Digital Newsletter Fall 2014 - Royal Pontiac Club of America

www.royalpontiac.org
Volume 21 Issue 3
Sept 2014
Inside this issue:
Romping on Woodward
By Dr. Eric Schiffer
Romping on Woodward
1–2
67 GTO motor upgrade
3– 4
Trans Am Series Celebration
Busy Summer… I have been very fortunate and appreciated these last 3 months of
Summer. Even with the weather as interesting and as unpredictable as it was I was still
able to participate in a variety of interesting activities such as enjoying my Saturday
morning breakfasts that follows Pasteiner’s Auto Zone gatherings. On one of those Saturdays, a few of us were invited to view and attend Buck Mook’s car collection. It was
there that Buck rolled out his 1929 Marmon Indy race car onto his driveway and asked
who wants a ride. Not being shy, I jumped into the cock pit for a very enlightening ride.
Enlightening because I discovered how small the cock pit was and how harsh a ride it
was. I realized what kind of “Iron men” the drivers had to be to endure 500 miles of
wrestling with these cars. Another Saturday night I attended Mark Stielow’s car guy
BBQ. It was a who’s who in the auto world. Some of the people in attendance were, Kip
Wasenko, GM Design Director at GM Performance retired, Brian Thompson, Thompson Automotive, John Hennessy, Hennessy Automotive, John Heinricy, retired assistant
chief engineer for the Corvette and Director of the GM Performance Division, Kevin
Bryd, cable TV’s “Two Guys Garage” and many others. Mark may be better known to
you for his 1969 Camaro “Red Devil” on the Optimum battery commercial and SEMA’s
challenge. Both John and Mark were kind enough to sign my Z06’s dash. I later had Tom
Peters, Director of GM Camaro and Corvette Design, sign my Z06’s dash also. I hope to
be able attend again next year.
Auto Zone Summer gatherings…This summer’s weather has been very volatile, but
it seems to be good enough for our Saturday mornings from 7:30 – 10:00AM in Birmingham. There is a great gathering of cars and car guys/gals. You will see everything in the
parking lot from multi million dollar classics to Rat Rods and advance production engineering cars to pre certified imports. This is a car show without being an official one. It
is also a place to grab a cup of coffee and view advanced engineering and evaluation cars
from the auto industry. Just look over the pictures I have taken that are posted on the
clubs web site to see what I mean. 2015 Z28’s and Alfa’s not yet in the public hands or
reviewed in the enthusiast magazines. You owe it to yourself to drop by.
GTO’s 50th Anniversary… For those of you that are unaware, this year is the 50th
Anniversary of the Pontiac GTO. Jim Wangers has been making appearances at many
Concour and car shows around the country and was even written about his appearances
in Drew Harding’s “Editor’s Note” in the front of the August “Muscle Car Review”. Do
to Jim’s iconic status and vast automotive knowledge, Drew states you should not miss
seeing Jim at one of these national events. While Jim has been in great demand for this
GTO Anniversary year since I had been busy lobbing three main events in Detroit to
5
Vintage Article Firebreathing Firebird
6-8
Important Info from
SEMA
9-10
Open Track Day
11-12
Vintage Ad
13
Membership Application
14
Club Calendar
15
Page 2
Newsletter Title
Romping on Woodward (cont’d)
Dr. Eric Schiffer
celebrate this event with the inclusion of industry icon Jim Wangers since October. Talk about frustration and dealing with self-serving non “Car Guys”! Thankfully, the Father’s Day charity Eyes On Design was smart enough to recruit me to find the GTO’s. With the help of a few friends, all 14 years of GTO production was represented. But
they could not commit to having Jim there.
My experience with the St. John’s Concour d’ Elegance and the City of Berkley for the Dream Cruise was not as
successful. Berkley blew me off while the “Powers to be” at St. John’s told me “this was a ‘different’ type of event.”
Whatever that means! Anyone who attended St. Johns noted how insulting it was in having 7 GTO’s, two of which
were 1964’s. The worse insult was the 4 Mustangs in celebration of 50 years of Ford’s icon, one of which was a new
model.
St. John’s did display at least a dozen aero cars, Dodge Charger Daytona, Plymouth Superbird, Charger 500, Torino
Talendaga and Mercury Cal Yarboro. Another circle was 1950’s “Jet Finned Pickups”. Humm.. I have no idea the
significance of duplicates in this classes when they had been promoting 50 years of Ford’s Mustang and Pontiac’s
GTO then to place them in the back 40 of the show like orphans.
GTOAA 2014…Reports from members who attended were disappointing. The Drag Racing was canceled due to
low participation.
Norwalk 2014…Reports here was the Saturday drag racing was a rainout. Tough year for car shows.
Dream Cruise 2014…The club sold out all 20 of our Birmingham spots. The weather was perfect after a shaky
start of the week. I hope everyone had a great time.
My cousin, Warren Pierce, longtime WJR radio host, stopped by to make sound recording for his radio show. Warren recorded the exhaust notes coming out of my of 1968 GTO and 1968 Firebird (the ex-Jim Wangers’ Blackbird).
Warren told me this was the first Dream Cruise in many years that he did not have Jim Wangers on the air for an
early Saturday morning Dream Cruise interview.
Warp up of Dream Cruise Weekend. Warren did interview Jim Monday night at 6:45 PM on the Mitch Album
show. Warren tested Jim’s ability to identify cars by their exhaust sounds. He threw in the exhaust of the
“Blackbird”. Jim laughed and a short discussion continued.
We have dash plaques from Birmingham for those who participated. Todd will be mailing them out in the near future.
Condolence to Jim Wangers…Unfortunately on Dream Cruise weekend, August 16, Jim Wangers buried his
older brother Robert (Wangers) Wangershiem.
Muscle Car Review Magazine…Has contacted me to do an article on the Blackbird. Barry Kluczyk will be writing the article and getting together with me over Labor Day weekend.
Points and Condenser Preservation Society….We are waiting to hear when the fall color tour will be. Every
tour has been will run with great destinations. Our pictures from past tours should be showing you what you are
missing out on.
High-Performance STOCKERS….July 1968 issue featured the late Tony Knieper and his Super Stock ’67 Firebird on the cover. Tony was featured in the magazine in a wonderful article. The unfortunate part about this is that
Tony may never have seen this due to a trailering accident that took his life in June 1968 at the time the magazine
hit the stands. Tony had ordered the black 1968 Firebird Ram Air car for his brother Mike, who also died in the
crash, to street race. That eventually became Jim Wangers’ famous “Blackbird”.
Cider Mill gathering Sun Oct 19th at Franklin Cider Mill. Meet in front of the Old Franklin Church at
10am. Club will buy cider and donuts.
Well, time to burn rubber
Page 3
67 GTO Motor upgrade project
By Kevin Horn
My dad and I purchased the GTO last year in August (8/2013). My father had always wanted a GTO, he
often talks about how he watched them roll off the assembly line where he worked in Pontiac at the factory where they were made. We pooled our money together and started our search. We ended up buying a 1967 in Kentucky that was actually made at the Pontiac plant where my father worked. The previous
owner installed a low compression 400 and an M20 close ratio 4 speed with console as well as a new interior. We got the car home and started working on it. The interior, paint and bodywork were done, but
nothing else. We had to replace the cam shaft due to one of the lobes being flat, we got the engine running better, but it still didn’t have much power. We decided to remove it and get another engine.
I was referred to Club Member Lorin Budzinski as a possible source for a new engine. Lorin built us a 455
with rebuilt and new parts. He ported and rebuilt the 6x-4 heads that I found on Craigslist. Some of the
new parts utilized are valves, springs, Lunati roller cam, Ross pistons, Total Seal rings, ARP bolts, bearings
and an oil pump. After the build, I bolted up a new Pertronix Flame Thrower III distributor and a Holley
850 carb and proceeded to run it on a test stand to check for leaks. We then we broke it in on a dyno at
Jimkid Motorsports, followed by some performance tuning. We adjusted timing and jets until we ended up
with 467hp @ 5000rpm and 540ftlb torque at 3000.
My son Mark and I installed the engine in on a weekend and made some adjustments and worked the bugs
throughout the following week. The engine was in and out a couple of times during the install, once to get
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67 GTO Motor upgrade project
By Kevin Horn
the headers bolted up and another to get the Z-bar for the clutch installed. I knew I would have to lift the
engine out to get the headers on, but I forgot that the Z-bar wouldn’t go in with the engine bolted up.
(Removing the bell housing and flywheel was also necessary to get the Z-bar in) The issues continued, the
steering coupler (rag joint) was contacting the #1 header tube and the pinion nut also loosened up during
one of our test drives.
The major issues are sorted out now and we have managed to put a 600 miles on it with no new issues
other than it running a tad warm. Installing a new radiator may be next on our list. Some of the other future modifications will be possibly putting in an overdrive transmission (Tremec TKO600), disc brakes, upgrade the fuel system to 3/8 fuel line and replacing all the bushings, ball joints and steering components.
