Engine/Transmission: The engine is a 1970 RAIV 400 4-bolt main block. Its built with a nodular iron crank, 1974 SD Rods, ARP bolts and studs, Sealed Power pistons and Moly rings, a Comp Cams hydraulic lifter set and cam (.517"/.532" lift), a Cloyes timing chain, a Melling oil pump, a Baffeled/Trapdoor oil pan from H.O. Racing and a crank scraper from Warrior.
     The heads bolted on the block are Pontiacs best, a set of #614 RAIV heads. To utilize their maximum potential a set of Ferrea stainless steel valves were installed (2.11"/1.77"0 along with Comp Cams valve springs, pushrods and roller tip rockers. A set of Mr. Gasket rocker studs and polylocks were also installed. Lastly a set of ARP bolts keeps em' on the block.
     The air/fuel mixture is supplied via a warmed up Quadrajet and is fed to the RAIV heads via a stock 455HO manifold. The volatile mixture is ignited by a stock Pontiac HEI distributor which routes its spark through a set of Accel 8.8mm wires and Champion spark plugs. An Accel coil, MSD Rev Limiter and an MSD Rev Limiter Control round out the ignition package. The spent gases are evacuated from the block through a set of H.O. Racing Tri-Y Headers and a 3" custom bent aluminized straight exhaust with crossover. The fuel to feed this monster is supplied from an ATL fuel cell and a Holley fuel pump set at 7.5psi.
     An M-21 Wide-Ration Muncie 4-speed handles the shifting duties. Its been beefed up with a through-out bearing, pressure plate, 10.4" Disc Coarse spline, and a 35lb steel flywheel all from Hays. The original Pontiac driveshaft, balanced, transfers the power from front to rear. In the rear a 12-bolt 3.08:1 Pontiac rear end gets the power to the wheels.

Suspension/Braking: This part of the car is all business. It features a body lowering kit, a 1.33" front sway bar, and a 1" rear sway bar supplied by Herb Adams, a set of TRW front springs (500lb/in.) custom cut for ride height, the original 4-leaf springs in the rear reduced by 2" for ride height, PST front poly A-frame bushings and rear poly sway bar bushings, Koni nitrogen shocks in the front and Gabriel high pressure gas shocks in the rear, and Brute Force front and rear U-joints.
     Stopping power is provided by a 79' 4-wheel disc brake booster and master cylinder, Wilwood front calipers, Baer Racing 12" rotors and PBR calipers in the rear. The front rotors and hubs are Corvette units and Performance Friction pads are installed front and rear.
     The rubber used to keep the "Tanque" smooth through the corners is a set of Goodyear Blue Streak Sports Car specials, 6.00x15 in the front and 7.00x15 in the back. The tires are mounted on a set of American Racing Torq-Thrust Ds, 8.5x15 in the front and 10x15 in the rear.

Body & Interior: The body is mostly stock. All the body panels are steel and the front and rear windshields are the original glass. All the fiberglass spoilers are also the original Pontiac pieces. The paint is PPG Cameo White with a Lucerne Blue stripe.
     The interior has been modified in several ways with a heavy emphasis on safety. A Speedway seamless roll bar was installed for starters. Next a Jegs aluminum dash was installed and fitted with oil pressure, water temperature, oil temperature and fuel pressure gauges from Autometer. An Autometer 10,000rpm tachometer was also installed along with a Moroso low oil pressure warning light. For the driver a Pyrotect 5-point, 3" harness and window net was added along with a 5lb Halon Fire extinguisher. To supplement the 5-point harness a Cobra kevlar racing seat was added.

Top three event finishes: 1st  - Altanta Historics 1998
                                     2nd - HSR (Historic Sports Car Racing Ltd.) Race
                                              at Roebling Road 1998
                                     2nd - Walter Mitty Challenge 1995

Note: Last picture is George Siegel (right) and Bruce Fulper at the 2000 Trans Am Nationals.

