change the look of the car by throwing on the Snowflake wheels and having the hood decal put on? Who knows? Can't imagine that few decade old hood decal is any good, but I'll keep it for a conversation piece.

The untreated metal parts under that car are pretty rusted (brake lines, leaf springs, front control arms, coil springs, etc.) - what should I do with those? Coat them with some sort of rust neutralizer? Replace them?

Thanks for your guidance everyone! - Merry Christmas