Back in the Formula

 

In summer 1992, I was working at the law library at George Mason School of Law, after my second of three years, putting books on the shelf for $5.50/hr.   I was driving a fairly new 1991 Toyota Tercel, not a bad car aside from being short four cylinders.   At some point during the year I had acquired the 1992 Pontiac catalog, which included the Firebird.  I fell in love with the Formula: its hood, spoiler, wheels, and clean lines without ground effects.  Moreover, it was available with the most powerful engine offered, the 240 HP 5.7L V8.  A small blurb on the bottom right of the page promised, “another 50 HP is available at the parts counter: ask about the SLP Package”.   But good luck getting any such car on $5.50 an hour.

By October my situation had changed:  I was now earning $10/hour, working twice as many hours per week, for a real attorney on real cases.  I could now afford a new Firebird, although not a Formula.  By that time, a year after the 1992s had gone on sale, the Formulas with the 5.7L V8 were long gone.  I bought a base Firebird, black on black with T-tops, loaded with options, and the 5.0L V8, 170 HP.  Not nearly as fast, but with more than enough torque to get out of its own way and let me know there was a V8 under the hood.  For the first time since my father was a priest in the 1950s, our household had a car with a V8. 

Fast forward to June 1995, I was now licensed in Virginia and Maryland, and making enough to buy a used 1992 Firebird Formula, dark aqua metallic, black interior, and with the 5.7L V8 with that SLP Package.  That package included a performance PROM (ECM chip), cool air intake, larger throttle body, siamesed intake runners, headers, 3” exhaust from the dual cats, and a performance muffler.  In 1998 I had it painted black, and also beefed up the suspension, modifying the four speed 700R4 transmission with a shift kit and a 2800 stall converter, and upgraded the rear gears in the positraction rear axle from 3.23 to 3.73 gear ratio.

This was my daily driver from 1995 to 2012.  That year, when I was working at the office, it caught an engine fire and ended being history.  The engine was removed and wound up in a machine shop in Fairfax (now in Midland), while the car eventually wound up in salvage in California.  My daily driver became a new Honda Civic (black on black), then a 2009 Dodge Charger R/T (also black on black), and finally my mom’s Chevrolet HHR, yet again with a 4 cylinder engine.

This July I finally managed to buy another Firebird Formula “350” (5.7L V8), 1991 model year, black with a grey interior.  Sadly, it’s fairly stock, but it does have power windows.  It took me ten years to find one.  By now, these cars are thin on the ground.  The newest are 30 years old, and a 1982 Firebird is 40 years old.  Many have been “Uncle Cletus’d” – horrible modifications and butchered in various ways – or simply rusted out and totaled, whereas the mint condition, low mileage survivors have owners asking $15 - $40 thousand depending on the model.  Somehow I managed to find one in the sweet spot: decent shape, running, with no major problems, though far from mint.  Sadly, it’s not nearly as modified or fast as my 1992 was, but it’s good enough to satisfy me.  If and when money comes in, I’ll pay off the machine shop and have the prior engine installed. 

Now I’m a bit older and look back on these cars differently as of 2022.

Firebird Formula.  In 1970 the F-Body (Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird) was redesigned, a body style which lasted until 1981 and included the famous Smokey & the Bandit (S/E) Trans Am of 1977.  With the body change came model changes.

1970-81 Firebird models:  base, Esprit, Formula, and Trans Am.  Base was entry level, either a six cylinder or low power V8 engine; Esprit was semi-luxury, with a V8; the Formula was the budget performance car, with forward facing hood scoops but the engine, transmission and suspension of the Trans Am.  Finally, the Trans Am was the top model:  shaker hood, spoiler, top engines and suspension, and – from 1973 onward – the ever-popular hood bird, aka the “Screaming Chicken”.  Burt Reynolds’ “Smokey and the Bandit” Trans Am was a 1977 Special Edition. 

In 1982 they dropped the Formula model and replaced it with a quasi-Esprit type model, the S/E.  In 1987 they brought the Formula back in place of the S/E.  The Formula got the bulge hood from the earlier Trans Am, the wing spoiler from the Trans Am, its own pattern Deep Dish 16x8” wheels, and NO ground effects, which had then afflicted the Trans Am.  If there’s one style feature of performance cars I can’t stand, it’s ground effects.  To me they make the car look fat.  The slim lines of the 87-92 Formula – or, for that matter, the 1982 Trans Am before they ruined it with ground effects – are the #1 feature. 

 By that time, Pontiac V8s were long gone, replaced with Chevrolet 305 cubic inch, or 5.0L V8s, either with an electronically controlled Quadrajet, throttle body injection, or the performance electronic fuel injection system, Tuned Port Injection (TPI).  A few Formulas received the Trans Am/ Z/28 / Corvette 5.7L V8, also with TPI.  From 1987-90 the door decals said “FORMULA 350”; for 91-92 the hood bulge had a decal, “5.7 LITER F.I.”.   More than just 45 more cubic inches, the 350 was the best small block Chevy V8.  350 powered cars were much faster than the 305 ones. 

Now these cars are very rare.  Days and weeks go by without seeing any Firebirds, of any year (1967 through 2002) on the street.  For that matter, the much more numerous Camaro is also fairly rare as well.  This car is now 30 years old, and has 120,000 miles.  For a daily driven car, I can expect to put 10,000 miles on it per year. 

Second, aesthetics.  I realize this is extremely subjective.  But when Pontiac redesigned the Firebird for its third generation in 1982, they hit it out of the ballpark.  Although it shared the same body as the Camaro, the Firebird’s front and rear were better looking, to the point where the Knight Rider TV show saw fit to use a 1982 Trans Am as the basis for KITT.    Too many cars, especially economy cars, SUVs, and crossovers, all pretty much look the same.  They’re not built to look pretty, they’re built to get you from point A to point B reliably. 

Third, performance.  Somehow I doubt the engine is putting out its stock number, and even if it was, 240 horsepower isn’t much these days.  It was respectable in 1992.  The handling is still great:  I can take curves much quicker than prior cars, even better than my ’09 Charger R/T.  Seating is somewhat reclined: my mom used to complain that the passenger seat in my 92 Formula was too much like sitting in a dentist chair.  For me, with the four wide wheels, low ground clearance, and WS6 Performance Suspension, it’s a car that handles well whatever engine is under the hood.

Type A, B and C.  To me, things in life are either pleasurable (type A), neutral (B), or painful/unpleasant (type C).  Type A includes sex (obviously), great music, great TV shows or movies, and delicious foods.  Type B includes most bodily functions, most job work, and simply going from point A to point B.  Type C includes pain, taxes, boredom, rape, torture, etc.  If you can reduce pain or unpleasantness and bump something from C to B, so much the better; the same with making something which might otherwise be neutral (B) to pleasurable (A).  A few months ago, I replaced my old comforter on my bed with an UGG variant.  WOW, amazing!  So sleeping went from merely neutral (B) to actually pleasurable (A).

When I was driving the HHR, simply driving from point A to point B was merely neutral.  However, it certainly beat having no car at all.  But in the Formula, now it’s no longer B, it’s A.  A car that moves immediately, and takes corners like a knife, now is actually FUN to drive – and we’re talking just driving through a parking lot or down the road, except maybe being stuck in traffic, which is C territory no matter what car you’re driving.  So right there I’ve improved my quality of life.

