1969 Trans Am

[PPPJJJFFF]

Just ran across another interesting car. Talked to a guy who says he has a 69 Trans Am survivor. Looking for resources to educate myself on these cars and what their worth. Haven't seen the car yet. Patrick

[yellowjudge]

Find out if it is a RAIV. If so it's a real gem. I would not ever sell my concours 69 RAIV http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif TA. I have friend who just got a nice RAIII/auto. He paid around 35k

[PPPJJJFFF]

He told me it was a RAIV. Before I go see it, I need help in knowing what to look for and where to look as far as #'s and stampings are concerned. What are these cars selling for? Patrick

[DaJudge]

Is that the one in Hemmings?

[Supercar_Kid]

Is the guy with the RAIV T/A from Western PA? http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

[yellowjudge]

There are 2 here in Pittsburgh. There is one( a driver nom) that belonged to a guy's Dad since new. He won't sell, & gets uptight if anyone contacts him. Mine is a concours resto & am keeping also. I see one in Boston in Hemmings, orig. a RAIII. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[sixtiesmuscle]

Is YOURS the concours resto?? http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif

[PPPJJJFFF]

The car I'm talking about is from New York. I'll try to get more info on it. Can someone give me a range for what these cars go far. Patrick

[Supercar_Kid]

There was a barn find RAIV '69 T/A pulled out by a guy near Pittsburgh. I bought a 12 bolt rear off of him for my 70 Chevelle and we got to talking and showed me these pics of a 69 T/A. He was real hush hush about it and claimed he found it when he went to take the rear out of an elCamino. He asked the owner, who was apparently a farmer, if he happened to have anything else around that would have a good rear in it, he mentioned the Trans Am. Sure enough, there it was an original paint numbers matching RAIV Trans Am. I don't know much about 69 T/As but he showed me snapshots of a 69 T/A with some sort of special hood on it. It was still sitting in the barn covered in pig sh*t. The one side was badly pitted from the slop spashing out of the pig pen and onto the one side of the car. Been sitting since the erly 70's. He said he didn't want to sell it because he had no idea what it might be worth. I'm sure you'll see this car surface someday when he decides he needs the $$$ it'll bring. Cool that stuff is still out there to stumble on, just never seems to be me who finds it. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[StealthBird]

Hard to say what it's worth. It's like asking how much an LS6 Chevelle is worth. Depends on what parts are there, missing, etc.

The 69 Trans Am only had two engines available: the RAIII was standard, the RAIV was optional. No exterior color choices (there were all white w/blue stripes), while the interior colors varied. Most interiors were black or blue. That being said, ALL 69 Trans Am's had a Ram Air system. If the car you're looking at is missing the Ram Air system, or any part of the system is fiberglass (upper/lower pan), then they're reproduction pieces. Most of these parts are now reproduced in steel, but the 69 Firebird/Trans Am Ram Air system was very complex, and had over a dozen special pieces. It's expensive to replace it all. This Ram Air system was a one year only application. The 67/68 Firebirds used a much simpler system, and the 70-up Firebirds had a totally different configuration. Note: the 1969 RAIII baseplate pan is reproduced in steel, but not the 1969 RAIV.

RAIV cars were NOT available with a/c, and the standard gear ratio was 3.90 posi (used a 4-pinion HD rear end). The 69 Trans Am hood was steel, and if it's missing, or is made of fiberglass, they are VERY expensive to replace. A few have sold on E-bay recently for over $10K.

The rear wing should be a 3-piece construction. Look under the wing at the pedestal mounts. If there's a division line there, it's a real 69 Trans Am wing. If it's one piece molded, it's a repro. The cowl tag should have a D80 designation for the Trans Am rear wing. The body color must be 50/50 (white/white). Any other combo and it's a fake. Lots of other small items to look for, but a check with PHS will let you know if it's a real Trans Am or not.

Typically, a 69 Trans Am will bring 25K-35K restored, and a RAIV car will bring 30K and up. If it's a real RAIV car, they're pretty rare. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif

RAIV - Turbo 400 : 9
RAIV - Manual trans: 46

[Supercar_Kid]

Mike...was there any sort of *special* hood on the RAIV T/A cars? I could have sworn the pics showed something other than the standard 69 T/A hood...and I even remember the gentleman mentioning someone had offered him some insane $$$ just for the hood alone, but I guess if a standard 69 T/A hood is bringing in the neighborhood of 10 large that's pretty insane, and this was a few years back.

[Astock]

Did anyone from here buy the '69 T/A from Z & Z Camaro in '99 or 2000?

