[oldsmobiledave]

I came across a 1974 Formula 455 for sale. Seller claims that it is 1 of only 160 cars built with Ram Air.

Does the 1 on 160 refer to all Formulas (400 and 455 combined) or just 455 cars?

The re-po sale sticker shows $43.68 charge for the Ram Air hood. Does that prove that this is 1 of 160?

Thanks in advance

[oldsmobiledave]

A friend is telling me that on another site it is posted that 455 cars could not get functional Ram Air in 1974 rather only 400 cars could. Is that correct?

[unruhjonny]

PHS will verify if it's a "ram air hood inlet" car;

This was only available from the factory on L75/455 M40/automatic cars for this year;

I know for a fact they were installed on other applications through to 1975 at dealers - I have a first hand account of seeing new for 1975 Formulas having the setup installed on unsold cars on the dealer lot.

I pulled all the hood parts off of a '74 L75/M40 SK car many years ago...

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by oldsmobiledave

A friend is telling me that on another site it is posted that 455 cars could not get functional Ram Air in 1974 rather only 400 cars could. Is that correct?

I have a Firebird Red Book - it might show the "ram air hood inlet" option as requiring the L75 & M40 - otherwise you would have to reference to an options book, or an ordering sheet (supplied with PHS package).
The Canadian version of PHS will list options, but not much for the extra stuff which comes with PHS.

[johnta1]

I think there were 1,478 Formulas produced with Ram Air (functional hood)

Not sure if for 400 and 455 or just 455?

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by johnta1

Not sure if for 400 and 455 or just 455?

I could be wrong (wouldn't be the first, or the last time) - but I seem to recall this was brought up recently, and that it was mentioned that this was an L75-only thing for 1974 ~ and in 1974, the L75 required M40.

<- because the 455 requiring an automatic make ZERO sense to me... maybe emissions or warranty claims issues?

AFAIK the L75 could be had with either spd (M21 required) or M40 for 1973;
So maybe they didn't want to put a 455 infront of an M20.. or the forthcoming ST-10?
(iirc the ST-10 replaced the M20 part way into the 74 model year)

Then for 1975 & 1976 the 455 could only be had with the ST-10.




hopefully this post isn't lilttered with errors, I am trying in earnest to be helpful.

[oldsmobiledave]

Originally Posted by johnta1

I think there were 1,478 Formulas produced with Ram Air (functional hood)

Not sure if for 400 and 455 or just 455?

Since there were only 702 455 Formulas if 1478 Formulas had Ram Air then some of the cars has to be 400 equipped. Was Ram Air optional with the 350?

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by oldsmobiledave

Since there were only 702 455 Formulas if 1478 Formulas had Ram Air then some of the cars has to be 400 equipped. Was Ram Air optional with the 350?

nope;
from 1970-1974 the Pontiac 350 was only available with a 2bbl carb.
The only 1974 Pontiac 350 which came with a 4bbl carb was the one installed in the GTO's;
The RA air cleaner required a 4bbl carb.

[johnta1]

the L75 required M40.

This is correct also for 1974.

[trishieldchief]

My brother once had a 1974 Pontiac Formula 400 auto ,back in 1980 with factory RA.

[Formulajones]

The red book says....for 1974

Ram Air hood on a U87 car (Formula) was only available as an option with 35S only (400/4-barrel) and was standard with 35X (SD Engine) and standard with V87 (TransAm)

So from what the red book is saying, the regular 455/250hp D-port engine wasn't available in the Formula with a functional hood. Only the 400 was.

Sounds odd to me but that's how it reads.

[oldsmobiledave]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

The red book says....for 1974

Ram Air hood on a U87 car (Formula) was only available as an option with 35S only (400/4-barrel) and was standard with 35X (SD Engine) and standard with V87 (TransAm)

So from what the red book is saying, the regular 455/250hp D-port engine wasn't available in the Formula with a functional hood. Only the 400 was.

Sounds odd to me but that's how it reads.

So is the seller is full of poop with his claim of 1 of 160 1974 Formula 455 cars or not? He is stating that the $43.68 option on his documents made the hood functional. That makes sense to me.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by oldsmobiledave

So the seller is full of poop with his claim of 1 of 160 1974 Formula 455 cars or not? He is stating that the $43.68 option on his documents made the hood functional.

