VHT Roll Bar and Chassis Satin Black epoxy paint. Great stuff!

Smart looking Steve!

What color blue is the car? Looks great!

It is 1970 to 1972, code 26 Lucerne Blue. I think Chevy called it Mulsanne Blue.

I am thinking of changing things up a little this winter and swapping to a shaker hood for Gramma's car since the Formula hood is so warped in the middle. I have a perfect 1971/2 functional shaker lid and a usable base from a non-shaker air cleaner that donated its snorkels years ago. I just need to find a nice 1971 to 1976 hood now. (In case anyone near me in Jersey has one to spare.) Here's a couple photos of the shaker unit and the donor base. Once I source a couple of the mounting tabs that tack weld to the base so the shaker can attach, I can get it powder coated.

(ignore the color-matched cat)

I was perusing craigslist last week and this Formula hood popped up within driving distance. It was selling cheap and it is not bowed! It has at least six layers of paint on it. So I guess I have another repair project to play with. It has some minor cracks around the defroster grills but at least all the ribs are still in place. It was a real project getting it in the Suburban and even worse getting it out. It took about 45 minutes with me and the kids trying to keyhole it out the back. I had to remove the rear hatch interior trim to gain an extra 1/2" of clearance. It was like it grew wider once it got in the back of the truck.

I borrowed a buddy's pressure washer on Saturday and cleaned the underside. It got all the old grease and gunk off very nicely.

Cool. Are you going to prep and paint the dual scoop Formula hood and then store it and put the shaker and hood on it for a while?

For some reason it seems difficult to find a nice shaker hood at the moment. Shipping $$$ is big deal breaker. So I may just paint the Formula hood and use that. I figured it couldn’t pass this one up since it was relatively cheap and nearby.

Have you tried Ron from Potomac Pontiac? We used to buy tons of used stuff from him.. 301-668-0101

I have not, but the $150 or so dollars to truck freight and then praying for it to arrive undamaged is what really hurts. I've never been able to get something that big and flat shipped without it arriving either more flatter or more curved than when it began the trip.

This Formula hood was just across the bridge in Delaware which was a leisurely 2 hour drive. Maryland isn't that far away...just one additional state further south.

I spent some time out in the garage today with the 73. I used it as a the guinea pig for the 75.

I did some measuring on the inside of the donor air cleaner base and although the outside height is the same as a shaker air cleaner base, the inside height is not the same. The donor base does not have the "drop base" to sit low on the carb so the shaker will sit too high on this base and hit the hood if I try to use it.

So it looks like I will need to find an actual shaker base either a repro 70-72 or a 73 to 79 and add the two mounting tabs I got from Norwood.

Oh well...anybody got a used shaker base from a 73 to 79 sitting around in the attic?

Just a reminder:
If you use Google Chrome, there is an add on that fixes the problem and displays the photos.

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthrea...ghlight=Google

I found a baseplate, a nice rust free one from a Performance Years member. It was from a late 70's T/A. I carefully removed the snorkel and then glass-beaded the entire baseplate. Painted it with VHT satin black epoxy paint. I attached Norwood's shaker lid brackets to the outer rim with a couple of screws and nuts, after carefully measuring and marking with it should go. I also had to move the square breather element hole to clear the passenger side bracket which was in the exact same spot.

Here's how it came out. Now I need to find that pesky 70-75 steel shaker hood.

Nice.

Steve, what are the major differences in Trans Am hoods of the second generation? I would like to build a wanna-be 1970-1973 T/A.

The 70 to 76 hoods’ body lines are externally the same with minor underside bracing differences. 77 to 81 have a flatter body line to mate up with the 77 and newer urethane nose.

ahh, makes sense, Thank you for clarifying.

Look what I picked up today! Thanks to a tip by BentwheelBob (the guy who owns my old Black 72 Formula), I just got back from North Jersey with this. It was listed on Facebook -it's a 1975 hood that was already stripped and primered (top and bottom). It is in really nice shape and was only 45 minutes away. It was half the price of the new repro hood and no shipping costs! Yay!

Nice score, Steve!

Have you ever spoke to the Trans Am Reaper in the Chicago area? He specializes in early f body parts.

Do you mean Ralph?

Bobby K

Does he have a website?

He doesn't. I'll ask Bobby if he wa to me to pm his cell to anyone interested. Last year he had to have Norwood come by to id what years were what, he got a stack of hoods.

