Ol' Fart's Firebird Fantasy

[oldskool]

Now if you're gonna build a car that will just barely run under it's index, you will need to be concerned about heads up races with someone in your class. So, I'm thinkin that when planning which class to run, It would be a good idea to try to run a class which has fewer cars in it.

So, I decided to look at the field of cars at some of last years races to see which classes had the most cars. The US Nationals has the biggest field. So that's where I looked 1st.

http://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCSt...r2014#indextop

Of the possible classes that I might run, it seems that there were more G/SA cars than anything else, with 13. Next was F/SA with 8 cars and E/SA with 7. Then H/SA & K/SA had 6 cars each. I/SA had 3 and J, L, M & N/SA had only 2 cars each.

Now I realize that a barely under car would not qualify at Indy. But I chose to look at this race 1st cause it had the biggest field. So if this race had been an all run race, I would have had the least chance of a heads up race by running in I, J, L, M or N/SA.

But since I would be going only to races in my division 4, it would probably be better for me to consider only those division 4 races to determine the better classes to run to avoid a heads up run. So, I'll take a look.

OK, at the 1st division race, there were 7 cars in G/SA. So that is a class I do not need to run.

The classes with no cars entered were J, K, & N/SA.

2nd race: There were 4 G/SA cars. K/SA had no cars.

3rd race: There were 6 H/SA & 4 G/SA cars, but no K/SA cars.

4th race: There were 5 G & H/SA cars, no L or N/SA cars.

5th race: There were 6 in G/SA, 4 each in H & I/SA, no
K, M or N/SA cars.

So, from the races in my division it looks like K/SA would be my best choice, followed by N/SA. Now that is strictly from a no heads up racing stand point. The worst class I could run is G/SA, followed by H/SA, then I/SA. To run any of these 3 classes would mean an almost certain heads-up lost.

So, in order to try and look at this thing from every angle, in the next post we'll look up some combos that would put me in either K/SA or N/SA.

[brent flynn]

I hate to show you this, but i have the 7m5 heads, intake, trw 455 shortblock, and even a legal stocker cam, to make this thing run easily under the index...also have a 2.75 low gear 400 trans, and 4200 ATi converter...heck i even have some 1 3/4'' headers for it... it is my next project... It runs 13.60s right now, with 235/75 mastercrafts, and log manifolds...it has 462/cast pistons/6x heads/3.90 gears currently....and ive won 2 Wednesday night test and tune trophies with it, in 5 outings...i drove it to work, today...hehe .

[Rat Raceway]

That is a killer wagon Brent!

[oldskool]

OK, I'll do some diggin and come up with several combos that will put me in K/SA. The weight break for it is 13.00 lbs/hp, and the index is 12.65.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/NHRA_Classes.aspx

Well, if I use the '72 455 we've discussed, I'll need one of the "Tons a Fun" Lemans wagons. Hey, I can live with that.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...px?ENGINE=2068

Next, I could run a '73 250hp 455. I could run farther under with a Bird, since the hp factor for 'em is 306. But, to make K with that engine I can use a Luxury Lemans, a GTO, or a GP. Hey, you can race just about anything with wheels on it. But I don't like the looks of the rear of the '73 Lemans and GTO. I'd much prefer the look of the GP.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...px?ENGINE=2079

The '74 250hp 455 is almost identical to the '73--same heads. So to make K with it I'd need a Grand Am or a GP. Once again, I'd prefer a GP.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...px?ENGINE=2092

I'd really prefer to run a 455 combo, because of it's low end torque, and lower operating rpm. But I'll go ahead and check out some options with smaller engines. I'll start with the 400. Most of the earlier years have an NHRA factor that is equal to or higher than the 455's. But some of the later model, low comp 400's have a decent factor.

The best one I see is the '77, with a 260hp factor, in anything except a Bird. All the big cars were downsized that year. So I could make K with Cats, Bonnies, 2-door Lemans models, and a Can Am. Of these, I'd much rather run the Can Am. But that's now sort of a high dollar collector car. So, one of the others would have to do. I'm thinkin that if you can find a good clean one, that one of the Cats or Bonnies would be the cheapest. And would probably look a bit better too.(at least to me)

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...spx?ENGINE=764

I just checked out the 350 engines. To me, they are factored too close to the 400 factors, and give up 50 cubes. So I would not try to run a 350.

OK, to summarize this post, for K/SA, as of right now, I'd prefer to run a 455 in either '72, '73 'or '74. The '72 would be in a Lemans wagon. Both the '73 and '74 would be in a Grand Prix. But, I haven't seen any GP's racing. There may be a good reason--don't know yet.

[oldskool]

Hey Brent, I was busy gathering info for my last post and just saw your post. Them old wagons are cool.

I don't know who's idea it was to make the GTO front available on a wagon, but I think it was a great idea !

[oldskool]

Actually, I dug up a few pics of racin GP's. As I'm sure most know, the GP's got their distinctive new, long nose--short deck body style in '69. They had lots of changes after that, but retained the basic design from '69-'77.

Here's the pics I Googled up.

[Dwight Southerland]

Clegg raced a '73 SD 455 Grand Prix for a while. Cool car.

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Dwight Southerland

Clegg raced a '73 SD 455 Grand Prix for a while. Cool car.

I couldn't find any pics of the Clegg GP. But on the Clegg site I found some pics that bring up a couple of questions. This '74 SS Bird has the TA shaker hood, fenders and rear spoiler, but no wheel flares. I've seen pics of a '73 SD Formula that had only the TA shaker hood. But I haven't seen any pics of a '74 TA without the wheel flares.

So, my question is: can you race a TA without the wheel flares in stock ? SS ?

Also, do you have to run the full shaker set-up, or can you attach the shaker to the hood and run a big filter ? Or ? In other words, what is the best set-up for racing with a shaker ? I've seen lots of TA's racing. Just never saw their shaker set-up.

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Dwight Southerland

Clegg raced a '73 SD 455 Grand Prix for a while. Cool car.

This sorta sparked my interest. I never knew that the 455SD came in a GP, or anything except Birds. But NHRA allows them in Lemans, GTO, Grand Am, & GP. So, what's the deal ? Did any 455SD's actually come in these other cars ?

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...px?ENGINE=2080

I remember when a mag named the '73 GTO car of the year, when it was announced that it could come with the 455SD.

[Mark Yacavone]

Can't attach the shaker scoop to the hood.
It has to attach to the engine...even with no filter assy.