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….

American V8 Engines

 

I’ve commented on the Pontiac 400 cubic inch V8, and the Chevrolet 305 V8.  Now I want to ease back and give you bigger picture.

Pull the cord on a gas-powered lawn mower, and you’ve got a single cylinder gas engine spinning a blade around to cut your lawn.  Look under the hood of a Citroen Deux Chevaux (DCV) and you’ll see a flat two cylinder engine.  Most economy cars have 4 cylinder engines, mostly inline, with Saab, VW and Porsche making flat 4s, and V4s exclusively in motorcycles.  Their upscale brethren can usually be found with six cylinder engines:  straight six (favored by BMW), V6s (most of the others), and flat sixes (Subaru and Porsche).  But the most epic of these is the V8.  Eight cylinders, two banks of four, generally 90 degrees apart.  The V8 replaced the straight (inline) 8, which lasted until the mid 1950s.

Despite the advent of modern electric motors, gasoline V8s are still around and will be for some time.  Even if electric cars completely replace ICE (internal combustion engines) on showroom floors, that does nothing about the millions of existing gas powered vehicles which won’t be magically transformed into electric cars overnight – if ever.  That being the case, they are still relevant, and thus V8s are still relevant as well.

Straight Eights.  While the V configuration (two banks of 4 cylinders at a 90 degree angle) is most common – and I haven’t seen a flat (horizontally opposed) 8 (Porsche used one in racing cars, but no production cars) – inline 8 cylinder engines were popular in the 1930s, 40s, and into the 50s before being phased out in favor of V8s.  Most American companies made straight eights, though Cadillac stuck with V8s, V12s and even V16s.  Buick’s straight eight was distinctive for using a more modern overhead valve format, while the rest of the straight eights used flathead (L head) engines. 

Flathead vs. overhead valve vs. overhead cam.   Flathead engines have the valves (intake and exhaust) in the block itself, leaving the cylinder head little more than a cover through which the spark plugs poke into the combustion chamber.  OHV and OHC engines have the valves in the cylinder heads.  OHV engines locate the camshaft, which opens and closes the valves, in the block, linked to the valves by lifters, pushrods, and rocker arms.  OHC engines put the camshaft(s) in the cylinder head itself, directly opening and closing the valves.  Although the OHC system is marginally superior, Chevrolet still uses the OHV format for its current LS engines. 

Ford Flathead (1932).  While Chevrolet had an ill-fated V8 in 1916, the first popular V8 was the Ford Flathead, debuting in 1932.  Instead of being a luxury car engine, this was mass-produced, so most Americans could drive a car with this V8.  Not only were the cars themselves popular, but the V8 started the trend of hot-rodding, birthing the performance aftermarket.  The main two displacements were 221 (3.6L) and 239 (3.9L), maxing out at 85 HP.  Although Cadillac (1948) and Oldsmobile (1949) came out with their overhead valve (OHV) (modern style) V8s earlier, it was the Small Block Chevy V8 (1955) which toppled the Ford Flathead from the throne.  Ford phased out the flathead in 1953, replacing it with its Y block (OHV) series in 1954.

Small Block Chevy 1955.  Introduced in 1955 in 265 cubic inches, later growing to 283 (1958), 327 (1962), 350 (1967), and 400 (1970), with the 305 (5.0L) coming into the picture in 1976 as a fuel-economy variant.  The 400 was never very popular, leaving the 350 (5.7L) as the optimal size for performance.  The SBC went into Novas, Camaros (in which the 350 debuted), Chevelles, Corvettes, Bel Airs, station wagons, vans, and pickup trucks – plus marine versions as well.  By 1998 the LS engines took over and are now the favored hot rod engines.  But while the SBC is no longer under the hood of anything you can go into a GM dealer and buy today, it’s still available as a crate engine from GM (as is the LS).

Innovations of the SBC:  very light – even lighter than the stovebolt (Chevrolet) straight six; well breathing cylinder heads with stud-mounted rocker arms (though it was Pontiac which invented this innovation); and a one piece intake manifold which also covered the lifter valley (contrast with Pontiac’s two piece manifold).   Mass produced with excellent power for its weight, the small block Chevy knocked the Ford flathead off its throne.   

The Big Three.   That would be General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.   GM consists of Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac.  Ford includes Mercury, Edsel, and Lincoln.  Chrysler also includes Dodge and Plymouth (also known as"MOPAR").

