94 Trans Am rebuild

This is a build thread on my friend's 94 Trans Am. We currently have the engine and transmission out of the car. We were going to LS swap but we didn't realize it would be well over $6k before we were even done. Now the plan is a mild cammed 355 with an upgraded transmission. I'm going to get some pictures up of our progress and the head damage here after bit. The engine in the car was a reman that was bored .040. The transmission lost 3 gears before the engine went. This is kind of a slow project because we both are in college.

slow is an understatement rofl .. that car has been sitting for a year without anything done to it :shiner:

Is ur friend a member here? If not he should join.

Glad to see another LTX staying true.

MEMBER @ LTXtech.com

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This is how we pulled out the engine. Not the smartest way to do it on these cars but we didn't have any way to lift the body off the k member.
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This is how the car currently sits. We just haven't had time to sit down and start ordering parts.
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This is the worst looking main cap bearing we pulled out of the engine. the bearings were perfect otherwise.
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This is cylinder 6 i believe (can't remember for sure).
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This is another cylinder on the same head.
I'm pretty sure the car had very low compression. I'm pretty sure who ever put this car together didn't know what they were doing. The wiring harness is useless from being cut and spliced so many times. The pressure had 2 stripped bolts when we took out the clutch. One of the previous owners said it had all this work done. He said built engine, aluminum flywheel (turned out to be a factory one), and 4.10 gears (we still need to check that). But so far the only thing after market was the crappy reman engine, MSD opti, has some decent suspension parts, true dual exhaust, and Edelbrock shorty headers.

Gotta love when u buy something that someone says oh this is done that's done. Turns out they were just straight up lying to ya. Anyways, good luck with the build. This build sections been pretty slow since everyone's still trying to get their last rides in b4 winter!

I was wondering. Why not use what u used to pull the engine to lift the body instead? It's so easy that way. I pulled quite a few out the top on thirdgens when I just took the motor from my formula I pulled it the bottom literally took 3hrs tops from first brake line unhooked to engine in the garage

Yikes, looks like somebody threw some washers or something down the intake!! or the rings came apart?

We didn't think about dropping the k member. This is the first time I've done any major work to a 4th gen. We probably will drop the k member when we put the engine back in.
There wasn't any piston ring damage. On a couple of the pistons the tops were a little messed up as well. I have no idea what could have caused that.

Like fullforcesaid that really looks like there was something bouncing around in there. I would double check the oil filter and drained oil and make sure there wasn't any pieces of metal or extreme metal shaving in it. Just to be safe. If the guy lied about what upgrades were done who's to say he also wasn't lying about maintenance, or knowing about an issue and hoping it don't come back on him.

I personally found it easier when I put things back in I took the spindles/springs And everything off of the lower control arms and put the Kframe with the engine an trans on a dolley and slid it right under. Then u don't have to lift the body as high. Also u don't have to fight with the shocks being in the way when lining up the 6 main bolts.

We did find some dirt like stuff in oil in the corner of the heads. We did find some metal in the oil as well. The bearings look good though. I didn't see any metal in the oil we drained. The car is just one big mistake.We'll get running though.

lol told you to pull the engine and trans out the bottom... nobody ever listens to me :(

Just so anyone following this can keep up, MRfecht, our friend, and I got together and talked a little about what cam to get. I think we may have him leaning twards the AI cam kit and we'll prolly be getting somewhere around a 228/234 or the next size up. Not sure what to do about heads at this point. Bottom end will probably be a stock crank forged rods/pistons 355 or forged 383 depending on what kinda budget he comes up with.

If you haven't already, give Lloyd Elliot a shot at your business. He is a sponsor on here now and an all out amazing guy to deal with. Answers emails, PMs, and returns calls everyday. If you give him a little info on your build he will give you a brain full of info back!

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Originally Posted by firebird_1995

If you haven't already, give Lloyd Elliot a shot at your business. He is a sponsor on here now and an all out amazing guy to deal with. Answers emails, PMs, and returns calls everyday. If you give him a little info on your build he will give you a brain full of info back!

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I havent had enough money to order anything from Loyld yet but from all the reviews and dyno numbers I have seen I would have to agree with firebird_1995. He seems to know his shit and have second to none customer service, now thats just what ive heard from everyone that has delt with him so I could be wrong? lol.

Lloyd is great. Can definitely vouch for him.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

X3 here, on calling Lloyd. He's definitely the man to talk too. Soon as I figure out my budget this winter I'm gonna be calling him, if not for headwork at least getting a cam for my setup.
Budgets always the enemy of builds lol.
Guess that makes me x4!!

yes I almost forgot about lloyd.... what was i thinkin???? lol I'll have to get him in the mix. It's just what mike needs, more options to think about rofl

Gonna bring this thing back from the dead... I *might* be building an engine for this thing, 350/355 cube with an LE cam... My buddy and I have been mulling over some ideas for it as of late and building a parts list... I'll keep it updated if any further progress is made. I am feeling determined to get him on track to a running t/a before summer! I wanna hear this beast roar again like it used to. I can remember back when the original owner still had it, it was a beast on the street. cammed and straight piped cause 'murica

:headbang: