Your cars are neat and I like that you're introducing many to Pontiac performance with this video. While Ram Air cars are the considered the Pinacle in Pontiac performance of the era, they also produced HO versions, which delivered improved performance vs. Std cars (10 HP upgrade). Rock on! Simple Ram Air tutorial, Pontiac Style. I hope it is helpful. As mentioned below, this started in 1967 when an actual Ram Air engine package (aimed at drag racing) was created. 1967 - It was call just Ram Air and was a complete package including Heavy Duty Core support (AC car support in non-AC car), different cam, different heads (997 or 97 heads), often a transistorized ignition (distributor/module), could have a close ratio trans with optional 4.33:1 gears 1968 - Both RAI and RAII were introduced. Open hood scoops, as mentioned, pan with foam to seal to underside of hood. * RAI used #31 D-port heads, special cam, high flow exhaust manifolds, close ratio 4-spd trans and a 4.33:1 Safe-T-Track differential (650 produced) * RAII - introduced the non-Siamesed round port heads to a Pontiac (progenitor to the RAIV, 455 HO and 455 SD heads). Again, this was a package with upgraded carb, distributor with different curve, upgraded cam, exhaust manifolds, Safe-T-Track 4.33:1 differential (199 produced) 1969 - RAIII & RAIV were introduced. Again, packages included functional hood scoops (now with flapper door controls ), specific number heads, cams, carb tuning, ignition timing. * RAIII was by far the tamer option that came std with 3.55:1 differentia (Safe-T--Track optional)l, with optional shorter 3.90 or even 4.33:1, if so daring, available on option sheet. This was a package with upgraded carb, distributor with different curve, upgraded cam, exhaust manifolds * RAIV was the follow-on to the RAII, with nearly identical round port heads, high compression, special high-lift cam, 1.65:1 rockers, high flow exhaust manifolds, special carb tuning, ignition timing, and came std with 3.90:1 Safe-T-Track differential, with optional 4.33:1 gears. * RAV , never installed in car from factory, as mentioned, was an engine developed to run in racing circles with displacements for Trans-Am racing (303 CID), and a proposed 400 CID version for the street. * RAVI was to have 366 CID for Nascar and 428 CID for Drag Racing. Plans made. Parts made. Never installed in cars
I owned the RA V 303 rotating assembly, and sold it through Performance Years site to a fellow who had the means to bring it to life. He paid a hefty price for the crank, rods, pistons and cam. They came from Herb Adams shop.
You are welcome. I love my Pontiacs. It was a sad day when they closed the doors but I suppose it only makes the survivors more valuable and appreciated.
After seeing your Ls swap trans am, I made an appointment with the psychiatrist because I don’t have one and need to forget that I saw it. Kidding aside I really like your channel, great video.
Wow thanks, that car is my favorite build to date so far. I believe I have a few more tricks up my sleeve yet to come, maybe one of those will take the cake so to speak. Appreciate you letting us know we are doing good.
Several years ago I bought two super rough and rusted Firebirds, one a 67 and the other a 68. The 67 is one my dad had when I was really young and it was a factory 4 speed “Ram air” car. I ordered a phs on it and it was actually special ordered in regimental red with regimental red interior and hub cap wheels but the odd one to me was it was special ordered without the breather base to make the hood functional but it had every other thing such as the rams or heavy duty suspension (rear end, factory traction bars and hood mounted tach). My 9 year old daughter wants the 68 Firebird which from what I can tell was a 350 car but potentially a 4 speed car. I still need the phs to confirm that, but I’ll get around to that eventually rights now my goal is to get it on stands and all where me and my daughter can work on it together.
@ct1970 4L60E is the why. That transmission fits with no trans tunnel mods. The entire floor and braces are all new and didn’t want to cut them up I was building a car to drive on long road trips and reliability was the goal. If it was a coupe I would have put the 4l80 in and then 6.0 or something else.
Have you checked out the late Bruce Logan-built (in the 1980s) '69 Trans Am with a Ram Air 5 motor? It is a published car but the host hinted it could be a Pontiac test mule. The warning lights went off with me.
I have heard of this car but to the best of my knowledge Pontiac never did it. Now ram air v engines did get purchased over the parts counter and found their way into a handful of cars. That would be my guess.
