[johnta1]

Do you have any info on the Formula? VIN or PHS etc?
The metal tail panel was very rare, from very early Bird.

Any other pics of it?

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by johnta1

Do you have any info on the Formula? VIN or PHS etc?
The metal tail panel was very rare, from very early Bird.

Any other pics of it?

Nope. Sorry. That was back in the late '70's or more likely the early '80's.

Picked it up in Northeast Louisiana. Most likely had bought from the Monroe LA Pontiac dealer, since it was the biggest dealer in the area. But, @ 10 or more years of age, it could have come from most anywhere.

That's the only pic I have.

If I hadn't run across it, I'd probably never have known any metal panels ever existed.

Only other things I can remember about it was that the front fenders had the Formula400 emblems on 'em, and that some of the "fingers" in the rear of the FG hood were broken/missing.

https://www.classicindustries.com/pr...rts/fb056.html

Only bought 2 other Formulas. IIRC, 1 was a '72 & 1 was a '73. The one I think was a '72 was blue & had tilt steering. The only reason I remember that is because the guy I sold the car to had problems with the tilt, & brought it back to me to fix. I didn't have a clue how to fix it. I was NOT a very good mechanic. Could only do the very basic stuff. Mostly just bracket racing stuff.

[sdbob]

I have a 70 Esprit,350. That had the original tailight panel in fibreglas . Replaced it with nos,fibreglas if I remember. Car was originally orange!
Talking about weight reduction. The 73 F body core supports to fender straps are thicker than 74s. John Herslow told me they made them out of aluminum then somehow sprayed them with steel so magnet would stick, to lose front end weight. He also said the fastest he went with stocker was with 4.56 gears! I tried them just couldnt get tires at local strip to hook. Seems counter to what is known now.

[ponyakr]

"...He also said the fastest he went with stocker was with 4.56 gears! I tried them just couldnt get tires at local strip to hook.,,:

Sorry, but I don't understand that.

Assuming he ran slicks. So, are you saying that you couldn't get your car to hook, even with slicks, when running 4.56 gears ? Or, was it hard street tires that wouldn't hook ?

"...Seems counter to what is known now."

To what is that referring ? What is it that is "known now".

This reminded me. I have 3 of what I assume are early pics of the H&M T/A, when it was running G/SA, therefore obviously was not running an SD455, at the time. Also, didn't have SD-455 on the shaker. NHRA Nat Rec Holder was on the side, while still running G/SA.

In pics 4 & 5, it was running E/SA. Therefore, I ASSUME it was NOT an SD455 car from the factory, but was switched over to SD455 power later, by the Herslow & Morlock team. Did it also set the E/SA nat record ?

This sound reasonable to me, because John Clegg's original '73 SD455 Formy ran D/S @ Indy, & Ray Hunt's SD455 Formy ran D/SA @ Indy. Since the Formy would be a little lighter, it makes sense that the heavier T/A might run 1 class lower.

So, do you know all the details of the car's race history, assuming it WAS the same car. For all I know, the G/SA car & the E/SA car may not have been the same car. But, I assume there was only one car, which ran G/SA, with a D-port 455 for a while, then ran E/SA for a while, with an SD455, then was switched over to SS.

[Mcronk]

As promised I have started going through my old HO newsletters and pulling out info on class racing cars featured. Not sure if this is "old news" but will share. This post is the 74-75 time frame. I will be adding more in oher posts.

[ponyakr]

The 1st & 3rd pics, in post #309, seem to prove that the SD-455 T/A Stockers ran G/SA, in both '74, & at least at the beginning of '75.

Not long after that, the H&M Bird was running E/SA. So, at some point, NHRA gave the SD-455 a big hp hit.

Anybody know exactly when & how much ?

Anyhow, I still can't exactly understand how John Clegg's '73 SD-455 Formy could have run D/S, @ Indy '73, if that in fact did happen.

If anybody has answers to some of these questions, by all means, please post your info.

So far, I haven't been able to find any written evidence of the exact NHRA hp factors for Pontiac engines, back during those years. They were supposedly in the NHRA "Factor Finder" publication in '72 & '73, then in the Class Guide beginning in '74.

But, so far, I haven't located anybody with a copy of any of 'em, or any place online to check one out. Gotta be a few out there somewhere, maybe ?

[Mcronk]

Class racing info for Firebirds and GTOs June 1976.