The flip side is reliability.  My main concerns are starting and cooling.  Fortunately the car seems to start up cold and warm (far easier warm than cold), and hasn’t overheated – even on superhot days in August, stuck in traffic.  The A/C doesn’t work, but fortunately the compressor and equipment appear intact, so hopefully it will just need a recharge – albeit with R134a (a conversion I had done with my 1992 model).  I missed having the row of gauges on the dash, and fortunately these read what they should: oil pressure normal, coolant temperature where it should be, alternator voltage normal.  The fuel economy is far less than what it should be, about 7 mpg less than what I was getting from the 92 Formula, which not only had the same type of engine and transmission, but was substantially modified.  Moreover, it has a rough idle.  Usually, in a performance car that would be a good thing, due to a hot camshaft, but with the poor fuel economy and no corresponding huge power gain higher in the RPM band, the most likely cause is a vacuum leak.  With the rough idle and aftermarket exhaust, it certainly sounds like a performance car.

As noted, the engine from the 1992 is still around, albeit in a machine shop, rebuilt, balanced and blueprinted with aluminum cylinder heads and performance camshaft.  If and when the money comes in, I’ll have it installed in the 91 Formula.  One more thing to look forward to in the future….

Dream Car Garage

 

Last year, Rush drummer Neil Peart died of cancer.  He was a car buff, and his estate took care of disposing of his car collection, almost all silver cars, none of which appealed to my preferences:  mostly sports cars.  As I’m unlikely to earn Peart’s stash of money in my lifetime, absent a level of fortune I have no reason to expect, I can still dream.  And if I did come across enough money to be able to assemble such a garage of my own, here’s what it would include.

First off:  NO sports cars.  No Ferraris, no Porsches, no Lambourghinis, no fancy cars.  Exotic muscle cars, sure, but nothing with two seats.  And no silver cars. 

1967-68 Pontiac Firebird 400.  GM put out its first generation F-bodies (Camaro and Firebird) for three model years, 1967, 1968, and 1969.  The current fifth generation Camaro is based on the 1969 model body style.  As Pontiac was killed in 2009, there is no Firebird equivalent, although aftermarket companies have been making bizarre “Trans Am” models which graft second generation (1970-81) styling cues, like the shaker hood and Screaming Chicken, on what is essentially a remake of a first generation car.  Ideally they should simply make a white car with two blue stripes, which is how the Trans Am first came in 1969.  Anyhow.

I love the first generation Firebirds, especially since the Camaros of these years get all the attention.  Unlike the Camaros, the Firebirds got a chrome bumper, Pontiac V8s, and the entry level inline six was overhead cam.  There was even a souped up OHC model, the Sprint, which gave the otherwise mundane six a four barrel carburetor and the car itself a better suspension.  The intermediate models got a smaller V8 – 326 in 1967, 350 in 1968-69.

 And the top model, the 400, with its twin hood scoops, definitely is my favorite.  It used the same 400 cubic inch (6.6L) V8 as the GTO.  My own quest to purchase one in fall 1995 went nowhere, except Flint, Michigan.  I’d prefer a hardtop to a convertible, and a TH400 automatic to a manual.  Rather than insist on one of 2 or 3 surviving Ram Air II models, I’d just as soon get a regular 400 and upgrade it with Edelbrock heads.  Nothing too fancy.  Rally II wheels are mandatory.

1974 Trans Am SD 455.  Of course I’d have to have a Trans Am, but not the ’77-78 Special Edition, better known as the Bandit model (black & gold).  In fact, I had a 1980 S/E, back in 2000, but had to sell it when after removing the 301, the guy next door with a running 455 in a Bonneville or Catalina sold off the car to someone else, leaving me with an engineless T/A.  I’d take a Super Duty model, the last pre-emissions model, and 1974, so I’d be able to get Nocturne Blue (dark blue) with the Screaming Chicken.  Wheelwise it would be Rally IIs, not honeycomb. 

1968-69 GTO. The GTO began in 1964 when Pontiac engineers discovered that the big car 389 V8 would fit in the same space the smaller car 326 V8 did in the Lemans.  They added a triple two barrel carburetor setup, aka “Tripower”.  The 1964 model has horizontally stacked headlights, the 1965 has vertically stacked headlights, and the 1966 and 1967 models got a coke bottle body shape redesign, the 1966s keeping the 389 Tripower, the 1967 getting the new 400 V8 with the new four barrel carburetor, the Rochester Quadrajet.  This 400 also found its way into top of the line Firebirds, the 400 model, as noted above. 

For 1968, the A bodies – Chevrolet Chevelle, Pontiac Lemans/GTO, Oldsmobile Cutlass, and Buick Skylark -got new bodies, and the GTO got the first body color Endura front bumper, replacing the chrome bumper which the Lemans had – winning Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award in 1968 and beating the redesigned Dodge Charger.   It doesn’t have to be a Judge.  It does need the TH400 automatic with the Hurst Dual Gate shifter.  Again, not a convertible. 

1974 GTO.  In addition to the ’68-69, I’d take this one, another oddball choice.  For GTOs most would prefer the ’64-65, 66-67, or 68-69s, or a Judge.  But the 1974 model took the Ventura – Pontiac’s version of the Nova – and put a Pontiac 350 under the shaker hood.  I’ve seen someone put the Trans Am’s SD455 in a 74, and it actually looks pretty cool, especially with Rally II (five spoke) wheels. 

1991-92 Firebird Formula.  My own 1992 went up in flames in 2012, but I still have the Tuned Port 350 (L98), now balanced and blueprinted with AFR aluminum cylinder heads and an aftermarket camshaft.  It just needs a home.  Not a Z28 or IROC, not a Trans Am, but another Formula.  We’ll see about that.  Of all my dream cars, this is probably the most practical, and the only one I actually had before, from 1995-2012. 

1967-68 Camaro RS/SS 350.  I prefer the Firebirds, of course.  But the first generation Camaro SS is a nice model.  The Z/28 was a special model with the 302 V8, rated for high RPM HP with a four speed manual.  The regular performance model was the Super Sport, available with either the small block 350 or the big block 396.  The Rally Sport package mainly consisted of hideaway headlights, and could be combined with the base (non-SS) Camaro (simply called a Rally Sport), the SS (for an RS/SS), or the Z/28 itself.  In 1967-68 the headlight doors were black, in 1969 they had clear horizontal slits (“you still couldn’t see out of them, but at least other drivers could see you”).

1969 Camaro ZL1.  The only other Camaro I’d care for:  the aluminum block 427 model.  The car cost $3000, the engine cost $4000, roughly $70,000 in today’s money.  The funny thing is, back then the insurance companies refused to insure these cars, so no one could drive them even if they wanted to pay that money.  So Chevy wound up with 30 Camaros they couldn’t even sell. 

1968-70 Dodge Charger.  Of the MOPARS, this would be the classic model.  Yes, it’s the Dukes of Hazzard body style only for those three years, but I can do without orange or Confederate flags – or doors that don’t open.  426 Hemi or 440 Six Pack?  Not sure. 

