Written by Rocky Rotella for the April 2011 issue of High Performance Pontiac magazine. The original story and its gallery can be seen at Guts & Glory.
When you think of a Second-Gen Trans Am that’s equipped with red interior, what first comes to mind? It’s probably a mid-’70s Sterling Silver example with Oxblood or Firethorn trim, depending upon the model year. Many won’t likely equate red interior with an early Second-Gen, however.
Pontiac indeed offered red interior in the ’70 Firebird model line, and the most popular example may be the ’70 1/2 Trans Am that appeared in a few of Pontiac’s promotional photos. The combination of a Polar White body, bright-blue exterior accents, and red guts (as the interior is often affectionately called) may lend one the patriotic sensation of Ol’ Glory. While more than two-thirds of the 3,196 total Trans Ams produced in ’70 were Polar White, very few received red interior.
Lincoln, Nebraska-resident Steve Schappaugh owns a number of desirable Pontiacs, and one of them is this ’70 1/2 Trans Am with red interior.The happenstance of how the 55-year-old auto-restoration-shop owner came to own it is somewhat intriguing, but the story of how it was reunited with its original engine may seem unbelievable-but it’s absolutely true.
Finding the Car
In 2006, a local friend contacted Steve to solicit his interest in a ’70s Trans Am he’d found in nearby Superior, Nebraska. Steve was told that the white Firebird was equipped with a 400ci engine, a four-speed manual trans, air conditioning, and a red interior. “My friend was told that it was a ’70 model. I knew that red-interior ’70 1/2 Trans Ams were quite rare, and so was a four-speed with air. I fully expected it to be a ’75 or ’76, but when he brought the car to Lincoln to sell it for the owner, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was in fact a ’70 1/2 Trans Am,” he adds.
As Steve thoroughly inspected it, he found that it was equipped with a Service Replacement (S/R) block, but otherwise seemed very complete. “It had been sitting for 20 years and was covered with dust. It was pretty rough, but it wasn’t overly rusty. It ran and drove, but not very well. The odometer showed 57,000 miles and it seemed to be all there. I’d only seen one other ’70 1/2 Trans Am with red interior in person, and had heard of a handful more. I liked the fact that it was a one-owner car and knew that the red interior made it very unique, so I bought it with the intent of restoring it someday.”
Steve attempted to drive his newly acquired Trans Am home, but after just a few blocks on the trip back to his garage, it was running so poorly that the coolant temperature soared and he had to limp it home. With a few restoration projects ahead of it, Steve felt it was best to simply remove its S/R engine and original transmission to completely rebuild the pair so the Trans Am was at least mobile while it awaited its turn for a complete restoration.
As he sorted through the original paperwork that came with the car, he learned that Richard Hawkins was the original owner. “It was shipped from the Norwood, Ohio, assembly plant on March 12, 1970, and Richard took possession of it on May 25, 1970. I can’t tell if he ordered it in or bought it out of dealer stock. It’s tough to believe that a dealer would order a Trans Am with a four-speed manual trans, air conditioning, and a red Custom interior for inventory, but anything is certainly possible,” adds Steve.
Amongst the myriad receipts accompanying the car, Steve found one dated 1975 from a repair garage in Superior. At that time, Richard had purchased a new “fitted block” from Pontiac and enlisted a local repair garage to install it. That led Steve to believe there was an internal issue within the original WS-code R/A-III engine, and Richard simply replaced the numbers-matching short block with a Service Replacement unit as opposed to rebuilding it.
Finding the Block
Shortly after purchasing the Trans Am, Steve was telling a good friend of his, who lived in Superior, about the car he’d just purchased. “He recalled seeing the Trans Am on the streets as far back as the early ’70s and said that Richard, a middle-aged jeweler back then, used it for daily transportation for many years. It was rarely driven hard.” Richard parked the Trans Am in the corner of a Yamaha motorcycle dealership in the mid-’80s when he retired and relocated to Florida. The car then sat until 2006, when Steve was contacted about buying it.
“I mentioned to my friend that I really wished the Trans Am had its original WS-code R/A-III as opposed to the S/R replacement,” says Steve. “That’s when he reminded me of a WS-code 400 that I purchased at a local swap meet in the early ’80s. The seller told me that the block was from a repair garage in Superior, and it was a discarded core that needed a complete rebuild. I knew that WS was the correct code for a ’70 GTO, so I bought it just in case I would need such a block for a future project. I oiled it down, bagged it up, and into the corner of the garage it went, where I literally forgot about it.”
