At The Track
Ray Klemm
Ray began attending the Ames Performance Pontiac Tri-Power Nationals with his '69 Firebird in 2004, and each year he's tried to make the car a little faster. "I started out with a 13.10 at 102 mph and it's improved from there," he says.
This year, he came to our Shootout with a previous best of 12.22 at 112 mph; his goal was to beat that.
For his first pass, he launched the Bird at 1,500 rpm, crossed the 60-foot in 1.72 seconds, and hit the traps in 11.84 seconds at 112 mph. Though elated he had a best pass ever, the pressure was on. Could he improve upon his time by the end of the day?
By lowering timing from 36 degrees to 33 degrees, removing the air cleaner, and uncapping the exhaust, over the next five runs trap speed increased each time, reaching a high of 115.28 mph on pass number six. Nonetheless, the Firebird refused to give a better e.t.
Of the event, Ray said, "I enjoyed the whole thing. The staff was attentive, answered all my questions, and were very nice people to work with." Of his Firebird's reaction to the track, he recalled, "We were able to increase power, but our car did not hook well at all. I tried varying the burnout time to no avail."
Dave Laudenschlager
Dave pulled the original R/A-IV out of his GTO in 2004 for safekeeping, and he's been racing on a 455/463 combo since. Like Ray, this was Dave's fifth year at Norwalk, and his goal was to see the effect that a vacuum relief valve and a new vacuum pump had on his performance. Dave's previous best was an 11.34 at 118.63, but that was in October and at night, so he did not expect to get a best time ever during our summer daytime event.
For his first pass, Dave launched the GTO at 1,500 and passed the 60-foot in 1.63 seconds. His e.t. was 11.63 at 114.78. He observed that he spun a little off the line, lowered his tire pressure from 17 to 15 psi, and later let out the 15 psi of air in the left rear air bag.
His best pass of the day came on the fifth try. Tuning changes made for the fourth pass, 16 psi in the tires, and the air filter removed, combined with changes made for the fifth, raising his timing to 36 degrees from 30 degrees, put the GTO over the top. The result was a 1.62 60-foot, its best of the day, and an 11.54 at 115.64 mph.
As far as the event, Dave said he liked "the chance to play with his car," and "it was a good time." Regarding his GTO's reaction to the Summit track, he recalled, "It hooked good. I love Norwalk."
Conclusion
There's no doubt that 1969 was a magic year for Pontiac, and its cars commanded respect on the street and at the track. That's why these two racers love their '69s and both enjoy using them as strip-only cars.
Comparing the drivers' combinations, they have a lot in common. Both men run over-bored 455s and Turbo 400s. Even the rear gears are not that far apart-Ray with a 3.70 and Dave with a 3.55.
The racers' timeslips back up the similarities. Ray propelled his Firebird to consistent 11.85 e.t.'s the day of our event, and Dave made his GTO perform in the 11.5-11.6 e.t. range.
So what's different between the two cars? The most noticeable differences were the heads (Dave with aluminum E-heads and Ray with No. 62 iron heads), cam specs, and each car's weight. Dave's GTO, with driver, is 280 pounds heavier than his competitor's Firebird.
What did each driver show us?
Ray made changes after each pass, and every one of them increased power, as evidenced in his trap speed of each run. His first pass was at 112 mph and his sixth pass was at 115.28 mph. That means Ray was finding horsepower and attempting to use it to lower his e.t.'s. A look at his 60-foot times shows an inverse relationship to power. As Ray tweaked more out of his engine, his 60-foot times got slower, every time. The Firebird was unleashing too much power at the starting line for the tires, and it was negatively affecting his e.t.'s. By working out his launches at the Ames Performance Pontiac Tri-Power Nationals following our Pavement Pounders Shootout, Ray was finally able to get the power under control at launch. It resulted in his best time ever: an 11.77 at 116.5 mph.
Dave showed us that though his GTO now sports a 455 in place of the RA-IV, it remains true to its performance heritage. Dave has campaigned it for 27 years, and it continues to reward him with great passes whenever he takes it to the track. He had fun trying different settings with his air bags and different pressure in his slicks, and though it caused his 60-foots to be somewhat varied, he was able to determine which settings will help him most in the future for lower e.t.'s.
Whether you plan on building a classic-year GTO or Firebird, or another year Pontiac from the Wide-Track era, the cars and combos detailed in this Shootout will give you plenty of ideas for your project.
HPP would like to thank the management and crew at Summit Motorsports Park for their assistance in making this Shootout possible, and Duke Jefferson, John Labuda, and Arnie Brewer, who helped make the day go much more smoothly.