So my buddy called me…

And tells me hey you still want that car? Hell yeah. 1983 Trans Am, 5.0v8, carbureted, cowl induction, automatic, T-tops, 93,000 miles. His new wife wanted it gone.


need to go through the carb, fuel system, general clean up, tires, I already ordered the seat covers, interior is great for 40 years old. will pull the dash and finbeglass the cracks and have it wrapped or I’ll fire up the sewing machine like when I did my boat seats.
Bought a battery and startee shoot be here this week. The old starter crapped out.
what do you guys think? My buddy thinks I should make it a KITT Knight Rider look alike. I like to keep it as OG as possible down to the turbine wheels so there won’t be much done to it as far as mods. Obviously a paint job is in the future.

when my wife and I dated 30 years ago I had a 1989 Camaro. Pretty much exact car except it was gray this is red.

Awesome..... no on Kitt, I loved the show, but building your own replica is cheezy in my opinion.

I love the look of those seats... other than the dirt.

What are the brakes and suspension like? I think that's where I'd start other then cleaning. Fluid, of course.

Looks like a fun project!

I would try to do mods that your buddy might like - once he gets divorced (a wife that made him get rid of his car just isn't gonna work out), he'll give you decent $$$ to get that car back.

Congrats on the car but that new wife needs to learn her place . My trucks won’t and haven’t left my ass if it t was here before you I’ll say when it leaves

****, I bought a race car when kid #1 was 6 months old and I already had a Z06. Ain't no woman choppin my balls off. Congrats if it's not a rotbox underneath.

454cid said:

Awesome..... no on Kitt, I loved the show, but building your own replica is cheezy in my opinion.

I love the look of those seats... other than the dirt.

What are the brakes and suspension like? I think that's where I'd start other then cleaning. Fluid, of course.

Looks like a fun project!

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Underneath has the typical surface rust on the axles and springs. It’s a California car so no rust rot underneath. Some rust on the t tops roof line but I can take care of that easily enough. I went to the junkyard and chopped off the roof from a ttop firebird in case I need to do some patches. But it all looks like surface rust. the car cranks over but the starter was weak as hell and I didn’t have a good enough battery woth side post terminals. But he said the car ran before it got parked. The worse part of the interior is really the dash. But that’s typical of those cars.
I wasn’t gonna do a KITT replica. That’s just a ton of money I don’t need to spend. I guess it would be cool in a hipster kind of way…but I’m not a hipster. The car is overall solid. Really more just neglect and sitting so stuff like rotted out the tires, rubber and seals are expextend.
it’s low miles and he rebuilt the transmission but in those days the early 700r4s weren’t anything to be singing about.
overall The car has very little rust but a few sections can use some work but it’s 40 years old I expect some issues.

i was able to find reproduction seat covers online. 650 bucks but that’s still cheaper than taking it in to a upholstery shop in my area. I did some research on the seats and I guess these seats are relatively rare seats made by Lear Siegler.

im trying to finish my GMC before I start this animal. basically one project at a time. This is a back burner deal. I just need to get it started so I can move it around the yard. Yeah it should be a decent project. I don’t see many of these trans arms around anymore. Especially ones this old. Most get beat to hell and trashed on.

as far as his wife……I think he wanted it out of these cause it was his ex wife’s who passed away and his new wife…well she probably wanted it out of there for the same reasons.

1989GMCSIERRA said:

as far as his wife……I think he wanted it out of these cause it was his ex wife’s who passed away and his new wife…well she probably wanted it out of there for the same reasons.

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That changes things...

letitsnow said:

That changes things...

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Yes it does.

Great score!
I ain't gonna lie... from WAAAAAY over here in Kentucky, California seems to be a strange planet anymore. When I was a kid, it seemed like the place to be if you were a car-nut. Now, I don't know what the hell you can/can't do to your car.
But I've always liked this look on those mid- '80s T/As...

1ton-o-fun said:

Great score!
I ain't gonna lie... from WAAAAAY over here in Kentucky, California seems to be a strange planet anymore. When I was a kid, it seemed like the place to be if you were a car-nut. Now, I don't know what the hell you can/can't do to your car.
But I've always liked this look on those mid- '80s T/As...

Click to expand...

One of my cousins had one of those. 87 Trans Am GTA, 350 TPI, some minor mods, and a chip. We took it to our local strip(1/8 mile), and I ran a 8.29 on drag radials. Super fun car to drive, handled great, and just enough power to get you in trouble.