Other, defunct car companies also made their own V8s; of these, American Motors (AMC) lasted the longest.  Popular displacements included 304, 343, 360, 390, and the largest, the 401.  Like many V8s of a given series, they were the same size externally; like Pontiac, AMC did not have “big blocks” or “small blocks”.  Oddball AMC models like the Gremlin and Pacer could be purchased with the 304 – and hotrodded with the 401, which would otherwise be in the Javelin (muscle car) or full size models.  Studebaker, Packard, and International Harvester also made their own V8s.

Hot Rodding.  An engine’s “displacement” is the cubic volume of its cylinders (leaving aside rotary engines, only made by Mazda, for the purpose of this discussion).  A cylinder has a height (stroke) and diameter (bore).  An engine makes power by bringing in air, mixing that with a specific ratio – 14.7:1 (stoichiometric) – of fuel, and igniting that mixture with a spark plug.  The larger the cylinder, the more air can be thus processed, and thus more power.  However, the bore and stroke are internal dimensions; the external dimensions generally remain the same.

Although Pontiac, unlike other GM divisions, did not have “small” and “big” blocks, it stratified its V8s into three parallel series.  The smaller engines, the 326 and 350, served as entry level.  The larger engines, the 389 and 400, were mid-level, and the larger engines, the 421, 428, and 455, were reserved for the full size cars – the Bonneville and Catalina.  However, all these engines are the same size externally.  One Saturday morning back in 1963, the Pontiac techs and engineers, led by John DeLorean, realized that the 389 V8 would drop into the entry-level sized LeMans in place of the 326 it was being sold with.  The 389-equipped LeMans was much faster and more fun to drive.  “Pity we can’t sell it with that engine,” they thought.  “Well, we can – as an option” – the GTO.  An instant success! 

GM vs. the others.  With Ford/Mercury and Chrysler, the corporate family shared engines across divisions.  Cadillac and Lincoln make their own engines, which have more in common with each other than with their division brothers.  GM, until 1982, had each division making its own, which caused some confusion.  Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick all had 350 cubic inch V8s, all four being completely different.  All four had a 400 cubic V8, again all completely different.  Chevrolet’s largest big block was a 454, while Buick, Olds and Pontiac (“BOP”) all had a 455 – and all were different.

I have to laugh at this.  In the early 70s, GM started switching around V8s in its different divisions, without telling the customers, assuming they didn’t know or care – and many of them didn’t.  Until…one Oldsmobile customer (Joseph Siwek) brought his brand new 1977 Olds Delta 88 into the local Olds dealer for service.  The tech gave him back his Olds V8 parts, telling him the Chevrolet (not Oldsmobile) 350 V8 in his new car didn’t need them.  “Chevrolet V8?  But I bought an Oldsmobile!”  Tech shrugs, “I guess they’re putting Chevrolet V8s in Oldsmobiles now.”  This irate customer sued GM for false advertising and won.  They didn’t stop the policy, but the court ordered that they add a fine print disclaimer to the sales material warning customers that their GM vehicle might be equipped with an engine made by a different division of GM.  Automotive History: The 1977 Oldsmobile Chevrolet Engine Scandal – There’s No Rocket In My 88’s Pocket | Curbside Classic

The most pertinent example of this was when Pontiac stopped making V8s in 1981, and all 1982- (third and fourth) generation Firebirds wound up with a Chevrolet V8 under the hood.  This was even more tragic because until the 350 became available in 1987, the best Chevrolet V8 you could get in a Firebird was a 305, most of which struggled to reach 200 HP.  In addition to putting out considerably more horsepower than the 305, the 350 also puts out far more torque and responds much better to performance modifications, which is why it remains the most popular displacement of the classic small block Chevy V8. 

GM has a pecking order of its divisions.  The basic idea is that a GM customer would start out with a Chevrolet, and progressively upgrade to the other divisions as he/she got better jobs.  Trade your Chevrolet in for a Pontiac, trade your Pontiac in for an Oldsmobile, trade your Oldsmobile in for a Buick, and finally upgrade to a Cadillac.  Failing the last, most hearses (station wagons used to transport coffins) are made by Cadillac, meaning your last ride is likely to be in a Cadillac, even if you’re not alive to enjoy it.

