[SD455DJ]

Originally Posted by 68 Caretaker

One more G body.

Hey Clark! Thanks for the great pic of your SJ GP! I didn't see that it was you that made the post! Wow, 14.21 is a great pass...what gear and how much did it weigh?

Dennis

[johnta1]

1974 Formula 455 Paul Aragona SD455/TH400/3.90 12.20’s

Any info on car/engine etc? (no headers?)
That nice for a 4000 lb or more vehicle probably?

[SD455DJ]

John, Paul's Formula weighs 3900 lbs. with him, the SD455 is built to the legal limits of the rules (9.90 compression, RA manifolds, cast iron intake, no porting of anything, Q-jet, closed shaker, cam that maintains 16" vacuum at 1200 rpm, X-pipe full exhaust (Pypes), stock convertor with max flash to 2200 rpm, etc.).

Dennis

[johnta1]

That is awesome!

[SD455DJ]

Here is the revised list with the names I missed and some minor ET corrections:

1965 GTO Bruce Hayes Tri-Power/M20/4.10 13.60’s

1967 GTO Lee Harms HO/TH400/3.73 13.40’s

1967 GTO Doug Messman HO/M20/3.90 13.20’s

1969 GTO Tony Rosenthall RAIII/M20/3.90 14.80’s

1970 GT-37 Chris Smetana 400/M20/4.33 13.20’s

1971 GTO Ron Hammer 455HO/TH400/3.31 13.20’s

1971 GTO John Vass 400/TH400/3.73 15.10’s

1971 GT-37 Kevin Ross 455HO/M22/4.10 13.30’s

1971 GT-37 Rick Mahoney 455HO/TH400/4.10 11.90’s

1972 GTO Anthony Herzog 455HO/M22/3.55 14.00’s

1969 GP-SJ Joe Zelinski 428HO/M20/3.90 14.50’s

1969 GP-SJ Clark Lumsden 428/TH400/3.23 14.20’s

1968 Firebird 400 Ryne Sanders RAII/TH400/4.10 12.50’s

1968 Firebird 400 Rick Watson RAII/M21/4.10 12.60’s

1968 Firebird 400 Lara Smetana 400HO/TH400/3.36 14.20’s

1969 Firebird 400 Shawn Baird 400HO/M20/3.73 13.60’s

1969 Firebird 400 Adrian Beltrame RAIV/M21/4.33 12.20’s

1972 Trans Am Tyler Messman 455HO/M22/3.73 12.70’s

1974 Formula 455 Paul Aragona SD455/TH400/3.90 12.20’s

[68 Caretaker]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

Hey Clark! Thanks for the great pic of your SJ GP! I didn't see that it was you that made the post! Wow, 14.21 is a great pass...what gear and how much did it weigh?

Dennis

Hi Dennis, 3.23 gear and over 4400 lbs. I don’t remember the exact weight. I was hoping for 14.50 or better. First pass on Friday was 14.500! Tightened up the secondary air flapper, let the car cool down, and ran the 14.21. Never owned a 428 Pontiac before. It pulls hard like my 455 Buicks do!

[SD455DJ]

Originally Posted by 68 Caretaker

Hi Dennis, 3.23 gear and over 4400 lbs. I don’t remember the exact weight. I was hoping for 14.50 or better. First pass on Friday was 14.500! Tightened up the secondary air flapper, let the car cool down, and ran the 14.21. Never owned a 428 Pontiac before. It pulls hard like my 455 Buicks do!

I wish I had time to get a better look at your GP. I sure looked nice from a distance! Is the 428 rebuilt? Dang good running GP!

Denins

[68 Caretaker]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

I wish I had time to get a better look at your GP. I sure looked nice from a distance! Is the 428 rebuilt? Dang good running GP!

Denins

Repainted in 1986 with lower front fender and some rear quarter patches, it’s very solid underneath. Some primer shrinkage but very presentable. 428 had an old school overhaul in the 80’s. Rigid hone, knurled pistons, polished crank. All std. I disassembled and checked everything. Had the heads done with new Ferrea valves. Discovered a very mild Isky 262 cam. I added long branch manifolds, Pypes X pipe and Dynomax long case turbo mufflers. I ran it as a 390HO, but it’s a 370hp car. Not into that much green, I sold the car last week. I would love to find a Liberty Blue 69 SJ with black top.