If we get the new overdrive transmission modification done, we will take it on the next Hot Rod Power
Tour.
I look forward to taking the GTO to Woodward and several other car shows and events, and possibly a
trip to the drag strip to what kind of times it will run.
Page 5
Trans Am Series Celebration
during the SAAC-MCR Harvest Happening
at Waterford Hills Raceway, Oct 5th 2014
Open to all Pony Cars from 1966-1972
Have you ever wanted to take your pony car out to the track? Ever longed for the excitement that defined the Trans-Am series glory
days? The Shelby American Automobile Club—Motor City Region (SAAC-MCR) offers an opportunity at The Waterford Hills Road
Racing course, on Sunday, Oct 5th 2014. Bring your classic pony car and participate in some parade laps around the road course.
The event is run at lunch time (around noon) during the open track event. We will run a 15 minute touring session around the road
course starting at 12:45 . This will be open to all Pony cars from 1964-1972, and should allow for some great photo opportunity’s.
You can join the touring laps for free! Remember, you don’t need to participate in the hot laps unless you want to.
Following the parade laps we will also run a 15 minute hot session for the Trans Am cars only, if you would like to run your car at
speed. This session will immediately follow the parade laps. Tech inspection/ helmet etc is required for hot laps. Info at
http://www.saac-mcr.com/te/ If you are already participating in the open track day this session is free. if you would like to participate in
the Trans Am “Hot” laps without participating in the regular track event, the cost is $50.
The road course has an interesting history. One of the big highlights of 1961 was the visit of English Formula One driver Sir Stirling
Moss on Oct 1. He'd just run the first Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport the day before and accepted an invite to visit Waterford Hills
prior to a lecture he was giving at the Masonic Temple that night. In an address to the paddock following his touring laps, Stirling was
quoted as saying, "If you can go fast at Waterford, then you can go fast anywhere."
Just show up at the track for the Fantasy Trans-Am parade laps and we will line up the cars in a Le Mans start formation for photos at
about 12:30 pm. Then we will do some parade laps for more photos on the track.
If you have any questions about the open track event, contact Mike Kidd @ [email protected]
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From SEMA Action Network:
Michigan Introduces Bill to Ban Most Aftermarket Exhaust Systems
Legislation (H.B. 5726) to prohibit motor vehicle repair facilities from modifying an exhaust system to “produce noise in excess of
OEM stock decibel levels” has been introduced in Michigan. Under the bill, a person who violates this prohibition would be
forced to pay a fine of $10,000 for each violation.
We Urge You to Contact Members of the Michigan House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (List Below) Immediately to Oppose
H.B. 5726

Under Michigan law, a motor vehicle repair facility means “a place of business which engages in the business of performing or
employing persons who perform maintenance, diagnosis, vehicle body work, or repair service on a motor vehicle for compensation . . .”

H.B. 5726 does not provide repair facilities with decibel readings on factory-installed exhaust systems.

H.B. 5726 ignores the fact that aftermarket exhaust systems are designed to make vehicles run more efficiently without increasing emissions.

H.B. 5726 would make it impossible for hobbyists to replace factory exhaust systems with durable, better performing options.
H.B. 5726 would saddle violators with excessive and unreasonable fines.
DON’T DELAY! Please contact members of the Michigan House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee immediately to request their
opposition to H.B. 5726.
Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Steve McDonald at [email protected]. Also, please forward this Alert to your fellow car
enthusiasts. Urge them to join the SAN and help defend the hobby! Thank you for your assistance.
Michigan House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
To e-mail all Committee members, copy and paste the email address block below:
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Representative Wayne Schmidt (Chair)
Phone: (517) 373-1766
Email: [email protected]
Representative Ben Glardon (Vice-Chair)
Phone: (517) 373-0841
Email: [email protected]
Page 10
Representative Kevin Daley
Representative Gretchen Driskell
Phone: (517) 373-1800
Phone: (517) 373-0828
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Representative Kurt Heise
Representative Tom Cochran
Phone: (517) 373-3816
Phone: (517) 373-0587
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Representative Bradford Jacobsen
Representative Charles Smiley
Phone: (517) 373-1798
Phone: (517) 373-3906
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Representative Margaret O'Brien
Phone: (517) 373-1774
Email: [email protected]
Representative Peter Pettalia
Phone: (517) 373-0833
Email: [email protected]
Representative Dan Lauwers
Phone: (517) 373-1790
Email: [email protected]
Representative Michael McCready
Phone: (517) 373-8670
Email: [email protected]
Representative Marilyn Lane
Phone: (517) 373-0159
Email: [email protected]
Representative Scott Dianda
Phone: (517) 373-0850
Email: [email protected]
Representative David Rutledge
Phone: (517) 373-1771
Email: [email protected]
Page 11
Open Track Day Waterford Hills
By Mike Kidd
I attended Waterford Hills open track day on Aug 31st, as they were a little short handed I helped
with Tech and also lent a hand instructing. While I have run a lot of laps around the course it was
my first time instructing. My student was an auto crosser, so he was already comfortable pushing
his car to the limit. While he did pretty well, I was reminded that the passenger seat is always a little
scarier.
