[SD455DJ]

We had a ’69 RAIV Firebird at this year’s race along with 2 - ’68 RAII Firebirds (all are ‘clone’ cars with the ’69 an original 350HO car and the ’68’s 330 hp Firebird 400 cars). All are 4-speed cars with 4.10 rear gears and they are close in weight, but that will vary if any lightening has occurred (removing all the sound deadener, hollowing out the rear seats, amount of fuel, spare tire or no, etc.). We have seen ’69 Birds typically weigh 50 lbs heavier than the '67/'68 birds comparably equipped (3555 lb. avg. for ’68 400 Birds to 3607 lb, avg. for ‘69’s). The RAII ’68 Birds have a minor advantage over the ’69 RAIV in the weight category, but we’ve had 4 RAII’s (2 stick/2 auto) to only 1 RAIV (stick) over the years. I think if there were more ’69 RAIV’s racing, we’d see a tenth or 2 advantage go to the RAIV with its higher lift at the valve (.520” to .470”) and better flowing intakes (240 cfm to 215 cfm). Rick Mahoney’s and Jim Mino’s ’68 RAII’s have run 11.50’s and 11.80’s respectively, and both were the lightest of the ‘68’s weighed over the past 12 years (3480 lbs. each) and best prepared of all the early Birds that have raced. We’ve had half a dozen or so ‘68/’69 regular Firebird 400’s (330 hp) that ran from the mid-14’s to low-13’s due to different levels of tune and engine prep. Interesting that we have not had any '70 RAIII Formulas at the race yet, let alone '71/'72 455HO Formulas. We've had several RAIII '69 GTO's and a '70 Judge, but they were not 'enhanced' for racing.

There are a couple RAIV A-body cars that have run 12-teens at 115+ mph (max effort cars as well) that weigh in the 3800 lb. range, so the GTO’s are putting it down despite 300 lbs. up on the Firebirds.

As for the automatic cars, they are supposed to have the 13” ‘5-5’ convertor, but we see many running the 12” from the TH350’s/L88’s/W30/31’s. Mac did say that Pontiac decided not to install a looser convertor in the RA cars as they (PMD engineering) thought most street races started from a roll of 10 – 15 mph and the stock convertor would be quicker in that scenario. Having a RAIV Judge with the TH400 and 13” factory convertor, it is a slug off the line with the best 60’ of 2.05 sec. I know the 12” convertor equipped cars are turning 1.8’s with set-up suspensions. You need to transfer the weight quickly to plant the Wide Oval tires to get those times.

Dennis