Dodge Charger Hellcat.  The current, four door model, with the supercharged EFI Hemi V8 putting out 700+ HP.  My 2009 Charger R/T is gone, too.  Replacing it with a 2011-12 R/T might be doable.  But if money allows, I’d prefer the Hellcat.  Given that Dodge is discontinuing this model, I may have to buy it used – if ever. 

1969-70 Mustang Mach I 428 CJ.  To cover the bases, a Ford model would be nice.  Forget the 65-66 Mustangs, too boring.  Not a fan of Shelbys.  And not a fan of 302s.  And why get a 351 if you can have the 428 Cobra Jet? It was the optimal Ford street V8 of that era. 

Chevy 305 V8

 Guess what? Time for more CAR S**T!

 Chevrolet made a V8 in 1916 which was a spectacular failure.  D’oh!   In 1932 Ford came out with its flathead V8, which was an even more spectacular success.  Cadillac, which had been making V8s since 1914, produced its first overhead valve design in 1948, followed closely by Oldsmobile in 1949, Buick in 1953, and then Chevrolet and Pontiac in 1955.  Chevrolet’s first OHV V8, its small block design, was a well-designed model, starting out with a 265 cubic inch displacement.  The size was upgraded to 283, 327, 350, and 400, with the 350 cubic inch displacement the “sweet spot”.  It was an EFI variant of the 350 under the hood of my 1992 Pontiac Firebird Formula – and which still sits in a machine shop. 

 In 1977 Chevrolet took the 350, with a 4.00 inch bore and 3.48 inch stroke, and reduced its bore to 3.74, producing a 305 (5.0L) V8.  This was the emissions era, with high gas prices, so the 5.0L engine’s express purpose was to save gas and reduce emissions. 

 In 1982 GM redesigned the F-Body (Camaro and Firebird) and ended this business of the different divisions making their own V8s.  Henceforth Pontiac would make 2.5L four cylinders (the Iron Duke), Buick would make its ever-popular 3.8L V6, Oldsmobile would make diesel V8s, and Chevrolet could… do as it pleased.  For the 1982 model year, the Camaro and Firebird base engine was that 2.5L four cylinder (disgusted Kirsten Wiig picture here), the middle engine was a 2.8L V6 from Chevrolet, and the V8 choices were both 5.0L.  The budget performance model Firebird, the Formula, was dropped, replaced with the S/E, which was essentially a third generation Esprit (quasi-luxury model of a non-luxury car).  The top performance models were the Z/28 for the Camaro and the Trans Am for the Firebird.  The 1982 Trans Am did not have ground effects, but it did get the offset hood scoop, so it looks very similar to the ’87-92 Formula, aside from the spoiler.

 Ok, you’ve decided to get a Z/28 or Trans Am.  What’s under the hood?  Well, if you’re not picky, you’d get a 5.0L V8 with a computer-controlled four barrel Rochester QuadraJet, the LG4 engine, putting out a whopping 145 horsepower.  More disgusted Kirsten Wiig looks.  If that’s not enough, we have an EFI system with two one-injector throttle bodies on a remarkably restrictive intake manifold, the so-called Crossfire Injection System, putting out (drumroll please) 165 HP.  Well, at least the new cars look nice.

 In 1983 they jazzed up the LG4 and bumped it up to 190 HP, the L69.  This was under the hood of mid-80s Monte Carlo SS models.  In 1985, Tuned Port Injection made its debut, giving us 205 HP for the 5.0L.  Eventually the TPI 5.0L (LB9), combined with the T5 5 speed manual transmission, reached 230 HP and 300 lb-ft of torque in select Z/28s, Formulas and Trans Ams.  If you preferred an automatic, you could get the 5.7L TPI, the L98, up to 240 HP and 340 lb-ft of torque.  This was more than the T5 could handle, and GM figured only Corvette owners would pay $3000 for a ZF 5 speed manual.  Finally, the TBI system was refined in 1988 for the L03, bringing it up to 170 HP, 255 lb-ft of torque, and becoming the only available V8 if you bought a base Firebird.  Externally the LB9 and L98 TPI engines are identical in appearance, as the TPI setup is the same size.  Barring removing the cylinder heads to measure the cylinder bores, checking the car’s VIN would be the way to determine, an F in the eighth position for the 5.0L and an 8 for the 5.7L.  There are 5.7L TBI engines, but only in trucks. 

 In November 1992 I finally managed to buy my own new car.  Not a car bought for me by my parents with a 4 cylinder engine, but a car I picked out myself.  Sadly, my budget wouldn’t permit a Formula or Trans Am, but I could manage a base Firebird with a 5.0L V8.  Black on black, loaded with T-tops, power windows, automatic transmission etc.  At night the dash lit with red gauges.  Super cool.  The exhaust sounded nice and the car could get out of its own way.  Not a rocket, but certainly fast enough to notice the torque coming from the rear wheels.  I eventually had the performance chip installed (nominally another 30 HP) and Mobil One oil. 

In June 1995 I finally scored a 1992 Firebird Formula 350.  Our law firm handled the custody battle of a body shop guy, Tim, who painted the car black from September 1997 to January 1998.  I had sold the base Firebird to my boss, who had Tim do some body work on it.   Tim remarked, having driven both cars, that the Formula was MUCH faster than the base Firebird – as you might expect: it had 300 HP and 350 lb-ft of torque – basically 100 more of each.

Note that Ford has its own 5.0L V8, a 302.  Actually, Chevy did make a 302 itself, under the hood of '67-69 (First Generation) Camaro Z/28s.  The Ford 5.0L sat under '79-93 Mustangs and paired up with the afore-mentioned T5 manual transmission (5.0 5 speeds).  But the Ford version was its A team engine; the Chevy 302 and 305 were B team engines.  

Sadly, the 305 doesn’t respond well to modifications.  Its 3.74 inch bore doesn’t interface well with stock Chevrolet cylinder heads; the 350’s 4.00 inch bore does a much better job of that.  I’ve never driven a TPI 5.0L 5 speed model – its highest performance version - to compare.  The 305 also went under the hood of trucks.  It was essentially a compromise between performance and fuel economy.  However, that base Firebird certainly met the threshold of “fun to drive”, got better fuel economy than the 350, and shortcomings notwithstanding, that was a successful compromise.  Yet another example of “not as good” (vs 350) as opposed to “not good”.

Tuned Port Injection

 Back to cars again.  I joined a TPI site on Facebook and was surprised to see how many enthusiasts there still are for this GM variant of port fuel injection, which only came on Camaro Z/28s/IROCs, Firebird Formula and Trans Ams, and Corvettes, and only between 1985 and 1992 on 5.0L and 5.7L V8s.  With GM’s LS-series V8s being the current performance standard among the GM crowd, that tuned port injection still has many adherents is a remarkable surprise.  My own L98 is still languishing in a machine shop in Fairfax, Virginia, rebuilt, balanced and blueprinted with a new camshaft and aluminum cylinder heads since the donor vehicle (intense weeping) burned up in 2012. 