[yellowjudge]

Yes, it is correct down to the poverty caps & IF code rims. A real musclecar,as no console/ralleys/chrome trim, but has stack gauges/am radio/4spd close ratio.
It was a mint body, being in Fla. & Colorado. All #s match, all orig raiv system. I used all GM nos emblems weatherstrips etc. I was lucky as the orig. interior was retained, only changed carpet. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[yellowjudge]

Z&Z had a RAIII auto a/c car. My friend bought & sold it. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[StealthBird]

No, there was no difference between the regular 69 Trans Am hood and a 69 Trans Am RAIV hood. Of course, there was a big difference between the long twin scoops of a Trans Am hood verses the smaller "traditional" scoops of a 67-69 Firebird 400! The 69 Trans Am hood was a one year only item, and only used on the Trans Am.

Not sure what you may have seen, but it may have just been the fact that the guy had a steel T/A hood. There's lots of clones running around with the fiberglass hood.

The only factory installed fiberglass hood was on the prototype car, which oddly enough was Palladium Silver (not white with blue stripes), and was road tested by Hot Rod. This one off fiberglass hood had a slightly different scoop shape, but looked like the 69 Trans Am production version.

[yellowjudge]

HI Mike, I believe the silver prototype had scoops molded in hood. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[StealthBird]

Yes, the silver prototype had the scoops molded in, very similar to the way the reproduction fiberglass hood was (is), but the silver prototype had a slightly different shape to the scoops, more squared off. Pontiac molded that hood for the prototype, but decided to go with a steel version when it proved to be cheaper to stamp, they could maintain better quality control, and get a better fit and finish. The scoops on the 69 Trans Am steel hood were removeable.

In 1970, Pontiac ended up using a fiberglass hood on the Formula because those two long, tunnel style scoops could not easily be stamped in steel.

As a sidenote, the 69 Ram Air setup I was referring to above was cumbersome, contained many pieces, and was a one year only item. It used a small 9" diameter x 2" high filter http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/no.gif retained in the hood, and a screen mesh strainer over the carb for catching large debris, similar to an L88 Corvette. When Royal Pontiac prepped a 69 Firebird 400 for a magazine test, they discarded the whole 69 setup, and used a 68 Firebird Ram Air setup, which used the standard 14 x 3 inch filter mounted on a Ram Air tub base. Easy to remove, provided much more air, and arguably looked better.

[yellowjudge]

HI Mike, yes the bird RA system very complex & hard to find. The upper pan is same for RAIII & IV, but the bird slightly differs from TA. The lower /RAIII/RAIV pans are the same. There is no lower now made in steel, but I've seen a RAIII modified to a RAIV. No one does the raiv exh. manifold shield.
There are no more repros being stamped out, so now even the copies are hard to get. I'm having the RAIV exh. manifold shroud done exactly if anyone needs one. I'm pretty lucky my TA had all orig. RAIV parts, & I have all parts for my raiv convert. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[69TARAIV4SP]

Supercar_Kid,I still have my real '69 ta raiv 4sp car #20 barn find from 2002 that has been parked and stored since '73.

[Tracker1]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 69TARAIV4SP</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Supercar_Kid,I still have my real '69 ta raiv 4sp car #20 barn find from 2002 that has been parked and stored since '73. </div></div>

That's awesome? Got any pics?

You are responding to a 12 year old thread and SupercarKid hasn't been on this site in 3years but who cares...pics of your awesome T/A please!!

[tjs44]

I will buy every 69 T/A properly restored for 35K!They are actually 75-100 depending on how original of drive train.4 speed cars are usually more than autos.RA IV T/As are stupid money.

[tom406]

I thought the same thing about prices, until someone pointed out that part of the thread is 13 years old, lol

[69TARAIV4SP]

I purchased the car in August of 2002 but never joined this site until August of 2016 (14 years later) but I still do have it. I also have several pictures that I took of it (before,during & after) removing it from the barn of where it had been parked and stored since 1973 and may try to post them on here at some point in the future.

[Tracker1]

load the pics pleeeeaaase! love those T/As

[The Boss]

Yeah, lets see the pics!

This was mine when I pulled it out of the garage next to a convenience store it had been hiding in for over a decade. Only car I've had that would spin the tires in all 4 gears!

[southernfriedcj]

Dang, I don't remember RAIII T/As being 25-35k back in 2004.

I thought they were 50-75k back then.

[GearheadSS]

Dang, I don't remember RAIII T/As being 25-35k back in 2004.

I thought they were 50-75k back then.

Yeah, neither do I. I was in the market for a late 2nd gen T/A at that time and nice restored SE Trans Ams were going for $20k-30k back then.

[bcmiller]

I agree. I would like to see more pics too.