Your car looks great! I've owned my '89 Trans Am GTA for 14 years(since I was 17) and while it doesn't get much use with the other cars in the garage, I'll never sell it because of the memories I've made with it.

 

Awesome ride! The car below belongs to one of my customers. Just sitting in it you can't help but to feel like a badass!

 

Ya gotta love those black Special Editions!

I also have a 1989 Formula, which was my daily driver after the 1980. These days its a spoiled brat, only seeing sunny days, but like yours it's a keeper too. In 1993 I drove it to Vancouver by way of Los Angeles on a tour of the western U.S. Unfortunately all those photos are analog for the time being so all I have right now is this one at our "race shop".

 

Memories!! My first car was 1979 Black Trans Am with the gold chicken and WS-6 handling pkg!! Your car looks great

 

You are doing what I'm trying to talk myself into right now!!! I have a '91 Camaro I've been building for 8yrs with a freshly built 400sbc/6spd and ground control weight jacks/konis blah blah blah that I'm looking at selling to goto a Z06. Part of me knows I should stay with the Camaro as everything under it only has 200kms! but the other part of me that seems to like upgrading wants to move on.

 

My second car was a 76 TA with dual snorkel hood and snowflake wheels! Too hot in Miami with no AC so it had to go

 

At long last my new engine is finally complete. The dyno run indicated 476 peak horsepower at 5700 rpm. This was a bit disappointing only because the last one made 480, and I was sure that the new short skirted Mahle pistons and the undercut Eagle crank would turn out more. But the big issue with this particular combo (and Pontiac engines in general) is the heads; mine are emissions-era units with big combustion chambers. Thus the compression ratio is only 10:1. Also the flow is not optimized; notice that at 6000 rpm it's all over.

My engine guy says there could be at least 100 more horses in it with some proper aluminum heads, but that will have to wait. On the bright side, it tops 480 foot-pounds of torque from 3900-4900 rpm.

All I need to do now is get it in the car! We won't make Mid-Ohio this weekend, but the plan is to hit Road America in a few weeks.

 

At least you've lightened your rotating assembly and possibly improved your oil management. You have a better base for more power now!

~480hp under 6000rpm is still very good. Your torque is peaking perfectly between shifts as well I assume. You have a good combination for your setup! I'm making the same power at 6200rpm but my 12lb flywheel with 2.73 gears and higher peak tq puts me out of the powerband every shift! My car isn't finished but having your setup optimized each step of the way gives the most satisfaction. Guess we always want more tho!

 

At long last, three weeks ago we finally finished getting the new engine in and running. Took WAY to long, but nice to have it done now. I have not yet had a chance to take her out for a drive, but she runs and sounds great!

Hopefully we will get a chance to hit the track again soon. Don't know about Watkins Glen in September, but for sure Road America in October.

Here is a short video of the business end; I was hoping for better audio quality, but it's not exactly a pro-level camera. Sorry, no flames! And do note that this video was shot after a proper warm-up!

Sweet music - YouTube

 

Awesome thread!