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#1
08-12-2005, 09:30 AM
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'68 RA II at Norwalk
Anyone else notice this car? Appeared to be Castillian Bronze, maybe not. Poverty caps, drew a crowd on pit side as well as show side. I meant to talk with owners, but they were always engaged with someone in conversation. Stunning car! I would love to know more. This car deserves a feature. Hope one of the mags picked up on it.
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#2
08-12-2005, 11:56 AM
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Can anyone post a picture of this car? I was unabe to attend this year.
Later
__________________
"If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." Paul |
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#3
08-12-2005, 12:26 PM
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my bet its jim mino's...if so im sure he has/will run it..expect 12s 1/4 times in stock trim incl redlines! i know he has two autumn bronze ra II birds. one of which might be numbers matching too? not sure on that...yeah pls post pic if possible...
ra2 |
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#4
08-12-2005, 04:14 PM
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That does indeed sound like Jim Mino.
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#5
08-14-2005, 09:58 PM
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68 firebird ram air l
I have a 68 firebird ram air l carb and i was setup in the swap meet area at Norwalk. someone suggested that I should talk with Jim Mino, that he might be interested in it. Does anyone know how to get in touch with him? Or what a ram air l carb might be worth? Numbers are 7028276. High performance pontiac shows it as being for a automatic car of which there were 62 built. any help would be appreciated. Thanks Nick / pontiac@bright.net
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#6
08-14-2005, 11:06 PM
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If the carb is dated in the area where the 7028276 is stamped (on the body rather than the base) it is a service replacement carb and not worth very much. They made quite a few of these. If it is only dated on the base, then you've got a pretty rare production carb.
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#7
08-15-2005, 12:12 AM
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It was Jim Mino's. Jim set up my 69 RAIV TA, when I got it back frame frame off. He did great job on his 68!
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#8
08-17-2005, 09:19 AM
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RA II
Where does he live? I'd love to attend the next meet that he takes the car to. Are the T/A Nats a possibility, I wonder? I'm not big on F-bodies, but that may change.
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#9
08-18-2005, 12:05 PM
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He usually attends the Pure Stock Drags in Michigan. This year's event will take place on September 16 & 17 at the Mid Michigan Motorplex. Plenty of really nice Pontiacs in attendance. In most years, Pontiacs are the best represented Marque. Details are at www.purestockdrags.com
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#10
08-18-2005, 05:32 PM
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Mino .... thats one name I will never forget. Believe he is out of California. They did some write-ups on him in HPP and Muscle Car Review back in late 80's early 90's.
Back then we had a National Muscle Car Association that went around the country holding highly publicized Quarter Mile Drag Racing meets. J. Mino won his class at every event he attended with a 68 FireBird 400 Ram Air II. He kicked some serious A$$ back in those days. Mid to upper 12's in stock trim. Almost always had best ET, also. They had thorough and diligent tech inspections for those events. Competitors still raised a fuss about that car every time. After several occassions of that, he voluntarily let them tear down his engine for a full inspection. He passed with flying colors, the N.M.C.A. became one of his top supporters from then on. He wasn't just running 396 Chevelles and 383 Cudas, he was running the BIG BOYS and putting them all back on the trailer. LS6's, 440 6packs, 426 Hemis...etc.... He didn't dodge anybody, they dodged him. Never met him, but I have the HIGHEST REGARDS for him. We had a NMCA meet in Darlington, S.C. but Mino didn't attend. Our Piedmont POCI chapter supplied volunteer man-power for the event. Me and another member my age ran the burn out pits the whole event, and pulled double duty running the staging lanes during practice runs. Still have the complimentary Tshirt, Hat and some stickers. |
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#11
08-19-2005, 09:56 PM
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RA II fastest PMD car of all time....
No question Mino is THE man. More recently (2000? 2001?) he pounded the pavement in (one of) his RA II Birds at the Pure muscle car drags (annually run in micigan in sept). He ran sub 13/~110 again in stock unmodified trim. Beat up on most everything including LS6s and Hemis.