Chevrolet.  I’ve already described the revolutionary small block.  In addition, there are two big block series.  The first was the W block variety, from 1958-64, in 348, 409, and 427 cubic inch displacements.  The 409 features in the Beach Boys’ song of the same name: “my four speed dual quad positraction 409”.  The valve covers look like inverted W’s, but the heads didn’t flow nearly well enough.  So they started from scratch with the big block (1965-76 in passenger cars), in 396/402, 427, and 454 displacements.  The big block remains in existence as a crate engine, a monster 632 cubic inch, 1000 HP behemoth, which will presumably drop in where a 396, 427 or 454 used to be. 

LS Engines.  With the notable exception of the ZL1 427, all Chevrolet V8s have iron blocks.  Corvettes received aluminum cylinder heads on its TPI engines, but the block itself remained iron.  In between the Tuned Port Injected 350 (L98) in Firebirds, Camaros and Corvettes was the LT1 V8, with aluminum cylinder heads, reverse flow cooling, and Optispark ignition, bringing power from 240 (L98) to 275 (LT1).  But GM started from scratch with an aluminum block for the LS engines, the current standard V8s.  4.8, 5.3 and 6.0L displacements are in trucks, 5.7L and 6.0L in Camaros and Corvettes, all the way up to 7.0L for its most powerful versions. 

Pontiac.  Its three series of V8s are noted above.  Add to this the 265/301 from 1980-81, a last-ditch effort, including turbocharging the 301 in Trans Ams and Formulas.  Pontiac brought its V8 out in 1955, the same year as Chevrolet.  As noted, Pontiac is closest to Chevrolet in the pecking order.  Oddly, when it came time to make the F body (Camaro and Firebird), Oldsmobile wanted in, but GM thought a third variant would thin the market out too much.  So they thew Olds the bone of allowing them to jazz up the Cutlass with the Hurst/Olds model in 1968, silver and black with the 455 V8.  Imagine an alternate universe where you have Oldsmobile F-bodies in 1967-69, 1970-81, 1982-92, and 1993-2002.  Mind.  Blown. 

As noted, Pontiac doesn’t have big or small blocks, and its V8s range from 326 to 455.  In addition to the small block, Chevy has the big block, generally in 396, 427, and 454 displacements.  Pontiac dropped 455s in Firebird Formulas and Trans Ams in the 1970s, from 1971-76, while Chevrolet never did the same with Camaros – and it phased out the 396 after 1972.  Dealers like Yenko (in Pennsylvania) or Baldwin-Motion (on Long Island) may have dropped 427s and 454s into Chevys themselves. 

Pontiac cylinder heads.  The standard heads have semi-circular exhaust ports, so-called “D” port.  The Ram Air II, IV, 455HO and SD455 heads have round ports.  The round port heads flow much better than the D ports, which is why those engines are the top Pontiac V8s.  When Edelbrock decided to make aluminum versions of Pontiac cylinder heads, they used the Ram Air IV heads as a starting point, although their aluminum heads actually have D ports – but the “D” is on its side.

My closest experience with Pontiac V8s came in 1998, when I purchased a 400 out of a Trans Am which had gone bad.  I put it on a stand in my parents’ garage and gradually broke it down to the block itself.  The machine shop confirmed that the block and crank were history, so they went into the trash.  The heads were “6X”, a later D-port variant (no Firebirds after 1974 have round port heads).  I took out all 16 valves and cleaned them, later having some of the parts bead blasted and painted.  I still have some of the parts (oil filler tube guide). 

Oh, and Pontiac is named after a famous Native American chief from the Detroit area.  Its earlier logo was an Indian head, and later switched to a down-pointing red arrowhead. 

Oldsmobile.  Oldsmobile was second, after Cadillac, to produce an OHV V8 (1949).  Small blocks include the 330, 350, and 403.  The 403 replaced the Pontiac 400 in 1979 Trans Am automatic transmission applications (“6.6 Litre”) for 185 HP, vs. the 4 speed manual Pontiac 400 (“T/A 6.6”) with 220 HP. Big blocks include the 400, 425, and 455.  Someone put an Olds 455 from a 1972 F-85 in my 76 Firebird.  Someday I might even get it running.  Olds V8s have rear mounted distributors and an oil filler tower in the front of the engine, as opposed to simply a cap on the valve covers most V8s use.

Oldsmobile’s logo features an uprising rocket, with “Rocket” frequently invoked in the name.  [Clutch: “My Rocket 88, fastest in the land, crucial, crucial, VELOCITY!”].    