Just found this video, and will add that Speedwin Automotive in Hauppauge NY built a RAVII "Pontiac" eng. in the mid 70s, (an overbuilt" 455 SD...upwards of 600 HP) for $3200. I can appreciate it. (Not an LS fan.)
Pontiac on paper had plans to do a ram air 6 and 7 using the 428/455 platform unfortunately it never made it past that point. Imagine if they did how far Pontiac would have made it in the horsepower wars.
@@VinylVillageGarage I was hoping that Pontiac would've been more competitive in Pro Stock. The "V" eng. had that potential. If a BBC could compete with the Hemis, so could a RAV. Too bad Pontiac threw in the towel.
@@VinylVillageGarageI heard that they were way past plans on paper. Actually had engine blocks built. The RA VII was an aluminum 427 Hemi Head. When chevy got wind of what they were building they went over to Pontiac and said, all those engine blocks you're working on go to the scrap yard.
The 744 cam is when ran air became factory installed . Midway through 66 on the xs cars .67 is the 1st yr of a dedicated ram air block n heads .9792506 is block # 97 or 997 is head #
When I built my first Firebird nearly 20 years ago. I worked with a tech that got me hooked on Pontiac power. He told me to use the 068 cam. It was and probably still is super popular cam and used in many rebuilds for good all around performance. thanks for sharing!
yes kind of. ram air IV was originally going to have four air inlets to feed the engine but that never happened. that is where the “4” started. it just so happens they where using round port heads for the engine. so yes all ram air VI have round ports heads but had nothing to do with the naming. those heads are quite valuable.
Only seen pics of the RA V heads but they are a thing of beauty. Especially when mounted without the exhaust or intake attached then you get an idea how large and round those ports are.
Cool car but Pontiac engineering did actually make a RAVI it was a 428 version of the RAV w dual quads. Some were raced by dealers. There’s some articles out there about them. Used a version of the forged 990 crank from the 421 they had a single or dual plane dual quad intake that was very rare . Stil really like your TA though. Nice car.
I did read the article On the proposed ram air 6 and 7 wish they did go into production with them. Pontiac would have had the upper hand, even the ram air 5 got cut short they had so many cool things in the works.
Yes 1965 you could buy an over the counter kit from the parts depart and adapt your car so it is possible your car had a functional ram air kit not to mention relatively rare. I don’t suppose you still have it?
@@VinylVillageGarage no ... I had 3) 65's one of each convertible sport coupe and hardtop a 70 and a 69 - then got married .... Sold them off as time went on when we needed stuff for the family - 🙁 - now I'm old they're gone and I could never afford another - so now I have a nice 72 ranchero gt -
I believe we have all sold cars we wish we did not. I can think of 4 trans ams. the neat part is I can say I owned and drove them as can you too. Ranchero GT is Nice! 429?
I so miss having a nice Pontiac around - the ranchero is nice - but not quite the same - my son is into Buicks and has a nice 64 Skylark that we found for him when he was 16 - he swapped the 300 nailhead for a 400 Chevy - he's rebuilding a 350 Buick to go into it -
Pontiac Never actually made a car with a RA V motor in it stock. They built some 303 cubic inch RA V motors for SCCA/Trans-Am Racing. Later there was a guy from Canada racing a RA V in Pro Stock. My father was a Factory Pontiac racer all through out the late 60's-70's-80's and the RA V was a bit of a Unicorn.
Nunzi Romano would be a good source of information.
Thanks
WHAT happened to old NUNZI?
Not upset but disappointed. Not a LS guy. Can’t argue the power and value/hp. I’d rather see a DCI ram air v.
I wanted to do one to say been there done that. I have 10,000 miles on that car now and still doing great.
Your cars are neat and I like that you're introducing many to Pontiac performance with this video. While Ram Air cars are the considered the Pinacle in Pontiac performance of the era, they also produced HO versions, which delivered improved performance vs. Std cars (10 HP upgrade). Rock on!
Simple Ram Air tutorial, Pontiac Style. I hope it is helpful.
As mentioned below, this started in 1967 when an actual Ram Air engine package (aimed at drag racing) was created.