Now...besides jim's obvious prowess in the drivers seat... Id like to give kudos to Pontiac for building the insanely fast RA II Unfortunetley, even to this day, next to no one (Pontiac heads included) have a clue just how special/wicked this car truely is... In my opinion the RA II Bird is THE (yes THE) fastest regular production mobile ever produced by Pontiac. Now I havent owned 1962-63 SD cars but given their weight I will stand by my comment. Over the years I have owned and raced 69-70 RA IV judges and GTOs, a 67 RA GTO, 68 RA I firebirds, a 74 SD TA, and a 71 455HO TA... NOTHING comes close to my RA II Bird when it comes to nasty idle (even though it has same 041 as ra iv its still differnt feeling/sounding), insane off the line response and pin you up against a wall BROAD band acceleration. I finished mine in 2004 and have yet to race it (I plan on doing so). Like every other car Ive owned its bone stock original. In late 2004 a buddy of mine and I took the RA II and my 69 RA IV 4spd judge out on little deserted stretch and it was not even a fair 'race'. 300-400 lbs heavier was one thing but even weighted the Judge wouldnt have come close. (Maybe the RA IV would have caught up north of 6500 RPM but by then the 1/4 is looooong over....) PS pls dont bash..i love all hi po PMD cars...its just the RA II is indeed special and for some reason (110 made?) doesnt get its TRUE due as a supercar capable of beating any RPO car build in the 60s and early 70s... ok there I feel better : ) |
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#12
08-19-2005, 11:50 PM
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You may have something there. I've often wondered how a RA IV might perform with 1.5 rockers instead of 1.65 rockers. Has anyone tried this? The stock Pontiac heads (even RA IV's) weren't the best breathers on the market at the time. With some relatively mild mods to a stock RA IV, you can extract alot of power. Don't get me wrong, it's a great engine, but I wonder if the mods to the RA II that eventually became the RA IV weren't just last minute decisions that could have been better engineered. I think that they may have had the RA II dialed in a little bit better. Of course, the real test would be a '68 RA II Firebird against a '69 RA IV Firebird. Has anyone got a '69 RA IV Firebird to test this theory?
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#13
08-19-2005, 11:59 PM
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No objections from me RamAir2. I have some rare/fast Pontiac GTO's and T/A's, but a 68 Ram 2 Bird has always been my lust. Wouldn't even have to be a convertible either. They are un-obtainable virtually. I felt this way even before Mino came to my knowledge. But ever since then, it's been pure total LUST.
The combination of the car and engine is what does it. The balance, center of gravity, low weight, POWER, etc... I can't say it was the best engine ever produced by Pontiac, but the combination was the best - hands down. My first Pontiac was a 68 Bird, such awesome looking cars. Everybody loved that Car. I totaled it in 1986. It even turned the Camaro and Chevelle owners heads at the parking lot we hung out in at night. (Huge Kmart parking lot on a main street) I love 68 Birds. I am very proud of my 73 SuperDuty being Pontiacs fastest production car and #8 on all time Top Ten list. Especially with it weighing 4000 pounds and running low octane/low compression. But often I have wondered - did they really ever truely test a Ram II Firebird in the same way under ideal conditions? More than likely, I will just build a clone Ram II Firebird in the future. Go gettem' RamAir2 ! I'll be there with you some day, in a Ram II Bird taking no names and no prisoners. |
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#14
08-20-2005, 12:05 AM
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"Stole" this car for $1500 because the bill was never paid to Fact-O-Bake body shop for paint job and interior. Had new BF Goodrich RWL tires, new paint, new "custom covered" Deluxe interior, and the wheels were brand new Keystone Raiders that had been sandblasted and painted White.
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#15
08-20-2005, 12:12 AM
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Sold car for $300 year and a half later after smashing the front end and driver side all to pieces just attempting to miss a dog in the road. Bondo popped out of every panel on the whole car, but it looked as good as anything before the wreck. Four wheel power drums are tempermental/touchy at high speed in a down-hill curve. I kept the interior and still have it.
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#16
08-20-2005, 10:28 AM
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RA II action...
Very nice score zep!
heres a bit to add to the RA II lust : ) Mine is about as light as you could have gotten it...unlike mr mountain i wont claim "zero option"..still though mine was order to be stealth (anotehr reason i like early ram air cars...no badging! stealth to the max) ok options... RA II (matching numbers) 4speed (mandatory option between M21 and Th400) 390s (mandatory) tinted glass push button am radio deluxe BENCH seat interior (1 of 1?)..saved weight too! redlines (no cost 'option') no rallyes (more weight saving)...no ps no pb ...just go fast look plain janbe and win money on the street! thats about it! hope these pics come through! ps my car was featured in muscle car enthusiast (sept 2004 i believe?) it wasnt 100% done but minor details were finished soon after... |
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#17
08-20-2005, 10:38 AM
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bench RA II
bench RA II
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#18
08-20-2005, 10:43 AM
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RA II engine bay
RA II engine bay...
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#19
08-20-2005, 02:03 PM
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D@MN your Car is Fantastic ! I never even found a Ram II listed for sale from about 1986 - 1993 when I was buying cars. Where did you find this car and how long have you owned it?
Somebody knew exactly what they wanted when they ordered that car. Never heard of one with the strato-bench and a 4speed, and it's even the deluxe. Car is Killer and the restoration looks great. Definitely the Wicked One. The best/closest thing to what I wanted, that I ever found (and didn't buy) was a 68 400 4speed convertible. It was an HO car that had been converted to Ram I with the right heads and induction system and had the die-cast Ram Air emblems on the hood. In 1987 the car was priced at 8500, it was very nice. A bronze/reddish tone metallic color with white deluxe buckets. |
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#20
08-20-2005, 03:41 PM
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Sweet car!!!!!!
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