Suspension And Brakes
Coil springs from Draco Springs and struts and shocks from Bilstein dampen road irregularities. While solid-steel bushings were used in the A-arms, urethane bushings can be found elsewhere throughout the suspension. A set of Lakewood rear control arms and an adjustable Panhard bar keep the rearend properly located. Red-powdercoated C5 Corvette 17x8- and 18x9.5-inch aluminum rims are shod with 245/40/ZR17 and 275/40/ZR18 Goodyear Eagle F1 tires at the front and rear, respectively.
The braking system is a conglomeration of components that took some ingenuity to assemble. Up front, the T/A's original rotors were machined down to accept a pair of aftermarket 13-inch units that fit over the originals like a hat, creating a two-piece design. Front calipers are ZR-1 Corvette pieces, the rear rotors are front units from a C4 Corvette, and the rear calipers are actually the Trans Am's original fronts. The proportioning valve is an adjustable unit from Allstar Performance.
Body
With the drivetrain complete, Dale focused on refinishing the exterior and interior. "Murray Pfaff helped me by making a few renderings so I could pick out exactly what I wanted," he says. Sudden Impact Collision Center of Mundelein, Illinois, prepared the rust-free shell for paint and applied three coats of PPG urethane primer, two coats of PPG gloss black, and three coats of PPG clear. Each layer of base and clear was wet-sanded with 2,000-grit paper to improve the overall finish before final buffing was performed.
Power And Performance
After a lengthy tuning session to test various intake manifolds and carburetors, the stout 406ci cranked out an astounding 477 hp at 5,500 rpm and 505 lb-ft of torque at approximately 4,000 rpm as measured on the engine dyno at Speed Freek Motorsports in Woodstock, Illinois, in the stated configuration. With the suspension enhancements, Dale hopes his Third-Gen is capable of pulling nearly 1 g through the turns, but don't get the idea that this T/A's prowess is limited to corner carving. It performs well on the dragstrip, too.
According to Dale, staging at 1,900 rpm and shifting at 6,200, the 406ci has produced a current-best quarter-mile pass of 12.43 at 111.8 mph at Byron Dragway in Byron, Illinois. "This is the fastest car I have driven on a dragstrip," he says. "And it feels so good going down the track. I can barely hold my head forward as the torque pins my helmet to the seat." Although he hasn't used it yet, a 125hp shot of nitrous oxide is available should he find the need for an additional injection of performance in a pinch.
Conclusion
Knowing that few projects are ever completely finished, Dale tells HPP, "I got it 'done' in July 2005 at 2 a.m. and then drove it to Saint Paul, Minnesota, for the 2005 Car Craft Summer Nationals where I won the Youngest Participant award. I was awarded People's Choice and Editor's Choice in my class at Car and Driver magazine's 50th anniversary bash in Indianapolis, Indiana, that same year. I also drove several hours by myself to Dayton, Ohio, to attend the 2006 Trans Am Nationals," which is where HPP caught up with him.
The T/A has nearly 99,000 miles under its floorpan, and Dale plans on adding another 3,000 or so each year attending area and national events and driving it to work occasionally. His plans for the car include replacing the carburetor with a MegaSquirt fuel-injection system.
Dale Schwartz is unlike many other high school seniors. He's a Generation-Y member that was bitten by hardcore V-8 performance, and it seems unlikely that he'll turn back any time soon. After seeing how this 17-year-old's first attempt at a complete performance machine turned out, we can only imagine the success of future projects as he gains more experience modifying specialty vehicles alongside his dad at the family's new business, Schwartz Extreme Performance in Crystal Lake. Until then, we can only hope that Dale's Firebird can serve as inspiration for more of today's youth., because without them, yesterday's vehicles may never live to see tomorrow's generation.