Barn Find to MONEY PIT: The Reality Of Restoring Classic Cars

Resurrecting the Fire Chicken: The Reality of a Full-Blown Restomod 🏎️🔥
They say 93% of car build projects never get finished. In this episode, we take you through the grueling, two-and-a-half-year "beatdown" of restoring a 10th Anniversary 1979 Trans Am. What started as a $500 barn find from Mississippi turned into a high-stakes lesson in budget overruns, trusting the wrong people, and the sheer insanity of "while we're at it" engineering.

Watch as we transition from a factory-spec restoration to a full-blown LT4 restomod. We're talking 650+ horsepower, an 8-speed transmission, and custom fabrication that nearly broke our spirits. Whether you're a lifelong car guy or a "keyboard warrior," this is the raw, unvarnished truth of what it really takes to bring a legend back to life.

📍 Video Chapters:

00:00 The "Christine" Curse: Bringing a car into the GMTV Garage
01:17 The Barn Find: 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Trans Am
02:27 Factory Spec vs. The Reality of Restoration
04:36 Engine Tear Down: Rust, Carbon, and Mississippi Mud
06:47 Turning the Crank: Precision machining the journals
09:43 The Rotisserie: Sandblasting and "Raw Metal" Logistics
12:34 Trunk Treasures: Original trim and "The Bumper Jack of Death"
16:32 The Paint Shop Nightmare: Months of radio silence in Houston
19:19 Reassembly Pains: Missing labels and metric vs. SAE bolts
23:13 The Pivot: Scrapping the 403 for a Supercharged LT4
24:21 The Chicago Connection: Hiring a stranger from the radio show
29:10 Modern Tech, Old Body: Holley Terminators and electronics
32:00 Sunday Shop Session: Rear ends, lockers, and coil-overs
41:13 The 10-Day Countdown: Racing against the car show deadline
48:00 Breaking the Plane: Dropping the LT4 into its new home
53:23 The Christmas Party Surprise: Why it still won't start
54:14 The 7% Club: Final thoughts on finishing what you start

🔗 Connect With Us:


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#TransAm #Restomod #LT4 #CarRestoration #Firebird #BarnFind #MuscleCar #GMTVGarage #ProjectCar #AutomotiveEngineering