1982 Pontiac Trans Am - Import Eater

It seems that import vehicles are the automotive focus of today's youth, and there is certainly no shortage of them on local dragstrips. But many baby-boomer hobbyists tend to stereotype their Generation-Y counterparts, believing that they have no concept of raw V-8 power. Well, 17-year-old Dale Schwartz is one who disproves that. While the Crystal Lake, Illinois, resident's '82 Trans Am may contain a modern tuner-type overtone, make no mistake, this Bird was bred to prey upon the unsuspecting imports of his peers.

This story begins in August 2003 when then-14-year-old Dale and his father, Jeff, learned that a friend's '82 Trans Am was for sale. The now-high-school senior tells HPP, "The car was rust free and had 93,000 miles on it, but the engine had a rod knock, and the transmission was blown. Its asking price was just $1,200, and my dad thought it was a good deal. I thought it looked pretty sweet and had visions for it. So we bought it."

These "visions" included applying current technology into a traditional rear-wheel-drive, V-8-powered ponycar to create a relatively budget-friendly vehicle that excelled on both the dragstrip and the road course. He knew accomplishing this task wouldn't be easy, and on a high school student's budget, there wasn't a lot of money to devote towards it. So young Dale knew he'd have to be industrious and perform much of the work himself.

Working on cars with his dad since a young age certainly gave Dale an experienced head start, but since this was his project, he was determined to complete much of it himself, and he did so in a two-car garage. Using a popular Internet auction site, the youngster sold many of the T/A's original components that he didn't intend to reuse. Among those were the original 15-inch cast-aluminum wheels, the Cross-Fire fuel-injected 305ci engine and wiring harness, and the leather seats. The sale netted $1,100 of quick cash, which helped defer the initial cash outlay for the vehicle.

Engine And Drivetrain
Dale knew competition would be tough and that he needed some serious horsepower if he wanted to make a statement. With the wide variety of affordable performance parts on the market, he elected to replace his T/A's original corporate mill with another small-block Chevy. He started with a 400ci block out of a full-size '76 Chevy truck, which Ed Stoddard of Woodstock, Illinois, bored 0.030-over to a total of 4.155 inches. He also installed a 3.75-inch stroke, cast-iron Eagle crankshaft and main bearings from King Bearings. The engine now displaces 406ci. Rotating about the crankshaft is a set of 5.70-inch-long, forged-steel Eagle connecting rods that ride on Clevite H-series rod bearings. Filling the cylinders is a set of Probe Industries forged-aluminum pistons that maintain their seal with a set of Speed Pro rings. A Melling high-volume oil pump located within a Milodon oil pan disperses the engine's 10W-40-weight lifeblood.

The cast-iron cylinder heads from a later-model Vortec truck engine were ported by Dale Forrester of Forrester Racing Heads in Freeport, Illinois. Airflow peaks around 260 and 190 cfm at 0.500-inch lift as measured at 28 inches of pressure on the intake and exhaust, respectively. The heads, fitted with 1.94/1.50-inch stainless steel valves and Comp Cams conical valvesprings, produce a pump-gas-friendly compression ratio of 10.2:1 on the 406 mill.

At the heart of the valvetrain is a custom-ground, single-pattern, solid-roller camshaft from Comp Cams boasting 244 degrees of 0.050-inch duration. A set of Proform 1.60:1-ratio roller rocker arms lift the valves a gross total of 0.570-inches. Atop the engine is an Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap dual-plane intake manifold and 870-cfm Holley Street Avenger carburetor with billet-aluminum metering blocks featuring quick-change metering jets.

A conventional GM HEI distributor supplies 36 degrees of total spark lead while an MSD 6AL box regulates engine speed to a maximum of 6,600 rpm. MSD Super Conductor wires transmit current from the MSD in-cap coil to a set of stock-replacement Champion spark plugs. Spent gases are emitted through Jet-Hot-coated SLP headers constructed of 1.75-inch diameter 409 stainless-steel tubing, which dump into a 3-inch Flowmaster American Thunder exhaust system and out a pair of chromed tailpipe extensions.

Backing the healthy small-block is a modified Turbo 350 built by Ralph Babineau of Wonder Lake, Illinois. Complementing the transmission are several components from B&M Racing, including a transmission-oil cooler, 3,000-rpm-stall-speed Nitrous Holeshot torque converter, and a ratcheting Megashifter. The T/A's original driveshaft transfers engine output from the transmission to a Fourth-Gen F-body, 7.5-inch, GM 10-bolt rearend that retains its original Torsen limited-slip differential and 3.42:1 gear set but now houses a pair of Moser axles.