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Love the gauges. Getting ready to buy Dakota digital now. Which gauges are these? Rtx? Vhx ?hdx?

Love seeing your progress... awesome.

Hey Skip I’m catching up on your videos. Bring that Trans Am down here to Georgia where the Bandit was from! lol I’m originally from Michigan, Georgia has a pretty good car culture. I have a Silverado kinda like yours in the video. I can’t believe just swapping brake pads is a hassle, you’re the second person I heard mention it. I’m not looking forward to it with mine. The I’m currently helping my uncle with a 69 Camaro, we butt heads because he’s a rigger and I’m more like you, more of a perfectionist. I have a video in my channel of us messing with it. Car restoration can be a headache!! Your car is looking great!

Nice, my exhaust guy tried to fight me on the two mufflers he wanted to put one big one behind the diff and I said no. Not on my W- 72!!

Which exhaust did you end up going with? or did you make all your own pipe?

don't the new speakers normally come with new wires?

Sure looks perty! Looking at retirement in a couple of years, too and not really keen on spending half my income on property tax and house insurance!!

Awesome, was wondering how it was going. Why not drive the Trans Am when it's done? I like your Blazer idea, cool.

I would swap those panels out at their cost. Minor cleanup is forgivable but come on, zero quality control. The problem with you fixing them is it promotes their lack of quality.

Hey Skip. Thank you for the all the videos and documenting your progress. I'm using your build as a resource for mine. Been using your tips on paint. I'm knee deep in stopping the rust and looks like I'll need an entire floor pan and trunk floor among other sheet metal. I'm restoring my lost and now found high school 79 Firebird Formula. th-cam.com/video/lMmHq34dePQ/w-d-xo.html If you want to check it out.

Don't you miss stereo shops?

This old bird sure has come a long way. I can't wait to see her all back together again looking shiny and new!

Hey now, have you finished the engine harness wiring,? If you did I don't see it. Good stuff here Skip !

nice job!

Wow! That radio IS modular! Do they still make Jensen Triaxles? Those were my go-to in "79. 😂 That, and a bottle of Jovan Musk oil in the console! (Try Five Finger Death Punch's version of Blue on Black!)

I have a good pic of my glove box with trunk release button before i took out the dash. If u have an email or phone # ill send it to you. I know the current trend is to put these larger wheels on the older cars but i dont think they look right and am gonna get my original 15in snowflakes redone.

If it's to loud your too old! sorry, had to say it! The one song I've always used to judge a stereo is the Darkside from Eddie & the cruisers soundtrack, seemed to have a good mix of bass and treble to flesh out a speaker.

Good review, we’ve never been there. My wife is a beach person. I seem to spend most my vacations visiting my mother in Michigan, in fact I have a Pontiac fanatic friend from high school who’s pushing me to go to the Detroit Autorama Show on the 3rd. So I’ll probably be passing through Ohio next week. I tried cooked oysters and liked them, but never would try the raw ones. My daughter tried to get me to try them but I said nah. Maybe someday, lol!

Happy late Birthday! Sounds like a really nice trip.. Everything is always overpriced. Now get back to work, ya slacker!🤣

I went there for a wedding few years back stayed a week 3 days I think would of been plenty best place was the Walgreens hit it up every night before we went back to our room they sold everything in there I went to count customs also but the Shelby museum which also had a free tour was awsome

Clean it with de greaser first to make sure it's good and clean. I have used full strength purple cleaner successfully on a 4th gen Trans Am dash and it worked great. Use a tooth brush or whatever to get into the nooks and crannies. Spray the cleaner, let sit about five min. and then wash off with water hose. Towel dry and put fan in front to finish drying. Make sure it's good and clean and dry (overnight or longer,) wipe down with 70% iso alcohol and paint with a good quality black vinyl paint. Very carefully paint it in one coat, no more. More coats will fill in the leather grain and not look good and hard to get off to redo.

Like new Trans Am dash restoration: th-cam.com/video/h6eTYVpLODw/w-d-xo.html

There is a hole in the dash frame that defines where the button goes, I think there is a nub that sticks out on the frame for that indentation in the door. I used the original speaker grilles on mine just to make it look more original. I would go with the 17" snowflakes, original but cooler looking.

Hobby Lobby sells a true chrome marker pen and yes it looks like chrome,the pens run about 11 to 12 $ ,hope this helps you out.

Spectacular job man.

Your good dash that you plan to use is a 70-77 dash and your test dash is a 78-81, you can tell by the area between the radio and ash tray openings, the 70-77 is thin and the 78-81 is wider, that will determine which bezel you need for the radio.

I bought 3.5" Pyle speakers on Amazon for under 20 bucks, I have some Sony 6 x 9's in the back from Walmart for around 50 bucks with the Custom Auto sound stereo, could it be a little better, but still sounds good. I bought an old school booster/equalizer I want to hook up to it, so we'll see. As far as the dash, I had an old Camaro with a brittle dash, I rubbed Vaseline on it about once a week for a few months and it seemed to actually soften it up. I did get that light in the mail yesterday, thanks again!

