"The 14 Car" Performance therapy project

I know there's been a lot of discussions about the shift knob. Have a couple buds with real 70 TA's.

I've never seen this snowflake manifold either. My shaker's a later one but still the early 70-76 style that's open.


Moving along with aerodynamic modifications I'm currently working on the front end treatment.

The splitter/tray/air dam combination I've got in mind is a bit unusual from those I've seen on other cars.

A. Hinged to allow the splitter to be pushed up if I hit corner curbing or something. Splitter could rise till it hits the stock air dam. I've never whacked the stock air dam and I'll probably only loose maybe 1/2" ground clearance.

B. Two piece splitter/tray so I can have various splitters that stick out more or less with the biggest reaching out as far as the leading edge of the bumper and out as wide as the wickers on the wheel flares.

C. Height adjustable so I can use for street, LSR, Drag strip, road course, or open road with various height air dam extensions.

D. Various air dam extensions that will fold up if the splitter gets pushed up. Probably three versions, small for drag race & street , medium for road tracks, and a deep air dam extension with minimal ground clearance for LSR with no splitter but supported from behind by the tray section.

E. Breakaway provisions so if something bad happens, damage to the car would be minimal and hopefully confined to the splash pan and stock air dam/wheel flares.

F. Cheap/replaceable using as many pieces of scraps left from other projects and junk people gave me as I can. I gathered all the stuff I've been collecting and figured I could make something out of it even if just a prototype. It'll get the scraps out of my way and hopefully save me a few bucks.

While today lots of folks use CAD I still use DIG (Draw In Garage) for projects like this. Here's the basic concept drawing. The tray section the various splitters will be attached to has a smaller footprint than the stock air dam/wheel flare section.



 
Snowflake is a Coin Term.
Winters GM Foundry.
They made the 1969-70 Pontiac RA4 Intake.
Also made the 1970 442 W30 Intake manifold.
And the 1967-69 L88 Corvette Heads.
All have the Snowflake logo casted in.
Symbol for the Winters Foundry.
 
By the way Birdman, WS4 is present on the Body Cowl tag of My TA.
 
Learned something new! Thanks! I'll be looking for snowflake casting marks just to see one now. ahahaha

Body tag on my car should be stamped "NOT A TA"..... LOL. Just to be sure there's no confusion when I'm dead and gone.
 
NOT A TA said:
Learned something new! Thanks! I'll be looking for snowflake casting marks just to see one now. ahahaha

Body tag on my car should be stamped "NOT A TA"..... LOL. Just to be sure there's no confusion when I'm dead and gone.
Click to expand...
BIRDMAN On the License plates.
Mine are 70RAIV455
 
How many Pontiac guys are left on the All Pontiac V8 Forums Birdman ?
Are any little guys like us Drag Racing ?

Has LS Power taken over ?
Everything is LS Or 5.0 Mustang at my new job. Its Ok & Neat.
They lack the Pontiac V8 Super Torque Punch unless a Power adder is used.
Not as fast LS As Hyped on The Corvette Forums like DC normally aspirated.
Watch all go by the shop WOT Showing off.

I knew it was all Bullchit...
 
Where are the old time drag race veterans ?
Arnie Beswick.
Old Man Jim Taylor.
Bruce Fupler 421.
Dan Whitmore.

I see Cliff Ruggles name comes up often Google searching.
Some claims I don't know...far stretched.
 
There's a bunch of drag guys here http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440783

I see a number of guys on the Pontiac Firebird forums taking their cars to the strip. One of them even has a Pontiac powered rail.

I've been wondering what happened to Ray Cox with the 76 TA. He helped me out at a NMCA drag race I was running my car at when I didn't pass tech. Let me use his tools and connections to get a microswitch I needed and install it.
 
Pretty Good Birdman.
Around 1400-1600 HP All Pontiac V8 Power on Tap.
 
My Guess is that he Recession was real hard on him.
Ray Cox has been gone since 2006.

Few Racers survived it.
You & I did though .
 
I've gotten ahead of my progress posts so I've got to catch up. Below are pics of the splitter/air dam combinations I'll be testing. Not sure if there'll be any issues with using cable supports which might allow the splitter to oscillate or bounce. If there are issues I'll install solid splitter supports.

The contraption in it's current configuration adds about 27 lbs to the nose of the car. This includes a lot of hardware weight I'll eliminate if it works as planned. The splitter easily supports my full wieght with just 2 of the cables in place. The hinging ability works and so in theory might save me from wrecking it. Front sections of various lengths can be slid into place in just a couple minutes. I started making plastic pieces to mate the original air dam and wheel flares with the splitter and will finish them when I determine the exact heights I'll try the splitter at once the car is assembled and on the ground with full weight. 3/8" plywood is being used for testing the front sections and I may use a different material later if everything functions as I'd like once road tested.