Carburetors.   Before any form of fuel injection, there were carburetors to mix air and fuel so an engine could make the car go.  Carburetors use a venturi inside the barrel to suck gas up and mix it with air.  They’re sized in “barrels” depending on the engine they go on.  Four and six cylinder engines typically get one barrel carburetors, six and eight cylinder engines get two barrels, and V8s usually get four barrels.  The Rochester QuadraJet is GM’s most popular and common four barrel carburetor (and what’s on my ’76 Firebird’s Olds 455 right now), the Carter AFB (Aluminum Four Barrel), now made by Edelbrock, is a popular alternative, and Holley has traditionally made aftermarket four barrels.  The ’67-69 Firebird Sprint had an overhead cam straight six with a four barrel (QJet) – Delorean was proud of that, but no one else seemed to care. 

Generally a well-tuned four barrel is all a V8 needs, but some have even more.  The Pontiac Tri-Power (1964-66 GTO) and Mopar Six-Pack set up had three two barrels.  For idle and part throttle, the engine ran off just the middle (inboard) two barrel carburetor, and at larger throttle openings up to WOT (wide open throttle, pedal all the way down to the floor) the outboard two barrels would open up, for a total of six barrels.  Some engines went even further: the ’67-69 (first generation) Camaro Z/28 had two four barrel carburetors on its fairly small 302 cubic inch V8, and the 426 Hemi had two Carter AFBs, a total of 8 barrels, aka a “dual quad” setup.   I haven’t seen a dual quad setup with QuadraJets, though.  Listen to “409” by the Beach Boys, citing the “four-speed, dual-quad, positraction 409”. 

Mechanical Fuel Injection.  Engineers weren’t satisfied with carburetors and tried mechanical fuel injection in the late 50s.  The Corvette, some Pontiac Bonnevilles and Chrysler 300s, got this deal, but mechanics were hard-pressed to work on them due to their rarity.  Mercedes insisted on putting mechanical fuel injection on all their cars from 1959 to the early 70s, at which point they switched to electronic fuel injection.   And literally all diesel engines, by design, have mechanical fuel injection.  Diesels inject the fuel directly into the cylinder on the firing stroke, which ignites immediately upon hitting the highly compressed hot air in the cylinder.  Mechanical fuel injection never managed to effectively compete with carburetors. 

Electronic Fuel Injection.   Carburetors are actually fairly complex, as they have to handle all the different fuel needs of the engine mechanically.   For cold start conditions, there’s a choke.  For idle, when the throttle is closed (e.g. at a stoplight) there’s an idle circuit.  For off-the-line boost, there’s an accelerator pump. 

But imagine if you simply had 4, 6, or 8 injectors, connected to a computer, which pulse on and off to inject fuel.  The computer could ascertain how much pulsewidth to use, and simply pulse the injectors on and off.  If the engine still doesn’t have enough fuel for its needs with the injectors continuously open, simply upgrade to larger injectors or higher fuel pressure.   Moreover, a performance makeover is as simple as replacing the EFI chip (PROM) or reprogramming the ECM (electronic control module) with a unit designed for that purpose.  And if any sensor is reporting back bizarre readings outside its normal range, the computer can shoot back a trouble code, to give the engine some self-diagnostic capability.

EFI got its start in the 1950s, but back then computers ran on vacuum tubes, not nearly as small or fast to run an engine in real time.  Bendix, which had started the whole thing, sold its rights to Bosch.  When transistors came around in the 1960s, Bosch was finally able to develop a practical ECM, and thus K-Jetronic debuted on 1968 model year VWs.  In 1972, Mercedes switched over to EFI on all its cars, and in 1976 Cadillac and Lincoln started as well.  In the early 80s, computers had gotten even better, so the Big Three could finally put EFI on more mundane cars like Chevrolets, Pontiacs, Fords, Dodges and Plymouths.

Throttle Body Injection.  Port fuel injection has an injector at each cylinder.  When I bought my 1992 Pontiac Firebird (not the Formula), it had a 5.0L V8.  On top of the engine was the familiar circular air cleaner with the snorkel.  Huh?  This 1992 car has a carburetor?  Nope – spin the wing nut off the air cleaner cover and voila – two egg-like things with wires pointing down in what looks like a carburetor but isn’t: the throttle body supplying fuel to all 8 cylinders.  TBI is a mid-range system in between carburetors and port fuel injection.

TUNED PORT INJECTION.  Finally getting to my subject.  By 1985 GM had developed a performance port fuel injection system for the Corvette, Camaro and Firebird.  Dropped onto the small block Chevy V8 in 5.0L (LB9) and 5.7L (L98) size, the system made between 205 and 230 HP on the LB9 (the higher rating on T5 manual engines) and 225 and 245 HP on the L98.  Most of those got the 700R4 automatic transmission, as GM knew only Corvette owners would be willing to pay $3000 just to get a five speed manual ZF transmission. 

The TPI setup has a baseplate, a pair of runners, a plenum, 8 injectors on a fuel rail with a fuel pressure regulator, and a throttle body.  It has a distributor, HEI, either in-cap or external coil.  Supposedly the whole setup is optimized for 5.0L V8s and is a bit restrictive on 5.7L V8s.  Naturally the aftermarket has made larger runners, a larger baseplate (apparently the plenum is not the choke point) and larger throttle body plates.   My own L98 was upgraded with SLP parts: larger, siamesed runners, plus headers, a larger throttle body, 3” exhaust, a performance PROM, etc. for a total of 50 HP over the stock rating, thus 290 HP.  On my watch I added a TPIS baseplate and upgraded the transmission and rear end (3.73 rear ratio).

Again, 1992 was the last model year any GM vehicle had this system, and the LS motors are GM’s current performance standard.  But I’m still seeing strong interest in TPI engines, often transplanted into trucks and other cars other than Camaros, Firebirds or Corvettes.  Naturally those cars are also getting LS swaps. 

C4 (1984-96) Corvettes have a clamshell hood which hinges up from the front, not only on top but around the sides, leaving the top of the front tires exposed.  In Camaros, the TPI intake flows straight forward and splits into two inlets in front of the engine.  On Firebirds, the TPI intake takes a 90 degree right turn and winds up taking its air from a box at the front right corner of the engine compartment.   Camaro TPI air filters are small and square, while the Firebird TPI air filter is a short cylinder. 

More power.  For those wanting more, there were nitrous setups for TPI engines, bolting on between the throttle body and the plenum.  Nitrous is really only practical for drag racing cars, though.  Paxton and Vortech both made supercharger setups which bolted to the front and pumped air into the throttle body.  Of course, nowadays the most often advice would be to swap in an LS motor.  Not having driven any late model GM cars (1998 or later) with those engines I can’t comment.  And I’m still trying to find an ’88-92 Firebird Formula to drop in that rebuilt L98 sitting in the machine shop….

The Formula - AGAIN

 Maybe a broken record, here.  I had a dream the other day that I got the Formula back (1992 Pontiac Firebird Formula 350) and was driving it down the road.  It was VERY fast – as I remember it being – but would need tags and insurance, and a place to park it.  As my 2009 Dodge Charger R/T was totaled in September, I’ve been driving my mom’s Chevy HHR around, and it clearly has far less than 370 HP.  Since I haven’t paid off the Charger, I won’t be buying another one for a few months. 

