hi everyone i just took the first step i bought my self a new 1978 Firebird trans am
i have a dream and a goal of resotring this beutiful car this is my first restore i have an idea of wat to do but i would greatly appreciate instuructions and tips of wat to do. ill put pics up soon of wat it looks like now and keep u all posted with updates of how its coming along  

What to do depends on what it needs.

Here is a link for restoration parts:

http://www.yearone.com/  

it needs an interior has some rust spots on the body paint job is a must and the engine i would like to put make it performance still lookin towards that but i do not now were to start body, engine, interior and wat to do from there on  

Ditto silver buick:figure out what it needs.Then...Now remember everyone has differt methods and approaches so dont take this as gospel.I have done a few restos and it usually goes something like this...Decide exactly what you want the car to be and do for you.Figure out as much of it as possible first on paper.IE:What you need,want, where to get it and what it costs.Dont forget labor for what you may have to farm out,and allways leave room in your budget for unforseen problems.Now if you intend drive it while you build it as budget allows.The same plan as above follows, Just make sure you do it right the first time and stick to your plan.(dont forget your big picture)Cobbeling *** together untill you can do it right just makes the whole project more difficult.I have seen more projects not get done becuase of this single factor than anything else.Short cuts and cobbeling tend to snowball into a big mess fast.Just remember it aint as easy as overhaulin makes it look but it is just as rewarding in the end.A good starting point is usually chassis/suspension.Get it all sorted out,Springs,suspension front and rear and brake system.You need a good foundation to build from. Good luck and most of all have fun doing it.  

check out this forum below, they have a section for 77-81 TA's
http://forums.performanceyears.com/forums/index.php

Jerry ( aka Silverbird )
My72ta@yahoo.com  

the first thing i can tell you is make it fast before you put money into the body, yes keep it from rusting by all means but it doesnt have to be pretty right. make it fast! people all over the place will be messing with you wanting to race you like crazy belive me i get it all the time in mine. even if you have the biggest of the 2 400 pontiac engines that came with that car you've only got 220hp with all smog emissions *** and that's at the engine not the rear wheels, fortunately all sorts of thing can be done, first the car is heavy so shave weight. swap out the intake manifold with an edelbrock performer you can step it up to an rpm perfromer from edelbrock but you'll have clearnace issues with the shaker hood scoop. have your q-jet carb rebuilt with performance in mind or spend a couple hundred extra and get a matching edelbrock performer series carb like 750cfm (keep your q-jet if you get another carb). take off all of the crap the is attached to the aircleaner base including the factories version of cold air induction..remove the airhorn that stiks out the right.. seall up the holes in the aircleaner base with some sheets of aluminum and rivets seal the edges with rtv gasket sealer or get creative you get the idea.. next at the front of the shaker hood scoop. take drill or jigsaw or what ever you can get your hands on and open up that baby, then clean it up and take yourself some METAL screen mesh and contour it to the shape of the hole on the inside and apply some epoxy to it, now you have a fubctional hood scoop and it sounds awesome not to mention you feel a little improvement in the seat of your pants. oh yeah invest in a K&N air filter and matching extreme top, it works.. if you can afford it go with aluminum heads again you shaving weight off and gaing good head flow to boot.. you can have your heads reworked to flow better but they will weigh the same.. put a big nasty cam( call butler performnace for a suggestion on the cam) and some headers. if you have the automatic th350 or th400 have them rebuilt and add a *** kit out back don't go bigger then 3:73 gears if your *** not gonna see to much strip action.. i have 3:73's in mine with a th350 and man she shits and gets. and upgrade your ignition system with an msd6al and 50,ooo volt coil for the hei.. msd wires and a good set of plugs my car seems to like autolite single platinum plugs, i've tried them all and you should too. start with acdelco though that's orginal equipment, and see what she reponds too.. well good luck dude have, if you want to reach me my email address is dlozano10@yahoo.com.>>>> bandit burning out  

Man, the entire time I owned my '69 Firebird 400 I only had a handful of challenges, mostly with 5.0 Mustangs.  I borrowed my brother's '96 Neon (at least it did have the best engine offered and the 5-speed) for ONE day and got more cars revving at me than the entire time I've had my license (barring that day).  All I could think was, "Where the *** are these guys when I am in my car?!?!?"  

funny thing. most of the people that are revving at the light while parked next to me are the ricers and believe it or not trucks especially the HEMIS. the trucks are probably the most fun though. although i did blow out the bottom end of my engine once while playing around with a honda s2000 but i still took em. he would had though if we were are on the highway as my engine is only good for about 5000rpm currently, and she tops out pretty quikly. well that's my story.>>> bandit burning out.  

Hey how you doing?I myself just bought a 1978 bandit and may be able to help you a little bit.Do you have the engine and trans out yet?If not thats a great start because it will give you more room to work and you'll want to also see if there's anything there you need to do as far as painting and body work.How far are you gonna go with this car?Let me know i've worked on cars for over 20yrs. and this is my first restoration.I just wanted to make sure of the car I was going to restore and I picked my 1978 firebird.I got mine from the original owner and it came all original as well.You ask me any questions you might have and I may have a few to ask you if thats ok.  

Hello, I have a 1975 trans am project car im workin on right now. I've had it for about 5 yrs, and its not done yet, how sad is that? anyways, i started out by looking over the whole car for about 3 hours to see what the damage was and how it could be fixed ( cheaply ). I started by taking the whole front end apart and cleaning everything. I replaced every bushing and wearable item on the front and rear suspension, it makes a big difference!!! I took things like the control arms bumper brackets, etc. to be sandblasted, then i painted them. As far as bodywork goes, don't ask me cause i hate it. If your working on a budget, have a plan of attack before you get to far into it. I would do it something like this, suspension and steering, then brakes (cause these are least fun), then you could ethier do the drive train or bodywork, and if i was you, i would tackle the interior last. mainly becuase when you paint, you want to get the door jambs and all that crap.  

My boyfriend and I have been working on his 78 TA for the past year. It was a gold on gold TA from the factory, but someone changed it to black on black.... You can see the gold paint through the black in some places (no primer) and the interior interior was painted (YES PAINTED) black - right down to the seats.

We've had a lot of luck trolling around on 78ta.com ... good info.  

My first Firebird was a '78 TA w/ Hurst T-tops, very cool. I did very litle mechanical work on it since I was on 19 and knew only how to change oil, plugs and put gas in it, but drove that car everywhere. Mechanical is always priority one to me- do your compression test, and see if the engine is in need of service get it done. A high mileage motor should just be rebuilt (don't try to dink around sticking parts on it), and get aftermarket forged rods (Pacific Performance Racing-$229 set) for the build up because you will run it hard once you feel the power.

I've had my '72 Firebird for 20 years now, so I've had plenty of time to work on it. I takes lots of time and money to do these cars right- take your time, spend the money to do everything right and you'll have a sweet ride.

Geno  

Yes, as many have said, figure out what you want to do. Also, you need to figure out what you have. Go to www.screaminchickenchasers.com and have them decode your VIN and COWL tag so you know more about your car. This is also news and other links.