Pontiacs

john corcoran jr · 09-06-2021, 12:54 AM

A few things to think about if building a GT car. The first would be the cost of the core car and parts availability.. The cheapest would be the 79-81 Birds. Parts are readily available for 67-81 cars. 82 to 92 cars require more work to find parts and cost more but you can find aluminum hoods and front bumper bars.

Aerodynamics play a part in this. In GT you would be likely running up a against a jellybean car like a Cobalt or a Sunfire like Don Kennedy's during class eliminations. Sorry DK but your Sunfire doesn't have the cool factor that your last Firebird had. I have been told that the 91-92 Birds were the most aerodynamic cars Pontiac ever sold. 2nd gen Birds were GM's first computer designed car with at least thoughts about aero.

Body and engine fitment should be looked at. Pontiac had to redesign its air cleaner housings and intake manifolds because of the low hood line of the 2nd gen cars. Do you avoid a shaker hood or jack the carb on up in there? A Qjet and a Victor intake will fit under the hood of an 82-92 car. If you ever changed spark plugs on a 67-81 Pontiac, you would be amazed at how easy it is on a 82-92. In the 1980's people complained about the increased cost of chassis work on an 82-92 but now consider on a gen 2 car will you have to replace all the sheetmetal from the spring pockets back while moving in the framerails? I wouldn't even think about doing a 4th gen car even though I know some have been done. A more interesting choice would be a modern GTO with traditional Pontiac power. Good aero, was built with a Chevy v8 and donor cars are out there. Did you know if you put a 6x 400 with a manual trans in, the class designation is GT/O.

09-06-2021, 12:54 AM	#33
john corcoran jr Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: darien, il Posts: 53 Likes: 0 Liked 16 Times in 10 Posts	Re: Pontiacs A few things to think about if building a GT car. The first would be the cost of the core car and parts availability.. The cheapest would be the 79-81 Birds. Parts are readily available for 67-81 cars. 82 to 92 cars require more work to find parts and cost more but you can find aluminum hoods and front bumper bars. Aerodynamics play a part in this. In GT you would be likely running up a against a jellybean car like a Cobalt or a Sunfire like Don Kennedy's during class eliminations. Sorry DK but your Sunfire doesn't have the cool factor that your last Firebird had. I have been told that the 91-92 Birds were the most aerodynamic cars Pontiac ever sold. 2nd gen Birds were GM's first computer designed car with at least thoughts about aero. Body and engine fitment should be looked at. Pontiac had to redesign its air cleaner housings and intake manifolds because of the low hood line of the 2nd gen cars. Do you avoid a shaker hood or jack the carb on up in there? A Qjet and a Victor intake will fit under the hood of an 82-92 car. If you ever changed spark plugs on a 67-81 Pontiac, you would be amazed at how easy it is on a 82-92. In the 1980's people complained about the increased cost of chassis work on an 82-92 but now consider on a gen 2 car will you have to replace all the sheetmetal from the spring pockets back while moving in the framerails? I wouldn't even think about doing a 4th gen car even though I know some have been done. A more interesting choice would be a modern GTO with traditional Pontiac power. Good aero, was built with a Chevy v8 and donor cars are out there. Did you know if you put a 6x 400 with a manual trans in, the class designation is GT/O.