I've Always Been A Poncho Fan...

[bob32268]

I agree with you on the TransAm being a dog compared to the GTO. One of the best runners that I had was a 70 GTO Judge with Ram Air III engine and 4-speed Muncie. I still regret selling it back in the early 90's !

 

[Photon440]

I agree with you on the TransAm being a dog compared to the GTO. One of the best runners that I had was a 70 GTO Judge with Ram Air III engine and 4-speed Muncie. I still regret selling it back in the early 90's !

The first really quick car I was ever in was just that, a RA III 4 speed Judge. It was an eye opener for someone (me) who was used to Dad's anemic transportation.

 

[Budnicks]

Did the tin indians have oiling issues that the 455 olds does? Slow to return as it hangs in the top end due to design.

All Pontiac, Buick (even the GS Stage 1 or 2 motors)
& Olds (even w30's) seemed to be like that

W30 running low-ish 10's in mid 80's

I ran dual remote big K&N filters off the oil-filter adapter
& a bigger pan/more volume, like a Moroso Road-race pan,
with kick outs on mine, for more volume of oil...

&/or wipe out rods & yeah main bearing too, or even the rockers

IIRC what we did (got it from my dad, & Wess or Ed)
many" they had to have a bigger oil pick ups
& camphor the entry hole, smooth out the transitions etc.
especially if you used a hi-volume/hi-pressure pump,
it's suck the pan near dry (what {?} 5 qts) if you didn't get it to drain back
& use restrictors (plug with a hole drilled in IIRC) in the valley/lifter oiling...
We'd also open up the valley for oil drain-back, not so much over the camshaft
we'd epoxy a screen over that area
grind out a lot of over sluff 'casting' in the drain holes & lifter valley areas
that could be carbide bit ground out, especially in the front, it was like a dam
they'd also say, to make the drain-back hole 'bigger in the rear' of the lifter valley
so oil wouldn't stay up there under hard acceleration,
try to drain back, not as much at the front, but at the rear of the crank,
so it wouldn't whip it up/aerate, wipe out rod or main bearings, from it
they really needed good windage trays from the factory too
(MoPars were ahead of the game in that dept.)

in extreme conditions, lead foots
IIRC the rockers, pivot would gal really bad too (oils starve, when acel. hard a lot)...
Oiling thru the pushrods, we/he always ran Smith Bros. "hardened - 3/8",
they had a bigger orifices for oil hole IIRC too
got that one from Joe Mondello engine builder (big cylinder head porter guy, esp. Olds),
Ed Pink, Paul Pfaff, Keith Black & a bunch of the Long Beach gang,
(thanks to Al Bush, Pete & Marlene 'Crazy Horse' BFFB IHBA fame)
Uncle Joe Pisano's (Venolia Pistons/JP1 Hemi &/or Childs & Albert Rods/Bearings fame)
buddies, would give great tips, from their old days
also Sacramento's area Bill Stammerjohn (spell)
& Terry Manzer (spell) at Rex Hutchenson's

They all had some issues with oiling, main & rod bearings in stock form
I remember my dad/Wess or ED using grooved mains/bearings, Clevites tri-metal
You go over like 5,500rpms, you're asking for trouble, without the proper mods listed
in any of the Bigger 455 GM Pontiac/Buick/Olds builds, some 'get lucky'
& don't have that/all them issues, most weren't fast thou...

Been a long time since I built a real Pontiac, Olds or Buick...
Been mostly BB MoPar Wedge or Hemi (Milodon Mastodon)
& BBC Mark IV (great engines, dominated sportsman classes for decades, until the LS)
or a corporate derivative of GM, GM Performance
did a lot of R&D with 'CNC Performance' with the GM Performance P/S mountain motors

mine is the white 85 Trans Am, running 7.90s, later 7.50s with a 540 Big Chief DRCE

Pontiac 'Big Chief' or 'Olds' DRCE 'Drag Race Competition Engines'
(same style engines; Warren Johnson (his son Kurt), then 'crew guy' Greg Anderson,
now several times NHRA P/S champ, they dominated the 90's P/S, of Pontiac & Olds)

of late I've been tinkering with strokers, low deck B-engines mostly
or Magnum SB MoPars, since like early 90's roller motors

 

[SteveSS]

I sold this Tempest race car a year ago. I never knew much about it except it had a big block Chevy and a 12 bolt rear. I thought the '70's front end most looked like the GTO. I see it's up for sale again $10.5 K. Honestly the car scared the poo out of me.

 

[cosgig]

Not a Pontiac, but here’s a cool wagon that’s been showing up over the summer in our area. Straight out of the barn with just an alternator change, it’s 427 powered with A/C. And a 455 Grand Prix at the same show.

 

[JackR]

What got in front of my roadrunner. 70 formula factory air car

 

[Curiousyellow71]

We used to race in Kansas City at KCIR while Jim Hand was there testing different things on his station wagon for his books. If anyone is into pontiacs, they likely know who Jim Hand is. We had our chevelle there one night and lined up side by side with him. Our 71 chevelle then had a 455 olds. The chevelle was our first car and Dad bought the olds for us for Christmas when we were seniors in high school. We had our best 1.78 60' and were side by side with Jim's wagon. Then our car died at the 1/8.Lol
I think Jim was in the high 11s then and later was running low 11s. No trailer.

 

[DeltaV]

View attachment 1773826

Nice Cordoba!

 

[Coelacanth]

When I was looking for an SUV with power, there weren't many options that I'd consider affordable. The Trailblazer SS were out of my price range, but then I discovered the Pontiac Torrent GXP, with the sport-tuned suspension, dual exhaust and 264 hp on tap. I bought a used 2008 model that still had a year and a half of extended warranty and quite enjoyed that SUV. However, the transverse-mounted 3.6 VVT engine was a righteous bitch to work on, which soured me on the car as it got older, warranty expired and started needing work on bigger things. I was ready to sell it after a buddy and I had to replace a faulty crankcase position sensor, which was mounted underneath the transmission mount. Just to replace that frickin' sensor was a 2-day job! I think several weeks after I'd advertised it for sale, some lady ran a red light and T-boned me just behind the front driver side wheel, which basically totalled it. The next daily driver I bought to replace it was my 2005 Magnum RT AWD, which I still have.

I don't really miss the Torrent but I did like it. Pontiac wasn't long for the world and vanished shortly after that 2008 model year.