Engine/Transmission: The engine in the car was built by a local shop to American Sedan specifications and is the only thing Ken didn't get involved with. A 600 CFM Holly double-pumper carb sits atop an Edelbrock "Performer RPM" manifold, feeding stock, mildly ported stock 305 heads. Valves are stock, actuated by roller rockers driven by a custom 1/2" lift cam through solid lifters. Bottom end is balanced/blueprinted stock 305 CID Chevy small block. All accessories are driven by a tiny, underdrive race crank pulley using an upgraded  late model serpentine belt. An MSD billet distributor drives an MSD 6AL ignition box. Several header pipes were tried and none fit without modification. Exhaust is straight pipe back to turndowns just before the rear end. The entire arrangement puts out 330 horsepower and 310 ft-lbs of torque.
      The transmission is a stock Borg Warner T-5 manual 5-speed, a major complaint of participants in this class...this transmission is fine for the street with stock power levels but is extremely fragile when abused with racing at these power levels. A stock steel driveshaft drives a modified stock GM 10 bolt rear end. The rear axles have been upgraded to 28 spline Moser units, driven by a 3.73:1 ring and pinion through an Auburn racing limited slip differential.

Suspension/Braking: The suspension features weight jackers front and rear with stiffer-than-stock springs. Shocks are Koni SPSS (sport showroom stock) single adjustables. Front control arm bushings are Herb Adams steel/delrin, stock rear control arms were rebushed with urethane on one end and heim joints on the other for less binding. Ground Control camber plates provide front alignment, while a GC panhard rod with rod ends tracks the rear end. Bars front and rear are stock Pontiac WS6 with urethane link/mount bushings; the rear bar has been made adjustable. Ride height is only slightly lower than stock.
     Hoosier racing DOT radials are mounted on stock Pontiac GTA wheels. Rain tires are Hoosier "Dirt Stocker" bias-ply gumballs. Rear brakes are stock Camaro/Firebird discs ('89 and later single piston PBR calipers squeezing 11.8" rotors), fronts are upgraded to Corvette 12" rotors with dual piston PBR aluminum calipers. All brake lines were redone with AN fittings and braided stainless steel hoses. Porterfield Carbon/Kevlar pads complete the braking picture.

Body & Interior: Interior mods include an 8 point cage with door bars purchased from Kirk Racing as a weld-in kit, a 6-point camlock harness, an aluminum racing seat, and a halon fire system. Windshield clips and hatch straps were added as well as a requisite master electrical kill switch. The interior of the car was gutted, a 22 gallon Fuel Safe fuel cell, Fram HP1 filter and Mallory 140 fuel pump are enclosed in a required sheetmetal bulkhead.
          Although the car is an '84 T/A, the lower body skirts and front air dam/foglights were removed to clean up the aerodynamics and improve the cooling. A new front spoiler with brake ducts was designed and installed to solve early cooling problems. 

Top three event finishes: 2nd - Road America 1998

Engine/Transmission: 350 GM racing engine with tuned port fuel injection rated at 365hp. Rear gear ratio is 3:43

Suspension/Braking: The suspension's stock for the Players Series Car it was. Dual piston calipers with titanium pistons on the front and stainless steel pistons on the rear. 3/4" sway bars and 255 RA1's all round.

Body & Interior: The body's in fair condition for a car that has been raced. The roll cage was inserted a little rough so the dash and carpets are a bit hacked up. I have a racing seat on the drivers side and a stock seat on the passenger side. The back seats are removed. Since the car was run on the One Lap of America they (Dan Corcoran and Marc White) wanted a few creature comforts left, since they lived in the car for a week for this race.

Top three event finishes: 3rd overall and 1st in Class during One Lap of
                                     America

Neil is the editor of The TACH, a monthly newsletter for the St. Lawrence Auto Club in Kingston, Ontario Canada.

I'm a huge NASCAR fan and this is an incredible and unique addition to the Gallery. This Firebird is one of the Firebirds used in NASCAR racing in the early 1970s. It was car #36 and was driven by H.B. Bailey. The current owner of the car, David Tom recently contacted me and provided me with the current photos, vintage magazine pics and the postcard. The first two pics are of the car on display at a NASCAR event in Fontana, CA last April. The magazine pics show the car being driven by H.B. Bailey. The first pic shows Bailey trailing none other than Herb Adams in his #96 NASCAR Firebird while competing in Daytona Speed Weeks. The fourth pic shows Herb Adams running in the #96 Firebird in the Citrus 250, Bailey and legendary Buck Baker leading the parade lap at Daytona and another shot of Baker in his #87 Firebird. 

