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4 Attachment(s)
Here is '71 Pontiac GT-37 Temptest test. Option was same configuration for 72 models.
Test is from November, 1971 High Performance Cars magazine.
Low compression 400 Pontiac models were never as quick on streets of Toronto, even ones equipped with headers, and bigger tires. Hmmm!
Mid-14s would have been very good for high compression 400-350 HP GTO in 1970.
Maybe magazine writer was smoking too much 'hooch' when editorial dead-line came around, but, who can say, eh?
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2 Attachment(s)
Here is a real Olds ''ripper-tripper.'' Check it out!
'71 Olds Cutlass; 350-4V tested by Hot Rod, August, 1971.
With a set of headers and an aftermarket intake with an older (1968-1970)Rochester Quad bolted on, they were pretty quick for the day, and good on gas.
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[quote=dog ear;982393]Here is a real Olds ''ripper-tripper.'' Check it out!
'71 Olds Cutlass; 350-4V tested by Hot Rod, August, 1971.
With a set of headers and an aftermarket intake with an older (1968-1970)Rochester Quad bolted on, they were pretty quick for the day, and good on gas.[/quote]
Those are pretty good times for a 350 and relatively mild 3.42:1 gears. As you said, easy to do mods and the engine would respond well to them.
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[quote=dog ear;982392]Here is '71 Pontiac GT-37 Temptest test. Option was same configuration for 72 models.
Test is from November, 1971 High Performance Cars magazine.
Low compression 400 Pontiac models were never as quick on streets of Toronto, even ones equipped with headers, and bigger tires. Hmmm!
Mid-14s would have been very good for high compression 400-350 HP GTO in 1970.
Maybe magazine writer was smoking too much 'hooch' when editorial dead-line came around, but, who can say, eh?[/quote]
14.5 @ 96 mph? Again, a good time for a 350 (and with low-compression). There were still some good performers in 1971 and 1972. Even into 1973 in a few cases ('73 Firebird SD 455 and 454 Corvette).
Yes, the average '70 GTO was around mid-14s, except when it had lower gearing, then it was good for low-14s/high-13s.
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3 Attachment(s)
Hey, Fleet, here is a pre-production test of a 1971 Pontiac Ventura II with a 455 HO. Article was in the July, '71 issue of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated magazine.
This was never released by Pontiac but imagine if it had been?
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[quote=dog ear;982445]Hey, Fleet, here is a pre-production test of a 1971 Pontiac Ventura II with a 455 HO. Article was in the July, '71 issue of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated magazine.
This was never released by Pontiac but imagine if it had been?[/quote]
That one looks familiar. I think I have it but I'm too tired to look through my magazines to verify. I'm almost sure I have it. I was very surprised to see a test of a 455 Ventura when I first saw it... sure is a lot different than a 307 Ventura!
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I best remember the 350-2V (Pontiac) Ventura in the '71-'74 period.
Many Canadians referred to them as Pontiac “big-blocks’’ in order to differentiate the Pontiac engine from that of Chevrolet. Others often termed the Pontiac engine an ‘American straight-90’ or American ‘blue-block.’ Some Canadians even believed that the small block Olds was in fact, a ‘big-block,’ and no amount of education would convince them otherwise.
Admittedly, I had never heard of a 307 (Chevy) Ventura in those years, until much, much later. I knew that all pre-‘72 Canadian made Pontiacs actually used the Chevrolet chassis, engines and transmissions, with the American built Pontiac bodies, and different names like Laurentian and Parisienne, instead of Catalina and Bonneville. In Canada, the Pontiac Acadian was the cloned Chevy II / Nova.
I drove a '74 GTO (350-4V) around '77 and it was a blast. In Canada at least, there was a ’75-’76 Ventura SJ with the Pontiac 350-4V, very similar in concept to the ‘74 GTO. I almost bought one back in 1982. Fun cars! Now if only they could have come with the 455.!
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I never knew that... Canadians referring to a 350 engine as a big-block. It's definitely a small-block.
Mechanix Illustrated tested a '71 Pontiac Ventura with a 307 engine. 0-60 took a long 14 seconds! I'm sure you know about how that engine is laughed at by car guys. I never figured out why; I guess it was just the way it was designed or something. The hp and torque rating for the 307 (200 and 300 ft-lbs gross) was about the same as other small V-8s but it just couldn't accelerate well.
If I were a Chevy enthusiast and was looking for a Nova or Chevelle, I would definitely not even consider one with a 307 engine!
But the 350 engines were fine. And they responded well to mods.
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Problem with Chevy 307 is that it was a long stroke engine; very similar to the later 305. Both used small valve heads, low compression and a very mild cam with 2V carb. They respond to mods but most people shun them in favor of the 350. In retrospect, the 283 seemed to be a better choice if you went small...unless you had access to the 302 Z engine. Another ball game altogether...
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[quote=dog ear;982477]Problem with Chevy 307 is that it was a long stroke engine; very similar to the later 305. Both used small valve heads, low compression and a very mild cam with 2V carb. They respond to mods but most people shun them in favor of the 350. In retrospect, the 283 seemed to be a better choice if you went small...unless you had access to the 302 Z engine. Another ball game altogether...[/quote]
Yes, I was going to say that. The 283 (and 327) is a much better choice than a 307.
Not that I plan to buy a Chevy anyway. 4 cars is enough.
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Street racing anyone?
Here are two articles dealing with the subject circa 1968-74.
You dig, Fleet?
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3 Attachment(s)
71 Dodge Charger Super Bee 440-4V Magnum
February, 1971 Hot Rod magazine
A friend of mine used to own the same car. Later he drove a 72 Charger Rallye with 400-4V Magnum.
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Oct, 1970 Road Test Magazine
71 Cougar 429 CJ test
I would say that this was a dead stock car. Road test never collected advertsing money from any manufacturer and their tests were usually pretty accurate.
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[quote=dog ear;982551]Street racing anyone?
Here are two articles dealing with the subject circa 1968-74.
You dig, Fleet?[/quote]
Thanks for that, dog ear. I always did like reading about street racing. Reading about it is safer than doing it yourself. Less expensive, too.
That second article looks more like track racing than street racing.
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[quote=Fleet 500;982557]Thanks for that, dog ear. I always did like reading about street racing. Reading about it is safer than doing it yourself. Less expensive, too.
That second article looks more like track racing than street racing.[/quote]
Both articles actually depict 'real' street-driven vehicles in that era. Street racers of that caliber often took their cars to the drag strip and 'grudge-raced' an opponent in order to officially see who was best. Crondeks usually tell the tale...they don't lie!