Jason Sileo airbrushed the...
Jason Sileo airbrushed the Lucerne Blue graphics onto the Polar White body before Philipp added two additional coats of PPG clear to seal them in. The nose bird was partially designed by the owner.
Over the next 17 months, Artie and Loren spent hours on the phone discussing every last detail of the build. "We decided against a concours restoration early on," Loren says. "I remember him asking, 'Do you want this car to be all stock, or do you want to have fun?' For me, fun always wins out." Knowing what had attracted Loren's attention, Artie took an approach similar to that used on his own Trans Am and built Loren a car that excelled in every way possible.
Artie sent a 455 from a '72 Catalina to Joe Tedesco of Tedesco Auto in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, for rebuilding. S&S Machine in Kingston, Pennsylvania, bored the cylinders 0.030 inch to 4.18 increasing total displacement to 462 ci. The balanced rotating assembly rides on Clevite bearings and consists of a 4.21-inch- stroke, nodular-iron crankshaft secured by new four-bolt main caps, stock cast-iron connecting rods with ARP bolts, and TRW forged, aluminum pistons with Speed-Pro chrome-moly rings. A 60-psi Melling oil pump resides in the added-capacity Canton road-race oil pan.
Though the original '70 1/2...
Though the original '70 1/2 Shaker's air valve swings somewhat freely, allowing the fuel-injected 462ci to ingest cool air at lesser throttle angles, a switch mounted on the throttle body energizes the solenoid that pulls the air valve wide open under heavy throttle.
A pair of Edelbrock 87cc, aluminum cylinder heads were utilized to achieve a compression ratio just over 10.0:1. Fitted with longer-than-original Ferrea stainless steel, 2.11/1.66-inch valves, the 215cc intake ports contain no additional porting and are advertised by the manufacturer as flowing 275 cfm at 0.600-inch lift at 28 inches of pressure. An ACCEL throttle body sits atop the Tomahawk single-plane intake manifold, while custom-made fuel rails feed the injectors.
The camshaft is a custom hydraulic roller from Butler Performance in Leoma, Tennessee, and features 230/236 degrees of 0.050-inch duration and 0.510/0.520-inch valve lift with Comp Cams 1.5:1-ratio, full-roller rocker arms. The ceramic-coated exhaust system is comprised of a pair of Tribal Tube 1.75-inch-diameter, tri-Y headers and a modified, 3-inch, dual-exhaust system featuring an x-type crossover, turbo-style mufflers, and '70 1/2 Firebird chromed tailpipe extensions from Pypes Performance Exhaust in Hatfield, Pennsylvania.
American Racing Torq Thrust...
American Racing Torq Thrust wheels in 17x8-inch (with 4-inch backspace) up front and 17x9.5-inch (with 5-inch backspace) out back are complemented by Michelin Pilot tires in 245/45ZR17 and 275/40ZR17 sizes, respectively.
Job Spetter of Turbo People in Hastings on Hudson, New York, dialed in the electronic spark and fuel curves of the ACCEL DFI engine-management system on his company's chassis dyno. With 36 degrees of total spark lead, the potent mill generated a healthy 417 hp (that's about 500 hp at the crank) and 455 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. "The dyno-shop owner commented that he hadn't had a car in his shop before that he thought was actually going to leap off the dyno," says Loren.
Artie performed the Trans Am's flawless paint and bodywork at his family's auto-body repair facility, Philipp's Collision in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He sent the body out for dip-stripping before performing the necessary bodywork and applying six coats of PPG primer. Artie then applied four coats of PPG Polar White base before spraying seven coats of clear. The base and clearcoats were wet-sanded throughout the process with various grit sandpapers, ranging from 1,000 to 2,000, which gives the finish its mirror-like appearance.