Hand me Down Trans Am Gets Turbocharged

As it turns out this 1983 Trans Am has been in Christian Bohonos’ family since he was just two years old and was owned by his Grandfather, an avid fan of both Burt Reynolds and David Hasslehoff of the famed Night Rider TV show. Christian loved going for rides in the family sports car and his grandfather had always told him the car would be his when he turned sixteen. According to Christian, when he did in fact reach the age he had little interest in the T/A and had eye on a ’63 Chevy II. His mother convinced him to go and get the car and to his surprise his grandpa had the car freshly painted and detailed as a birthday gift.

From that point Christian started learning about building fast cars and the performance industry, making small upgrades to the car as he went along, installing a new intake, cam, headers and carburetor on the stock 305 cubic inch SBC, eventually upgrading to a TH 350 transmission and 3.73 rear gears.

Two different nitrous sniffing 350’s found their way into the car over the years along with a 9 inch rear and 35 spline axles that had the car solidly in the ten second zone. Eventually a real need for speed developed and he began to research turbo-charging, deciding to build a blow through combo with the help and fabrication skills of best friend Rob Exner, who also happens to be a member of The Bullet under the screen name of Novaracer2000.

The first build was a 355 inch SBC utilizing a Holset HT60 turbo and made 670 RWHP before hurting itself while running pump gas.

A JGS 60mm waste gate, Tial BOV and an AMS 500 manage the boost, while a EV Pro Series carb hat directs the air flow. Christian runs without an intercooler but does run windshield washer fluid though a water injection set up as a detonation suppressant along with 116 octane fuel. Power is transferred by a PTC 9.5 inch converter to a Neal Racing glide.

Christian has driven the car to work often as a teacher of under privileged second and third grade students and it sees regular street duty and most Sunday nights for a local cruise in. He takes the students on a yearly field trip to his garage and many have received rides in the Trans Am in an effort to expose the children to the sport of drag racing instead of the gang activity and violence they see in the city every day.

To date the best performance has been a 9.46 @ 148 on 15 PSI. On it’s most recent outing he managed a 9.65 @ 149.99 MPH on 25 PSI with a last 1.7 60’. Once he has the launch and boost ramp figured out and gets on a good track, the simple combo could crack the 8 second barrier.

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