1982-92 Trans Am Firebirds

chromebumpers

solid fixture here in the forum
Staff member
What year Trans Am is the most desired, collectible or rarest among the third generation birds (aside from the 1982 used for KITT in the TV series "Knight Rider.").
 
My friend had one when I first got my 94 Formula. Stock against stock before I started adding power we raced at Atco Speedway and he would alway beat me by 0.05 to 0.10 with nearly identical reaction times.
 
Ok, my reason for asking, McKeel Hagerty put out his short list of cars that will more than double in the next 10 years and the top pick is the 3rd generation Firebirds. This guy is the Owner of Hagerty Insurance and he's put out a list since the early 80s and never missed a call yet. I'm checking out putting a 1982 Knight Rider Black, beige interior and T - tops.
But I seem to remember the tv show added capabilities to KITT with a newer model year T/A in later seasons but I can't find that info and I don't know T/A's well enough to tell the years apart. Does anybody know?
 
I had friends who were nuts for the Knight Industries Two Thousand but have lost touch.

There were a few replicas around here but I don't see them any more.

Not bashing, but I'm electronics feeble and even more feeble about phony electronics.

Makes me think of Steve McQueen: " I hope you find what you're looking for "

Thanks
Randy
quote-i-hope-you-find-what-you-re-looking-for-steve-mcqueen-131-92-30.jpg
 
I love his movie called "The Great Escape". I believe he did his own stunts in that movie!
 
From what I know, there were 3 versions of KITT (personally I like KARR much better).
008.jpg 041.jpg 049.jpg 062.jpg 074.jpg
The final version had the super pursuit mode where the outer body changed.

I can say that right now the cost for most used 82-92 parts is crazy.
The car would probably cost 4X what it sold for when new if you added up what the used parts are going for.
My car is an 84 Trans Am, similar to this:
[005939].jpg
 
Yes, KITT 2000, 3000 and 4000. I do like the 2 tone cars, are they the KARR's?
I was not a big fan of F body dash boards, although I did come close to buying a new 87 IROC Z with silver/gray strips.
 
Are any of you artistic? See the "grilles" on this car. They are solid. And there is no other grille on the car.
All air must flow under the ground effect and be diverted by a deflector up into the radiator.
[005939].jpg
Grille inserts are made to replace the solid ones, but the area that is slotted would be smaller than your fist.
4F9E_3.JPGTA grilles.jpg

I would like to fabricate my own "grille" for this area but possibly add some extra fog or driving lights, maybe
a daytime running LED light strip (like the new cars have), and certainly an area to let air flow into the radiator.
ebay has universal plastic grille mesh. I could make something out of smoked lexan, but that might look like
those cheesy blackout covers - I'm not a fan. I think I would make it out of stainless and paint it black.

Here is some pics for ideas.
80 firebird.jpg jetta.jpg bmw 2.jpg BENZ.jpg DIY LED.gif flashtech.jpg

I'm thinking of converting my headlights to these.
hid headlights.jpg

Give me some good ideas guys.
 
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Speaking of Steve McQueen and Trans Am's, remember the movie Hunter??

He played a very un savvy car guy, grinding gears in his 1951 Chevy convertible and wrecking a Black Trans Am rental.

Great actor!!

Thanks
Randy
 
Are any of you artistic? See the "grilles" on this car. They are solid. And there is no other grille on the car.
All air must flow under the ground effect and be diverted by a deflector up into the radiator.
View attachment 7732
Grille inserts are made to replace the solid ones, but the area that is slotted would be smaller than your fist.
View attachment 7733View attachment 7742

I would like to fabricate my own "grille" for this area but possibly add some extra fog or driving lights, maybe
a daytime running LED light strip (like the new cars have), and certainly an area to let air flow into the radiator.
ebay has universal plastic grille mesh. I could make something out of smoked lexan, but that might look like
those cheesy blackout covers - I'm not a fan. I think I would make it out of stainless and paint it black.

Here is some pics for ideas.
View attachment 7741 View attachment 7737 View attachment 7735 View attachment 7739 View attachment 7736 View attachment 7738

I'm thinking of converting my headlights to these.
View attachment 7740

Give me some good ideas guys.

I like the first choice in grills. But I drive a C3 vette, another car that gets air from underneath. Vettes have angled radiators as you know, that helps. Are the radiators in the 3rd Gen T/As angled? I've never looked! Take a look at C3Vette grills, that may be what you need, and recess them a tad for more of a scoop look. You can look on any of the Vette parts sites to see them.
 
Speaking of rads and air flow reminds me of older Cavaliers with the rad covered with a black plastic shield, air enters from below.

Must have been some science behind the idea, good or bad!!

I had a V6 Cavalier wagon years ago and it was like this.

Might be a common thing, I only noticed it on the Cavalier.

Picture from internet, not mine.

Thanks
Randy

0717081633-00.jpg
 
That may make them harder to get air flow and why GM went with pairs of electric fans on the later models. Is it possible to get the fan set up from a 92 T/A and swap it over? That may help in cooling as well. My 1982 Corvette has an auxiliary fan that turns on when the A/C is on and when temps climb over 250. I've replaced my fan sensor with a 195 degree one, however. It gets hot in south GA
 
I'm keeping the belt-driven clutch fan, but I will be adding an aux electric for
those times when the temps climb above 200 degrees. A/C is being removed,
which will actually help with cooling because the condenser will not be in the way
anymore. I just would like to have some open grille area. I guess I will try it first.
Compared to the last time it was running, there should be an improvement.
 
Yes, I looked. It would be a project, at least, to fabricate grilles for that area.
I've now have some ideas, but I might not need to do anything with adding an extra fan
and removing the condenser. Here's some of what I found:

corral12.JPGTrans Am front.jpg firemaro.jpg SSPX0040_copied.jpg 79-81.JPG nose.JPG

The third pic is a Camaro bumper somehow fitted to a Firebird nose. Looks good, but I'm not going thru all of that.
The fourth pic looks stupid.
The fifth pic is 79-81 grilles.
The sixth pic shows the openings I'm dealing with on my nose.
 
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