Stock Auto Trans Rule Change History ?

[Mark Yacavone]

No, but Formula 3 would be 2 bbl. I believe. Maybe the record or standard was soft enough that this car was competitive over there.
I can't imagine any 2 speed being very fast with 1965 type converters.
I've seen 2 speed Buick Stockers but they had the switch pitch converters. Pontiac didn't use it.

[Mark Yacavone]

BTW, I think the 326 HO with a 3 speed would be a player if they took off about 30 hp.
It's an 11 to 1 motor.
They were very fast on the street in pure stock form with a 4 speed.

[oldskool]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

BTW, I think the 326 HO with a 3 speed would be a player if they took off about 30 hp.
It's an 11 to 1 motor.
They were very fast on the street in pure stock form with a 4 speed.

IF I were going to build a Pontiac Stocker, I'd go with one that came with a Q-jet. They just seem to provide plenty of gas for whatever engine you're running. Have run good on 301 Stockers on up to 428 powered 8 sec GT Super Stockers.

But, I reckin AFB's & 2-barrels have also won lots of races. The '66 GTO 335hp AFB engine has only a 300hp factor. So, maybe it would be more competitive than the Tri-Power engine, @ 60hp less. I'm assuming that the Tri-Power would NOT make 60 more hp.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...0&MAKE=Pontiac

Don't think I'm gonna try to hold my breath 'til somebody builds a 2-speed Pontiac Stocker, converted to 3-speed. If somebody did, it would be like you said about the 326. Would need a big hp factor reduction. For this, don't know what combo would be the best to build. Seems that the '66 Tri-Power GTO did the best of the 389 GTO's. Don't know how low the hp factor would have to be, to make it competitive. It's 360 now. Would need to be a lot lower than that.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...3&MAKE=Pontiac

Norman Warling & Bob Michael run pretty good with their '62 Tri-Power 389 Stockers. But their hp factor is only 275hp. Lotta difference in that & 360hp, for the '66 GTO.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...5&MAKE=Pontiac

I suppose that if I had to choose a 2-speed to 3-speed conversion Pontiac to build, without doing any more research, I'd choose the '68 Firebird 350HO. The hp factor is only 305hp, & it uses a Q-jet. And Adam Strang ran some 10.80's with his 4-speed 350HO, in E/S. Not the best Pontiac combo, but far from the worst.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...8&MAKE=Pontiac

[ken robinson]

Beginning of the 2009 season was the 3 tenths index hit 2010 was the any trans change .

[Stan Weiss]

Originally Posted by oldskool

I suppose that if I had to choose a 2-speed to 3-speed conversion Pontiac to build, without doing any more research, I'd choose the '68 Firebird 350HO. The hp factor is only 305hp, & it uses a Q-jet. And Adam Strang ran some 10.80's with his 4-speed 350HO, in E/S. Not the best Pontiac combo, but far from the worst.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...8&MAKE=Pontiac

So what do you thing that combination would run with the auto (E/SA)?


Driver Position Car No. Class Index ET Ov/Un
11 Rick Kolber 7341 E/SA 11.90 11.018 -0.882


From Vegas today. Don't know what brand / manufacture Rick is running. But if that Pontiac combination could run 11.00 or under it would be pretty good.


Stan

[oldskool]

"...if that Pontiac combination could run 11.00 or under it would be pretty good..."

Since Adam Strang ran 10.80's, with a stick, I assume that same engine would run somewhere around that 11 sec number, with the correct auto trans set-up.

The E/SA index is 11.70.

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

So, an 11.00 car would be competitive, at most races. Wouldn't make the 128 field @ Indy. And wouldn't win the heads-up runs against the really quick E/SA cars. But, it would win some heads-up runs, & would have a chance to win any race in which it didn't have a heads-up round.

.700 under would have been just below the middle of the field @ the recent div 2 race.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r=100#indextop

If my calculations are correct, the 350 '68 Bird is a natural F-class car. Can add some weight & run G/SA. 11 x 305 = 3355lb

The G/SA index is 12-flat. So, anything quicker than 11.50 would be fairly competitive. Low 11's would win some heads-up rounds.

Could remove some weight & run E/SA. 10 x 305 = 3050lb. So, that would be about 300lbs difference.

I think you must add 170lbs for driver, to arrive at the min total weight for the class you'll run. So min weight for E/SA would be 3050 + 170 = 3220lbs. For G/SA, it would be 3355 + 170 = 3525lbs.

[Glenn Briglio]

Originally Posted by oldskool

"...if that Pontiac combination could run 11.00 or under it would be pretty good..."

Since Adam Strang ran 10.80's, with a stick, I assume that same engine would run somewhere around that 11 sec number, with the correct auto trans set-up.

The E/SA index is 11.70.

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

So, an 11.00 car would be competitive, at most races. Wouldn't make the 128 field @ Indy. And wouldn't win the heads-up runs against the really quick E/SA cars. But, it would win some heads-up runs, & would have a chance to win any race in which it didn't have a heads-up round.

.700 under would have been just below the middle of the field @ the recent div 2 race.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r=100#indextop

If my calculations are correct, the 350 '68 Bird is a natural F-class car. Can add some weight & run G/SA. 11 x 305 = 3355lb

The G/SA index is 12-flat. So, anything quicker than 11.50 would be fairly competitive. Low 11's would win some heads-up rounds.

Plus 170 lbs for driver

[Greg Reimer 7376]

Were'nt there some 2 speed transes made in the mid-late '60s that were actual Powerglides with the BOP bell housing and cases for use in Buick and Pontiac cars, such as a Buick Special with a 350 Buick engine equipped with a 2 barrel, as well as some Pontiac Tempests with a 326 or 350 Pontic engine? I seem to remember hearing about them, but never paid enough attention to notice one for sure. A friend of mine in high school had a '65 GTO with a four barrel 389, a 2 speed trans, and all, and we put a 400 in it. The trans we removed was a Super Turbine 300.It was a direct bolt in, only the drive shaft had to be cut down for the 400. The 2 speed I'm asking about is a dead ringer for the aluminum Glide used in everything Chevy, but it didn't have a Chevy bell housing, just a BOP unit.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by oldskool

I suppose that if I had to choose a 2-speed to 3-speed conversion Pontiac to build, without doing any more research, I'd choose the '68 Firebird 350HO. The hp factor is only 305hp, & it uses a Q-jet. And Adam Strang ran some 10.80's with his 4-speed 350HO, in E/S. Not the best Pontiac combo, but far from the worst.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...8&MAKE=Pontiac

Good observation and one I had not thought of.
E/SA is a serious class. The 400's have enough trouble keeping up with the 340's and LS1 GTOs, IMO

That combo needs more HP off. Again, IMO

[Stan Weiss]

Could a only find 1 reference. I hope it is the same person / car.


Dick Agee drove the Thompson GTO to a national record.
Agee's official elapsed time in the 1965 GTO was 13.30 seconds


Stan