[CH3NO2 Pontiac]

http://www.nhra.com/50th/years.html?year=1978

Anybody know what ever happened to Lou Gaccione?

[Wade Congdon]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lynn McCarty
First time I saw this car was 1978 in a magazine. QUOTE]

The Magazine is Popular Hot Rodding August 1978. The article states that his times were 8.80.

Jolean, Your father will always be remembered by those of us who shared his passion. He was obsessed as are we. I remember the day you shipped the RAV dual quad manifold to me and you said he almost chased after the delivery truck as it pulled away!

[NHRASuperStock455SD]

Joelan,

Rudy was so nice to us in the late 70's helping us out. We were building the 1969 Trans Am for NHRA modified production, and Rudy got us cams, and even more wonderful advice.

He didnt have to talk to us, but he went out of his way. We lost touch with him after his accident. We called one day, and his wife informed us.

Blown, Wade,

I am almost positive Rudy ran low eights with the RA-V. Just might be a little fuzzy when!

Lynn

[Wade Congdon]

He told me 8.20's - 8.30's, but this may not have been in the 70's.

[johnta1]

Joelan, that would be great to see the car at the NHRA museum.
Or even at Norwalk.

[Nine Ninety]

Joelan,

Rudy will always be remembered as someone special. I personnaly will remember his dedication and the attention to the smallest details. I feel honored to have known him. One of those things I will always remember is when I got to help Rudy do an at the track head gasket change on the Astre (as you know he didn't let just anyone touch his stuff, let alone lay a wrench to it). Another time was when he had me sit in the Firebird/Trans Am while he lashed the valves and then let me warm the car up. I don't think I have been the same after sitting behind the wheel of a car with that much motor!!! I still have the set of RAIV heads that he ported for me. His memory makes them very special to me.

Also wanted to share another picture I have of Rudy's car when we were pitted together at Sacramento. You can see Don (Mr. P) in the background and that skinny kid leaning on Rudy's El Camino is me.

If you recall, I watched you make one of your first full passes in the Astre. It would be great to see you run the "Tin Indian" again.

Ron

[Wareagle]

Thanks Lynn for those great BERT STRAUSS pics---it seems when Pontiac had a good thing going like its 421SD or RAM AIR V programs -it gets pulled but with guys like you Lynn--Rudy--Bert Strauss- -Arnie Beswick etc. you were not going to let those Chevy's etc. forget that Pontiac could have ruled the Dragstrip and still could in classes that allow it .

[NHRASuperStock455SD]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lynn McCarty:
The RA-V head is probably legal now for what is called Super Stock Modified. I would love to build that motor.

I talked to a guy in one of those classes with a small block...it is 281 cubic inches and makes 728HP. Since it is a HP verse weight class, I would definintely have to stay away from him! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Made a mistake on this thread. It is not HP verses weight, it is cubic inches verse weight. Lynn

[NHRASuperStock455SD]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Wade Congdon:
Gotta love Rudy, He will be missed. The only guy I knew that used a RAV head as a doorstop for his shop! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It is so Prophetic! The head Rudy used as a door stop is now what we are using to design the new version of Tunnel Port Head! (With some good luck)

Rudy is contributing to us all once again.

Lynn

[Tom Vaught]

The picture of Bert Straus" Astre (at Ontario Place in Toronto, Canada in 1973) is a special memory for me. I was there at the time of the Photo Shoot!

I happened to be visiting my college roommate's parent's home in Niagara Falls, NY at the time. We took a trip to Ontario Place for the day, (to drink some Canadian Ale, see the Toronto Museum, Ontario Place, and Young Street, (drank I lot of beer on that street that night).

We were walking on the Ontario Place grounds when I spotted the car and the photographer taking the great pictures. This is why I have done a lot of research into Bert's car.

I wish I had spent more time looking at the car closely. Does anyone know if he is still out there somewhere?

Tom V.

[theoldone]

I'm going through old RA V engine posts here- and found this thread- I did not even know that Rudy Dreyfuss had passed away.

Last time I spoke to him was 1998. Rudy actually returned my call long distance at his own expense, just to talk Pontiacs and RA V engines.

I was in the market for headers and cams at the time for my RA V. Rudy gave me a few RA V tips.

As you all may know, Rudy's RA V heads were "high ported" on the exhaust- like the old 351 Cleveland Pro Stock Fords were- the exhaust ports cut off to raise the port angle and increase flow. This helped relieve the excessive intake to exhaust port flow bias of the RA V head.

