Just wanted to say hello and ask a few questions. I have been reading your board for a few weeks and finally decided to register. TONS of info on here has already been a great help. So let me tell you about my "new" car.

Its a 1993 Trans-Am, Red with Grey cloth, and....... T-TOPS!! I have heard these are kinda rare?? Its an A4 ... Did i mention it has 198,000 miles on it??? Its bone stock, and i was given a binder with every single reciept,invoice,parts list, names, and anything else you can think of that the car has had since it was brand new. I am amazed at the documentation i was given. I bought the car 2 days ago for $3,000.. It has 0 damage 0 rust and looks more like a car with about 30k miles then one with almost 200k. Its super clean, and still runs out fairly strong.. The tranny was rebuilt about 2,000 miles ago, along with a ton of new parts, but nothing internal. I need to replace a few obvious things such as a cracked dash, and broken center console..

Here are the questions...

1. I know it has an exhaust manifold gasket thats bad. I can hear the leak..taktaktaktaktak while accelerating, and gone when i get off it and just cruise... It sounds like its comming from the passenger side.. How difficult is this to do on my own? I called around today and got quotes ranging from $140- $350..

2. Does anyone know how long these engines are really good for?? I figured this one was probably going to go in the near future, and need to know if i need to start planning a rebuild or a new engine..

3. The headlights work great, and come up really quick.. But when i put them down it sounds like the motor keeps on going for another 6-7 seconds and just sounds like it doesnt know when to stop pulling them down. How do i fix this?!?

4. The stereo. Factory tape deck... lol.. tapes? remember those? anyways, if i change to an aftermarket deck, do i need to replace all the speakers as well?? I remember in my old 97 z28 with the bose system, i had to change out everything... Is the 93 different?

My biggest thing right now is the motor. Im just not sure where or when to start. Im not modding this one at all since its seems to be doing good and i dont want to jinx it. Suggestions?? Id like to either rebuild this one or build a new one, but want to be in the < $4-5k range. Possible?

Ok thats all for now, thank you in advance.

 

Welcome!

The manifolds are not too bad to get loose and slip in a new gasket, but it is a knuckle buster.

These engines last a long time properly maintained.

As long as you have the standard radio, you just need a new head unit. The speakers can stay.

I have a Z28 without flip up headlights, so I can't comment there.

T-tops are not rare.

Have fun. The cars are a blast.

Dan

 

1)yes, u can do it urself, its kind of a PITA. If i were you, i would just do a header install while you have it off anyways

2)it depends on the maitenance of the motor, mine has 148,7xx on it as of today, and it runs perfect

3)i have no idea

4) what you can do (which is done with mine) is
buy the wiring kit for the car that plugs into the factory harness
hook up all the wires EXCEPT for the speakers
run speaker wire from your speakers to the cd player, and just run the speaker wire to the wires that are like "left rear positive", etc.

also, i was pretty sure 94 was the first year of t-top, so im sure somebody converted your car, otherwise that cars worth a fortune from what i know

 

Now this is very interesting. Its definatly a 93. And it definatly has t-tops. I found a invoice in the paperwork I got that had the car being sold for $14,600 in 1994 with under 10k miles. That invoice also shows it as being a t-top car.


is there any way to find out for sure?!

 

alright, after looking on a couple websites, it looks like there were 839 t-top transams made in 1993, after reading, i guess it was convertibles that were not offered in 93 on LT1s

 

well i guess i have one of the 839 t top trans am's too.. haa..

 

in reply to your headlight motors not stopping when completely down. i fixed that on my friends 93 T/A by taking out the motor that was broken and flipping the plastic gear inside exactly 180 degrees.. or you could always order brass gears from brett frankers website.. i believe it is bfranker.badz28.com

 

I guess 839 is fairly rare. I wonder how many of those where Red with the 700r4 tranny?


Thanks for the headlight info as well.

 

For question #4. Maybe you will get lucky and just have to change out the head unit. I thought my 94 with a Bose was going to have to be totally redone as far as the stereo goes. But just a head unit with the right harness was all that was needed. Good luck.

 

my buddy had that setup.. red with 700r4.. his was hardtop. ran 13.7 in the 1/4 with LM1 catback with 155k on the odo. i was impressed.. i still want to run my 93 z28 with QTEC e-cutout and see what it can do.

 

1) That's a good price, does that include the cost to replace broken manifold header bolts, because there's a good chance that might happen when he attempts to remove the manifold.

2) I would do a compression check on all cylinders and a vacuum check. Those two things would give you a good idea of how much life is left in the engine. A simple test is to check for puffs of smoke out the exhaust when accelerating.