1967 - It was call just Ram Air and was a complete package including Heavy Duty Core support (AC car support in non-AC car), different cam, different heads (997 or 97 heads), often a transistorized ignition (distributor/module), could have a close ratio trans with optional 4.33:1 gears
1968 - Both RAI and RAII were introduced. Open hood scoops, as mentioned, pan with foam to seal to underside of hood.
* RAI used #31 D-port heads, special cam, high flow exhaust manifolds, close ratio 4-spd trans and a 4.33:1 Safe-T-Track differential (650 produced)
* RAII - introduced the non-Siamesed round port heads to a Pontiac (progenitor to the RAIV, 455 HO and 455 SD heads). Again, this was a package with upgraded carb, distributor with different curve, upgraded cam, exhaust manifolds, Safe-T-Track 4.33:1 differential (199 produced)
1969 - RAIII & RAIV were introduced. Again, packages included functional hood scoops (now with flapper door controls ), specific number heads, cams, carb tuning, ignition timing.
* RAIII was by far the tamer option that came std with 3.55:1 differentia (Safe-T--Track optional)l, with optional shorter 3.90 or even 4.33:1, if so daring, available on option sheet. This was a package with upgraded carb, distributor with different curve, upgraded cam, exhaust manifolds
* RAIV was the follow-on to the RAII, with nearly identical round port heads, high compression, special high-lift cam, 1.65:1 rockers, high flow exhaust manifolds, special carb tuning, ignition timing, and came std with 3.90:1 Safe-T-Track differential, with optional 4.33:1 gears.
* RAV , never installed in car from factory, as mentioned, was an engine developed to run in racing circles with displacements for Trans-Am racing (303 CID), and a proposed 400 CID version for the street.
* RAVI was to have 366 CID for Nascar and 428 CID for Drag Racing. Plans made. Parts made. Never installed in cars
Thanks! I love this stuff
I owned the RA V 303 rotating assembly, and sold it through Performance Years site to a fellow who had the means to bring it to life. He paid a hefty price for the crank, rods, pistons and cam. They came from Herb Adams shop.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and craftsmanship.
You are welcome. I love my Pontiacs. It was a sad day when they closed the doors but I suppose it only makes the survivors more valuable and appreciated.
After seeing your Ls swap trans am, I made an appointment with the psychiatrist because I don’t have one and need to forget that I saw it. Kidding aside I really like your channel, great video.
Wow thanks, that car is my favorite build to date so far. I believe I have a few more tricks up my sleeve yet to come, maybe one of those will take the cake so to speak. Appreciate you letting us know we are doing good.
Thanks for sharing
My pleasure
Several years ago I bought two super rough and rusted Firebirds, one a 67 and the other a 68. The 67 is one my dad had when I was really young and it was a factory 4 speed “Ram air” car. I ordered a phs on it and it was actually special ordered in regimental red with regimental red interior and hub cap wheels but the odd one to me was it was special ordered without the breather base to make the hood functional but it had every other thing such as the rams or heavy duty suspension (rear end, factory traction bars and hood mounted tach). My 9 year old daughter wants the 68 Firebird which from what I can tell was a 350 car but potentially a 4 speed car. I still need the phs to confirm that, but I’ll get around to that eventually rights now my goal is to get it on stands and all where me and my daughter can work on it together.
That’s really cool. I am glad we have PHS to help identify rare cars and worth the money. That will make for a very cool father daughter project too.
" I'm a purist .... check out my ls swap trans am "
Yeah it is pretty nice. Thanks for checking it out.
The purist word should be removed from his vocabulary. Nice work but why a 5.3 ? left a lot of HP on the table ..
@ct1970 4L60E is the why. That transmission fits with no trans tunnel mods. The entire floor and braces are all new and didn’t want to cut them up I was building a car to drive on long road trips and reliability was the goal. If it was a coupe I would have put the 4l80 in and then 6.0 or something else.
Great!
thanks. now to build a ram air car stay tuned!
Good info and love the ram air VI restomod, nice work!
Glad you enjoyed it
Have you checked out the late Bruce Logan-built (in the 1980s) '69 Trans Am with a Ram Air 5 motor? It is a published car but the host hinted it could be a Pontiac test mule. The warning lights went off with me.
I have heard of this car but to the best of my knowledge Pontiac never did it. Now ram air v engines did get purchased over the parts counter and found their way into a handful of cars. That would be my guess.