Buick.  Small blocks range from their aluminum 215, all the way up to 350.  Big blocks include 400, 430, and 455.  Somewhat confusingly, the big block series replaced the first V8 series (1953-64) (the Nailhead, due to small valves) which ranged from 264 to 425 cubic inches, including a 401 cubic inch variant.  Buick V8s have front mounted distributors.    

Cadillac.  The first GM division to produce an OHV V8, in 1948.  This series lasted all the way the 1970s, ranging from 331 cubic inches all the way to 500 cubic inches, the largest displacement V8 engine ever available in a US car.  And since the Cadillac V8 isn’t much larger than any other, some hot rodders will drop a Cadillac 500 into another car. 

Northstar and Blackwing.  While the non-Chevrolet V8s – except for Oldsmobile diesel V8s – died in 1982, Cadillac, being GM’s luxury division, kept their own V8s.  For awhile these were the Northstar engines (1993-2011): all aluminum, shared with Oldsmobile, and capable of running without coolant.  The newest Cadillac V8 is a new design, the Blackwing, a 4.2L twin turbo OHC V8, from 2018-2020.

Moving off from General Motors…

Ford.  Ford eventually phased out its flathead V8 and joined the rest.  Then it came up with a variety of different families and displacements.   302 (5.0L) is probably the most popular, winding up with a carburetor and then EFI in 1979-93 Fox body Mustangs, often with the 5 speed manual (5.0 5 speed).  The 351 can either be a 351 Windsor (same family as the 302) or Cleveland (different family).  For larger engines, there’s the 427, the 428 (including the 428 Cobra Jet), 429 (Cobra Jet and BOSS), and the 460.  Then they phased out the 5.0L in favor of a new design 4.6L, and then went back to 5.0L displacement for a new version of the engine.  To be honest, I’ve never been much of a fan of Mustangs.

Ford V8s – Post Flathead.  Part 1: Y Block (1954-64).  As noted, the Flathead was retired in 1953, replaced with the Y block, which was a more modern OHV design.  The Y blocks have a strange intake setup where the ports are on top of each other rather than side by side.  The lifter design, solid lifters adjusted by the rocker arms, was the most troublesome part of the design.

Part 2:  Windsor/90 Degree (1964 – present).  260, 289, 302, 351W.  Of these the 289 was common in the first Mustangs, and the 302 more common in Fox body Mustangs as the “5.0L”. 

Part 3.  335 Series (1970-75).  351 and 400, with the 351 Cleveland (named after the factory they were made in) the most popular.

Part 4.  FE Series (1958-76).  390, 427, and 428 are the most famous examples.  And the most famous of these is the 428 Cobra Jet, arguably the best street V8 Ford made in the muscle car era (1964-75).

Part 5.  385 Series (1968-75).  429 and 460.  The largest engines Ford made.  These include the Boss 429, the closest thing to a hemi engine Ford made. 

Chrysler.  Small blocks:  318 (5.2L), 340, 360 (5.9L) are the most popular displacements.  The small block Mopar V8 can be recognized by its rear-mounted distributor.  Big blocks: 383, 413, 426, and 440 are the most popular displacements. These include the 440 Six Pack (three two barrel carburetors) and the 426 Hemi.  A 360 will drop in place of a 318, a 440 in place of a 383, but the Hemi heads are so much larger and the engine so much wider, that fitting a Hemi in car that didn’t come with it is not an easy task.  There was actually an earlier Hemi V8 in the 1950s, distinguished by its rear mounted distributor; the 66-71 Hemi has its distributor in the front. 

In 2006 MOPAR resurrected the Hemi as a modern, fuel injected engine in 5.7L and 6.1L (later 6.4L) displacements in the Magnum, Charger R/T, Challenger R/T, and Chrysler 300.  All have two spark plugs per cylinder with individual coils on each cylinder.  I had a 2009 Charger R/T from 2015 to 2020, which had the standard 5.7L Hemi (370 HP).  The SRT8 version, in 6.1L, had 420 HP.  Then they upped the ante with a supercharger, the Hellcat, putting out 700 HP.  Although MOPAR has announced the end of gas engine Chargers and Challengers, the Hellcat V8 is available as a crate engine – should you have the $$$.