While helping Tech the long line of cars, I was thrilled to see Pontiac legend Herb Adams and his
son Matt. They had brought their “Contessa” track car. They are really cool guys. If you are not
familiar with the car you can click the following link :
http://blog.caranddriver.com/50-years-in-the-making-herb-adams-and-passion-motors-present-the-contessa-sports-car/
Above: Contessa in the pits and on the track
Left: A bit if a traffic jam off turn 1
You may also recall Herb Adams work with
the Trans Am program at Pontiac and his
campaign of a 64 Lemans in the 1971
Trans Am season (the Gray Ghost). The
unsponsored team of Pontiac engineers
was good enough to put a real scare into
the high dollar factory teams.
He was/is also involved with many other
activities (VSE suspension, Chevarra at
Daytona, etc...)
Page 12
Open Track Day Waterford Hills (cont’d)
By Mike Kidd
More Info on the Gray Ghost: http://bangshift.com/bangshiftapex/the-defant-ones-part-3-the-gray-ghost/.
More Info on Herb Adams http://www.pontiacsonline.com/Herb%20Adams.htm
Unfortunately, I had to leave a little early for a meeting at work. But between helping tech 70+ cars,
meeting a living legend, driving in two sessions and providing instruction through two more I was a
little exhausted anyway. My 17 year old WS6 can still give the newer cars fits. It was a great track
day.
More pics from the event https://www.flickr.com/photos/kidd1014/sets/72157646695737740/
A video from session 2 (Yes that Mustang was holding people up) http://youtu.be/BcAgXwm3fGc
Right: A view from the pits with my
WS6 in the foreground
Left: Coming into turn 1, following
that darn Mustang
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Royal Pontiac Club of America
Sept 2014
Primary Business
Royal Pontiac
Club of America
Address
P.O. Box 252402
West
Bloomfield,Line
MI 48325
Address
2
Address Line 3
11 Royal Pontiac Club Meeting Denny’s Novi dinner at 6, meeting
at 7
12 35th Annual NSRA Street Rod Nationals Kalamazoo, MI
20 Michigan Antique Festival Midland, MI
21 Orphan Car Show Ypsilanti, MI
27 Nostalgia Drags Milan, MI
http://www.milandragway.com/news-articles/saturday-september-27th-nostalgia-drags.aspx
Oct 2014
www.royalpontiac.org
4 Michigan antique and collectible festival Davisburg, MI
4 IDIDIT Car Show Tehcumseh, MI
5 SAAC-MCR Open Track Day at Waterford Hills Road Race Course-Beginner's welcome www.saac-mcr/te.com
5 Trans Am Series Celebration during Open Track Event at Waterford
Hills
9 Royal Pontiac Club Meeting Denny’s Novi dinner at 6, meeting
at 7
12 Open Track Day Waterford Hills www.waterfordhills.com
18 Points and Condenser Preservation Society fall color tour
19 Royal Pontiac Club Cider Mill Cruise at Franklin Cider mill.
Plan to meet at 10am in front of the old Franklin Church. The
club will buy cider and donuts.
Nov 2014
9 Milan Dragway last day of season www.milandragway.com
13 Royal Pontiac Club Meeting Denny’s Novi dinner at 6, meeting at 7
Pasteiners (Auto Zone) Book store,
Woodward Ave north of 14 Mile Rd
Every Saturday morning from 8AM – 10AM
Weekly gathering year round
Looking for Articles!!!
Have you done any cool car events lately? Maybe a great tech tip? Why not share them with other club members?
Would you like to share your pride and joy with other club members? Write a short “meet the member” article introducing you and your car. Be sure to include some pictures. We can also add pics of your ride to our “members”
tab on the website.
Please email Mike Kidd with ideas or anything you’d like to share in the newsletter. [email protected]