Just found this video, and will add that Speedwin Automotive in Hauppauge NY built a RAVII "Pontiac" eng. in the mid 70s, (an overbuilt" 455 SD...upwards of 600 HP) for $3200. I can appreciate it. (Not an LS fan.)
Pontiac on paper had plans to do a ram air 6 and 7 using the 428/455 platform unfortunately it never made it past that point. Imagine if they did how far Pontiac would have made it in the horsepower wars.
@@VinylVillageGarage I was hoping that Pontiac would've been more competitive in Pro Stock. The "V" eng. had that potential. If a BBC could compete with the Hemis, so could a RAV. Too bad Pontiac threw in the towel.
I am with you, wish it would have made to production and even better I was around then to buy one too. 😎
@@VinylVillageGarageI heard that they were way past plans on paper. Actually had engine blocks built. The RA VII was an aluminum 427 Hemi Head. When chevy got wind of what they were building they went over to Pontiac and said, all those engine blocks you're working on go to the scrap yard.
@@joequillun7790 Pontiac never threw in the towel. chevy shut them down.
The 744 cam is when ran air became factory installed . Midway through 66 on the xs cars .67 is the 1st yr of a dedicated ram air block n heads .9792506 is block # 97 or 997 is head #
More good and helpful info. Appreciate you adding it.
HO motors have 068 tri power cam and open air filter. Also shared free flowing exhaust manifolds with RA motors.
When I built my first Firebird nearly 20 years ago. I worked with a tech that got me hooked on Pontiac power. He told me to use the 068 cam. It was and probably still is super popular cam and used in many rebuilds for good all around performance.
thanks for sharing!
I just don't like a Chevy in my Pontiac I want all Pontiac power
👍
Does RA 1V mean round exhaust ports
yes kind of. ram air IV was originally going to have four air inlets to feed the engine but that never happened. that is where the “4” started. it just so happens they where using round port heads for the engine. so yes all ram air VI have round ports heads but had nothing to do with the naming. those heads are quite valuable.
Only seen pics of the RA V heads but they are a thing of beauty. Especially when mounted without the exhaust or intake attached then you get an idea how large and round those ports are.
Crazy big indeed, only wonder what would have happened if General Motors didn’t ban factory racing how far that engine would have went.
Cool car but Pontiac engineering did actually make a RAVI it was a 428 version of the RAV w dual quads. Some were raced by dealers. There’s some articles out there about them. Used a version of the forged 990 crank from the 421 they had a single or dual plane dual quad intake that was very rare .
Stil really like your TA though. Nice car.
I did read the article On the proposed ram air 6 and 7 wish they did go into production with them. Pontiac would have had the upper hand, even the ram air 5 got cut short they had so many cool things in the works.
I believe 1965 . .. I had one with it
Yes 1965 you could buy an over the counter kit from the parts depart and adapt your car so it is possible your car had a functional ram air kit not to mention relatively rare. I don’t suppose you still have it?
@@VinylVillageGarage no ... I had 3) 65's one of each convertible sport coupe and hardtop a 70 and a 69 - then got married .... Sold them off as time went on when we needed stuff for the family - 🙁 - now I'm old they're gone and I could never afford another - so now I have a nice 72 ranchero gt -
I believe we have all sold cars we wish we did not. I can think of 4 trans ams. the neat part is I can say I owned and drove them as can you too. Ranchero GT is Nice! 429?
@@VinylVillageGarage 351 Cleveland
I so miss having a nice Pontiac around - the ranchero is nice - but not quite the same - my son is into Buicks and has a nice 64 Skylark that we found for him when he was 16 - he swapped the 300 nailhead for a 400 Chevy - he's rebuilding a 350 Buick to go into it -
🔥🐐🔥
Lol. Thanks
😎🤘
👍 thanks
No such thing as a ram air 6
Correct never made by Pontiac it was proposed along with ram air 7 but never made production
Pontiac Never actually made a car with a RA V motor in it stock. They built some 303 cubic inch RA V motors for SCCA/Trans-Am Racing. Later there was a guy from Canada racing a RA V in Pro Stock. My father was a Factory Pontiac racer all through out the late 60's-70's-80's and the RA V was a bit of a Unicorn.
I only wish they made it to the production line.