Blogs:  “The Formula” (11/24/2006); The Beast is Back in Black (5/24/2007); Hello Neon, Bye Bye Formula (1/31/2008); The Beast is Back….Again (3/17/2011); Welcome Back to 1995 (7/31/2015) and More Fire Birdy Stuff (8/24/2018).  Suffice to say I’ve talked about it.  I’ve also mentioned the 1976 Esprit, which I still have; the 1980 Trans Am I had in 2000 and which never ran – even before pulling its anemic 150 HP 301 V8; the 1968 Pontiac Firebird 400 my buddy Phil and I tried buying in Flint, Michigan in fall 1995; and the Pontiac 400 V8 I bought in 1998.  At least this car I had for 17 years.

Both the Chevrolet Camaro and the Pontiac Firebird were meant to compete with the Ford Mustang, a relatively inexpensive 4 seater, 2 door, front-engine rear-wheel drive car of fairly light weight.  The base models started with inline sixes, then V6s, and in some years, 4 cylinder engines (Fox body - 1979-93 - Mustangs and 1982-86 Camaros and Firebirds).  The performance models had a V8 of varying power depending on the years, with the 20th Anniversary Trans Am (1989) having a special turbocharged Buick V6, the same engine as the Grand National and GNX.  The top performance model of the Camaro started out as the SS (Super Sport) and then switched to the Z/28 and IROC.  For the Firebird, that was the Trans Am and the Formula.  Generally the Formula was available with the same engines, transmissions and suspension as the Trans Am but was a bit more subtle.  Even the '73-74 Super Duty Formulas got the Trans Am's shaker hood but not its "Screaming Chicken" hood bird.  I generally prefer the Formula to the Trans Am.  

Sometime in 1992 I acquired a Pontiac catalog which listed all its 1992 vehicles, including the Firebird.  From that I learned that the Formula – much slimmer than the Trans Am, lacking the ground effects package – was available with the 5.7L V8, 240 HP.  But without a decent job, I wouldn’t be buying one any time soon.

November 1992.   My third year in law school, I went from putting books back on the shelf in the law library for $5.50 an hour, 10 hours a week, to working for a real lawyer (Jerry), on real cases, making $10 an hour for 20 hours a week.  This meant I could finally qualify for a new car loan.  I couldn’t afford a Formula 350 ($19,000) but in any case by then, those were all gone.  But I could afford a new Firebird, base, with the 5.0L (TBI) engine.  Black on black, loaded with options (unfortunately including ground effects) it was my first new car.  The 5.0L V8 wasn’t a rocket, but the car could certainly get out of its own way.  Plus it had T-tops.

June 1995.  I was back to earning a full salary working for Jerry, and could qualify for a loan again,  I purchased a used 1992 Firebird Formula 350.  This was in aquamarine, black interior, but with almost no options:  no t-tops (which I didn’t miss), no power windows, no power door locks, but at least it had A/C.  Moreover, the original owner had upgraded with the SLP Package, which added 50 HP.  That included a cool air intake, larger throttle body with air foil, siamesed intake runners, a performance PROM chip and cooler thermostat, 1 5/8” headers, 3” exhaust running from the dual catalytic converters to the muffler, and a freer flowing muffler with both tailpipes going out the same side (driver’s side).

For my part, I had a Jacob’s Ignition system installed; 2800 stall converter with shift kit in the 700-R4 automatic transmission, 3.73 gears in the rear end (10 bolt), and sturdier trailing arms and panhard rod.  I also had installed the TPIS Big Mouth (lower) intake manifold.  I still have the original as well.  

September 1997 to January 1998.  Jerry and I had a client down in Stafford, Tim, who ran a body shop.  Tim wanted more custody with his son, so Jerry took his case in exchange for doing a color change from aquamarine to black.  The car was supposed to be done by late October, but ended up not being done until January 31, 1998.   

12/4/07.   In fall of 2007 I was working for a law firm buried in the woods near Fairfax.  Driving home in the cold, the car spun 180 going around a curve and plunged backwards into the woods.  Somehow I managed to get Tim to fix it up again, though it wasn’t back on the road again in my possession until May 23, 2008. I never did put the decals back on (FORMULA on the doors and rear bumper, “5.7 LITER F.I.” on the hood bulges, Firebirds on the sail panels).

Through much of 2008-2009 the Formula had engine issues which prevented it from passing emissions, until a hot rod shop at Fairfax Circle managed to figure out what was wrong with it and get it running property again. 

12/8/2012.   I was working at the office on Saturday and my Formula had an engine fire.  The car wound up in a towing lot in Stafford, the engine wound up in a machine shop in Fairfax.  Efforts to fix the Formula without an engine went nowhere and I eventually simply signed off on the title to Billy, who owned the towing lot.  The engine was rebuilt by a machine shop, but I ran out of money halfway through the rebuild.  In February 2013 I purchased a brand new Honda Civic.  On January 22, 2015, I traded the Civic in for a 2009 Dodge Charger R/T.  

On September 1, 2020 I had an accident which resulted in the Charger being totaled – less than a year left on the loan.  As of now I’m driving my Mom’s Chevy HHR, as noted above.  I stopped by the machine shop and made another payment on the Chevy V8.  

Sadly, circa 2020, Firebirds of all years are very rare.  When I took classes at NOVA Alexandria in 1995-98, I spoke with a fellow Formula 350 owner who had been living in L.A. at the time he bought his own ’89 model.  He actually saw it built at the Van Nuys factory which was making F-bodies back then (up to 1992).  He said they were making 3-4 Camaros for every Firebird.   By now all third generation Firebirds (1982-92) are at least 28 years old, and they only made Formulas from 1987-1992 of those years; the mid-model from 1982-86 was the S/E, somewhat like the 1970-81 Esprit.  Oddly, on the rare occasion I find someone selling an 1988-92 Formula in decent condition, they’re asking at least $10,000 for it. 

Dragstrip.  I took the car to Maryland International Raceway (MIR) once, on a hot summer day when no one else was at the track.  The best I could do, after dropping the tire pressure in the rear tires, was mid-14s in the quarter mile.  Then I learned about 75/80, up near Frederick, and took it up there a few times.  By that time I had it down to 14.28, around 99 mph.  The original owner, shortly after installing the SLP package, had it doing high 13 second quarter mile times.  Though I never took the Charger, rated at 370 HP, there, according to the specs, those are the same times a stock Charger R/T will do.  Go figure.

Pontiac 400 V8

 

This morning I looked through the Oldsmobile V8 parts in my apartment: an Edelbrock Air Gap 455 aluminum intake manifold, an Edelbrock carburetor (essentially a copy of Carter AFB), and camshaft, lifters, water pump and timing chain from Mondello.  Ideally these will go on the 455 Olds in my 1976 Pontiac Firebird Esprit.  They reminded me of the Pontiac 400 cubic V8 I had bought years ago.

Umpteen years ago, I bought that 400 out of a 1977 or 1978 Trans Am.  The yard that sold it to me claimed it was “shot” (which I later confirmed) but since I didn’t have a suitable car to put it in, my plan was to simply disassemble it for the sheer enjoyment.

By now V8 engines are fairly common, especially in American cars.  Of the Big Three – GM, Ford, and Chrysler – only GM had its separate divisions making their own engines, with Ford and Chrysler sharing engines across divisions.  In 1981 GM decided to follow suit. 