 
while I can see a good deal of potential in the idea if its properly fabricated and properly installed I think your rather needlessly over complicating the design.
it would seem to me that the current screw eye turn buckle and cable, vertical air dam supports could be replaced with a section of 1/2" diameter schedual 80 pvc tube , slid over a section of thread rod and several 1/2 fender washers and nylock nuts on each end , one against the pvc so it is on one surface and a second washer on the other surface then the nylock nut thus providing fairly easy adjustability (only the length of the schedual 80 pvc tube, would need to be cut a bit shorter, in lets say 1/2" per test and re-installed, slid over the thread rod and the fender washers and nuts re-installed , thus a far more rigid support less likely to vibrate at high speeds. this could also be done with the lower end being the head of a long carraige bolt also
so the lower edge only extends minimally below the lower air dam surface and the nut would be out of visual site inside the grill , you might want a larger area,structual support plate inside the lower grill nose surface,to butt the fender washers against also
gr109.jpg

carraigebl.png
0149-main.jpg


1/2" carraige bolts up to 16" long are available
http://www.marshallshardware.com/products/product.aspx?pid=2-50-79-4321&lid=1
 
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Nice work Birdman.
I would make it strong as you have done.
The Front Air dam Chin spoiler on out cars has high aerodynamic loads present at speeds 100-180 mph.
 
I should have written a more thorough explanation of what I'm trying and why.

1. I'd like the splitter to rise if it hits something like a speed bump, driveway ramp, small ball, or dip in the road surface rather than bend, crack, or break the splitter or pieces of the car. Heck if I can load the car in the enclosed trailer without removing the splitter that would make my day!

2. If there are any detrimental issues with having the cable supports and hinging capability I'll switch to solid mounts. Perhaps splitter rods made for the task or something fabricated like the threaded rod concept.

3. I'm testing. This 2 piece, variable height, variable pitch, variable length, hinged, unit will allow me to try changing things quickly and easily. I haven't put a lot of the details in because I may create a simple "bolt on"version or two that I would offer for sale. I'm actually kicking myself for posting as much as I have about it on forums. So if all goes well I'll make lighter, more durable, less complicated (probably one piece) versions without all the hardware that will be more aesthetically pleasing. then offer them as a bolt on kit to the 70-73 guys which would not require modifying the car so even the more purist types might want one as an accessory they could remove at any time.

Here's a little better explanation I posted on another forum where we're just discussing 2nd gen Firebird aero stuff.

Here's the hinged splitter I'm going to test. If it works out well I'll make a nicer version with different materials that's prettier. In the pics below the car is set up (with no front springs) as if it were in full dive under threshold braking smashing the bump stops. The bottom of the tip of the splitter is 1 1/4" above the track surface. I'll loose another 5/8" or so for rub strips I'll be putting underneath the leading edge.

There is 4" upward travel at the tip and 2" travel where the tip of the original spoiler is. So if this hinging thing works, in theory I could drive over a ball about an inch in diameter smaller than I could without the splitter. 3/8" for the plywood and about 5/8" for the rub strips. If I have to use solid splitter supports I'll loose 3" + where the tip of the original splitter is plus whatever is lost because the splitter sticks out so far.

The cables are strong. With only the two center cables attached I'm able to stand on the tip of the splitter.









 
yeah! track testing at full speed should prove rather interesting, the idea has a good deal of potential, please post the results good or bad.
and what you think could be improved as you gain practical experience and make changes in your design
 
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Don't get disouraged Birdman.
No Pontiac Guy like us is supposed to suceed.
All Chevy guys wish failure for us.
Nothing has changed.
They are scared.
Hellcats and SRT Viper T/A are real.
Priced so many can afford .

Nothing puts the power down to the ground like a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
I think 1970-73 is best.
Only Fellow Pontiac Bird owners can agree.
We have raced them on the Street and Tracks.

Start your own Webpage.
Its not hard.
I have mine up.
Option to turn it into my own forum.
My Wife built it for me.
Upload your pictures and post what you want to.

Our cars. No one else's. No one owns us.
 
Grumpy said:
yeah! track testing at full speed should prove rather interesting, the idea has a good deal of potential, please post the results good or bad.
and what you think could be improved as you gain practical experience and make changes in your design
Click to expand...

Oh ya, will update as testing is done. Will test on the streets first.
 
87vette81big said:
Don't get disouraged Birdman.

Hellcats and SRT Viper T/A are real.
Priced so many can afford .

Nothing puts the power down to the ground like a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
I think 1970-73 is best.
Only Fellow Pontiac Bird owners can agree.
We have raced them on the Street and Tracks.

Start your own Webpage.
Its not hard.
I have mine up.
Option to turn it into my own forum.
My Wife built it for me.
Upload your pictures and post what you want to.

Our cars. No one else's. No one owns us.
Click to expand...

Not worried about Hellcats. They don't have the aero.

Where'd you start a web site?
 
NOT A TA said:
Not worried about Hellcats. They don't have the aero.

Where'd you start a web site?
Click to expand...
I haven't done too much with my website Lately Birdman .
Pilot page is up.
Maniac Mechanic.
My late bud Bill gave me the Nickname.
And my T/A. Maniac.
Been uploading photos into my Library .
Have to sort through .
I want to tell a Story.

I took the Raceshop job.
Could not pass it up.
$, Head mechanic I am.

Forum ?? Maybe.
Have Grumpys for now.

My Gig is building drag race solid rear diffs.
Next year racing should be back full bore.
 
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