Again, the trend seems to be to phase out ICE engines for electric motors, but given the extremely limited recharging infrastructure and length of time necessary to recharge – compared to filling up your gas tank in 5 minutes – the full transition is years down the road, so to speak, if ever.  And crate engines suffice if we need to replace an older V8 with a new one.  LS swaps have become more common and popular among GM owners, as the LS engine is light (all aluminum), reliable, and not only powerful in stock form, but respond well to a richly developed aftermarket. 

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.   

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… 

More Firey Birdy Stuff

This weekend, I went down to Stafford to try to get my Firebird Esprit up and running, and drive it back up to Northern Virginia.  The brakes were not cooperative and the engine, even with a new battery, resisted starting and running.  Leaving it in a field outside for months at a time is apparently not calculated to make a 70s muscle car start up easily.  I also found all the parts I had bought earlier and which were never installed as the floor pan job never quite got done by the guy supposed to do it – who is now resting in peace (that demise being very recent and not the reason for the delay). 

The 70s.  I had vague awareness of “Smokey et le Bandit” but did not actually see the movie when it came out.  No one I knew had a performance car, let alone a Trans Am Special Edition, the black & gold model Burt Reynolds drove.   Sadly, having been born in 1969 I was too young at the time to appreciate all those cars.  Now I take special delight in watching TV and movies from that time and observing those cars in the background, someone’s daily driver which happened to be captured on film.

Summer of 1988.   Although I received my driver’s license in 1986, due to college parking logistics I wasn’t able to actually purchase a car until 1988.   My quest for a Trans Am was cut short when my parents bought me a car – a 1984 Chevy Cavalier.   4 doors, great gas mileage, and relatively reliable.  That lasted until summer 1991 when my sister totaled it driving through the neighborhood.  In her defense, she had only started to learn to drive at that time.

Fall of 1992.  My first new car: 1992 Pontiac Firebird. I finally got a job earning enough to buy a new car.  I wanted a Formula with the 5.7L V8 (350) but they were long sold out – and out of my price range anyway.   But I got this one, brand new, from King Pontiac in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  Black on black, t-tops, power windows and door locks, and a 5.0L V8 which got the car running.  My only modifications were a performance chip.  I sold this to my boss after buying the Formula.

Spring 1994.   Car training.  NOVA & ASE.  Upon returning from Norfolk in late February after taking the Virginia Bar (again) I got a nasty surprise:  LAID OFF.  Now I had a surplus of free time and a conscientious desire to spend it wisely apart from the obvious job search.  Not having any prior knowledge of auto mechanics and no suitably skilled friends or relatives, I taught myself using a high school textbook followed by adult education courses, finally AUT courses at NOVA Alexandria.  I learned enough to pass the ASE exams on engine repair, automatic transmissions, and manual transmissions.   This also allowed me to do minor work on my own cars, such as oil changes, ATF changes, differential fluid changes, and brake work.   For anything more complex, I brought to mechanics, either local shops or the dealer.  By this point I could talk to the mechanic and understand what he was talking about.  So I’d say this was well worth the effort to learn, even if I never worked as a mechanic.  Hell, I even ordered the factory service manual for the ’92 base Firebird, which also applied to the Formula, same model year.

June 1995.   1992 Pontiac Firebird Formula “350”.  After a three year quest I finally had this.  Not black (yet), but blue-green metallic with a black interior.   A rare “Formula 350” without power door locks, power windows, etc. – a stripped down model for which the only option was the 350.  However, the first owner did put the SLP package on it: larger throttle body with an airfoil, Siamesed intake runners with a cool air kit, 1 5/8” headers, 3” exhaust, performance chip and cooler thermostat, for a total boost of 50 HP from 240 to 290.  Later I added a 2800 stall converter, shift kit, and 3.73 gears in the rear. 

305 vs. 350.  The 5.0L V8 came up in the late 70s to save gas.  It has a smaller bore than the 350 (3.74 vs. 4.0) but the same stroke (3.48), but the smaller bore severely compromises the breathing and makes the engine highly resistant to performance mods.  The earlier 327, with a 4 inch bore and 3.25 inch stroke, breathes easier and revs higher than the 350, so that engine does respond to modifications.  In any case, the 350 remains the top small block Chevy V8 and should be considered the prime choice for anyone building a performance V8 made by Chevrolet.  That engine has the widest variety of support even today.  My Formula was MUCH faster than the base Firebird.  The original owner had it doing high 13s at the quarter mile dragstrip, while the best I could do – before the trans mods – was low 14s, with trap speeds of 95-98 mph.  I even came third place in a drag race when my practice runs spilled over into the actual eliminations and my opponents redlighted.  That track, 75/80 south of Frederick, Maryland, has since closed down. 