If it's the PHS from Jim Mattison then it's probably factory. Depends on what he has.

I was just stating what the Red Book has in it. Don't know if that's concrete, we all know how things are written on these old cars only to find out different years later. That book is pretty old.

It didn't have a breakdown of the 455 Formulas produced, it only had a total production of Formulas, that included 350's-400's-455's. Which it states is 14,461....not including the 58 SD Formulas that year.

There very well could be a discrepancy here. The Red Book lists the ram air option at $56 retail.

[oldsmobiledave]

This is what the seller sent me.

[Formulajones]

Looks like GM of Canada doc. Canada was great about keeping records on these cars. Looks quite different than my PHS docs.

I couldn't tell you for sure how they did it in 74 since it just lists "ram air hood" without any option code next to it. So I'm unclear what that entails. Being a U87 in the vin tells you it's a Formula so the hood should already be part of the W66 Formula option (which I don't see listed there). Not sure how to take that, either you're paying for a hood, or you're paying to make it functional. I tend to lean towards making the hood functional since the hood should be part of the U87 package at no extra cost. Canada lists things a little differently.

On mine from PHS, in 1970 the ram air engine option included a different 400engine so it was grouped together as "ram air engine" for $168, making the hood functional at the same time, and it's listed with an option code on top of the base Formula package.

[oldsmobiledave]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Looks like GM of Canada doc. Canada was great about keeping records on these cars. Looks quite different than my PHS docs.

I couldn't tell you for sure how they did it in 74 since it just lists "ram air hood" without any option code next to it. So I'm unclear what that entails. Being a U87 in the vin tells you it's a Formula so the hood should already be part of the W66 Formula option (which I don't see listed there). Not sure how to take that, either you're paying for a hood, or you're paying to make it functional. I tend to lean towards making the hood functional since the hood should be part of the U87 package at no extra cost. Canada lists things a little differently.

On mine from PHS, in 1970 the ram air engine option included a different 400engine so it was grouped together as "ram air engine" for $168, making the hood functional at the same time, and it's listed with an option code on top of the base Formula package.

That is not GM of Canada docs that is a reproduction window sticker. That is all that the seller has sent me. I told him about the availability of the GM of Canada docs and sent him an example for a 1974 TA. He stated that he would get the GM of Canada docs

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by oldsmobiledave

That is not GM of Canada docs that is a reproduction window sticker. That is all that the seller has sent me. I told him about the availability of the GM of Canada docs.

That's kind of what I was thinking but I don't want to accuse anyone of foul play.

I was going to say that reproduction window stickers don't mean much of anything these days, there are several places that reproduce them and they'll put anything you want on them. People even go to extremes and try to "weather" them and claim they are original to the car.

I'd probably be a little skeptical until I saw the PHS docs. So far we have a repo window sticker that I don't weigh on heavily, and the Red Book stating d-port 455's didn't come with ram air.

With PHS available, and a GM of Canada car that will have Canadian docs, it would be very easy to document how the car was originally equipped without question. If you are looking to buy, I'd want one of those 2 (or both) minimum these days.

[oldsmobiledave]

Here is the golden egg.

455 with Ram Air.

[unruhjonny]

GM of Canada documents are nice;
They will give you a "1 of" stat base on the more rare options;
It could be that GM of Canada has literature which suggests something along the lines of "1 of 160 W66/L78 cars sold in Canada with the ram air hood option".

And for those who need a brishing up the only year which a Ram Air engine was an option for second gen Formulas was 1970;
1970: "Ram Air 400" engine (RAIII) included a functional hood.
1971: The "ram air hood" was an option available exclusively to 455HO Formulas.
1972: The "ram air hood" was included no charge on all 455HO Formulas.
1973: The "ram air hood" option returned; unsure of availability, apparently 553 Formulas has the option; I suspect both Formula 400(L78) & Formula 455(L75) could have it.
1974: "ram air hood" option returned; some sources state only Formula 400(L78) could have it, but it is known to be factory equipmment on Formula 455(L75) cars.
1975: Last year of 1st design Formula hood; "ram air hood" option nla - dealer installs only.

[formula kid]

Ram air was available on the 74 Formula 400
With either manual trans or auto. The 455 was only available with an auto trans. The SD got
You the TA shaker hood scoop rather than the formula hood. The standard 350 could not be ordered with ram air since it was a 2bbl carb engine.