Engine/Transmission: NASCAR spec 303c.i.

Suspension/Braking: unknown

Body & Interior: unknown

Top three event finishes: unknown

Tom founded and maintains the Historic Trans-Am Registry. This is a registry for SCCA Trans-Am race cars from 1966 through 1972. Tom has information on all of the Pontiac SCCA Trans-Am race cars. Tom has owned one of the Jerry Titus 1970 Race cars and currently owns a restored NASCAR 1970 Pontiac Firebird Grand American race car.
Tom also owns two of the ultra-rare 303 short deck Trans-Am blocks from the T/A racing program.  Tom sends:

     "I will be happy to assist Pontiac fans in buying, racing, and enjoying Firebird and other Pontiac race cars and memorabilia. By the way the NASCAR Firebird is for sale."

This is a pic of the Jerry Titus driven #92 Firebird named "Tire Bird". There is significance to the nickname (the cars sponsor was BFG Radials) but I do not have the full story on the history of this car. If anyone would like to e-mail me some info while I do some research I'd appreciate it.

The following information was sent in to me from Gary Grillo:

     "I believe I can clear up the info on the #92 BFG Tirebird. First, it was never driven by Jerry Titus in it's BFG configuration. It was one of three cars owned by Terry Godsal under the T.G. Racing banner built for the 1970 SCCA Trans Am season. Jerry was unfortunately killed at the Road America Trans Am race in July in car # 8; the primary car. This left #84 the back-up car and one car back at the Tarzana CA shop under construction. David Hobbs finished the season as the main driver along with I believe John Cordts. Pontiac pulled out at the end of the 70 season. The two remaining cars were leased to B.F.Goodrich and dressed as the now famous Tirebirds with the primary driver being Larry Dent. One car was later converted to a Camaro, probably due to the continuing Pontiac engine issues."

Hope this helps,
Gary Grillo

Pic courtesy of former owner David Tom

Engine/Transmission: Stock (Firehawk Spec) 5.7L LS1 V-8 rated at 327 horsepower, 180° thermostat with Hypertech Programmer

Suspension/Braking: Bilstein Ultra Performance Suspension System, Auburn High Torque differential, CarboTech Panther+ Brake pads, 17x9 Chrome wheels w/ P275/40ZR17 Firestone Firehawk tires

Body & Interior: Dual hood scoops with heat extractors, Simpson 5-point 3" Racing harness

Top three event finishes: 2000 Silver State Classic Challenge: 125mph class. Average was 124.4049mph for 11th of 29 entries, winning average was 125.0212mph!

Bob also owns a beautiful '74 Formula that can be seen at '74 Firebirds Lot#1 and a 1997 Convertible Trans Am that can be seen at '97 Firebirds Lot#2.

Engine/Transmission: Original 400ci bored to 461ci (452hp / 574ftlbs), Holley 750 4-bbl, Carter Fuel Pump, MSD Ignition, Eagle Rods, Eagle Crank, JE Pistons, Comp Cam, Hays Flywheel, Edelbrock Intake, Edelbrock heads, Hooker Super Comp Headers, Spin Tech Mufflers, Accusump Oil Accumulator, Canton Racing Oil Pan, Rodney Red radiator, and Flowkool water pump, original Doug Nash 4+1 tranny (DKM mod), Long Shifters R-Lockout, Hays Flywheel, Centerforce Clutch

Suspension/Braking: Wilwood Brakes, Koni Shocks, V48 Vintage Wheel Works rims riding on 255/50/16 Michelin Pilots, 10-bolt rear w/ Moser cover and weld-in subframe connectors.

Body & Interior: Scheel Seats, 5-Point M&R safety harness, 4-Point Roll Cage and fiberglass lift off hood.

Top three event finishes: #2 in class and #40 overall out of 80 entrants in the 2003 Cannonball One Lap of America

You can also see this Trans Am in the Macho TAs Lot#3.