[wizard61]

Hello All,

Today I completed attempting to save a 1972 Formula 400 from destruction. A real nice 18 yo Young Man who had been Drag Racing his formula for some time had some bad luck, or the story goes, when he lent his car to his brother to go to work one day. The result was a siezed numbers matching block! He told me he didn't have any idea what happened.

The car from what I can tell is mostly origional except for the Air Conditioning, Carb, Intake and Heads, which are all missing in action. I am planning to restore it to stock condition. I would be greatly appreciative of any one who might just so happen to have some of these as extra parts and might like to part with them for a agreed upon sum of Green Backs. Heads should be a #7K3. The carb should be #7042270, I think. I am not sure what the intake manifold # should be. I have to research that some more.

Anyway, I have attached a couple of Pics below. I am sure I paid too much for what I got, but I have always loved the early second generation birds the best.

Any comments or help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,


James

[wizard61]

Also,

The first picturein my previous post shows a hood lock. Was their a factory hood lock for these fiberglass hoods? Here are two more pictures. One with the road wheels and new tires that came with the deal. Anybody need some centerlines with some worn out T/A drag tires?

James

[Tellyshavilli]

I have a complete 1972 ys 400 motor with the 7k3 heads , correct intake and all accessories . The carb is missing . Private message me if interested .

[The Boss]

With that carb number is there an X in your vin?

[wizard61]

Unfortunately not. It isn't a Super Duty. I have a "T" in the VIN. Just the run of the mill 250 HP 400. Maybe I made a mistake on the Carb #?

Thanks for your help,

James

[x-bird2]

7042264 or 7042272 (Alternate #) should be the correct #s for 250 hp 400 with automatic.
270 would be 455HO

[wizard61]

Thanks,

Boy I got that wrong! No wonder 7042270 was hard to find.


James

[bird72]

You don't have much cosmetically to bring it to stock. Round up some correct exhaust tips, loose the camaro spoiler and you are there. The two tone interior is a nice option. Maybe add a Formula steering wheel. Nice score!

[wizard61]

Just checked Ebay for the new Carb #7042264. Found exactly that. thanks for the correction. It looks to me like the correct Intake casting # might be 9794234.

Thanks for all your help.

James

[wizard61]

Hello,

Actually I found the correct casting # for the intake and it is #485912.

James

[The Boss]

So how much did the rescue cost?

[PB]

Hey James,
I live near De Soto, ...in between De Soto and Lenexa. Let me know if you need other 72 stuff, though it's mostly GTO. Nice score...where did you find it? In the metro area here?

Pat

[wizard61]

Hello Boss,

I paid $5k which is probably too much, but I have always wanted a early second generation T/A or Formula. That was actually what I was looking for when I ran into my 1974 Super Duty 6 years ago. This one needs some work, but I think it will make a great car.

Hello Pat,

We're neighbors almost! I live in Stilwell, but my office and Plant is in Edwardsville. That is where I'm going to work on the Formula. I can almost always find a couple of hours to mess with something around there. I found the car on WWW.craigslist.com just outside of the KC area. It had been listed for a while and reduced in price. I could not resist. It has more rust than I like, but all the pieces were there including the whole origional Ram-Air set-up. The only stuff missing were the above mentioned engine components and the Honecombs. Any chance you might have a set of them you would like to part with?

Thanks,

James

[PB]

Originally Posted by wizard61

Hello Boss,

I paid $5k which is probably too much, but I have always wanted a early second generation T/A or Formula. That was actually what I was looking for when I ran into my 1974 Super Duty 6 years ago. This one needs some work, but I think it will make a great car.

Hello Pat,

We're neighbors almost! I live in Stilwell, but my office and Plant is in Edwardsville. That is where I'm going to work on the Formula. I can almost always find a couple of hours to mess with something around there. I found the car on WWW.craigslist.com just outside of the KC area. It had been listed for a while and reduced in price. I could not resist. It has more rust than I like, but all the pieces were there including the whole origional Ram-Air set-up. The only stuff missing were the above mentioned engine components and the Honecombs. Any chance you might have a set of them you would like to part with?

Thanks,

James

I do have a bunch of honeycombs, but they are all 14".I believe..do you need 15" ones? I do have a complete 72 GTO engine with your above specs, but I'm not exactly sure I want to part with it yet. Not that I can't be pursuaded. I am on the look out for some parts and if you have them, maybe we can work something out. I'll pm you some info.

[1971WARBIRD]

from what i can see you did good.

[The Boss]

You did fine, enjoy the car.

[wizard61]

Hello,

Thanks for the nice comments. Pat, sounds good let me know what you are looking for. I don't have a lot of pontiac parts, but we'll see.

On a cautionary note today I disassembled the engine down to the block and heads to get it ready to be pulled Friday and also to see why it is siezed. The intake pushrod in the #3 cylinder was bent up pretty good and the lifter was sitting out in the valley. So to me that spells "thrown rod". But the good news is so far I can still not see any Damage to the block. Hopefully all I'm in for is maybe a new Crank and A Sleeving the #3 Cylinder. Trying to think positively now; I think the Rod Cap is interfearing with the rotation of the crank. I can see the piston in the cylinder bore through the spark plug hole.

Oh well, I'll know for sure Friday. Anyway if this block is toast, I have a 455 out of a 73 T/A with 23,000 miles on it sitting on the floor panting for a ride. Can anyone say Cloned Formula 455? Sorry, I know that kind of talk is sacrelidgeous.

Thats all for now.

Regards,

James

[wizard61]

AND THE VERDICT IS..........

He spun a rod bearing. Continued to drive it until it welded itself to the crankshaft and siezed the engine. I'm guessing the inertia of the engine running either stretched or caused the timing chain to skip timing which caused the valve interfearence. I will probably need a new crankshaft and a new set of rods/Pistons, but the block appears to be OK.

Good news,

James

[wizard61]

Here are some pictures of what I found.

James