[SD455DJ]

Clark, now you got me wondering about the '68 HO GTO you have listed...2-tone paint? Very cool...we need to know more and see some pictures!

Dennis

[68 Caretaker]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

Clark, now you got me wondering about the '68 HO GTO you have listed...2-tone paint? Very cool...we need to know more and see some pictures!

Dennis

Well Dennis, every car has a story. I’ll try to keep it short. A local farm boy from our small town of 3k worked at 2 different local GM dealerships from 1967-1973 as a mechanic. He bought the car new off the lot the spring of 68. Opened his own shop in 1973. I went to work for him at 16 as a floor sweep, went on to automotive school and stayed with him for over 8 years. I helped him take it off of the frame in 2002 for restoration at about 80k. A local body shop did the work. He showed it for several year with great success. A couple of magazine articles too. Unfortunately he passed away in 2019 at age 75 from cancer. I bought it in 2020.

[SD455DJ]

Thanks for the background story on the '68! Any pictures you can Share?

Dennis

[68 Caretaker]

A few pics. Can someone tell me how to rotate these?

[SD455DJ]

Clark, I've heard that cropping the image a little will keep them upright for some reason...I've never tried that myself...so?

Your '68 is simply gorgeous! What a great 2-tone color selection...it's got to be the only one like that! Thanks for posting the pics too!

Dennis

[OCMDGTO]

Originally Posted by 68 Caretaker

A few pics. Can someone tell me how to rotate these?

It's a beauty Clark!! Great history, too

[68 Caretaker]

Originally Posted by SD455DJ

Clark, I've heard that cropping the image a little will keep them upright for some reason...I've never tried that myself...so?

Your '68 is simply gorgeous! What a great 2-tone color selection...it's got to be the only one like that! Thanks for posting the pics too!

Dennis

That color combination kinda grows on ya! I haven’t seen many 68 GTO’s with painted tops.

[68 Caretaker]

Originally Posted by OCMDGTO

It's a beauty Clark!! Great history, too

Thanks Chris. Liberty Blue is a great color too.

[trishieldchief]

Clark
Good to see you on this board, love Nightshade green on a 68 GTO, very interesting color indeed.

Your 69 GP is a real runner, nice job on that car, I hope you keep it around.

[68 Caretaker]

Originally Posted by trishieldchief

Clark
Good to see you on this board, love Nightshade green on a 68 GTO, very interesting color indeed.

Your 69 GP is a real runner, nice job on that car, I hope you keep it around.

Hi Rich, I visit the board off and on, but I do more reading than posting. Good seeing you and Steve again at Stanton. The GP left tonight on a trailer headed for Maryland. Had fun working on and driving it for the last year but unfortunately it was too much green for me! I’d love to find a 4 speed 69 SJ in Liberty blue, but that might be impossible.

[joegpho]

Hey Clark - it was nice to meet you and it sure was fun to race against you in your GP! (To others 0 we ran the EXACT same MPH on one race and were only .01 mph different on a second race!) As we discussed, the Limelight Green of your car was growing on me.

A correction on my car - I run 3.55 gears, not 3.90s - and I need a new POSI unit.
Still shooting for 13.99 and 100 MPH.

There is a 69 SJ 428 HO 4spd out there in Liberty Blue. I don't think my fellow GP friend (Scott Mancini) wants to sell it though!

[68 Caretaker]

Originally Posted by joegpho

Hey Clark - it was nice to meet you and it sure was fun to race against you in your GP! (To others 0 we ran the EXACT same MPH on one race and were only .01 mph different on a second race!) As we discussed, the Limelight Green of your car was growing on me.

A correction on my car - I run 3.55 gears, not 3.90s - and I need a new POSI unit.
Still shooting for 13.99 and 100 MPH.

There is a 69 SJ 428 HO 4spd out there in Liberty Blue. I don't think my fellow GP friend (Scott Mancini) wants to sell it though!

Hey Joe, I think that was pretty cool running against another 69. If your traction would have been better you would have had the faster car. I wonder what mine would have run if it had a 3.55 gear?