[ponyakr]

" Wasn't H-O Racing also into stock class racing with 2? SD-455 powered T/A's for a short time
I believe this was in addition to Craig's 74 SD T/A SS car..."

I'm not aware, nor do I have any pics. But, it wouldn't surprise me a bit.

It seems that several of the SD455 guys used 'em in several different applications. That was when the SD455 heads were a LOT cheaper.

Herslow & Morlock, Phil Szupka, Bob Michael, Don Kennedy, John Clegg, Jack Mullins, Glenn Tinsley, Lynn McCarty, & the H-O guys, are some of the names that come to mind, who ran SD455 stuff.

I know an SD455 Stocker ran out of John Clegg's shop. Besides the Herslow & Morlock Stocker, the others I can think of were Super Stocks.

Just looked back thru some of my pics. #5 shows a '74 Bird running E/SA. Has Tony Reiter on the door. I have it listed as Bill Foder. Don't know why. Maybe he was the driver ? Anyhow, don't think a '74 could have run E/SA without SD455 power.

[ponyakr]

I have these pics of 2 Birds with H-O on the door.

Don't know if the H-O guys owned or just sponsored the cars.

The black car looks to have big tires. So it was obviously a Super Stocker.

From the side view, I can't tell if the tires on the white Bird are big, or not. So, I suppose it could have been a Stocker ? Assume both were SS cars.

[455dan]

Originally Posted by ponyakr

I have these pics of 2 Birds with H-O on the door.

Don't know if the H-O guys owned or just sponsored the cars.

The black car looks to have big tires. So it was obviously a Super Stocker.


From the side view, I can't tell if the tires on the white Bird are big, or not. So, I suppose it could have been a Stocker ? Assume both were SS cars.

Have to admit, I was fishing a bit on this,

I own a 1973 4 speed 455 T/A that Kern changed to SD power.

Sure wish I had found this site earlier and regret not reaching out to Kern over the decades. I was really sad to hear he had passed and that had happened years back.

I talked to Kern about the car back in 1979- right after purchasing it ( from the gentleman Kern sold it to} and Kern said early in his owning the car he had run the car in K/SA and that it had run 11.9 IIRC and that it was record holder for a short period before it was beat by another "Very similar" car.

40 plus years has passed and my memory isn't what it once was so hoping i remember the conversation correctly.


I believe It was featured in the June 1976 Car Craft handling article for F body cars called Flat & Fast because everything matches.

a snipet from article

More specifically, the re search resulted when Kern Osterstock decided he had as much power as was feasible for a street-driven (and occasionally raced) 455 Trans Am Super Duty Firebird, but he wanted to get more of it to the ground for sports car handling. Being part owner of a Pontiac high-performance concern, H-O Racing Specialties, made Kern's studies rewarding both to himself and his customers.

By the time I ended up with the car in May of 79 Kern had ported the heads and was running it with a solid roller cam with a fiberglass nose and other mods on the street, so it was no longer K stock auto suitable , and it was switched back to a rock crusher M-22.

[ponyakr]

Need some help with an ID.

Found this pic of a Pontiac Ventura, with a div 4 number, 4750.

Seems I remember coming across the name Raymond Simmons, somewhere. I wanna say he lived in Arkansas & had a Pontiac Stocker. So, it MIGHT be his car.

Search here didn't show any results.

Can anybody ID this car/driver ?

[sdbob]

I heard rumor back in74 that H O racing bought Fred Davissons 74 Blue SD TA -G/SA after the Winternationals.Never confirmed story,just now remembered it.

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by ponyakr

Need some help with an ID.

Found this pic of a Pontiac Ventura, with a div 4 number, 4750.

Seems I remember coming across the name Raymond Simmons, somewhere. I wanna say he lived in Arkansas & had a Pontiac Stocker. So, it MIGHT be his car.

Search here didn't show any results.

Can anybody ID this car/driver ?

A Class Racer member posted an entry list for the '75 SPORTSnationals.

#4750 is listed as Raymond Simmons, from Ark. He is listed driving a '67 Camaro. But, I assume he was driving the Ventura, at the race where his number was on it.

Also noticed that Rock Running is on the list, with his '71 T-37. It's still active, with current owner, Don Turk.

[ponyakr]

Speakin of Rock Running, I just got a pic of his big Pontiac that also had his "Super Sleeper" name on it.

Knew he had one, but had never seen a pic.

Also got a pic of the Hunt '72 GTO, which I didn't have. It has Dale E. Hunt on the window.

[Stan Weiss]

Originally Posted by ponyakr

A Class Racer member posted an entry list for the '75 SPORTSnationals.

#4750 is listed as Raymond Simmons, from Ark. He is listed driving a '67 Camaro. But, I assume he was driving the Ventura, at the race where his number was on it.

Also noticed that Rock Running is on the list, with his '71 T-37. It's still active, with current owner, Don Turk.

