The Last Trans Am, A Tribute to the Last American Muscle Car by Matthew Burns Imagine walking out to your car on a beautiful day when the sky is the perfect shade of blue. You start your car and the exhaust has a low toned rumble that sounds like distant thunder. You slide your gear selector of the transmission into the appropriate gear and push the gas pedal down until you get to the right speed. Then you mash down hard on the gas pedal, the thunder of the exhaust gets louder, the earth is now churning beneath you, faster and faster, you notice the seat is getting more and more firm on your back. The excitement is the reward you have earned by using this power at the discretion that you see fit. Whether you are in the habit of getting places quickly, or if you just like to do burnouts in parking lots. If you like the idea of something being specifically tailored to give you a mind numbing rush that forces a smile on your face, and suspension that makes it handle like a slot car, the firebird was designed with you in mind. Car and Driver magazine stated the following humble words “It will not pass this way again.” The car of subject was the 79 Pontiac Trans Am. It was like the car of cars. The Trans Ams and Firebirds were, to say the least, very well built cars; they had (and have) adequate performance. They couldn’t perform as well as the legendary T/As of the 60s and early 70s. That was due to the fact that there was at the time; a more pressing concern of pollution and fuel efficiency than in the 60s and early 70s. Even throughout all of the performance clippings the big bird was having carried out on it’s proud feathers, the soul still lived on. The performance of the big bad T/A was hampered by C.A.F.E., and I’m not talking about the diner either. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy act was put in effect, that put a big dent in the big inch T/A’s performance. The big Olds 403 could be substituted for the new “little inch” 301 for $195 of credit. But the Trans Am could still be had with 403 Olds, which were all mated to automatics and were still very popular. The last of the 400 cubic inch engines were built up in 1978, and then the tooling was disbanded. Only a small amount of the high torque (320 ft lbs.@ 2800 rpm) 220 horsepower 400s would be put in the 79 Trans Am, and they were all bolted to 4 speeds. The 301 could be had with either a 4-speed manual or 3 speed automatic. The 4-barrel fed 301s were only rated at 150 horsepower@4000rpm and 240 lbs torque@2400 rpm. Not really bragging rights, but still enough to fry the hides off of the tires. As the saying goes “If you go down, go down in style,” a new front clip was fitted on the bird. A pair of grilles mounted in the bumper pad extensions replaced the traditional grille between the headlamps. The grilles were matte black and the park lamps-turn signal lamps were put in the upper outer corners. Four rectangular headlamps were placed in recesses in the fascia. For better aerodynamics, the front end was now less flat and more tilted back. Throughout all the changes the Pontiac crest still rested proudly in the aforementioned fascia. A new deeper front spoiler was now made of a more flexible material. The new spoiler could better handle the abuse of curbs, stones and driveway dips. The spoiler not only looked good but was also a big part of channeling cool air into the radiator. At the rear of the car, pads emerged from the bumper to look like that of the front. The spoiler was a bit bigger and squarer at the bottom of the corner pieces. The lights had a blacked-out look until they were turned on then they glowed red. The license plate was moved from between the tail lamps to a recess in the bumper cover. The aforementioned tail lamps now stretched from corner to corner, in the middle a hinged fuel filler door camouflaged with the tail lamps. Most of the new model budget was quickly gobbled up by “the new look”. But by no means was the chassis left untouched. The car handled like it was on rails. And it should have handled well now that the old WS6 package (which included p-metric p225/70r15 that gripped the road on all 4 corners) was now standard. The 8-inch snowflake wheel was now the only available aluminum wheel you could get. The hub centers were changed from metal to plastic. If you deemed necessary, you could still get the Rally II wheels. The new WS6 package now included 4 wheel disk brakes that stopped you like a dog on the end of its leash. For some strange reason the decal that proved the 4 wheel disks was placed on the door handles. The 301 had better chassis balance because it weighed about 100 lbs less than the big Pontiac or Olds motors. But the most popular combination was the 403/auto combo. Over 94,000 403 powered Pontiacs rolled off assembly line. Most of the 403 combos had 2.73:1, 2.56:1 or 2.41:1 geared differential that in turn made the Firebird seem weak. Even the high torque 400 did poorly in the ¼ mile-a not so glamorous 15.3 seconds @96.6 mph. But on the open road the Firebird performed well, to say the least. During a road test “Car and Driver Magazine “ pegged the tach at 5400 rpm (which is pretty good for the long stroke 400 with a 5000 rpm redline) and 132 M.P.H. was produced. While to some these numbers may not be all that impressive, keep in mind this is from a car that came from the showroom floor with no modifications. Albeit some, but (very few) of today’s cars can top that with ease this was pretty good in 79, and this was still quite enough to plant your butt to that very comfortable bucket seat and suck your brain through the back of your head. Even if the weakening effects of C.A.F.E. took a big bite out of the f-body’s feathers it was still a Firebird, and Firebirds were still pretty cool. To celebrate its 10th birthday, the Trans Am got pretty classy. The 10th anniversary edition would turn heads in a serious manner. This T/A was really awesome. If bright silver and charcoal two-tone paint wasn’t enough, red, silver and charcoal stripes accompanied the paint. On the hood, the biggest bird in T/A history was placed. And if that still wasn’t enough to set it apart from the crowd polished dished wheels rolled on all fours. To top it all off, mirrored T-tops were there too to give you the ultimate feeling of the wind in your hair. To create that wind the 403 or the 400 was shoehorned in the fender wells. This all called for one awesome ride that anyone could take pride in. The interior of this ‘bird was finished in light gray/silver