1978 Pontiac Firebird Week 2010 01 16

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This Saturday, we had another meeting of the Car Nuts. In attendance was Tom Deyle, Lenny Ball, Frank Serafine, Ken Long, Don Goodman, Jack Dennis, Vince Falco, and Don Schafer.

This was to be the big push to get the car done so that it can be listed for sale. See below for the list of tasks that needed to be completed

Once we had our work done, we went on a garage tour of John DeRue’s garage.

There will be a car nuts meeting this coming Saturday work on drywall in the garage, we need to get it ready for it’s new resident, the Front Engine Dragster

We tried to copy the big shots of OverHauling, and the want a be Chip Fouse actually created a task list on the red neck white board (the wall)
First on the list was to install a new mini starter as the stock starter just did no have enough power to turn over the engine. This was accomplished by Tom Deyle. He also installed the dust shield for the toque converter. We think he is shy as this put him under the car so no shots could be taken of him
This lead to the first ever injury of the car nuts. Don Schafer was working on the task of routing the vacuum line from the modulator on the back of the transmission to the intake. He was using a ratchet wrench and it slipped an hit Tom in the mouth and tooth. Tom ended up with a fat lip.
This car is an original Trans Am. It has always been missing the front flares in front of the front tires. When I purchased the car a bunch of flares came with the car. Some of them were for Camaros, but in the mix were two left Trans m flares and One right. The flares were cracked and broken, We cut up the remaining flares to produce two good flares for the car.
The Engine holddowns had to be put back in so DoneSchafer took on that task.
Jack Dennis and Don Goodman installed the new K & N Air Cleaner
Lenny Ball of Fire Ball Racing took on the task of checking fluid levels.
To preserve the torque converter to be installed in the Front Engine Dragster, Vince Falco added fresh oil to the converter for storage.
In the last car nuts meeting, we removed, rewired the dash, and put it back in the car. We did not finish fastening the wires down so Frank Serafine took on that task.
Jack Dennis and Frank Serafine installed the new gas line to the Carburetor.
Second to the last task of the day was to clean up the car. We some how got through this task with out someone getting squirted with the hose. I did hold the hose very tight so that no one would get the bright idea that the person that created all thes tasks should be wet down.
During the clean up of the car, we did have a second mishap. Dare I say it, there was a LOUD passing of gas that occurred. The offending area of the body happened to pointing directly at Lenny. Lenny unable to allow this to pass without taking action rolled right up and wet the area down.
The last task of the day for the car nuts was to eat, and eat well we did. If you were not there you should fell left out. Working on the car is not what we are about, having fun during the winter months is. You should show up next week. True we will not be working on the car, but hanging sheet rock, but it IS about getting together and having a good time.

I expect to get the car listed on e-bay and Racing Junk Sunday. This is what is in the car.  

DESCRIPTION

Engine

Block is a Pontiac 400
HP is 388 at 5700 RPM Torque is 425 at 3700 RPM
Built by Pro Formance Specialties http://www.pro-formancespecialties.com/  and test run on an engine stand, never run down the track. Build completed 11/30/2009

Machine work
Crank and cram shaft junorls line bored and honed
Decked
Engle Pontiac EP-25 Solid Lifter cam
Cylinders bored and honed .30 over
Forged rods and pistons, balanced (I still have the originals if you want them)
Cast crankshaft, balanced, polished and chamfered
New Holley 750 cfm carburetor
Performer intake
Cooling is an electric fan with brand new mechanical water pump
Headers with bungs for exhaust temperature sensors
Double roller timing chain
New Mini Starter
New K&N Air Filter

Heads
Number 48 Ram Air III heads
Milled
New Stainless valves and springs (yes a valve job)
1.6 Roller Rockers
Clearance for the push rods
Threaded  Rocker studs
Combustion Chamber edges rolled back

Fuel system
Trunk mounted fuel cell
Mallory 140 fuel pump
Bypass fuel regulator
Dash 8 lines
Hard line to front  

Transmission
Rebuilt by Competition Transmission and Converters http://www.competitiontransmission.com/index.html   11/30/2009
36 tooth sprag unit S
uper Shift kit
4000 RPM Stall Converter
Brand new Hurst Quarter Shifter  

Car
1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am 24,000 miles Original 4 speed car (now an automatic)
There is only one area with a small amount of rust under the rear window on the left side
No rust in the quarter panels or under the car or floor pans!
Weight has been reduced to 3250 pounds by stripping out unnecessary items
Power Steering pump removed
Alternator removed
Wired for electric water pump
Mechanical  fan removed and electric fan installed
With this combination should run high 11’s in the ¼ mile

Suspension
Front control arms have been pulled and Powder coated, new polyurethane bushings installed
New 2 inch lower springs installed
New ball joints in both upper and lower arms
New Lockwood 90/10 shocks installed, sway bar removed
Rear axle has ladder bars, and sliders on the axle
“C” clip eliminators
32 tooth splined axles (after market)
Eton limited slip differential  3:73 gears
Jegs differential support differential cover
Morso wheel studs all the way around
Center Line rims
New rear slicks 28 X 10.5 X 15 ET M/T Drag
27.5 X 4.5 X 15 ET M/T Front

Body
Pro hood scoop
Drive shaft loop
Drive shaft universal girdle (rear u-joint)
Rear mounted battery box New Yellow top battery
Power brakes converted to manual brakes (No lost vacuum to brakes)
New front stainless steel brake lines, New brake hoses, New rotors and pads
Stock dash removed, custom dash installed Vintage Sun Gauges
Stock wiring removed, Custom race wiring installed, relay and Circuit breaker protected
Roll cage with hinged side driver bar
Rear lights for night drag racing are LED to reduce power drain
Molded plastic racing seat with padding

 
This video should represent what the current engine in the car can do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78ZlRYD34A

This is a video of the stroker engine that I had in the car (this engine is going into my front engine dragster).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRUv9tZu6s

This is of the current engine in the car and being sold in this auction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RayOI2Dj2Y