Maybe, Maybe not. The picture of the car is taken at Indy, but we do not know what year. It could be lets say 1974 . We know the entry list is from 75. He very well could have changed the car he was racing.

Stan

[ponyakr]

May have posted this already. Don't remember.

A Pontiac won Stock, @ the 2000 Pontiac Excitement Nats. At that race, the top 3 qualifiers were all Pontiac powered.

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop

https://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCS...r2000#indextop

[Mcronk]

Here is the write up on the car in picture #3 post 332. Got busy with the holidays. Still have one more stack of HO newsletters to go through.

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by Mcronk

Here is the write up on the car in picture #3 post 332. Got busy with the holidays. Still have one more stack of HO newsletters to go through.

Wow, that's a wealth of info !

THANKS !

So, it ran 12.20's in 1975. Wonder what the index was ?

Also wonder exactly what the nat records were that it set ?

I assume the '72 rec was in SS, when Truman was running it. But, I think '72 was the only year he ran it. Don't know if anybody else ran it in SS, or not. :confused

So, the major performance stats for 1975 were:

(1) Two nat records

(2) G/S class win @ the SPORTSnationals

(3) G/S class RU @ the US Nats

The points earned are mostly due to driver skill. But, I'd say it was a pretty good season for car & driver !

['ol Pinion head]

Considered purchasing, managed to test drive that particular '72 GTO ex stock class racecar in late summer of 2012.

Ownership lineage goes like this:
-Truman Fields,
-John Corcoran, '73 til aprox 1980.
-Richard from OH, eventually Yukon OK, 77 Trashcan's good friend. RIP
<dealer an hour from me... just a few months, summer of 2012>
-Mark W in Michigan.

Am glad to read the High Output's clarification of what ratio of Power Brute T-10 was installed during the period it was raced. I had picked up over the years that the first gear ratio was a 2.88, but 2.52 is noted in the article.



-

[ponyakr]

Factor Finder Info !

A guy with a '72 FF, sent me this Pontiac info. It is not what I was expecting.

MOST of the popular engines commonly used for racing were not mentioned.

I Emailed him some questions, like, did the book say that all engines not mentioned would use factory hp rating ?

And, were there any numbers for '66, '67, & '68 Pontiac engines ?

Do any of you guys have the hp factor info which NHRA published in the mid '70's ?

Would also like to get the factors for the popular Pontiac engines which NHRA published around 1980.

That would have given NHRA a few years to evaluate the Pontiac combos that were running quick.

There MUST have been certain Pontiac combos which got hits. That's all I'm trying to find out.

(1) Which Pontiac combos got hit ?

(2) Exactly WHEN did they get hit ?

(3) What was the old factor & the new one ?

These seem like simple questions. But apparently the answers are EXTREMELY hard to get.

It sometimes seems that all this old info has just disappeared.

Or maybe it does exist, but it would take the right person having access to it, in order to publish it on a forum, or somewhere else on the net.

It's just a bit frustrating sometimes when so much info is available these days but some of this old info doesn't seem to exist.

So, one more time. Does anybody reading this have access to NHRA hp factors, which they published in any or all the years from '75-'80 ???

I you don't, do you know someone who does, that would be willing to look up some factors for me ???

[ponyakr]

OK, the guy with the FF turned the page & found this. At the top of the page, it's labeled Tempest. But the numbers, like 345 for example, are Firebird numbers.

So, I asked him to go back & see if maybe there is a page labeled Firebird. If so, maybe the A-body factors are listed there.

What he sent before was only for big Pontiacs.

[ponyakr]

Just got this pic.

Jerry Young was RU in the Jr. Stock class @ the 1965 Winter Nats. The car is a '61 model.

[tininjun68]

'61's are great looking...Arnie Beswick had a very sharp '61 he campaigned...235hp rating...don't have old hp factor data but what motor/carb combo was that? something smaller CI than 389 like a 347 or 370/2brl??

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by tininjun68

'61's are great looking...Arnie Beswick had a very sharp '61 he campaigned...235hp rating...don't have old hp factor data but what motor/carb combo was that? something smaller CI than 389 like a 347 or 370/2brl??

The car I posted was said to have a 2-barrel. I assume it would have been a 230hp 389.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...2&MAKE=Pontiac

That 235hp 389 had a 4-barrel. Looks like a much more competitive hp factor than the 2-barrel version.

http://www.classracerinfo.com/Engine...3&MAKE=Pontiac

[sdbob]

Fred Davisson won I/S at Winternationals in 62 maybe 63 with a 61. 389 low hp 4bbl. He told me that was the best car to run,in 68

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by sdbob

Fred Davisson won I/S at Winternationals in 62 maybe 63 with a 61. 389 low hp 4bbl. He told me that was the best car to run,in 68

Don't know how many Pontiacs Fred raced. Here's a 421SD powered D/S '62.

[ponyakr]

Here's what Dave Reuland posted.

http://classracer.com/classforum/sho...3&postcount=45

So, that '73 GTO was SD455 powered, but NOT from the factory.