What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

...I am having a hard time figuring out what class I am allowed to run..I think is is a natural D/SA car, and can move up one, and down one..am I close? Thanks..this classification crap is kinda confusing.

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Because you run the Ram Air hood you can run A,B or C as a formula, C,D or E as a Trans Am or A,B C as a Firehawk.

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

..really???..cool, Thanks

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Your car will fit in the same class as the Nascar hemi, The 67 chevy rod Shelby, and Uncle Al's Corvette, cause if its a 98 it should be a LS1 not a Lt1.

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

I hear you Larry, but....I just race man, I could care less if had my Wifes Mustang engine in it.

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Larry,
1998 was the transition year from LT1 to LS1. Early 98's had the LT1, later models had the LS1, mostly due to production availability from what I've been told.
GM certified the 98 model year for NHRA competition as an LT1 powertrain combination. That's the way the General wanted it I guess.

Hope this helps,

Unk

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Unk thats BUNK! Larry is right no LT1's in 98 f-bodies ever. Early or late production, try and find one besides a class racing car. But it is too late to fix since NHRA has already let the genie out of the bottle on this one!

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

..didn't mean to start a ****raversy..quit crying of spilled milked already.

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

You know, I asked that same question several years ago, and that was the answer I got from a highly sourced GM official.
And, I do beg to differ with you. One of my good friends here in KC has a 98 f-body with an LT1 under the hood, early production (late 97) factory installed engine, so I know that at least one came that way. He talked early on about swapping out for "the correct LS1" engine, then decided what he had might be worth more some day, it's only got 38000 on the ticker now, and has NEVER seen a rain drop. It sits next to his one owner 427 Corvette and his one owner 440-6 Mopar,,,,some people have TOO much money,,,,,

Course if you look in the classification guide, the convertibles didn't come with a Ram Air hood, yet they really did,,,,,,,,,
Like I said, that's the way GM wanted them classified, and that's what it is. I didn't say it was right or wrong,,,,,,

Unk

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Robert,

It's ok, it's winter and everyones bored, including me,,,,right now there's an inch of ice on everything outside and I'm just damn glad that the electricity is still on!

Unk

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

robert,when i bought that car new,it had an lt-1 in it-never was driven on the street,took it straight to the shop.i am going to run d and e this year. (biggg) merry christmas everyone and a fast new year

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Unk,

Nothing personal, but I have tried rather hard to find any literature stating that the LT1 was used in 1998, and I can find nothing that states such garbage. Nor can I find anyone at GM to state this as fact. Funny how I, or any other GM-based magazine, never got any '98 press cars for magazine testing purposes with such engine, nor have any GM-based journalists who I've spoken to, ever seen one produced by GM at any show. In fact, I have asked the staff of GM High Tech Performance magazine (one of our titles that focuses soley on these cars) to look into this and they said it's impossible, as the LS1 requires changes to the a/c systems, electronics, ECU calibrations and wiring harness that would certainly require more than just an engine/body swap. There would be changes to the cold-air package on Ram Air or SS models requiring the air box to seal to the new hood and I doubt GM would do this for a small run of cars.

This tactic was used by GM simply because LS1 engines were not available to give out to racers and GM wanted the new body style to be run in competition. Remember, Manufactuer points are awarded in Stock and SS. I was deeply involved with a certain Pontiac project Firebird that received the new body work as an upgrade from GM, however, we didn't get a new engine because there were no to hand out due to every available engine being used for production vehicles. It's that simple.

On a similar note, I'm tired of Hawk getting crap for his combination (which has been in the book for years) when there are blatant and very bogus combinations of hoods, engines and other parts that never came on other make cars. No one can prove that the '67 Shelby had one, two or three four barrel carbs, but I'm quite sure there are plenty of Chevy and Mopar vehicles with ram air or fresh-air hoods that never had them. There is a variety of Stockers using wrong-year hoods with scoops just because they have been accepted for years by NHRA, yet Hawk is always the hot topic. Let's point out some of the cars that are ill-equipped, eh?

Evan

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Evan--I have to agree with you 100% on this one . As you know , I too was involved with a Firebird during the 97-98 season and was also sent the parts to transform my 97 Formula ILE Ram Air into a 98 Trans Am WS6 Ram Air car except when the car was completed at the bodyshop I was told by the factory that there was a shortage of LS1 engines and I would have to use the LT1 until they became available . I think under the circumstances the manufacturer did their best to keep new cars (98 Firebirds) on the track in front of the buying public until the "correct" engines became available .

Robert--You may want to hold on to your stocker as despite of all the claims made here I've never seen one piece of documentation that shows an LT1 car was ever built as a 1998 . You could possibly have a collectors item on your hands if any of these claims can be verified .

As for Mr. Hawks car--good for him !!!!!!! This car has been in the NHRA classification guide forever and he had big enough kahonas to go ahead --spend big money and go where no one else tried .

