Best Pontiac Powered Stockers

[Kevin Love]

The Towne Pontiac ( John Dubois) Firebird was a 455/335 hp ram air car.

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Kevin Love

The Towne Pontiac ( John Dubois) Firebird was a 455/335 hp ram air car.

When running in the H/S class ?

So, what class would a 400 engine have run ?

That would mean that those T-37's would have had to have been a lot lighter than the Formy. BUT, according to the Class Racer Info site, a '71 Formy, with a 455HO engine is actually a few lbs lighter than a T-37. My calculator just won't come up with numbers that will make a lighter car run a lower class, using the same engine.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...px?ENGINE=2060

So, does that mean that back in the early '70's that engine was rated with less hp than the same engine in an A-body ??? That's the only thing I can think of that would make the same weight cars run several classes apart, running the same engine.

I remember that back when we 1st started, the 330hp Bird engine, was basically the same as the 350hp GTO engine. Maybe it was the same for the Birds & A-bodies, in '71. Anybody know what the 455HO engine was rated, in a '71 Bird & a '71 A-body, back in 1971 ?

If anybody has some classification info from back then, that might clarify this, please post that info.

Also thought about this. There is not much difference in the hp rating of the '71 400 & the '71 D-port 455. So, I suppose both engines could have possibly run the same class ??? I remember that Gary Wood said they did just as good with a '72 D-port 455, as they had with the '72 455HO. But, we've discussed that the '71 #66 heads don't make as much power as the '72 & '73 D-port 455 heads.

By the way, I was just about to add a couple of pics to the '71 post. Lyndel Warren bought a Bird from Gary Moore. They built it as a '71 455HO Formula. He worked for Coke, so he named the car "Coke Machine". It ran E/SA, & was the quickest E/SA car at the Winter Nats. He said it had run 11.79, during that time period. This was sometime in the mid '70's I think. Maybe NHRA gave the engine a big hp increase, in a Bird, during the '70's ???

I don't have access to that info. I assume there may be a few long time racers here who do still have access to a lot of the NHRA info from back in the '70's.

[oldskool]

Today @ the Baby Gators, Adam Strang qualified #15 @ .892 under. Wayne Larsen was #56, @ .655 under, in a 94 car field.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...er=30#indextop

[oldskool]

Just watched Adam Strang win the Stick Combo class, with a 10.376 !

Don't know if that's the all time low ET for the car, or not.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...er=30#indextop

[oldskool]

OK, for you guys who were around back then, I need some help with this driver & 2 cars. In this article I linked, it mentions that after Chuck White passed away in '76, the White Bros quit racing. It mentions that Bill Kissinger raced their GTO clone, thru '79, then later raced a RAIV '70 T/A, into the mid-'80's. Not familiar with the driver or the Bird. Can anybody provide more info ?

http://www.tarheeltigers.org/1971-t-...class-car.html

[oldskool]

In searching for info on Bill Kissinger, I found this qualifying list, from 2004.

http://www.mustangsandmore.com/ubb/F...ML/008275.html

There are two '78 Birds listed. One driver is Dave Edwards. The other is Michael Moyer. Anybody know about these cars/drivers ?

Dave Edwards was listed as being from Washington Court House, OH, which I never heard of. He is listed as racing a '78 T/A, in I/SA.

http://sportsman.nhra.com/2004/sport...inesville.html

He was also #34 @ Indy that year. Dave Batta was #31, in a '78 Firebird.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop

I've run across a lot of '77 Bird Stockers, but not near as many '78's. So, anybody know the history of any of these '78's ?

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by oldskool

In searching for info on Bill Kissinger, I found this qualifying list, from 2004.

http://www.mustangsandmore.com/ubb/F...ML/008275.html

There are two '78 Birds listed. One driver is Dave Edwards. The other is Michael Moyer. Anybody know about these cars/drivers ?

Dave Edwards was listed as being from Washington Court House, OH, which I never heard of. He is listed as racing a '78 T/A, in I/SA.

http://sportsman.nhra.com/2004/sport...inesville.html

He was also #34 @ Indy that year. Dave Batta was #31, in a '78 Firebird.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2004#indextop

I've run across a lot of '77 Bird Stockers, but not near as many '78's. So, anybody know the history of any of these '78's ?

Bill Kissinger had an Olds Cutlass

Dave Edwards bought his from Bob Michael. Bob sold his second 78 to Don Holmes

Dave Batta had my old car..the Pontiac Magazine project car. I sold it to Dean Ribiero, who sold it to Dave. He might still have it.
I built a 78 car so I could use the 78-79 big cam motor with a stick, for J and K/Stock.