He also told me that he tried running the 455 crank, but his car was faster with the 421 crank. Destroking the RA V engine from 4.21" to 4" made it rev higher, so Rudy ended up making more HP due with higher revs, but with fewer cubic inches. If memory serves his engine was at maximum overbore and 4" stroke (?) He also said he was running a forged 421 SD crank cut down to 3" mains and put in a 400 block to reduce main bearing friction.

Obviously Rudy knew and used all the Pontiac racers tricks !

Just before hanging up, Rudy told me his car's weight and e.t. and mph- I have it written down somewhere on a piece of paper- he was running 8.30's at the time- he also said the Lenco trans knocked 3 tenths off his time and enabled him to run the 8.30's

When I was finished talking to him and hung up the phone, I put his car's weight and 1/4 mile speed in mph in a Moroso slide rule- the reading was over 850 HP !!

He was one dyed in the wool Pontiac guy. I'm happy to have been able to at least speak with him briefly. RA V engines do have a way of bringing people together. Sorry to hear he passed away- I often wondered what had become of him.

[goathead68]

Pretty cool stuff. Thanks to all who posted pics and shared memories.

More on Bert Strauss can be found here.

[Steve Barcak]

The Old one. your comment about Rudy being a "Dyed in the wool Pontiac guy" is false.
Yes, I met Rudy several times, he was a nice guy. He also did some great things with Pontiacs stuff in the 70s. No question there.
But......it is only fair to make known that when he passed, there was a chevy engine in his Pontiac. yes, Rudy what the old one referred to as a so called "Dyed in the wool Pontiac man" switched to a chevy. After years of him talking Pontiac, I see him show up at Bakersfield with a chevy in his car more than once. Rudy joined the corporate camp. Now, you don;t just drop in a chev in a 8 sec car. You do that with money and effort and doing so, eliminates someone from being a "dyed in the wool Pontiac man". No one with a chevy under their hood can be a dyed in the wool Pontiac man.
I saw his car again just a few weeks back at Pomona. Guess what kind of motor was in it? a chevy. It was in the tyree camp. Another one of those 'legend' "Pontiac" racers with chevy power in their car.
RIP Rudy. But the truth must be known for those who didn;t know.
Steve Barcak www.pontiacheaven.org

[NHRASuperStock455SD]

Rudy and everyone else of the time were doing raised port exhausts. Foder lived right down the street from Pontiac Racing's dyno facility. He got the benefit of all the work that GM was doing with the RA-V. We ended up with one of the sets of heads that CJ Batten did. Has anyone wondered why the raised port exhaust fell by the wayside? There are reasons you know. .

I think Rudy was working with Straus in those days. Everyone should know by now that the 455 stroke is way too much piston speed. The only thing it really accomplishes for a race motor is to reduce the operating range of the HP curve. At least until we do a monsterous bore block. LOL


Old One, we went 146.77 with a 3450 car with this motor. What does that give you? The rumor was that Foder went up to Canada with this motor and dyoned against those Canadian boys and made almost 100HP more than them. I know Foder was packing 440 cubic inches, and the Pro Stock engines werent that much.

Lynn

[Steve Barcak]

elaborate on your comment about "rainsed exhaust ports going by the way side". How can you say that? That is nonsense.
It was a great idea then and it is a great idea now. Of course now, many aftermarket castings are built with raised exhaust ports. The Super Chief as an example, B-1, many BBC, etc, etc./ all have a raised exh port.
Only performance street heads like the Edelbrock have stock ex port locations to make installation easier.
I built a set for my fueler and they work fine. They would work equally well on the n/a carb application as well.
Steve Barcak www.pontiacheaven.org

[NHRASuperStock455SD]

Steve,

Our engines arent limited by the exhausts believe it or not. So I guess we have to agree to disagree. Even my Super Stock OEM 455SD head's exhausts flowed over 300 cfm, so we had to cut them back to 262 by decreasing the valve seat angle. Of course in NHRA raising the exhaust ports are illegal.

We did a set of Wenzlers for a comp eliminator engine before NHRA sprung the part number rules on us. We had the intakes flowing 428 with a 2.3 valve and had no problem visualizing 460 to 470 cfm with a 2.4 valve. We had just redesigned the combustion chamber and the valve sizes to get that 2.4 in there, and the exhaust still wasnt the limiting factor.

Over scavaging with too much exhaust can get you into trouble. Of course if you are running a blower, then the story might be different. We dont do that kind of stuff.

