[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by 68pongto

Here are photos of the cars on the Roll Call. I either took them myself or found them online.

Car number six is my car and is currently undergoing a complete frame off restoration

Really glad you got that car and are sticking with it.
It should become the PY mascot car when finished , with 3 PY'ers having owned it.

And thanks for sharing all those pictures with us !
Flambeau needs some high quality photos done of it to showcase its color in depth.
The tires look a little big for some reason.

I might "try" to do a copy/paste of the full Roll Call listing with this Tablet and repost it just to get it easier to find it quicker.
I have forgotten a lot of the details on the cars on the list since it has been such a while.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud

There is still a RA II Firebird Convertible in original used condition, that i wonder when the fella will ever join, to Post.

Pretty sure we did include that one in the "tentative / possibility" zone over in the Firebird Roll Call.
Has definitely been a while back.

That Roll Call has been lifeless for quite a while.

[turbo69bird]

Sadly both the RAIV and RAII roll calls are pretty lacking. Bird and GTO. I certainly feel like the camaro Chevelle guys share a lot more. Just the personality of us Pontiac guys I guess.
Happy to see the #9 car do well it’s always been one of my favorites maybe just the poverty caps but it’s so understated.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Originally Posted by turbo69bird

Sadly both the RAIV and RAII roll calls are pretty lacking. Bird and GTO. I certainly feel like the camaro Chevelle guys share a lot more. Just the personality of us Pontiac guys I guess.
Happy to see the #9 car do well it’s always been one of my favorites maybe just the poverty caps but it’s so understated.

Naw. chevy folks want to grt their tribute clones listed as real. Pontiac folks have PHS original docs so they are snug with staying off the public list. We all know a few.

[RamAirBirds]

Yes, 8-Ball was the NC Zone Car. a 21% discount applied.
Rick has this next to his RAII Red/Black Top convert. These were his only 2 REAL RAII Cars. The Other Race Car(s) were not RAII Cars.
This is likely why he circled the "wagon" for a few years and finally approached me to sell..
When I get some of the pic's for the magazine layout I will post.
I still have the RA1 4 spd. Meridian Turquoise Hardtop and the RA1 Auto Vedoro Green/Parchment Convert.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

In the Bird Call thread , pics of what was said to be a genuine known car were posted of a TripleBlack BirdVert Ram2 4spd.
Magnificent Condition
Was said to belong to Mahoney
Nobody contradicted , so idunno.

He found that Red Vert at Carlisle as just an average car for sale with non-matching engine. Was thinking about it for his daughter.
Noticed the build date - called JM
B O O M = Ram2
Never heard anything else about it and don't know trans or options or anything.
I don't believe it is on the list , or if so , its in the tentative zone.

[Mcronk]

Originally Posted by 68pongto

Finally car #20 Verdoro Green/Black vinyl top 4-speed
Attachment 605216

I own that car now. It is actually a 69 color Midnight Green. It was painted that color in 2015 by a previous owner. I am trying to bring it back to "more correct" and complete condition. Another previous owner raced it in Pure Stock series. There is a discussion on this car a couple of years ago in the Roll Call thread. It is not a concours car, just a very nicely detailed car. I like to drive my cars so I will not do a frame off. Actually it is very clean/detailed underneath but finishes are not 100% correct. Here is a link to a short video walk around of the car. I also attached a few pictures of the engine compartment. The picture you show is when it was raced I believe.

https://youtu.be/ZhcMDPob8o0

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Very sharp looking car in great shape Mcronk.
You were smart and lucky to grab that one.
I remember when a PY member had it listed for sale on here, some years back.

I think some people were passing it by - by mistake.
Just because of the upfitted color and garden variety block.
Maybe the vinyl top played a small role in the combined valuation too. idunno
It still had a lot of good things going for it.
He might have been a little too high on price in the beginning than what some might have felt comfortable paying. iirc
It was available for a while before you bought it , so that likely worked its way into your favor at the cash register .

Not many chances come along to own one of these GrandDaddy RoundPorts
Its a good looking RamAir II 4spd and is amongst a very very limited amount of known survivors.

Congrats Again !

[Mcronk]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Very sharp looking car in great shape Mcronk.
You were smart and lucky to grab that one.
I remember when a PY member had it listed for sale on here, some years back.

I think some people were passing it by - by mistake.
Just because of the upfitted color and garden variety block.
Maybe the vinyl top played a small role in the combined valuation too. idunno
It still had a lot of good things going for it.
He might have been a little too high on price in the beginning than what some might have felt comfortable paying. iirc
It was available for a while before you bought it , so that likely worked its way into your favor at the cash register .

Not many chances come along to own one of these GrandDaddy RoundPorts
Its a good looking RamAir II 4spd and is amongst a very very limited amount of known survivors.

Congrats Again !

Thanks for the compliments. You would be surprised how many people think it is Verdoro Green. I think a lot of cars have been painted with varying shades of Verdoro to the point a lot of folks don't know what it is really supposed to look like.

I have a 2506 WY date code correct block for the car. Working on 273 carb and 941 distributor. Those are the last two items I need to complete a correct RA II engine. These cars are intriguing and I am enjoying mine.

[Mcronk]

Wow! Seems I am going to bring this thread back from the dead.

At Norwalk this past weekend I had a chance to observe something about RA II heads that may be interesting. I saw a pair of heads, one with no cast number on center exhaust ports and only R A on end ports. Date code of April 22. The other head had the number 96 cast on center exhaust ports and R A on end ports with date code April 23. So in my thinking the pattern shop at the foundry must have updated the mold with the casting number 96 on the night shift.

