Quote:
Originally Posted by ursusarctos
Was 1970 400-RamAir3 the 068 cam or 744 cam?
In learning all the complexities of Pontiac history I came across the specs in Angeles & McCarthy:
For 1970, the 400 RA3 is shown as ALL with 068 cam, downgraded from the 744 cam.
Did that really happen?
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As others have said, camshafts were changed BEFORE the onset of hte 1970 model year;
Early 1969 RAIII/ST = 744
Early 1969 RAIII/HT = 068
Late 1969 & 1970 RAIII (all) = 068
I love the sound of a 744 cam - pretty hard to beat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ursusarctos
Quite a few road tests of the 1970 GTO RA3 or TransAm with 400/345hp (ASSUMING those were RA3)
These are all 4-speed cars:
14.60 at 99.50 TA Mar 70 Sports Car Graphic
14.60 at 99.60 GTO Apr 70 Car Life
14.50 at 99.40 GTO Apr 70 Motorcade
14.10 at 103.20 TA Jun 70 Car & Driver
13.90 at 102.00 TA Feb 70 Hot Rod (Chestnut says this was a RA4 car in his top 50 ebook)
14.77 at 94.40 GTO Apr 70 Road & Track
Then a 1970 Auto trans
14.80 at 101.00 TA Mar 70 Road & Track (about eqial to 103mph in a 4speed car)
Finally a couple 1970 RA4 4speed
14.02 at 98.90 GTO Nov 69 Car Craft
14.50 at 99.00 TA Feb 70 Motor Trend
I’m noting those RA4 cars because
1. Since the RA4 Firebird was rated 345hp for 1969, but for 1970 the RA3 was rated 345hp and the RA4 at 370hp, it seems that might cause confusion as to which engine, RA3 or RA4, a 70 Firebird “345hp” had, let alone which cam.
2. It also seems the RA4 didn’t MPH any better than the RA3 at least per these road tests, making it impossible to tell what was under the hood, an 041-RA4, a 744-RA3, or an 068-RA3, just from the road test MPH.
I thought the list of Road Test might be fun (some are not even in Mike Noun’s list!) but mainly wanted to be sure the RA3 did in fact get downgraded for 1970 to the 068 cam across all transmissions.
Is that right?
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The shuffling of HP numbers based on max horsepower as per GM edict, sure does confuse things;
But, there was a pre-production RAIV Trans Am in the fleet of cars - that one which I highlighted as red, WAS a RAIV car - the images make it plainly obvious.