Lynn

[theoldone]

Originally Posted by Steve Barcak

elaborate on your comment about "rainsed exhaust ports going by the way side". How can you say that? That is nonsense.
It was a great idea then and it is a great idea now. Of course now, many aftermarket castings are built with raised exhaust ports. The Super Chief as an example, B-1, many BBC, etc, etc./ all have a raised exh port.
Only performance street heads like the Edelbrock have stock ex port locations to make installation easier.
I built a set for my fueler and they work fine. They would work equally well on the n/a carb application as well.
Steve Barcak www.pontiacheaven.org

I believe what he means is, porting technology has advanced quite a bit since then. And you are also correct, the new castings have straighter ports to begin with for many engines- so the high port was not needed.

On the Rudy comments- Rudy ran a Pontiac for decades, and a Chevy for what, a few years ? You get the picture. He went 8.30's with a RA V with no power adders, using an antiquated block design- making over 850 HP on gas- by comparison, how fast have you run ?

Rudy ran a Pontiac a lot longer than most- he maxed the engine design out- and when he could not go any faster with the Pontiac equipment available, he switched.

so what ? So did Arnie Beswick.

Anyone who sticks around racing long enough quickly learns that the dated Pontiac engine design is no match for a Chevy, Ford, or Mopar in all-out no holds barred racing. Pontiac bore spacing is too tight and main/rod journals too large. So a Pontiac becomes flow limited and rpm limited in comparison. What Pontiacs do get to run in the upper ranks get knocked out quickly in eliminations- and are running with hopes that the Chevy-Ford-Mopar crowd breaks, cuts a bad light, or loses traction. That is called a "wing and a prayer".

then there's the inherent original block weakness of the open lifter valley- Steve, you tried a home made block girdle on your blower nitro motor, and what happened- the block broke anyway, right ? You can't blame someone if they switch to a stronger block because their Pontiac stuff keeps splitting in half. They smartened up.

but we do what we can and have fun and try to improve-

One more thing about Rudy- he called my house first long distance and I wasn't home at the time- I was at my mom's house visiting- he got my mom's phone number from my wife, and called my mom's to talk to me- so he made (2) long distance phone calls on his own coin, to talk Pontiacs and RA V's.

Most guys would not even call back at all- let alone twice to 2 numbers. That said a lot to me of his Pontiac allegiance.

As far as "brand x" motors go, I myself would like to build a Ford FE 427/428, Buick nailhead 425, early Hemi 392, and Hemi 426 in my lifetime. Hot rodding doesn't mean you put blinders on and only build one motor your whole life. Even Mickey Thompson later ran SOHC 427 Ford cammers, etc. after he got done toying with Pontiacs. Smokey Yunick went to Chevy (427 BBC) and Ford (tunnel port 427) after he ran 421 Pontiacs in NASCAR. So Rudy wasn't the first one to try other brands.

[theoldone]

Steve,

here ya go- Mickey Thompson campaigned a SOHC 427 Ford funny car and had a tremendous record with it. If you are going to knock Rudy for running a Chevy, then you may as well take those M/T Pontiac Hemi heads you are always talking about and heave them as well. Because the guy that made those heads, eventually defected to Ford.

And look at the record he ran up with the SOHC Ford 427 cammer- 58 wins, 2 losses- and Mickey didn't only run one car, he ran THREE Mustang funny cars at one time.



http://www.dragracingonline.com/special/v8-ford3-2.html

quote from the site:

"Ford hung in there during the late 1960s and 1970. Danny Ongais (below) at the wheel of the Mickey Thompson "Mach-1" Mustang totalled up a 58-2 win-loss record during the first six months of 1969, and won the NHRA Springnationals and NHRA Nationals that season.
Way before there was a lot of anxiety and anguish over John Force’s three cars team of Ford Mustang Fuel Flops Mickey Thompson had already done that. Here are just a few of the nitro burning Mustangs that a variety of drivers drove for the legendary Thompson. Included here is of course Danny Ongias “Mighty Mike” Van Sant, Larry Fullerton and the legendary Johnny Wright."

[Wareagle]

Theoldone--it seems you don't want Pontiacs to advance--we do have the new IA II block- it can handle 3000 HP -even the Chevy guys say this is one Stout piece AND YES BASED ON THE ORIGINAL DESIGN --plus with the new TIGER HEADS etc. Pontiacs are getting Quicker and thats good for us True PONTIAC FANS .

[Brian Baker]

All Steve's front bearing plate needs is to be widened and have two extra bolts added...just like the crank supports you see from RCD. He would have to tie it into something other than the main girdle, however. As it is now with just 2 bolts on either side of the bearing, when that blower belt begins pulling upward on the crank snout, the top of the plate will flex in toward the block, while the bottom of the plate flexes outward away from the block, thus not being as effective of a support as it would be with 4 "squared" fasteners like RCD uses.

http://www.rcdengineering.com/crank_bs.html