79 trans am turbo?

No. First year for the Turbo 301 was 1980. There was an aftermarket Turbo setup made and sold by H.O. Racing and also installed on a few rare Mecham Macho T/A's in the late 70's.

no.

the offset turbo hood would definitely be wrong for a 79. It's an 80/81 hood. Maybe someone else knows if the VIN is stamped on the hood anywhere....

I'd start to wonder how original it is - if it's in good shape that's fine, but is it a real TA?

the 6th digit will be a 9 if it's a 79, an A if it's an 80.

Ray

In which case that's fine... as long as you're not buying it for collector value.

Ray

Correct. And now you can get them even for the 400 (HO is making a comeback).

With that being said, the owner of your car is an asshole. 1980 is the first year for the turbo T/A. Joe--ASE Certified Parts Specialist & 10th Ann.Club Tech Director '80 Carousel Red Turbo T/A, 27k orig. '79 "Y89" 400/4 speed 10th Ann. T/A, 57k orig '84 Olds 88 Royale Bgm 2 dr, 307 "Rocket" (lol), 143k and still going....

Not quite from what I read. The tooling for the cast aluminum "carb bonnet" is missing in action after 25 years and this might de-rail the whole project due to cost.

I read the article in HPP briefly on the subway recently one morning. LOL. I thought they said it was up and running...

It's butt ugly anyhow. Has no place in a nice engine compartment :).

Joe--ASE Certified Parts Specialist & 10th Ann.Club Tech Director '80 Carousel Red Turbo T/A, 27k orig. '79 "Y89" 400/4 speed 10th Ann. T/A, 57k orig '84 Olds 88 Royale Bgm 2 dr, 307 "Rocket" (lol), 143k and still going....