[sixtee8gto]

Went to autozone the other day and there was a 72 lemans all chopped up and gutted. Set up for drag racing with a 454 in it and a one piece front end. Exaust ran under the rear axles. Well any way He was tinkering with it in the parking lot so I had to walk by it and say hello. Told him I had alot of parts for Pontiacs if he needed any. He tells me that he is interested in putting the original motor back in it. Which is a 396 chevy motor. Had to laugh, seeing he was about 18.

[The Who]

^ Pontiac has been in my family since my grand-father, and then to my dad and now I'll carry on the tradition (I'm 18).

---

Usually when I reply back, its because I know what I'm talking about, if I don't know then I'll listen to the person and learn something about it. I learn a lot on these forums, but still have a lot to learn.

[uneasyrider]

LOL!!!!!!! That's like when I tell these kids I have a 400 in my '74 TA and the real "gear heads" say "Well the 400 small block was always a piece of crap". Uh, yeah? They don't even know that there was any other engines in the GM line-up other than the Chevy. On top of that I've seen some very bad asp SBC's I don't know where that rap came from.

Uneasyrider

[nightwrencher]

Hey I'm a youngin (24) but I try to know what I'm talking about. You wouldn't believe how many 40+ year olds I have corrected on stuff. Given most of them are half-in the bag when they stop to check out my car, but If I had a dollar for everytime someone told me a 400 was a big block, I would be able to pay someone else to build my car. But given the stereotype is true. Usually by the time I'm done talking to someone my age about what I did to my car they go, "Oh....yeah...that's cool....I gotta go." and pull away in their chevy.

[nightwrencher]

by the way, their chevy was usually built by their dad. All you old-timers gotta start teaching your Kids right or nobody will even know pontiac made their own engine ten years from now.

[sixtee8gto]

Went to autozone the other day and there was a 72 lemans all chopped up and gutted. Set up for drag racing with a 454 in it and a one piece front end. Exaust ran under the rear axles. Well any way He was tinkering with it in the parking lot so I had to walk by it and say hello. Told him I had alot of parts for Pontiacs if he needed any. He tells me that he is interested in putting the original motor back in it. Which is a 396 chevy motor. Had to laugh, seeing he was about 18.

[Gas455]

Adam,

My '60 Pontiac is a Canadian Laurentian sold new in Australia...It now has a 474 Butler engine in it....came out with the 283 Chev.

I like the 474 so much better!!

[nicko72gto]

yea the older ones will defenitly get more looks

[75cancup]

Adam keep looking ,some pontiacs built in canada did come with "real" pontiac power. My 75 built in oshawa came with a L78 400. mike. try http://www.autotrader.ca

[Billy177]

yea i am 18, it seems almost everyone drives rice now. They actually think muscle cars are slow too because they are heavy.

they dont realize that a 455 with e-heads is gonna smoke their civic, or any v8 for that matter

[steveK]

My 5th grader had a sock hop at his school. We both dressed the part of t-shirt, slicked back hair, blue jeans and a cassett tape (instead of cigaretts in the T-shirt sleve. Drove in a 69 Fb. and the kids and parents just looked at the car as we rumbled by. Thumbs up by all... nice camaro mister....doughhhhhhh!

[disc0monkey]

i got this car just before i turned 18. you mean i don't have a small block? Im 19 now.

[Thumpin455_GTO]

I still get the "Put a 350 Chevy in there and you will go faster" thing. Yeah sure its lighter than a 400 with E heads, 4.25" eagle crank, 6.8 Eagle rods, and Ross pistons. Thats why it will go faster. I just show them the front of the car, since they wont be seeing it during the race.

We do need younger guys to get into Pontiacs, we also need older people to keep the Pontiac engine in there instead of dropping in a 350 or whatever. Why? That way we will still have parts for the engines we know are a better design, even if it is a bit more expensive to produce or build. For what you get from the factory in a Pontiac, you have to pay extra to get race stuff in a Chevy.

I guess the bigget thing is to not come off as a jerk, or a know it all. Be supportive not combative. Once you beat the kid with the 454 in his TA or GTO, you can then show him the nearly stock looking engine that doesnt look like his, then he will get the idea.

Im tired of the Car mags thinking we are a bunch of resto freaks who think it has to have the correct year and month exhaust manifolds. I race everything I build own and drive, I dont care what the date code is. Just give me CFM, CI, and RPM and I am happy. 36 btw...

[Colin]

Yeah, the 442 thing really screws people up. Like guys that think a Shelby Mustang GT-350 has a 350 engine

[satman]

My teen drives his 85 Grand Prix to High School (no muscle car, but Pontiac nevertheless), he told me the other day the lot attendant came up to him to compliment him on his car, and said “What a nice looking ol’ Monte Carlo. I wish I still had mine.� He didn’t even bother to explain.



Raise your kids right, don’t feed them rice, make them eat muscle!

[Bad Karma]

I got my first Lemans at 20 years old. It was the 400 ram air III engined One in my sig. The most fun I ever had was in that car. I remember one time on the highway a 79 or so camaro tried to race me but this is so funny. He started about a half mile behind me I let him wind up and try to over take me. I have a witness to this incident. The Car was a highway King with 2.56 gears. I dropped into 2cnd gear And He never made it past my front fender even with a 1/2 mile or so headstart. I took 2cnd gear to 110mph! Third Never new what it did but it was well past 140mph. I miss that power everytime i drive my chevy powered lemans. My ex wife sold my First car but I am starting over again with a more rust free car so maybe its better off anyway.

[nicko72gto]

i got ya all beat im only 15 with a 72 gto powered by a 400 (soon 455) 4 speed

[sixty8firebird1]

Dont think that all teens these days are a lost cause and drive rice, Im only 17 and I know more about Pontiacs and cars in general than some people 3 times my age

[Mr. G]

That reminds me of the time I was selling a compltet 400 motor locally, and a guy came to look at it with his mechanic as a potential replacement for his tired motor in his 74 Ventura. The mechanic looked at it and said "Yep, that's what it looks like", and they proceeded to buy the motor. Two days later, the mechanic calls me complaining that the engine they bought from me wasn't bolting right in as I said it would. Finally, the mechanic mentioned that the Ventura that he was trying to put the motor in had a 260 V8 emblem on the fender. I told him that what he had done was to buy a Pontiac motor when he needed an Oldsmobile motor. The mechanic then said that they were "all the same". Then there was the time when I was at the gas station fililg up my Olds 442 when a guy pulled up next to me and asked of the car still had the original 442 ci engine in it. Not to make him feel like a fool, I said "yes, it still has the original engine".

[nicko72gto]

i hate it when people say a 400 is a big block, or when they say a pontiac engine is the same thing as a chevy only painted blue