1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

[Pathogen]

Long time no post, but this one is kind of worth it.

My boyfriend bought this car off ebay because the price was right. (and I think he was just flat out bored at work one morning. lol)

Pictures from Ebay auction:





I snapped a few pictures while she was being unloaded at the shop. At this point the car had been in trans it (via truck) for 1.5 weeks.







She hadn't even been off the truck for 24hrs before the entire exhaust system was stripped off and replaced with Jet Hot long tubes to dual Flowmaster dumps.

Exactly 24 hrs after Joe and I had finished that, the car had been under a buffer for 6 hrs and his brother Jeff was out taking pictures of it.

Enjoy.










]

[dietoremain]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

*jaw on floor*
Beautiful car.
Process?

[dave40co]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

Nice job!!!!!! My friend had one the same color scheme and year and it never looked that good! Brings back some great memories of cruising from my early 20's! Thanks!

[Blaze]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

What an incredible difference! Awesome job bringing out that shine! Enjoy your beautiful car!

[Crusader101]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

Fantastic car!

Only thing missing from the pictures is Burt Reynolds in the driver's seat and Jackie Gleason tailgrabbing his a#%!

[Ryan L.]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

Wow!! That is a awesome car!!

Nice grab, and very nice job on the detail, looks amazing!!

[roushstage2]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

Beautiful car! I am always keeping an eye out for one of those...rare cars.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

Wow. My first thought was that it looks better than it did in the movie. Awesome job. Great reflections. Looks better than new. Nice find.

[gb387]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

WOW, Looks great! Excellent photography as well!

[Pathogen]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

Oh yeah -- I forgot the process --

1) NXT wash (two bucket), tires scrubed with Bleach White, wheels cleaned with NXT wash & a terry cloth (but they really need to be pulled off and scrubed - my opinion)
2) #9 Swirl Remover - machine applied. At least two applications on most panels (applied over the course of 3 or 4 hrs).... They don't sell anything stronger at PepBoys. (grrr)
3) #7 Show Glaze - machine applied. One application.
4) QUICK! MOVE THE MAXIMA! MOVE THE VAN! PUSH THE MUSTANG OUT OF THE GARAGE! PUT THE FIREBIRD ON THE HILL!!! QUICK!!! IT'S STARTING TO RAIN!
5) Check every inch of the car for water spots.
6) NXT wax - machine applied. One application.

Interior - Gold Class leather spray for the seats and Stuf interior dressing for the rest. Windows were washed and sealed with Rain-X.

Engine bay - NXT wash & Engine Brite foam, Hot Rims Polish for valve covers ... and about an hr tying up and connecting loose wires.

Total time: about 6 hrs. Big thanks to my boyfriend and owner, Joe - would have taken me days without him. This was his first time helping me on a full detail. I'd say he did an excellent job!

Joe's brother Jeff took the pictures -- simply fantastic everytime!

[98blackbird]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

if i had to pick one car in the whole world to say it was my favorite one it would be a 77 or 78 6.6L T/A. Love it! good purchase!

[9C1 MAN]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

if i had to pick one car in the whole world to say it was my favorite one it would be a 77 or 78 6.6L T/A. Love it! good purchase!

[Skuz]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

77 and 78 were the best looking Firebirds IMO.

One detail I noticed : the front Pontiac logo isn't faded, all the ones I've seen, even in excellent conditions had a faded logo. Has it been replaced ?

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

WOW, Geougous car!!!!!!!!!! CLASSIC LINES

1978 is a great year too, the year I was born!

I notice there is not a spec of rust, is it the origional paint? Is the motor origional?

So how does it feel to hop on it???

[Nappers]

Re: 1978 Bandit-like TA ... bought "sight unseen" through ebay - LOTS of pics

Beautiful find.

If you have kids, you can say "put the evidence in the Car (prounounced CAW) LOL. One of my favorite movies and cars. Nice grab, wish I was bored and bought a TA on ebay. I have to hide a purchase for reloading stuff on ebay from the wifey.

Have fun with it.

Aaron