I test fitted the new hood today with the help of my daughter. The fit is too tight on the driver's side. I'm going to need to pull out the diver's side fender a little so the rear spear of the hood doesn't rub as it passes by during closing. I think there are lot of bolts that need loosening to do that. I tried removing the rear cowl top fender bolt and the loosening the door jamb bolt but the fender didn't budge at all.

There should be a bolt on the firewall also and you will have to crack or loosen all the bolts on the inner fender to get the fender to move out. Once all the bolts are tightened its now the structure of the front of the car. For now you may be able to put a body shim behind the hood hinge to push it to the pass side if you have room.

Steve, I picked up the washer bezel insert, maybe you can confirm, I thinks it's fir the early cars, it doesn't fit my 78.

Thanks. forgot about that bolt. Once that was loosened was able to move the fender over a little bit but of course it then rubs the top of the door edge when it opens. And the hood stills rubs the inner flange of th fender back by the windshield as it passes.

I ordered a set of Goodmark reproduction hinges from rockauto and they should be here this weekend. I have a feeling the 43 year old hinges have a bit too much side-to-side play in them. You can really move the hood laterally quite a ways, when it is articulating.

PM me a photo and I'll see if it looks familiar.

That worked! I put a 1/16th shim between the hinge and fender on both driver's side hinge bolts. The hood now clears the fender now when you open it. I took the old girl out for a run today since it was sunny and 55 degrees. Started right up. Boy this motor can run! And the wide open throttle noise coming out of the shaker is soooooo much louder than the old Formula hood setup.

I just spent an hour getting the solenoids and brackets hooked up inside the shaker. Next thing is to do is get the wiring plugged in and the Turbo 400 kickdown switch installed on the gas pedal bracket under the dash. (the 1971/72 setup employed the Turbo 400 kickdown switch as the on/off power supply to the shaker solenoid. Very ingenious of the engineers to have thought of that. It works much better than the carb-mounted switches, plungers and solenoids used on the 1970. :-)

Anyone have one of these little firewall ground strap connector clips? It screws to the firewall and allows the braided copper ground strap (that goes to the shaker base) to be removed without unscrewing the bolt. They were used up until 1974 on all sorts of GM cars. It's #46 on the chart but it shows as a non-serviced part. The part number is 8900232.

Call me. You gotta talk to Bobby.

The hood is at a local body shop getting painted. The underside was blacked out yesterday. The metal was in very nice shape. Just needed scuffing and painting in semi glass black.

The hood is painted. Wet sanding and buffing today. Body man is blending the fenders (and fixing some paint chips from the bad hinges) tomorrow.

Hood and functional shaker scoop are now on the car. The paint match was close but it is noticeable in certain light when you look straight on. I think it is partially due to the way the metallic laid down. The car was painted Code 26 Lucerne Blue in 1993, 25 years ago. When you stand by the tires and look across the hood, it matches the fenders. When you stand in front of the car and look toward the windshield, it is a big difference. But what the heck, I am looking to repaint the entire car in the next year or two anyway so this was just a stop gap so I wasn't driving around with a primer hood anymore. It sure is fun to watch that functional shaker door slam open when you hit the gas.

What do you think?

Looks like a one-of-one 1975 SD Formula.

I just noticed (remembered) that I removed all the emblems and markings from the car 25 years ago when we painted it. Now I'm kinda stuck - do I put a number on the shaker? There was an actual 1975 "455-HO" shaker decal but since this engine is something like 464 now (a .040 over 455) where would I get that decal? :-)

Oh, and a big shout-out to Eric at Vintage Musclecar. That carb you resurrected from the dead for this project is the best running unit I have ever had on any engine in the four decades I've been playing with these things. Crisp as hell, never bogs, or sputters or anything. It just goes...and goes.

(I does get less than 8 mpg now that I keep wanting to see the shaker trap door open)

Looks great, nice job.

Steve, I think you're crazy for complaining about having a car that nice. I would drive that car every day of my life if it were mine. :scholar:

LOL No complaints here. I am actually enjoying this car more than my '73 SD455. I can do whatever I want with Gramma's car as it is a "blank canvas" and I'm not constrained like I am with an unrestored, survivor car.

My son and I drove it to the local cruise night on Saturday. Lotsa fun!