1970 Firebird Twin Turbo Build

[65Project]

The car looks amazing, congratulations! Any work back from the shop that made the tip over jig? Cold weather = more time in the shop......

[tcronkright]

It’s been a long journey and the car finally made it home three nights ago. Despite Brian’s pleading that I not take it out because it has not been road tuned (that will happen in 2 weeks in California), I could not resist. Here are a few videos of my first time behind the wheel. If you don’t have good speakers on your computer, grab a pair of headphones – you’ll be glad you did.

Rarely am I at a loss for words, but this one has me stumped. Driving this machine can only be described as a mixture of muscle car utopia, raw adrenaline and fear. As a result, I am going to refer to this beast as the “Stallion” – wild, powerful, untamable and something that must be revered.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback this year. We will be busy on the autocross/events circuit next year. I will be at the Cars & Coffee in Irvine, CA on Jan. 22 and will be participating in the Run to the Coast at the end of February. I hope to meet some of you in person at these events.

Merry Christmas and enjoy!

http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/a...veVideo001.mp4

http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/a...veVideo003.mp4

http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/a...veVideo002.mp4

http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/a...veVideo004.mp4

[kryptik]

Two words: F*cking. Awesome.

[aronhk_md]

Its terrific Tom. Enjoy it in good health. Never heard back from you about those parts you didnt use.....send me a PM if you've decided what you need for them.

Thanks,
Aron

[LeighP]

Thats great....terrific to see it out where it should be, on the road!
Sounds and looks really fine!

[Conrad283]

Amazing

[The Stickman]

Wow what a beautiful build. Great craftsmanship all the way through.

[ZuperZport]

Wow what a beautiful build. Great craftsmanship all the way through.

I second that.

So cool. Awesome build. Congrats!

[whayden2003]

Most likely the baddest trans am on the planet for sure. That is until I start mine. Ha ha. Great job sounds and looks just super bad ass on the street.

[whayden2003]

ttt

[tcronkright]

The car is scheduled to hit Anaheim, CA today in advance of the RTTC event. We will be attending the cruise and dinner on Friday evening and racing on Sunday – can’t wait. If any of you are in the area, stop by J-Star Motors at 8200 East Crystal Drive, Anaheim, CA 92807 and check it out.

Also just registered for the RTMC in May – hope to meet more of you this spring/summer.

We recently put the engine on a resistance dyno to completely dial it in. It produced 1012 hp and 950 lbs/tq at 5600 rpm and 12.72 lbs boost and pump gas. I think we’ll keep it there for now as I learn how to drive this beast. Here’s a link to that dyno pull:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsNyy...&feature=email

Here’s also a tour of the finished product:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f93GC...eature=related


Question – This will be the first year that I participate in autocross, any suggestions on a good helmet and anything else I will need?

Thanks!

[preston]

Great results. I love this - "This will be the first tim eI participate in autocross"....I feel like the next part of your sentence should be "do you think 1012 hp will be enough ?". That should be an interesting first lap.

How is the low speed driveability ? YOu may remembe rI had some concerns about dual 4" inlet throttle bodies...Do you have a very progressive linkage ?

My personal advice which will most likely not be followed, is to go ahead and turn that boost down to 5 psi for awhile. That way not only can your driving get used to it, but you get to have more fun each time you turn it up. And you can stil tell everyone its a 1000 hp car.

Put it this way - I make 620+ rwhp for the last few years, and I"m still not "used" to it, and still frankly a bit scared of it from time to time at least on the street.

[Matt@BOS]

Last year at El Toro was my first encounter with an autocross. Today I'm a mediocre driver at best, however, since you asked, I'll share the pointers that everyone gives to me. Besides, the horribly embarrassing memories of my first outing on the autocross are still fresh in my mind, so I can tell you what doesn't work.

Vision is really important, every instructor or knowledgeable person will tell you this. Look ahead to where you want to be going. Your hands will follow your eyes. It might seem really obvious, but use your side windows. A lot of beginners have a tendency to just look out the windshield, which often times only allows you to see where you are going, and doesn't allow you to see where you want to be going.

Steering/braking/accelerating
one of the best pieces of advice anyone ever gave me was to imagine a string connecting the gas pedal to the steering wheel. As you unwind the wheel increase throttle smoothly. Conversely, when you are braking, be smooth with the brakes don't just step off of them, ease off as you are going through the turn.

Don't make sudden and jerky motions with the steering wheel. I do this all the time on the autocross. Being a small tight course, I'm always afraid that I have to have lightning fast steering inputs to handle all of the sharp little turns which come up incredibly quickly. However, what I've been doing is turning the wheel so quickly that I don't allow the suspension enough time to work. Basically I've just been overloading the front tires and not allowing them enough time to grip as I turn.

Finally, go slow your first lap out. Everything that people had told was good advice, but I couldn't use any of it until I learned what it meant within the context of my car. You have to feel how everything works. Last year I had just finished a week of road racing school in a Corvette and I just assumed that my car would handle the same because it had everything from DSE under it. I was wrong. I knew nothing about setting a car up and hadn't even tried to do my homework ahead of time. Yes, I had just about all of the right parts, but I didn't know how to make them work together. My front tires were horrible mismatched and way too small in comparison to the 335s out back. I didn't have a rear bar either, and the back was pretty soft. Anyway I just drove out there cold. What happened next was really ugly. I took the first turn at maybe 10mph faster than I should have and the front refused to stick...at all. I went straight instead of turning. I mean, I just plowed right through all of the cones that had been nicely set up. The good news was that no one really cared. Most of us still can't drive well, so don't have a leg to stand on if we try to make fun of you. And the good drivers, they all started somewhere too, and more than happy to ride along and give pointers, so be sure to ask for instruction.

Look forward to seeing you out there,

Matt

[cobragt]

Killer Bird!

[LeighP]

Matt,
Good post!

[PonchoJohn]

Dude, that's awesome! Have you posted the results on PY?? Any more thoughts on releasing that intake and valve covers?

[tcronkright]

Sorry for my ignorance, what is PY?

Dude, that's awesome! Have you posted the results on PY?? Any more thoughts on releasing that intake and valve covers?

[PonchoJohn]

Performance Years- the biggest Pontiac site around (and also the source for a lot of A, F, G, H, and X body parts). www.performanceyears.com
The guys in the Race section and in the Forced Induction section would LOVE your engine.

[TekkarEdorf]

This is one killer Bird you got Would like an engine like that in a T\A once :D

[SickSpeedMonte]

You've got to whip out the spanner wrences and get some pictures that match the stance of the renderings! What a car...