By the way - engines are rated by displacement, either cubic inches or liter.  V8s tend to vary from 265 cubic inches (4.3L) all the way up to 500 cubic inches (the Cadillac) (8.2L) (= "ci").  In the effort to get more power, you can either add nitrous oxide ("NOS!") (highly impractical on a street car and only a good idea for a car driven in quarter mile increments at the dragstrip), you can pump more air in off the crankshaft (supercharger) or from an exhaust-driven pump (turbocharger), or you can simply use a larger engine (displacement).  Turbo V6s do an excellent job of matching or exceeding the power of normally aspirated V8s, as Buick owners know.  

Leaving aside a very unpopular 1916 Chevrolet V8, the first GM V8 came from Cadillac in 1948, Oldsmobile in 1949, Buick in 1953, and in 1955 Chevrolet and Pontiac began making theirs.  For Chevy that was the “small block” which started at 265 ci (4.3L), eventually went up as far as 400 ci (though the Chevrolet 400 was never very popular) and for which the 350 ci (5.7L) remained the best and most popular.  Chevrolet also made a big block, available in cars from 1965 to 1976 and trucks for many years after, ranging from 396 cubic inches (1965) through 454 (1976) actually sold in cars and trucks, and larger displacements, e.g. 502 cubic inches, available as crate engines.  After 1981 Chevrolet was the only division making gasoline V8s; Oldsmobile was restricted to diesel V8s, Buick to V6s (e.g. its very popular 3.8L, often turbo’d in the Grand National, GNX, and the 1989 Pontiac Trans Am Twentieth Anniversary Edition, the only V6 Trans Am), and Pontiac to 4 cylinders (2.5L). 

Pontiac never went for “small” or “big” blocks, although their displacement varied from smaller ones, 326 and 350 (actually 355) in mid-size cars, 389 and 400 in larger cars, and 421, 428, and 455 in full-size cars – i.e. the Bonneville and Catalina, but also including the Firebird.  All these engines have the same size block, the differences being bore (cylinder diameter) and stroke (distance the piston travels up and down the cylinder from bottom to top dead center).  The 400 has a 4.12 inch bore by a 3.75 inch stroke, and the 455 has a 4.15 bore by a 4.21 inch stroke.  It’s possible to “455 a 400” by boring it out .030” and grinding the 455 crank main journals down from 3.25” to 3.00”.  I have no idea how many people actually do that instead of simply swapping in a 455.  Back when I had a 1980 Trans Am, we pulled the 301 out of it and were going to swap in a running 455 from a Bonneville or Catalina, but the donor car owner sold it before I could give him the money.  That left me with a Trans Am without an engine in it and no replacement engine lined up.  D’oh!

Anyhow.  To make matters more confusing, both Buick and Oldsmobile also make 455 cubic inch V8s, and they are completely different.  Oldsmobile and Buick also make 350 and 400 cubic inch V8s, which are likewise also completely different from their Chevrolet and Pontiac equivalents of the same displacement.  In 1970 Chevrolet increased the displacement of the 396 cubic inch big block engine to 402, but since everyone already knew the 396, they referred to it as a 396, but there are stories of it being referred to as a 400, when Chevrolet had a 400 cubic inch small block.  However, small block and big block Chevy V8s can be distinguished by the intake and exhaust ports:  E II EE II E on small blocks and EI EI EI EI on the big block. 

Among Pontiacs the 400 is a popular engine.  It was the main engine on the GTO from 1967 to 1972.  For the first generation Firebirds (1967/68/69) it served as the top engine, producing the Firebird 400.  That car had hood scoops which were mainly closed, but if the buyer paid for the Ram Air Option they were open and active.  For 1968 and 1969 the engine itself was different from the standard 400 in non-ram air cars.  The Ram Air II and Ram Air IV variants came with round exhaust ports on the cylinder heads which far outflowed the standard D-port heads (exhaust ports being a semi-circle, thus “D”).  When Edelbrock developed aluminum cylinder heads for Pontiac V8s it used the Ram Air IV heads as the starting point.  From 1970-1979 the 400 was available on Formulas and Trans Ams with four barrels and Esprits with a two barrel.  From 1971-76 the top engine in Formulas and Trans Ams was the 455, a high performance version from 1971-74 and a lower performance, station wagon version, from 1975-76.  If you wanted an automatic transmission in a 1979 Trans Am, your “6.6 LITRE” was actually an Oldsmobile 403, the largest Oldsmobile small block engine (185 HP); all 1979 Trans Ams with 400 Pontiacs had a 4 speed manual transmission (220 HP).  They did not put big block Oldsmobile V8s (400s, 425s or 455s) in Firebirds. 

In my case there was no confusion.   I purchased an engine stand and put the engine on that and slowly took it apart.  I took the carburetor off, a Rochester Quadrajet, cleaned it out and rebuilt it.   Since I never put it on a running engine myself, I have no idea if I rebuilt it properly.

I removed the harmonic balancer with a puller – it’s pressed onto the end of the crankshaft, with 4 bolts as opposed to the small block Chevy’s 3 bolts.  I removed the water pump and the timing chain.   I unbolted the intake manifold.  This was a heavy cast iron model, not an aluminum Edelbrock version.  I removed the valve covers.   Taking the cylinder heads off was an adventure, as the 5 bolts under valve covers were so covered in slime and grudge, all that had to be scraped off before I could even see the bolts.   I would imagine the cylinder heads had never been off this engine since it was installed in the car back in 1977.  I’d have to smash a breaker bar with a hammer.

These cylinder heads were cast iron, D-port heads, the so-called 6X heads.  Among Pontiac faithful, the best factory cast iron heads are round port.  I did have them cleaned but not ported, nor any 3 angle valve jobs.  I used a spring compressor and removed all the valves.   I purchased carb cleaner, which comes in a large can with a basket, and cleaned all 16 valves, springs, retainers, keepers, rocker arms etc.  I did not reinstall the valves.

Of course I removed the camshaft and all 16 lifters and pushrods. 

I removed all 8 pistons, then the main bearings, then the crankshaft.  At that point I could see that on some main bearing journals, the bearings slid one inside the other, wiping the main bearing journals.  The local machine shop confirmed the block was toast.   My father and I threw away the block and the crankshaft.  When stripped down to its bare essential, the cast iron block is liftable by two adult men.  The crankshaft is heavy, but liftable by a single person.  The cylinder heads, cast iron as noted above, are fairly heavy.  None of the items on this engine were aluminum or aftermarket. 

Due to the mixup on the 1980 Trans Am, I sold it, and when I did so, I included many of the working parts from the 400 V8 which were cleaned and salvaged. 

Hopefully I can get the Esprit running again and those Edelbrock and Mondello parts installed.  Then I can blog on that and its Oldsmobile 455.   

Aesthetics

I suppose aesthetics is officially defined as “the philosophy of beauty”, in my book it’s more along the line of “what I consider attractive, regardless of function or practicality”.   The particular application is regard to items which I think have some inherent beauty, at least in my own subjective opinion.

