Been a While since we had a "BAD BOY"
 

boosted Pontiac Engine so here is a good one for you to read about.

https://fuelcurve.com/2022-street-ma...r-69-firebird/

Goodguys 2022 Street Machine of the Year, PPG Street Machine of the Year, Bill Sather 1969 pontiac firebird, BBT Fabrications 1969 firebird, bbt fab

Butler Performance was tasked with building the Poncho powerplant; they are the ‘go-to’ shop for Pontiac power. It produces an estimated 1,400 horsepower from the 482 c.i. block topped with Edelbrock cylinder heads, MSD ignition, and a ton of one-off machined parts and pieces from EVOD including the intake and valve covers. BBT fabbed the stainless headers and exhaust system. A Billet Specialties accessory drive and Ron Davis radiator keep the fluids flowing. The power is put to the ground through a McLeod RTX clutch and Bowler T56 transmission.

And a couple of Pictures:

Tom V.

A high dollar build for sure... not sure why they wanted the front end to look like a Mercury? And the red seats...? Too much green in the paint for red. His money his car... Nice powerplant.

Agree. Front end looks unfinished... while I like the red in the interior, it clashes with the paint. To each his own. Definitely not cookie cutter.
I’m sure the power train is well engineered but I don’t get why you would want to disguise the engine so you don’t realize it’s a Pontiac. Most will assume it’s some sort of LS motor.

As for my boosted project.........

my machine shop closed for good during Covid.
retirement equals lack of cash flow.
old age equals lack of strength and stamina.
motivation gets harder and harder to come by.
I’ve only owned the car since 1994 so I have time.

Cool build. I wish it had more engine details... bore/stroke, compression, head flow, cam, etc

None of that kind of stuff flies if you're after street machine of the year. You make changes to everything.

It would be like going on the show Chopped, receiving a basket of bread, bacon, lettuce, tomato and making a BLT out of it. Is it what everyone actually wants? Yes. Will it win the competition? No.

That's not necessarily true. There's been plenty of times a car that is readily identifiable as what it is has won. This is a personal taste thing of course and changes year to year. I still remember when Rick Dobbertin's (sp) Pontiac J2000 won all the awards that year. YUCK!!

Yeah I’d never eve look past the stupid front end. It’s ugly don’t care if it looks stock or not but has to not look stupid. It looks like they couldn’t find a front end for it so they drove it without it. Sorry �� to the owner but that’s my feelings on the front end . Apparently someone thought differently of it (it won a contest) but I’ve seen new Japanese cars that look more like. Pontiac than that car.

I do
Like that it’s pure Pontiac power and gets kudos from me on that build quality is probably amazing but if I bought it first thing I’d do is change the front end.

Show Car, very nicely done. Cool Turbo System.

Do not think he is really interested in really going fast as you try to keep the air from
getting into the large engine compartment and hitting the firewall.

You try to keep it under the vehicle and what has to go thru the radiator/etc, you
try to extract that air using the TA style fender vents.

The tiny front spoiler and small height side "skirts" does nothing. Way too small in area.

Tom V.

I posted on this car build prior. See best link below;

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...Pontiac-engine

It was designed to some extent to go "fast." See last few pages.

Prior Forum post if anyone cares to read. It is short.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=821815

The metal work was very good I thought.

I believe they went near 200mph at the ecta standing mile back in April.

Here's a Bad Boy for ya!

Inner fender and hood vents
 

As far as venting engine compartment pressure building up from air coming through the front of the car/radiator, the hood has large heat extractors pulling air and heat out. Not a full blown land speed car so concessions were made. Out of curiosity: How fast is fast enough to be considered “serious”? Car has gone 196.

196mph?!! Damn! Very cool build. Do you happen to know what size the turbos are? If you could give more details on the engine I’d appreciate it :beerchug:

6870 Precision turbos. 68mm.

Can dig up specs when time permits. Rodney and David Butler (great guys) put the motor together. 482” with Edelbrock heads. I’m sure specs are on their site but will try to pull for you.

John Clegg racing at the Texas Mile has had similar speeds with his rusty 64 Lemans (basically no aero modifications).

You can't even run on the short course at Bonneville if you can't run 200+ mph.

200+ ???? Not serious in my mind. It has to do with the aero, sir.

Tom V.

It's an odd looking car to me. But Pontiac powered which is a huge plus and lots of bonus points there. Front end and colors are not my taste. But can certainly appreciate the craftsmanship. Agree it's odd that they went to great lengths to cover up the engine and make it present like one of the dozens of LS derivatives. That is a little strange.

In that case you are correct, not serious at that level or about running on the salt. Not sure at what speed things get serious but this car was never intended to have tons of aero or be a purpose built land speed car. As you know, that’s an entirely different ballgame. More a restomod that could do more than look cool and burn tires. Too many folks build pretty with all the internal goods and never run them. We wanted to do both and be safe at the same time all while staying true to the cars Pontiac roots. Still pushing a brick through the air but it sure puts a smile on your face. No LS engines in my cars!

You guys have a cool forum and seem like die hard Pontiac guys. I like that. Have to stick together as we are fewer and farther between than the Ford and Chevy nuts!

I have no issues with anything you posted 69Phoenix, to each his own, but 200 on a airstrip is good but not great aero.

Honestly I was, for sure scared, when I was in that CHP Mustang doing over 140 mph with the whole car shell acting like it was going to come apart or the tires were going to blow. A 140 mph speed on the 5 mile Ford Romeo Proving Ground "Oval" in a Ford GT sports car is no big deal, as that speed is 60 mph below its design capabilities. 140 mph in a CHP Mustang was scary.

It has to do with what the vehicle is designed to do. Eric and Mike have run 250 mph in the quarter mile. Old School Funny Car.

Tom V.

Welcome to the board! An incredible amount of talent went into your build and I for one can definitely appreciate that. The fact that you left it Pontiac powered instead of going the easy route and dropping an LS in it puts a smile on all of our faces. There are quite a few of us currently building turbo pontiacs that would definitely appreciate your input