The 1970 model year brought about more changes at Pontiac. I consider 2 of those changes, major.
(1) First year of the 2nd gen Birds.
(2) First year of the 455.
The new Birds had a completely different look. The T/A had a shaker hood, fender vents, wheel flairs, plus front & rear spoilers.
The Formula Birds had a special hood which had lots of fiberglass in it. Had 2 long scoops. These hoods were used thru at least '75, & maybe some in '76. There have been LOTS of these hoods seen on Bird Stock/SS cars, thru the years. Still in use on several active cars.
'70 was the only year for a high compression 455. I find it interesting that the 455 was not offered in a '70 Bird, but was, in Goats & big cars. I figure there were quite a few '70 455 powered GTO drag cars, thru the years. But, I can only think of one '70 GTO Stocker in recent years, which I'll cover in the next post.
A RAIV engine was still an option, including in a Bird. I've read that, for the Birds, only the T/A could come with the RAIV. BUT, as we know, Scott Burton was allowed to ran a RAIV equipped '70 Formy, which was the quickest Pontiac Stocker ever. Has not been one quicker, as of today. It has been posted that it ran in the high 9's in legal Stock trim.
http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...2&MAKE=Pontiac
Some '70 Birds could come with a 12-bolt Chevy rear. I only ran across one of these, which we used in a bracket car. Some lower power Birds could come with a Powerglide trans, which had a multi-pattern case. I think it was available for only 2 years.
Once again, there were probably lots of private & dealer sponsored '70 Bird drag cars, back in their early days.
Another interesting thing I've noticed is that because the early 2nd gen Birds are so similar, only very minor changes must be made, in order to change the year model being claimed. I could site several racers who did this.
These pics include both Formy & T/A models. If they ran in B or C Stock, they had to be '70 models, since only '70 models had enuff hp factor to run those classes. For those that ran lower classes, it is sometimes hard to tell exactly what year model they were claiming.
I found a pic of a Knafel '70 model Formy. Not sure what class it was running. Also found a pic, which I did not post, of a really strange lookin Modified Production Knafel Formy. Not even sure the pic shows the car as it actually was.
Not sure of the year model of the T/A in pic #5. But, I know that there were '70 models that were white, with blue stripes. But it could have been running as a '71-'73. Can't tell what grills it had. Looks to have been running E or F class.
The last 4 pics are of the quickest Pontiac Stocker, ever, when it was owned by Scott Burton.
For any reading this who don't really know what it takes to make some of today's Stockers go 2 seconds quicker than the same combo did, back in the '70's, you may enjoy this article. When I 1st read it, several years ago, I learned several things I didn't know. It answered some questions I had, such as: How can a Pontiac Stocker turn low 10's ? How can a Pontiac Stocker engine turn 8000 rpm ? How can today's Stockers go quicker than the same combos did, in Super Stock form, back in the '70's ?
https://www.motortrend.com/features/...tiac-firebird/