Guns.  I managed to acquire a Springfield Armory Saint, which is a very recent issue of the ever-popular AR15.  The AR15 is the civilian, semi-automatic version of the US military’s famous M16.   Over the years, since its introduction in the early 60’s in our controversial war in Vietnam, the military’s version has undergone several different models.

The original M16 was full auto and had a triangular handguard, that plastic thing in between the magazine (thing which carries all the ammo) and the end of the rifle.  The M16 had various problems, one of which was that the military couldn’t leave Stoner’s original design alone, and these problems were mostly fixed in the first change, the M16A1.   This model still had a triangular handguard.  Both fired full automatic, meaning automatic so long as the trigger is held.  It had a semi-automatic mode  as well.

Eventually the Army realized that soldiers were wasting ammo firing full auto and changed the gun to fire three round bursts.  This was the M16A2.  This model has a cylindrical handguard. 

Eventually they shortened it and gave it a pistol grip under the handguard, and named this the M16A4. 

Back in the early 90s I purchased an AR15, which I later sold.  This one looked exactly like an M16A2, with a 20” barrel and cylindrical handguard.   My Saint has a 16” barrel and a newfangled handguard which actually looks pretty cool.

The “aesthetic” angle comes in here, insofar as I consider both the M16/M16A1 attractive, as I do the M16A2 and the Saint.  One thing I can’t stand is this:  many current AR15s have a weird handguard that looks like it belongs on Playstation or XBOX.  Not sure where they came up with that, but Springfield fixed that problem.  All of these guns fire exactly the same, the aesthetics making no practical difference.   But I can leave my Saint out in the open and love the way it looks, without even firing it.

Mausers.  These are the most famous bolt-actions.   The original Gewehr 98, introduced in time for the Germans to get nasty against the Chinese in the Boxer Rebellion, then serving as the standard rifle of the Imperial German Army during WWI, is relatively long and has a straight bolt.  It’s an attractive gun.   The carbine I felt looks too short.   In 1935 the Germans split the difference between the two with the Kar98K, which served as the main infantry weapon of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS during WWII.   In addition to being shorter than the Gewehr 98 and longer than the carbine, it has a turned down bolt.  I purchased one in the 90s and still have it.  That’s another gun I could simply look at and admire without even shooting, though the picture above is a Gewehr 98. 

I also love the look of the Russian PPSh submachinegun with its wood stock, drum magazine and square holed barrel shroud.  These faced the Nazis in WWII but then faced us in Korea when the Chinese and North Koreans used them.  According to my cousin, my uncle tried using one – during his service in 1950-53 (not with a M*A*S*H unit!) - until he attracted friendly fire from neighboring US units.  Oops. 

Cars.   Recently I posted pictures of the ’71-74 AMC Javelin.  That’s the nicest looking AMC there is.  The ’68-70 Dodge Charger is another non-GM looker.  But for all around best looks, Pontiac gets it done.  The ’88-92 Firebird Formula, the ’67-68 Firebird 400, and many of the ’70-81 Formulas and Trans Ams, especially with the ’73-78 simpler pattern Screaming Chicken, are my favorites.   The best would be a ’74 Trans Am SD455 in dark blue with the hood bird.  Dream on.   Again, not all these cars are necessarily fast – a 305-equipped Formula looks just as nice, though isn’t nearly as fast, as its 350-equipped brother, and after 1975 with the introduction of emissions and catalytic converters killing the power, the later second generation Firebirds are slower than their beauty would indicate.   These 70s Firebirds, usually the Trans Ams, also have aluminum dashes.   If I ever get around to restoring my ’76 Esprit, I’ll see about upgrading the dash, as it has the faux-wood dash which was standard on non-Trans Ams. 

Oh, and Rally II wheels are by far my favorite, well over the honeycomb wheels I can’t stand.

Guitars.  I have the good fortune to have collected several guitars:  4 Gibsons (SG, Les Paul, Explorer and Firebird V) and a Stratocaster.  With the exception of the Les Paul, which is in Black Cherry Pearl, the rest of the guitars are in black, or as Gibson calls it, “ebony”.   All of them have rosewood fretboards, including the Stratocaster – I can’t stand maple.  I switched out the Explorer’s white pickguard for a mirror pickguard, and the Firebird’s white pickguard for a black one with the Firebird on it.  I kept the black pickguards on the SG, LP and Stratocaster.  The Stratocaster has the large, ’68-82 headstock typical of ‘70s Stratocasters – Robin Trower and Ritchie Blackmore are most often seen with those.   The SG is a 2013 Standard in ebony, the ’13 Standards being very popular as they are almost identical to the ‘61/62 reissue models.  In fact, I traded my ’89 ’62 Reissue in cherry for the current one, and while cherry was tolerable, ebony is MUCH better.   

Aesthetically I like the smaller pickguard and don’t like the ’67-70 larger one which surrounds the pickups.   Also, whether it’s on a Strat or a Les Paul, I am NOT a fan of sunburst finishes, least of all tobacco or cherry.  Finally, I love the Les Paul script on the headstock, which ruled out a Custom with its inlaid diamond. 

None of these preferences have anything to do with how well the guitar plays or sounds, and the wrong color, pickguard, or a maple neck won’t compromise anyone’s ability to extract heavenly tones with the right amp.   

But some things are nice to look at too, and I keep my guitars out on stands.  They certainly sound nice – either through the Marshall 1x12” Jubilee combo I bought new in 1990, or through the condo-neighbor-annoying half stack (Marshall 100 watt 4100 Dual Reverb through 4x12” 1960AV).

Firebird the First Generation

Sorry for more of this, after one on my other Birds and another on Burt Reynolds, but I realized the ’67-69 models were underrepresented in my blogging. 

Now the GM F-body is limited to current Camaros, themselves based on the original 1969 Camaro.   Both models started with the 1967 model year to compete with the Ford Mustang.  The Camaro consistently outsold the Firebird by a wide margin, though.  I can’t resist a blog entry devoted to the earliest Firebirds. 

Oldsmobile F-Body.   When the Camaro and Firebird were in development phase, Oldsmobile asked to be included in the mix.  But GM brass decided that three versions would stretch the market too thin.  Instead Oldsmobile was given leave to make what became the 1968 Hurst Olds, a black & silver special edition Cutlass with ram air and a hot Olds 455.   Fun to imagine what an Olds F-body would have looked like…

Model Years.  Only three: 1967, 1968, and 1969.  The 1967s were late coming out, in February 1967, whereas the 1967 Camaro came out in September 1966.  The 1967 and 1968 models had a full chrome bumper (upper center), the 1969 (see 1969 Trans Am lower left) had the chrome in the middle with body color on the sides, a look few people liked.  The ‘67s and ‘68s can be distinguished as the former have vent windows – the little triangular windows in front of the main windows, designed to let air in without having to roll down the main windows, a relic of an age when A/C was far less common than it is now - and the latter don’t.

Logo.  By now we’re used to the FIREBIRD with upraised wings of fire, prominently featured on 1973 and later Trans Ams and known as the “Screaming Chicken”.  But back then the wings were lowered and it looked more like a native American Indian thing, which is how it was inspired. 

Convertibles.   Although convertibles made a comeback in 1991-92 for the end of the third generation, and briefly in the mid-90s with the fourth generation, they were available across the board for ’67-69.  No roll cages, though, and the body stiffening made them heavier than hardtops. 

