1978 Pontiac Trans Am - Flyboy Firebird

Rising fuel costs and high insurance premiums during the mid '70s ultimately led to the demise of such great American performance vehicles as the GTO, and Z28. But Pontiac's Firebird Trans Am wasn't one to succumb to gloom. Considering the model line was on the verge of extinction earlier that decade, few would have believed the Trans Am was destined to become America's premier late-'70s performance car.

Don't assume that the Firebird weathered the storm unscathed. Like virtually all other models during that time, Trans Am performance suffered drastically from what it was just a few years earlier. But Pontiac engineers labored diligently to produce an affordable Trans Am that was a true performance leader. Hollywood even helped bolster that image with hard-driven Firebird models on the television series The Rockford Files, and the large-screen theater hit Smokey and the Bandit.

Tucson, Arizona-resident Mike Cundiff is one who is certainly thankful for the Trans Am popularity boom. A native of Winchester, Virginia, Mike is a 31-year-old, active-duty Air Force C-130 pilot and an avid Firebird enthusiast. His love affair came early on and was nurtured by his parents, Mike Sr. and Faith. According to Mike Jr., his family purchased a Chesterfield Brown '78 Trans Am with a 180hp 400ci engine in 1985 from its original owner because his "mother had wanted a Trans Am for a long time."

Shortly after the purchase, Mike's father had the T/A repainted a shade similar to Candyapple Red. His mother drove it regularly until a new '90 Trans Am entered her life. Mike's father then assumed daily-driving duties for the next few years before he retired it to weekend cruising. With its odometer reading nearly 120,000 miles, Mike Sr. placed the T/A in storage while planning its future. The extended slumber was not kind, however; moisture trapped under its protective cover unexpectedly ruined the finish.

Realizing the Trans Am was seldom driven and needed serious attention, the elder Cundiff found himself in a bit of a quandary: either sell the car or give it to his son, Mike. As Mike Jr. puts it, "I made that decision real easy for him!" For Christmas in 1999, Mike Sr. drove the Trans Am from Virginia to Columbus, Mississippi, where young Mike was stationed for USAF pilot training. Of his first reaction upon seeing the T/A, Mike tells HPP, "It wasn't quite the car I remembered borrowing to take on dates in high school. But I knew what it once was, and what it could be again."

Over the years, Mike did what was necessary to keep the T/A running, also making small improvements along the way. And it wasn't long thereafter that the rookie pilot found himself stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson and recently married. "Young Air Force guys don't make enough to support a family and restore cars," he says. "So I had to have a little patience, do what I could to keep it going, and fix it little by little." But in the fall of 2002, a full restoration began.

The T/A was sent to Paint N Place body shop in Tucson, where over the course of nine months, the body was prepared, then covered by three coats of Dupont Chromabase Toreador Red Pearl Metallic paint. Atop this OEM late-model Ford basecoat went three additional coats of clear, each sanded with papers of various grit, to a maximum of 1,500. Once the exterior was buffed to a mirror-like finish, Mike added a full set of reproduction decals from restoration-parts retailer YearOne.

The drivetrain was the next area of focus. "I wanted the power to back up the aggressive styling," says Mike. "And let's face it, the '78 400ci was not a great motivator in a 4,000-pound car." Priding himself as a do-it-yourself hobbyist, Mike chose to handle final engine assembly rather than having it done by a machine shop. So the original mill was removed for disassembly, and the short block was sent to Paul Carter at Koerner Racing Engines in Tucson for proper machining and reassembly.

Its original YA-code block was bored 0.030 inch to 4.150, and the cast-iron crankshaft's 3.75-inch stroke was increased 0.015 inch. Total displacement is now 407 ci. Custom-made JE forged-aluminum pistons fitted with JE Pro Seal rings ride on 6.800-inch, forged-steel Eagle H-beam connecting rods. A 60-psi Melling oil pump residing in the stock oil pan pressurizes the oiling system that lubricates the Federal-Mogul bearings.

To boost compression from its original ratio of 7.6:1, Mike replaced the original 6X-8 cylinder heads with a pair of 93cc 6X-4 castings. In addition to mild port work performed by Koerner, the 6X-4s were fitted with 2.11/1.77-inch Ferrea valves and milled 0.060 inches further, increasing compression to a pump-gas-friendly ratio of 9.7:1. The camshaft is a hydraulic flat-tappet Comp Cams Xtreme Energy 274H grind featuring 230/236 degrees of 0.050-inch duration, and 0.537/0.540-inch lift when combined with 1.65:1-ratio roller rocker arms.