Had a 400 T/A in the UK and added a Crane cam. It went like sh*t off a shovel, and that beautiful V8 rumble was like music. Always wanted a 455 SD but never managed it. The most iconic shape of all muscle cars
I miss my 1971 455 H.O. (400 turbo automatic), both were balanced and blue printed in 1979 for a total of $1,949.46. It was putting 500 h.p. and 500 ft of torque. Had centerline mags with 12 wide in back and 10 up front. VERY fun to drive and like I said miss it very much. Driving a 2010 Camaro SS with 6 speed manual, also very fun to drive.
I've owned 6 different pontiacs Nick. this one reminds me of my 1970 firebird 350 that i transplanted a 428 Bonneville engine and turbo 400 into in the 80's. was a great running car. thanks for another great video!
I’d feel a lot more confident if my shop road tested as thoroughly before delivery as Nick does. That said, I’m really impressed with Nick’s cat-like dust bunny catching reflexes. Fluffy little floaters never stood a chance!
Sorry, Nick but your 2nt step is to pressure test (Stant) cooling system the next morning after cool down, cap should hiss when safely cooled. Should have been pressure tested when new alum rad installed. 74's had a flex fan so no viscous clutch to fail. Needs heater core🤗👍✌️👍
Respectful yet. But these are muscle cars. They need to be tested the way they were intended to be driven. Far better that a weak link breaks while Nick is testing, than in the hands of a customer while their family is with them in the car.
Nick that thumbnail is badass! I believe whole heartedly that you should be nailing a gear on a 4 speed in every thumbnail for the rest of time..........or at least the rest of our time!
LOL. The missing bird on the hood is called a Firebird. Like from a native American totem pole. Most likely Chief Pontiac's personal totem pole, although the legend grows with each telling.
@@jonamoe878 Not. From the Pontiac division of GM; In 1976, Pontiac’s Firebird brochure referred to the Screaming Chicken as “the available giant Firebird hood decal.” No official title; but never a reference to a 'Phoenix'.
guys.. Always watch for twist n tape electrical work or frayed terminals new connectors and solder n shrink wrap your connections.. you ma burn down to the ground or fail in the middle of nowhere.
A touch on the lean side?? My 547" big block Olds pops out the headers when the fuel starts to get old, or when the carb goes a little lean and needs a service. When this happens, it gets better when it warms up, but the popping out the exhaust is BAD when it's cold.
Hi Nick! It's been a while. That's a nice car, I like the wheel and tire combo. It's cool it has no stickers, I never did like those stickers. They make an otherwise nice car look tacky.
Nice car, but when you drive a manual trans car, NEVER keep your hand on the shifter knob and NEVER keep your foot on the clutch pedal like Nick did. You'll destroy the throwout bearing and transmission too. I have a 1973 Trans Am and i never do that, because i know how the car works.
You would think that the smell alone would give you a good indication if the problem is coolant, electrical or just water condensation. Hopefully, Nick will tell us what was found. This video must be almost a week old by now.
A built 455HD should boil the tires thru 3rd gear. At 500++ ft/lbs of torque is how you get the car to move fast. I wouldn’t ever put that screamin chicken decal on the hood. That car is better off without it.
"Spun a brg in my 3 yr old 72 455 HO T/A". LOL. Heard that a ton of times over the yrs. Can't drive them stock ones, like a chevy. Won't take the Rs. Build it to take it? Different story. 500 HP Nick? Like to hear more about it.
yep same here love the whole interior in these - im a big hi/po / interior guy, friend of mine back in the day had a near new '75 firebird formula and even though it wasnt high horsepower it was a darn fun car to drive, handled great and even with a small block was still pretty snappy to tool around in.
No shaker hood!!!! A travesty! Lol. Another great job Nick! I like the '74 T/A's the best because of the flat back window (last year for that) and the beautiful tail lights (better than the previous years).
Wow! A trans Am Monday on Nick's Garage, which makes this an awesome Monday for sure. Seeing Nick wearing the shirt with the valve body from the 500, made it even better. Drive it like you stole it Nick!!!
@@NicksGarage The Trans Am is just as hot as Texas during this record breaking heat wave. 104F right now, heat index108F. Pavement temperature 140F. We keep setting records every day, and everyone is looking forward to some rain. I see that Nick had a few bug friends along for the ride, lol. Definitely part of debugging the Trans Am.
That's one fantastic looking TransAm!!! And it sounds crisp, too!!! I'm sure it just makes GOBS of torque: those 455s were known for that. Another great Monday video from Nick's garage!!! Great week, and happy vacation to Nick and family!!
Two things, 1 it’s to bad he opted, or someone did, for the aftermarket hood, the shaker is pretty cool, and this has the fixed scoop. And as for your 72, if it was the 455 HO they were not great motors, I had one brand new in 1971, was I a kid with a lead foot? ABSOLUTELY! That being said, after the third motor, under warranty, I ordered my 72 W-30, 442, which I have to this day, that HO motor on the TA, carried about 5 lbs oil pressure at idle, once warm, and that applies to all three of them, spun bearings were not uncommon, the later 455 SD, was a far superior motor.👍 This is a nice looking example of the 74, but in all honesty, I prefer the 70-73, in my opinion, the styling on the nose and tail was cleaner, but that’s just my opinion.
Any video from Nick, but especially one with 455 T/A content, gets a Like before I even start watching. Love the 1974 and '75 Firebird family with the thin black bumpers.
With you Tony. Love all firebirds but probably get a 74-75 if I had the choice. But again any Firebird/Camaro up to 1981 would be sweet. On bucket list.
@@dukeallen432 Agree. I'd give the slight nod to the '75 over the '74 because the rear window on the '75s is curved around to help eliminate blind spots.
I can tell you the problem with that scoop is that it will draw hot air past the air filter on its way out of the engine compartment. It should be sealed to the air filter. That's the only way to get "colder" air into the carb. I have seen this done on a couple of cars and they all had the same problem with getting hot air, not cold, into the carb because it wasn't done correctly. Heater core is probably for the "mist" out of the defroster vents. i have had that happen on 2 cars.
Totally agree,. The way that set up now defeats the purpose of taking advantage of cooler air and high pressure area at the base of the windshield forcing that cooler air into the rear facing Shaker scoop
Buddy had a 79 Trans Am with a 60 over Olds 455, he spent near $6000 in the bottom end alone. Had a 120 MPH speedo in it and I took it back around to 20mph when the needle started jumping, had to of been 150MPH and it was still pulling. About same time the steering got real light and had to slow down, LOL. Rear end gear was stock 2.72, wasn't much off the line but thing would literally go into a burn out if ya floored it at about 40-45 MPH. Fun times ...
Oldsmobile 455 With the distributor in front of engine are fast. Had a Guy who built race engines and daily drivers tell me that the engine I just talked about will beat a 454. I want one to build and find a car or truck to put it in.
I like the T/A as it is. No decals. I think the carb just needs a bit of Nicks attention to smooth it out and that 455 will really wind out. Nice video George.
Had a puff of smoke come out of defrost vent similar to that in my friends mustang on its test run , took it apart and found a big cooked moth. lol awesome TA !
My best friend in high school had a 1970 1/2 Formula 400 Firebird. Yes, 1970 1/2 as it was introduced in the middle of the year. It was very similar to the Trans AM and wicked fast! He was the Poncho guy and I was the MoPar guy! Nick, you actually met him and me at Carlisle this year. He was the guy taking the pictures.We had a hell of a lot of fun back in the early 70's with those cars. Bill Jamison from Linglestown ,PA
Your using a single plane manifold with no heat crossover. That makes atomizing that much fuel way harder. Put a dual plane back on it with a tuned q-jet with at least a 74 primary jet and some rich secondary rods and you'll be flying .
We have a Mutual Pontiac Friend/Customer John M. He Dyno’s all of his Engines with you Anyways Thank you for showing some Pontiac Love! Have him get a WFO air filter assembly from butler, they’re designed for that setup with the Northwind intake
i bought a 75 firebird formula 350 4 speed for 300 dollars back in 88 only needed brakes, whish i still had it, i ended up trading it for 2 motorcycles, mainly because i think someone put sugar in my tank,
My brother in law had and he race my brother new 1989 LX mustang 5.0 my brother beat him several times at the race track and on the street until my brother in law blew up his transmission 4 speed Muncie that 455 was no match to the 89 mustang 5.0
My 3rd Gen Z28 would roll smoke out the vents when shut off as the fan stopped turning. It was oil on the engine from a leak. It was in that condition when I got it. I didn't pay much.
I am offended at the potential that people watching this video did not know that his shirt was an automatic transmission valve body. Very cool shirt though!
I had a 75 trans am with a built 400. You couldn't hold that thing in the road. The low end torque was bad ass. Mine didn't have the bird on it either.
Bringing back some memories. My first car was a 74, red trans am, no chicken with an SD-455. I never had a fire or smoke though. But anything can happen after 20 years of storage, Nick will have it fixed in no time.
That tiny air cleaner is choking it to death. It’s probably sitting right on top of the carb vent tubes, that’s probably why it’s idling so rich and smoking. Put a 14x3” air cleaner on it with a 2” drop base, it’ll clear the hood and not choke the carb to death.
Whoever owns that Trans Am must have a huge bankroll to get that much work on it. Nick always makes shifting look like hard work......a Hurst stick on a Muncie should shift nicely. My fave is the Toploader from Ford....like butter. I used to drive a '70 Judge with the ram-air 400 with a Turbo 400 trans. I liked that much better than wrestling the Muncie that I had in my drag car. When I cut every other tooth out of the synchros of the Muncie I could then jam hard.
