1971 Pro Touring Trans Am with a twist

[Vince@Meanstreets]

the body is getting stripped down and its almost ready to go to media blasting.

[Rick D]

Greg is this an org paint car?? Can't wait to see how it looks under the paint.

About the gaps, my 73 has very nice gaps, better then any 1st gen I had? Seen they did a better job on the second go around of the F body's?

[Royalworks]

I can't say they did a better job on the F bodies. I use to build Trans Ams all day long and it seemed you could get a nice one in once in a while. But most of the time they didn't fit. You could take three doors and throw them on a car and they would all fit differently. Same with fenders. Hoods were usually pretty consistent. Sub frames were different as well.

[ScottieB]

I would like to pledge $500 worth of tickets if you end up going the raffle direction. If it goes to auction, I will donate to your charity. Nice work!

[Rick D]

Originally Posted by garickman

I am not sure if it is an original paint car. I believe it is but I have never seen another quezal gold firebird in person. I have seen pictures and it does appear to be the correct color. Unless someone did a really good masking job back in the day I don't think it has been repainted. The trunk has the original splatter paint and when we removed the carpet and door panels everything seemed to be consistent like it was from the factory. I did sand down the lower valance and that for sure was the original paint.

After discussing it with Vince, I think we are going to have the under carriage, firewall, window and door jams and the interior/trunk floors blasted and I am just going to suck it up and sand the body by hand. I am a little worried about the larger panels being warped during blasting, especially the roof. Any thoughts on this Rick?

.

I must have got one of the better ones because these gaps on this car are damn near perfect. Me and Vince have joked around and said too bad there wasn't a way we could rebuild this whole car and repaint it without removing the doors and trunk. I'm sure they will be perfect again, it's just going to take a little effort.

Greg, I never use media blasting any more, I either strip by hand or have the parts dipped. The shell I da sand and the bolt on parts I will have dipped to remove everything and have a nice place to start or junk left lol.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

We are just doing the firewall, undercarrige, trunk and interior floor. There doesn't seem to be any rust on the body so i'll get to enjoy watching Greg DA that old paint off. Should be good to go. It looks like a respray but its hard to tell. No edges in the jams.

Doors will never be removed.

My media guy is the best in the business and knows how to clean metal. Never had an issue with Meyer's media in Oakland CA. Been using him since 87.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

I was trying to get the body to the media blasters before I went on vacation but I had a few drop ins that had to get done.

The body is almost ready to go. I will cut out a few panels so he can get in all the nooks and crannies.

[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by garickman

Just got a little bit of info from Wegner Motorsports. I don't necessarily know what all this means, but I thought it might be of some interest. I told Wegner to make the engine very street friendly.

Since I have a tall deck block, it was suggested that I use connecting rods with a 6.460 length, so I will be using Callies Ultra XD I beam rods.

Flat Top Diamond Pistons
Stroke: 4.125
Rod Length: 6.460
Comp. Height: 1.230
Block Deck Height: 9.750
Piston to Deck: +.003
Cylinder Bore Length: 6.300
Comp. Ratio: 10.8:1
Chamber Volume CC: 68.2
Estimated Horse Power: 650-700

Here is the info on the custom grind from Comp Cams:

Greg,

The cam profile is interesting, and they are doing what you asked them to do. The combination of 12° duration split the 115° lobe center work together to build a broad powerband.

I don't recall running as high as 12° duration split before. 10° ... yes .... but not 12°. I think the engine will have throttle control like a rheostat ... which is good ... smooth & linear as opposed to "peaky."

Would you share with us how it runs after you get it all together?


.

[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by garickman

Ron, Wegner Motorsports and Comp Cams came up with that profile on their own. I know nothing about building an engine. When I look at that spec card, it might as well be in another language! The only thing I told them was that I was willing to sacrifice some performance for a more street friendly car that can run well on pump gas. So I hate to sound ignorant but I am when it comes to engine building. I don't know if the profile had anything to do with the fact that I am running a Harrop Hurrican ITB intake. The engine will be in the assembly room on Monday. Wegner said he would send me a video of the dyno testing.
You're in good hands. Wegner is a sharp builder & I have loved working with the Comp Cams guys since 1983. They understand lobe shapes better than anyone ... and I have found ... know where to give & take to get the best power.

That is not what they have done here & that's what caught my eye. Running 12° duration split & a 115° lobe center will not build optimum power. It will really spread the power range out ... which is what you asked for ... versus building the highest power numbers in a smaller rpm range like race engines are built to do. We wouldn't build race engines this way, but for a street & track engine, it will be awesome.


I noticed you high lighted the piston to deck +.003. I don't know what that means but I am all ears if you care to give me a quick education.

Most "typical" engine builders run .030" piston to deck clearance. Add a .030" to .040" head gasket to that and you end up with .060"-.070" piston to head clearance ... which is very "safe" ... but doesn't build optimum power, because the squish band is not tight enough.

The "squish band" is the outer area of the bore between the flat top surface of the piston & the flat bottom surface of the head at TDC. .060"-.070" piston to head clearance doesn't make for an optimum squish area. Making that squish band "tighter" or thinner is one trick to optimizing the flame travel during combustion process, & therefore increasing power in high performance & race engines.

Wegner is not a typical engine builder. They have made your piston to deck clearance .003". So that ... plus whatever head gasket thickness ... is your engine's squish area. If the head gasket compresses to .042" ... plus that .003" = .045" squish band.

That's the same as we run, because it's safe. You can run less, but it gets risky & I don't like the risk for the small reward.

[Ron Sutton]

Looks cool.

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