The block had been buried under myriad other Pontiac parts that Steve had accumulated over the years, and it took him a little while to get at it. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I noticed the partial VIN of the WS-code block I’d owned for 25 years matched that of the Trans Am,” exclaims Steve. “With the numbers-matching block back with the car, I reshuffled some of my other projects around so I could focus on restoring the Trans Am.”
The Restoration
Steve had restored many Pontiacs over the years. “My goal was to someday start a restoration shop so I could stay busy once I retired from the local power company. I figured the Trans Am would be an excellent project to start off my company. Musclecar Memories Restoration was formed, and employee Bob Chalek was enlisted to perform the body and paint while the original engine was off being rebuilt.”
Chalek repaired the body and prepared it for paint. “The body had only minor rust, so any affected area found after complete stripping was cut out and replaced with fresh metal,” says Steve. The body was then completely primed with Dupont primer, and block-sanded. Any imperfections were corrected before applying several coats of GM No. 10 Polar White from Dupont, followed by several coats of Dupont clear. The finish was then wet-sanded and polished using 3M products.
The red Custom interior that makes this Trans Am so unique was worn and faded from its years on the road. “I sourced reproduction seat covers, a package shelf, headliner, and carpet,” Steve states. “The dash, door panels, console, and rear seat trim are all original. They were redyed using a color I had custom-mixed to match an unfaded portion of an original seat cover. I think the interior looks very rich, especially with the custom (color-keyed) seatbelts.”
Its original WS-code block was sent to Willard Auto Machine (WAM) in Omaha, Nebraska, where owner Chuck Willard determined the block required the installation of two cylinder sleeves. It was then bored 0.030-inch to a total of 4.15-inches, and the journals of the original 3.75-inch stroke nodular-iron crankshaft were undersized 0.010-inch each. The 406-inch engine was fitted with forged-aluminum pistons, reconditioned cast rods, and new Sealed Power bearings. A 60-psi oil pump from Melling pressurizes the lubrication system.
The Trans Am’s original No. 12 cylinder heads were completely rebuilt, and feature bronze valve guides and a competition valve job with multiple-angle seats. Stainless-steel 2.11/1.77-inch valves and specific dual valve-springs are actuated by a Comp Cams 260H hydraulic flat-tappet camshaft, with 212 degrees of 0.050-inch duration and 0.440-inch valve lift when combined with the 1.5:1-ratio stamped rocker arms.
Freshly rebuilt, the WS-code R/A-III was reunited with the body after some 30 years of separation. The original M20 Muncie four-speed transmission was completely rebuilt and teamed with a stock-replacement 10.4-inch-diameter clutch disc and pressure-plate assembly. On the opposite end of the transmission resides a 12-bolt rear axle with a 3.31:1 gear set and an open differential.
According to Steve, it seems this particular Trans Am wasn’t ever equipped with a limited-slip differential. “I know it was supposed to be standard equipment on the Trans Am, but this particular car just doesn’t have it. The axle code (COU) coincides with 3.31 gears and an open-differential, and the date codes match the build date of the car. There is no indication that the rear end was ever replaced, so my guess is that the wrong axle was installed on the assembly line.”
The Result
The Trans Am’s restoration took three years to complete. Of the finished project, Steve says, “I have to admit, I’d much rather have a car with bright-blue interior, but the red interior is growing on me. It’s very unique and seems to attract a lot of attention.” Steve learned just how much attention when it made its debut at the Trans Am Nationals in Dayton, Ohio, in August 2010. “Throughout the event, it had people around it. It received a lot of attention that weekend. We even took Second in the ’70-’76 Restored class with it.”
Steve says he truly enjoys driving his Trans Am. “It’s very tight, and rides and handles well. I’m sure it would drive much better with modern radial tires, but I’m partial to the reproduction bias-belted units. I just love the look of the early Trans Ams on original tires. “The engine is so smooth and powerful. It’s just a pleasure to drive,” he adds.
We can corroborate Steve’s claims about the T/A’s performance. Having spent some time in the driver’s seat, we attest that this particular ’70 1/2 Trans Am isn’t just another pretty face. The R/A-III is quite unassuming. It’s docile enough for cruising around at low speed, but packs plenty of punch when the Quadrajet slams open. The roar emitted through the reproduction exhaust system from Gardner Exhaust is enough to make anyone feel as if they stepped back into 1970.
The Conclusion
Future plans for the Trans Am don’t include much beyond showing it and enjoying the attention it receives, says Steve. “I’ve heard comments from hobbyists who never knew red interior was available on the Trans Am in ’70. I’ve been asked if the particular Trans Am is an All-American or Patriot edition. I wish I could say that it is, but it’s really nothing more than a ’70 Trans Am with a [factory] red interior,” he adds.
However you choose to perceive it, this ’70 Trans Am is certainly something to look at!