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Sure thing Jack . ;)

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Jack for those that did not read my post a while back. There was some 98 Firebirds up at the proving ground with LT1 engines, i know, i was there and saw them with my own eyes, There was 6 of them testing because i tried to get one, and i had to build my own!

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Could you provide just ONE piece of advertising literature that shows the '67 Shelbys were available with any other induction than dual quads ?? The Shelby Club Registrar in charge of 1967 Shelbys says they were NEVER MADE !! So can you prove him wrong ??? I mean surely you can dig up some advertisinf literature or a magazine road test or.........BACK UP YOUR STATEMENT !!!

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Woody--You very well might have seen six of them (98 Firebird LT1's) at the Proving Grounds but I never saw even one at a Pontiac dealer with a window sticker on it that said it came with anything but an LS1 engine ....................

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Jack,
That picture you have of your new GTO is exceptional. There is that glow off of a cloud or burnout in the background and the other lighting on the right side panel that give it a look like it was a studio shot with auxillary lighting. Then the silver car color has a perfect contrast against the track. Evan's more on this than I, what do you think Evan? I think if it blows up good you should enter it in the state fair or some other venue with a photo contest.
So what is it going to stay that color or do you have a new scheme in mind?

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Robert...this is why I sold my stocker in favor of another dragster. It is very unlikely anyone will say to me "Rich, your car is bogus, cause they never built a 2004 RaceTech with a 522 and a Terminator" OR....Your HP factor is way to low ....OR....your valve job is illegal, er ahhh wait a minute maybe it's ok we have to just wait on that a few weeks.......RIGHT......

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Jeff--I absolutely hate silver--that being said very shortly Ryan Korek (of Korek Designs) is going to put some multi color Candies on Chieftain x...............Very nice shots taken at Atco Raceway by the extremely talented photog-Dave Milcarek--he does nice work..................How about that glow !!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Evan---How about that State Fair deal ???????


PS--OK-OK- -Maybe not all silver-I do like it on my Mercedes !

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

I was also wondering about classes as I see it the only year you can run an ss camaro is 99?? I wonder why that is?

They made them 98 to 02??

I'll be running C/S this year this year and can't wait!!

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Jack, in 1998 i never thought there would be an issue or i would have gotten one!;)

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Woodro is correct...there were always many strange prototype cars at the proving grounds. Many of these cars were available for sale to the public or given to racers after they got flogged to death. If you lived in Arizona and went to Firebird on Wednesday evenings, many times you could see prototype GM or Chrysler cars at the track getting flogged by engineers.

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Ed,

I've never seen an aluminum spool or gun-drilled axles with scalloped flanges from the factory either, but I bet most fast Stockers have them. So, it's OK to seriously lighten all the parts that spin, thus reducing rotating weight and improving performance, and it's OK to build your own housing with any axle tubes you want, or to whatever length you want (just look at some cars and you see what I'm talking about), get real?

Robert,

My post was not meant to discredit your car, only to point out the facts. I don't really care either way, I'm just tired of Hawk taking heat for his combbination when there are dozens of cars with stuff that wasn't even close to being available from the factory.

Woody,

I've been to the Ford proving grounds many times and seen wild combinations of cars and trucks, one being a Ford GT engine (550 HP V8) in an F-250, but that doesn't make it legal to run one in Stock. We also tested a '92 Camaro with all the '93 equipment. It was a Chevrolet prototype and we had it at our office for evaluation.

Evan

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

It's all cool man, I was speaking generally, as in, I'm not even a mechanically inclined kinda of racer. It really could have a Ford engine in it, and I might not know the difference. I'm just a bracket racer trying to figure out what class this thing is in, so I don't show up one day looking like an idiot.

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Evan, you are right in regards the rear end and people taking shots at Hawk. My opinion is that if the combination is in the books, NHRA has accepted the combination and deemed it legal. Contrary to the old days that you had to buy all the spec sheets, nowadays, everything is online.

In lieu of spending lots of time typing slander and slamming others on this forum, they should spend the time looking at the different combinations available like others do and taking advantage of what is available ... or ... writing to NHRA.

The problem is that there are many that want to race in the class, not spend the money or effort and go fast. Going fast requires being smart on the combination you pick, putting the hard work and effort, and spending $$$.

The reality is that there are so many combinations that have been flogged to death and if you want to race iwth these combinations, you need to spend the money. Example: 1968-1970 BBC Camaro and Novas, LT1 and LS1 Camaros and Firebirds, 1969-1971 Mopar 440-6, and many others.

That is why you have to give kudos to guys like Bob, Neil Smedley, Mark Yacavone and others that are great on picking overlooked car combinations, building them, going fast and getting other people's feathers ruffled up!!! :) :) :) ...and they still get bitched at too... :) :) :)

Re: What class is my 98 LT1 FBird?
 

Evan, you know as well as i do, it's all about paper work! Bill Hawk proved that several years ago, and congrats to him!:p