[77 TRASHCAN]

Hey Yacker,
Next time some goober complains about your 041 cam selection for a 455, slap a picture of your wife on the next post, and say " Your point is?"

[ponyakr]

Yeah, only tried a bigger cam in one of her 455's. In 1987, the Prescott Ark track went to running only 1000', due to lack of shut down distance. TJ had took off from racing for a few years, then decided to get back in, for one last hoorah.

I'd raced in '83, with a local guy. We just built a couple of very low buck 400's. I no longer had any decent 1st gen bodies. We put his 400 into what I think was a '71 Esprit. Both cars ran 13's & we both won enuff races to make the div 4 bracket finals that year.

So, in '86, when TJ decided to do a little more racing, I still had the '71 Esprit. So, I built her another homemade 455, with 041/Rhoads. I think this is the engine I put the SD rods in, which I'd bought over the counter, back when they still did that.

Anyhow, I went with I think it was 4.10 gears, in the 8.5 rear. Ran out of time, during the week before her 1st race. So, I put off tack welding the axle tubes to the center section. Thought I could probably get by 1 race, then do it the next week. Big mistake. The factory spot welds broke and the pinion yoke came right up thru the floor.

I sold the gears to a dirt racer & replaced the 10-bolt with the 12-bolt I pulled from a '70 Formy I'd bought. Put 4.11 gears in it. I'd had a local trans guy build me a Glide, like he'd built for most of the Chevy racers. The 455 ate it, at the next race.

I bought a TH350 out of an 11 sec Nova, when that guy switched to a Glide. I assumed that if it would hold up in an 11 sec Nova, the surely it would work in a 12 sec Pontiac. WRONG ! The 455 broke the sprag outer race, on the first 1-2 shift.. Asked the trans guy about it. He said all I needed was a heavy duty hardened race. So, I bought a TCI race. The 455 also broke that race, on the very 1st 1-2 shift.

TJ's comeback start was a little ruff. Anyhow, I went back to a TH400, with a 34 element sprag, & the trans problem was fixed. She ran 12.20's at our local track. Then we started racing at Prescott, on the 1000' track. It ran 10-teens. As usual, she cut some real good lights, & won lots of rounds, and a race. But, it was not as consistent as her '68 Birds had been. I blame that on the disc brakes. The few times I jacked the front wheels off the ground, one or the other of the wheels seemed to have more pad drag than it should. I suppose the rubber seals were getting old & weren't retracting the pistons as far as they should.

The ET break for the Super Pro bracket was 9.99. So, for the '87 season, I decided to make it a little quicker. Changed the gears to 4.88. Also bought a bigger cam. It was a CC, which, if I remember correctly, was 244/253 @ .050, with around .500 lift. And, of course I used Rhoads lifters. Thought maybe I'd have to get a stall converter. But, to my surprise, it launched just fine, from an idle, with the stock converter.

Wish now I'd made just one change at a time. It ran a 9.85. But, I don't know how much the cam helped & how much the gears helped. I suppose the gear alone might have put it into the 9.90's. But, I'll never know. For the '88 season, I bought a '67 Bird from a friend, & member here. Put the engine & trans from the '71 in it. It ran an 11.82 on our local 1/4 mile track. After she made a few 11 sec passes, TJ decided that she had accomplished all she wanted to, in racing, & hung up her helmet.

[T/A addict]

Some guys have all the luck! Great stories