Late 1995:  1968 Pontiac Firebird 400.  I had extra money, enough to buy one of these: a hard top.  Nowadays the ‘69 Camaro gets most of the attention, directly inspiring the current version of the Camaro.   The ‘67-69 models started out with OHC 6, including the Sprint model with a QuadraJet; had a mid-range model with a 326 or 350 cubic inch V8 (either two barrel and single exhaust, or the 4bbl & dual exhaust HO model) going up to the 400 model with its GTO engine and faux hood scoops.  Of course the 400 was my preference.  I preferred the hard top, but the convertible was also intriguing.  I also preferred the automatic version (3 speed TH400) over the manual (4 speed).  

My buddy Phil and I took the bus from DC to Detroit, only to find – guess what? - the car wasn’t drivable and no flatbed trucks available to bring it back.   The carb wasn’t working properly and the ignition switch came through the left hole where the stereo knob would be if the stereo was still in it.  We had to rent a car at the airport to get to his place, and then simply drove it back to DC.  A shame, because it was in good shape body-wise and was a real 400 hardtop (white, green interior, automatic).   

Other cars I looked at: a 1974 Trans Am SD455 in DC, red with white interior, in extremely rough shape; a black-on-black ‘72 Firebird Formula;  a gun metal gray ‘67 Firebird 400 hardtop with no proper tags, so we had to just tool around the neighborhood; a white ‘68 400 convertible in better shape, out near Chantilly, I drove from the guy’s house to 28/50 with the top up, then back with the top down, my dad following behind to watch; and a pair of GTOs, ‘68/69, one in particularly rough shape.    

Generally these cars had the skinny steering wheel, slablike “bucket seats”, spongy brakes (some four wheel drum with no power booster); AM radio; wallowing handling; varying amounts of rust and decay.  

I also test drove a few Formula 350s (87-92) and lost out on a ‘89 350 black on black with T-tops (a rarity with the 350) which I missed out on when the guy sold it to someone else an hour before I called him back.  

1998.  Color change.   We had a client, Tim, down in Stafford, who took the blue-green Formula in September 1997 and converted it to black by January 1998.  Oddly, black paint is the least forgiving of flaws and the most difficult color to switch to – including the door jambs and under the hatch.  I never did end up putting the decals back on. 

1999.  Pontiac 400 V8.  Some time after that I acquired this engine, all by itself, from a shop which had taken it out of a 70s Trans Am.  Apparently something was wrong with it.  I bought it not to put into a car but simply to take it apart for my own amusement.

First the carburetor (QuadraJet), which I also disassembled, cleaned, and rebuilt.  Then the intake manifold, valve covers, water pump, timing chain cover, timing chain, and distributor.  Then the cylinder heads themselves, which had probably never been off, taking a breaker bar to get all 10 bolts loose from each.  I dissembled the heads and cleaned the valves, putting them apart by cylinder, all 16 (intake & exhaust x 8).  Flipping it upside down on the stand, and taking off the oil pan, I took out the pistons, and finally the crankshaft itself.  Sure enough, the crank and block were unusable and we threw them away.  Everything else usable was cleaned, painted, and included with the 1980 Trans Am sale mentioned below.

2000.  1980 Trans Am SE.  In May 2000 my comrade Tim located this car at a towing auction.  It was black on tan with a normally aspirated (non-turbo) 301 V8.  We could never get it running.  His buddy had a 70’s Pontiac full-size with a running Pontiac 455, but sold that car before I could buy it – but not before he and I had already pulled the 301 from the Trans Am.  D’oh!  When that happened I decided to, and did, sell the ’80 TA. 

2012.  That December the Formula went up in flames, becoming literally a Firebird.  The car was totaled.  I held on to it but eventually had to conclude it was a lost cause.  The engine was pulled and rebuilt while I still held hope of resurrecting the car, so now I’m trying to sell that on eBay.  I was forced to replace the Formula with a brand new Honda Civic, which I later traded in, back in 2015, for the current 2009 Dodge Charger R/T.

 

2013-Present. 1976 Firebird Esprit.  I mentioned this in an earlier blog, and above. We’ll see what happens to it in the future – if anything.