hue. Silver leather was wrapped around the seats. Thicker carpet was laid for a sound deadener. Power windows, power locks, a trunk opener and the new WS6 package were included. The price for this thrill ride $10,620, unfortunately only 7,500 of these ‘birds were made. Nothing could compare to the chassis of the ‘79 firebird, there was no equal to even attempt to challenge the canyon carving abilities of this f-body. When compared to the Corvette, the Capri and even its cousin car the Z-28, hands down the Trans Am had far better road manners than the others. With bigger stabilizer bars and higher-rate springs, better shocks; and less weight over the nose, the result was glued-to-the-road great handling performance. In the dash amongst the gauges, comfortably rested the R.T.S. badge that let you know Radial Tuned Suspension was there to keep you on the road during those tight curves and corners. The Trans Am was one hot item; they were being sold almost faster than they could be built. Since everyone wanted one, the body quality suffered. Fit tolerances of body panels and paint quality were to say the least poor. But despite poor body quality they were still a Trans Am and the Trans Am was still a just about the greatest car of image that could be bought (at the time). Nobody really cared about the fit tolerances they just wanted a Trans Am. Even though C.A.F.E. took a big bite the T/A still flexed more muscles than the others. While the little inch 301 doesn’t have a lot of low-end torque, it can rev high, really high. Unfortunately the high winder was short lived and never gained the reputation as its same bore-stroke cousin the Chevy 302. The Chevy however had more interchangeable parts than the black sheep Pontiac 301. As a result of the 301 being short-lived, performance parts are quite rare. If you aren’t sure what motor you have, the 301 is quickly identified by the oil filter, it sticks straight out of the passenger side of the block while others the oil filter is straight up and down. Even though these Pontiacs were severely underpowered they were easily modified to suit your needs. If you choose to modify your engine, all it takes is a healthy camshaft, some headers, a new intake manifold and some roller tipped rocker arms. If you really want to get fancy, take the engine apart; install higher compression pistons with chrome-moly piston rings. Bore out the cylinders and add the above listed parts. If you were to choose to modify your ‘bird, don’t leave out the drive train. The Turbo Hydromatic 350 transmissions shifted pathetically in stock form; they got the job done and that was about it. When an automatic has a soft feeling shift that is actually worse for the transmission. So a good choice is to install a shift kit. The T.H.-350 however is a very strong unit. With some relatively easy modifications the T.H-350 can handle about 500 horsepower. However you must keep in mind that not all Firebirds came equipped with the TH-350, you must first find out what transmission you have. Unfortunately I cannot list all the possible ways to tell the difference between transmissions. Although GM has a reputation for making feeble differentials, the 8.5-inch diameter ring gear 10 bolt differential can be built up to handle about 450+ horsepower. In order to build the differential, straight-cut ring gears will be needed. When you get a new straight-cut ring and pinion, you might as well make them a lower gear ratio to aid in the acceleration. A good all around ratio for daily driving is about 3:1to3.5: 1; your fuel mileage will suffer a little, but when you make 400+ horsepower, you can’t expect good fuel mileage anyway. If you have all that power at your toes, a positraction or limited slip differential will be needed. Since a differential is designed to allow the wheels to turn at different speeds, without a posi or limited slip, all that power will make the wheel with the least amount of resistance just spin. New stronger axles will also be needed, without them the stock axles will snap like a toothpick under the neck-snapping acceleration of brute strength and you will find yourself going nowhere in a hurry. As I said before, the performance didn’t come again for quite a while. The next year (1980) the only available Pontiac motor was the 301.The Chevy 305 joined the line up, and it lasted all through the 80s. A motor with more than about 300 cubic inches didn’t appear until the late 80s. Then the 350 and 305 were the only available V8 engines. You didn’t have the availabilities like you did in 79. In fact the only V8 that was available in the early 3rd generation f-bodies was the 305. Mainly because the small block Chevy was the only V8 that would fit between the 3rd generation f-bodies fenders. The 403s and 400s wouldn’t fit very well, not even the short deck 301 could be wedged in. The 301 was supposed have a smaller block, but believe me they were still a big hunk of iron. The 3rd gen f-bodies also had weak drive trains that would scatter like a handful of marbles behind the 400 or 403. And weak motors that didn’t suck you to the seat as well. Plain and simple there just isn’t any comparison to the 79s. "CAR AND DRIVER” guys were right about the performance edge of the T/A. It didn’t pass this way again for many years. And when it did, it just wasn’t the same, but everyone still knows the name when you say Trans Am. The new T/As can now perform better than the old tired but true gaudy Trans Am. They can accelerate better, they get better fuel mileage, they can handle better and they have a higher top speed. But the ‘79s were simpler. They have no fuel injection or, for that matter, not even an E.C.U. so they can’t perform as well (in stock form), but like I said they were simple. You could modify them or do basic maintenance yourself. The new T/As have a pile of wires that looks like a bed of snakes that only a rocket scientist can do anything to. With all the new performance gains the new ‘bird has over the old ones, something just isn’t right. The Firebird line can only sell about 60,000 cars now, when in “the old days” nearly 200,000 examples were sold in 79 alone. Maybe it’s the massive cubic inches, maybe it’s the style, maybe it’s the laymen’s simplicity or perhaps it’s the weather or global warming or something like that. Whatever it is, the Firebird just isn’t what it used to be. The Firebird is now on a fast descent, and it will be put on hiatus or may even become extinct. Even so, the mighty Firebird may be gone but not forgotten.