I hear ya on the waste of time brother. The whole audio thing is just a huge sinkhole full of quicksand

Skip, if you have the original 7 blade cooling fan for your W72, can you share the part number on it? Should be stamped on one of the blades. I have a guy selling one for $200 and I wanted to see if his part number matched. I'm collecting W72 stuff to try and get my car to be numbers correct as possible. Thanks.

I own a 48 GMC Truck 1.5 ton .. For some reason the pass door does not open ..I went from the inside to try to open it and it will not budge thinking the lock on the outside must be locked .. unfortunately I have no key for it either... ... What's the best approach to get the locking mechanism off to unlock the door?

Nice progress!

Now I I know why your wife was a Miss Georgia, she’s gorgeous! Did you make a video on your engine rebuild? I assume it’s the original W72 with 6X4 heads. I’m curious who machined it, what kind of cam and pistons you went back with, was it bored .30 over? I know you stated in a video that it has a lot more horsepower now. I’m looking for a Y6 block for my car. I have the W72 heads and carb. One of the engines I have is a 1973 L78 230 hp that I’m getting ready to rebuild. It came out of a full size car according to a Pontiac engine site. Anyway, just curious if you covered it in any of your videos. Thanks

Hey Skip love the videos, I’m redoing a 81 Z28. On those upper control arm bushings Napa gave me to ones for 70 to 79 one is to small. I ordered the set from Camaro Central and their kit comes with the bigger bushing with all the nubs for all of the uppers. Is this correct.

Yes my taxes went up about 22% I think taxes have gone up everywhere.

I've bought several items from Don, super nice guy! I did the same thing with all the wiring on mine, I wanted to make sure it worked and didn't have to chase issues later. If you have an extra trunk light let me know, I have the wire that runs up to the light but lost the light holder itself.

I'm doing wiring to.. only 7 or so engine wires on my car.... I'm chasing down the pigtails now for three items that got snipped by PO. Fun. Show me the wiring!! Good stuff.

Good Grief! 40% ! Agree on the downsize...same spot. Looking for paradise too.. not a stretch to get better than here (La.). but even OUR property tax didn't go up that high. Ga. & Tn. seem nice. I don't drive mountains very well, tho...

I use a gritty fingernail file on certain electrical terminals to clean them up. I have ordered different colored wires through NAPA if you want to keep the wire colors the same. As far as taxes, I live in Georgia and when you reach age 65 they take the school taxes off your property taxes. I have three acres, 3 bedroom house with a partial finished basement and an extra bedroom down there. I have the house garage and a separate garage. My annual taxes are $2200. When my wife hits 65 the school taxes should knock off about $800. I’m only 61, she’s older. Just trying to give you an example. We live in Walton County Georgia, we are both originally from Michigan. Our family in Milford Ohio pay about $5,000 a year on their property taxes. I would consider Tennessee, no income taxes. I have family in Henderson Tennessee and I like it up there. Huntsville Alabama is nice, I friends over there. Georgia has a pretty good car culture and we like it for the most part If we can keep the blue voters from flipping our state politics. North Georgia has some nice towns. 40% is a Hell of a jump. I feel for you. Your car looks better in every video!

I hate wiring, I can do it, I just hate it! Sounds like you need to downsize, find a little piece of land and build one of those Barndominiums, couple bedrooms and a nice big shop all in one!

You're making good progress, unlike me. : ( You have the right switch there, i checked my box with the half-assembled steering column in it out of my 4speed car and have the one with the plug on the side too. That wrinkle paint came out pretty good. I just sprayed over what i had, debating to redo it like yours...

I used VHT wrinkle paint on my collar with a heat gun, turned out pretty damn good. did you ever figure out why the turn signal handle rotated?

I'm restoring a 79 Trans Am SE here in the UK and California steering rebuilds have been very helpful to be fair. Might be worth keeping in mind. Wish it was as easy to get parts here in the UK though!.

Did the car come with cruise control? you didn't show whether it had a button on the end? the tilt column looks exactly like my 80, the turn signal lever is held in with a screw and the tilt lever is threaded and screws in. I've had both and prefer the tilt column myself.

I would love know where you got your book. I’ve been taking a lot of pictures that book would make my life easier.

Great video, I don’t think that clicking is normal. I rebuilt the upper half of my 1980 Corvette steering column a few years ago. I replaced the bearing, maybe a bushing, the ignition switch , the turn signal switch and all of the horn switch stuff. It turned pretty good, took the slop out. My 77 T/A has the old style column. The problem I have is all of my horn stuff is missing and I can’t find a diagram to even know what to order. It’s just a deep hollow hole. Your car is really coming along. I noticed the brake booster looks a little smaller than my 77’s. Was your original bigger?

I had one of those recirc doors with the vacuum pod on it mounted on the passenger side lower right kick panel in addition to that one on the cowl. Maybe thats where yours went?

I have a 77 TA the floors quarters rockers rear rails are rotted…where should I start first replacing those parts because car will fall apart if I disassemble it

Did you try Ames performance or Firebird central for parts? They have quite a bit of oem car specific parts that you may be looking for.

Promo sm

Would you use interior spray paint to change the color of the console? I've got a manual 79 TA with a light blue interior and white seats. If so, what kind of spray paint?