Overhead Cam Six.   (Upper left picture).  At this time, six cylinder engines, almost all inline, were the entry level engines with no special features or attention.  DeLorean, the Pontiac manager, decided to spruce it up by giving it an overhead cam and a brand new rubber timing belt.   Innovative and unique, but an idea which fell by the wayside in an era when V8s were king.  Later on Buick turbocharged its 3.8L V6 and made the Grand National and GNX superior cars – the engine even found its way into the 1989 Twentienth Anniversary Trans Am, the only Trans Am with a six cylinder engine.  But before the Buick V6, there was the Pontiac OHC 6.  Oh, some people even put them in Jaguars….

Models.  Whereas later the models each had a variety of available engines, for the first generation the models were determined by the engines themselves.   The 400 was the top end, and with Ram Air were the absolute best.   Note: the 400 was shared with the GTO, but the lighter Firebird would have been a faster car. 

Base.   OHC 6 with a one barrel carburetor.  Hardly anything special.  The OHC displaced 230 cubic inches in 1967 and 250 in 1968 and 1969.

Sprint.  Add a Rochester QuadraJet to the OHC Six – amazing.   No one was putting four barrel carburetors on six cylinders, as even V8s came stock with 2 barrel carburetors.  With its lighter weight came better handling.  Moreover, models with the four speed manual transmission got a slightly hotter camshaft.  DeLorean was proud of the Sprint model but no one else cared.

326/350.   Next model up had either a 326 (1967) or 350 (1968-69) cubic inch V8 with a two barrel carburetor and a single exhaust.   Note the 350 is NOT the same as the Chevrolet V8 which debuted in 1967 in the Camaro SS.

HO.   Slap a QuadraJet and dual exhaust on the 326 or 350 and you have a better model.

400.   (Upper middle picture, a ’67 hardtop).  The top model, includes the GTO’s 400 cubic inch V8 with fake hood scoops, QuadraJet and dual exhausts.  This was my dream model but as yet I haven’t been able to buy one.  

The stock 400 cubic inch V8 (6.6L) put out 325 HP (gross) and was itself a good engine.  In fact, the engine continued to be available in Firebirds up to the 1979 model year in Trans Ams and Formulas, though by then reduced to 220 (net) HP and only available with a 4 speed manual.  The late 60s were its glory days, and a buyer who wanted the hood scoops on his/her Firebird 400 to be truly operational could pay more for the Ram Air option.  As noted below, this changed the engine itself to some extent. 

Ram Air I (1967 and early 1968).   This option opened the hood scoops for true cold air induction.  However, the rest of the engine was pretty much the same as the standard 400.

Ram Air II (late 1968).  (Upper right picture).  WOW.   Pontiac finally made round port cylinder heads which well outflowed the stock D-port heads which were normally standard.   This made the car much faster than the standard 400, making the RAII models favorites at dragstrips – so much so that by now the original 110 run are down to a handful.  Properly tuned RAII models ran consistent mid-12 second quarter mile times at the dragstrip and were highly competitive, which explains their popularity. 

Ram Air III (1969).    Using Ram Air, but only D-port heads.   The entry level Ram Air engine in 1969.

Ram Air IV (1969).    Improved round port heads, the RAIV engine became the most popular 400 cubic inch Pontiac V8.   So much so that when Edelbrock finally came out with aluminum cylinder heads for Pontiacs, they used the Ram Air IV heads as the basis, even though the RAIV heads are actually cast iron. 

1969 Trans Am.  (Bottom left picture).  Nowadays the Trans Am is famous because of the 1977 Special Edition – the so-called “Bandit” Trans Am from Burt Reynolds and “Smokey and the Bandit”, but the model got its start at the end of the first generation.   By now the model has far eclipsed the race series in popularity, but back then the Trans Am races were still going strong.  They mandated the use of a car sold to the public with an engine no larger than 305 cubic inches, which prompted the Camaro Z/28 with its 302 cubic inch V8 (the Z28 option, mandating a hardtop – the only convertible owned by Chevrolet GM Pete Estes – and a four speed manual transmission), while the Camaro SS had a 350 or 396.   However, Pontiac’s experiment with smaller V8s didn’t pan out.  That didn’t stop them from paying SCCA for the right to use the name, and slapping it on a Firebird 400 with either a Ram Air III or Ram Air IV 400 cubic inch V8 – thus the model didn’t even qualify for the race it was named after.   The ’69 Trans Am came in one color, white, with a pair of blue stripes, a different hood, and a spoiler.  Essentially it was just an appearance package on a Firebird 400.   For 1970 and the second generation (1970-81) the Trans Am became a model of its own.   Of the 697 Trans Ams made in 1969, 8 (4 automatic, 4 manual) were convertibles, making them highly valuable.  

Idiosyncrasies.   Air conditioning was available but rare – the compressors were heavy and inefficient.  Skinny bias ply tires were standard back then, and even the best wheels, Rally II, were steel and not aluminum.  Power steering and power brakes were also options, not standard.  For that matter, front disc brakes weren’t even standard, so four wheel manual drum brakes were common – try stopping quickly with those.   The steering wheel was skinny, and the linkage further back, with no sway bars, so aside from the Trans Am, these early models didn’t handle very well.  Oh, and bench seats and column shifters were also available, though fortunately rare – though I did see a Firebird 400 – upgraded to a 428 – with those.  Even so, the bucket seats were little more than a slab. 

In fact, by the time I began actively searching for a ’67 or ’68 Firebird 400, I had my ’92 Firebird Formula 350, which had excellent seats, stellar handling, overdrive (TH700R4), power steering, and four wheel disc brakes – oh, and air conditioning.  Its Tune Port Injected (small block Chevy) 350 put out 300+ HP, net (not gross).  By every standard the ’92 was a much better car.  I may have been disappointed that my search failed, but getting back into the Formula was not nearly as disappointing as getting back into a Cavalier or Tercel would have been. 

My own?  I may have mentioned my trip to Detroit in October 1995 to buy a 1968 Firebird 400 hardtop, which failed.  The car was advertised in Hemmings, and the owner swore it was roadworthy and promised to meet us with it at the bus terminal in Detroit.  Thanks to an overnight bus trip from DC to Detroit, with a 3 a.m. stopover in Cleveland, my buddy Phil and I wound up by ourselves at the terminal, and the owner conveniently forgetting his promise.  We had to get a cab to the airport, then a rental car to his house near Flint.  There we found the car almost impossible to start with its ignition switch poking through the left knob hole where the radio would be.  We tried to locate a flatbed truck, to no avail, so we simply drove the rental car all the way back to Northern Virginia.  So much for that.

Over the years I’ve seen a few at car shows, parked on the streets, etc.   Someone in McLean had a ’67-68 convertible 400 in burgundy; in Falls Church a burgundy 400 hardtop; and in Alexandria a red 400 hardtop.  I test drove a 67 400 hardtop in gunmetal grey, and a 1968 400 convertible in white with a black interior.  Sadly, my budget precludes another, so I’ll hold onto the ’76 and upgrade its Olds 455 to Rocket standards.   Maybe someday…