The engine was in a 69 GTO and the owner claimed it was a "test car" that Leader Automotive built. It had a WY RA II block with the block casting of 9792506 (last 4 digits wiped and stamped). Unfortunately I could not see the date code for the block. It also had a RA IV intake installed (hmmm unless they ported the RA II heads there would be a mismatch due to the taller intake ports on the 69 RAIV heads and intake). Anyway it was interesting to see the heads and date codes. Picture of the car and engine are attached.

[68pongto]

Yes, the D228 heads had no 96, but by the next day D238, they had added the 96. So D228 just had RA, and D238 had R96A.

[Verdoro 68]

I have a funny set where one is a D228 N without the 96 and the other is a D238 D with a 96. I put the 96 on the driver's side

Coincidentally, since they were port matched to RA IV they also reside with a Ram Air IV intake on top of my engine so my setup looks a lot like the pics above.

[Mcronk]

Originally Posted by 68pongto

Yes, the D228 heads had no 96, but by the next day D238, they had added the 96. So D228 just had RA, and D238 had R96A.

Do you know anything about that car? I have heard Leader Automotive did some testing and had a connection to Pontiac Division.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Since the RamAir 4 cars didn't start rolling out until march 1969 - its a possibility they got an early 69 car and upfitted it with a roundport engine.
But I don't know if it really happened or not.

Leader had a 69 GTO fiberglass body funny car .

[Mcronk]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Since the RamAir 4 cars didn't start rolling out until march 1969 - its a possibility they got an early 69 car and upfitted it with a roundport engine.
But I don't know if it really happened or not.

Leader had a 69 GTO fiberglass body funny car .

The owner had a detailed story but I only heard a little as I approached the car. He thought I was doubting his story but I tried to explain I understood what he was saying but was interested in the RA II engine. I don't know when the RAIV intake was added but he kept saying it was all done when the engine went in the car. Maybe they got an early RAIV intake to test before they were available to the public? Anyway interesting car and someone probably knows the history on it.

[brians]

Did not see the car, wish I had. Looks good.
If true - be interesting to see what they were testing using RAII heads. There were already a number of articles and cars by then running by the time the 69s came out.

George started Leader in late 1967. Think December but his big push was when he bought out the performance side of Royal. If I remember right it was summer of 69.
I also seem to remember somewhere on here a few years back of a story of a RAI FB that George/leader converted to a RAII and was still around.

[turbo69bird]

Originally Posted by brians

Did not see the car, wish I had. Looks good.
If true - be interesting to see what they were testing using RAII heads. There were already a number of articles and cars by then running by the time the 69s came out.

George started Leader in late 1967. Think December but his big push was when he bought out the performance side of Royal. If I remember right it was summer of 69.
I also seem to remember somewhere on here a few years back of a story of a RAI FB that George/leader converted to a RAII and was still around.

Leader converted a Regular 400 to a RAII in Ct owned by Bob Krosky . (Trumbull Sunoco) Car was known as break away .

Bill Eckstrom (driver )
From Stephens shared a lot of info w George back then from there RAII car GTO) they raced .. Stephen also had a RAIV bird (that I have )and the RAV pro stock firebird which I have the drive train to Currently that engine is in my RAIV bird. https://youtu.be/aqGcHD2mnKs

[Mcronk]

I had heard about the Stephens RA II GTO. It is one that appears to be missing and had the endura delete bumper. Kind of strange the Firebird and GTO were both in D/S class. I thought the stock classes were based on factory horsepower and weight breaks? I guess you could add weight to the Firebird to run in a different class.

I wish I had heard the owners story about the car. But again I was just collecting information on RA II engines. I could see running a RA II in early 69 before the RA IV were available. Maybe they wanted to see if the RA II was equivalent to the RA IV with porting and RA IV intake? They shared the same 041 camshaft but RA II used 1.5 rockers. If you ported the heads to match the RA IV intake and ran 1.65 rockers it should be equivalent to the RA IV. Possibly looking to get an "advantage' running a RA II with factory HP rating of 366 vs RA IV with 370 HP rating? I would have to research the NHRA class designations during that period. Porting was not allowed but racers tried all kinds of things to bend the rules. I saw a RA II block with full 9792506 and C118 date code at Norwalk last year. Someone had acid washed the block code. I suspect a racer did that to pass it off as a "stock" 400.

[SunnyS]

Thought I would throw some info into this thread. I bought Rob L' s GTO in September of 1972 at the tender age of 17. Car belonged to a preacher a few streets from my house. The car was saved by the fact that my grandmother passed that year and was given her car so the GTO went to a garage next door to me and was only used on sunny Ohio days. Not many of those in Youngstown Ohio back then with the steel mills putting enough crap in the air that you never new that the sky was blue.. The car had a new set of tires on it when I bought it and given the ultra low miles for a 4 year old car the preacher apparently had to get to church in a hurry for some important blessing to give out.. I was a Pontiac mechanic that year and then went into the parts department as there manager . I ordered a ton of NOS parts for that car and made some great changes to improve that car but some would be mad about the changes to a car like this but they were great additions. Never lost a race when I had the opportunity to take it out and the car ran a best of 13:60 at 104 the one day at Quaker City drag strip in Salem ,Ohio thru stock exhaust and wider rear tires then the G70X14.. The car did have the stock air cleaner and closed scopes in the trunk with the heat riser plate also. Told my dad this car was going to buy my first house and it did. When I sold it to John T in 1984 it gave me the thirty percent to put down on that house to make the payments affordable to me and my new wife. Hard to believe John drove that car from Canfield,Ohio to his house in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan. 500 plus miles with 4:33 gears.. Was a great car and wish I had it back.

[johnta1]

Thanks for the post, SunnyS! (and welcome to PY)

I think most of us here wish we had a few of our cars back that we had back then.