77 Astre 455 project street car

[77Astre455]

hey 455 look at speedphreake's project journal. he(Jeff) did a real nice mini-tub in his vega, and he shows pics of the whole process. its a primo car and real fast also. art

[77Astre455]

xxx

[77Astre455]

As a big Pontiac fan, I salute you!

Can't wait to see your progress. You are doing the perfect Astre, in my opinion. Street car that looks like a street car.... but has an awesome Poncho mill underhood.
I'm thinking you'll be ok with the spool, as the light car will not bind the rear too much.... if so, just blip the throttle to even things out a little... hahahaha.

Those Pontiac heads are a pain to get headers/exhaust on in a 2nd Gen Firebird.... I had nothing but trouble with a set on one of my '79s. Never got it sealed right. Sold it after all the frustration...... seriously. I imagine the H-body isn't going to be very forgiving in that area, either. Good luck!
Hope you got some good brakes up front!

I'm in East TN, Butler Performance isn't too far away..... would love to have one of those big power Pontiacs in a '69 Firebird set up with some Detroit Speed and Engineering Chassis stuff under it!

Here's my last Pontiac.... just sold it to a fella about 80 miles from me..... he's doing an LS swap and T-56!!!!!
It's an original W72 400, 4-speed, WS6 car........
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2678545/1 ... -trans-am/

As for the '67 Bug you built...... I just sold my '60 Bug with a built 1915cc....... It would haul the mail, too! Notice my screen name and avatar........
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2925257/1 ... /#15601063

Post some more pics of the process and what all has been done to perform the swap.

[hammerdown7]

First thing I have to say is.... That's even better than I expected. Second is I can tell you two are having entirely too much fun and you definitely have the hammer down...hehe. My questions are what kind of HP is your engine making, what do you rev it to, what is the curb weight of that little beast, what did you do to the 7.5 rear to beef it up, exactly how did you lighten the doors, and how many races or seasons does it take before needing to freshen up the engine??????

I certainly need to build one because from a driving point of view straight line drag racing is kind of boring and short lived. Going racing like what your doing is the kind of seat time I want to experience. I can only imagine what a kick it is picking off gears, swinging the tach needle, hitting the turns, fish tailing, braking, accelerating, side by side competition, and probably occasionally fender rubbing. All the stuff I use to try doing on the back country roads when I was younger...lol.

I would like to see some pics inside and out and respect what your doing. Thanks for your time and look forward to talking more.

RC

I can't speak for Britt but I never intended to do any door to door racing with my car. To start with I don't do well with body repair and painting! I do like the driving experience and autocrossing and occasional track days fulfill that requirement. Track days typically allow several cars on the track at the same time but only allow passing on the straightaways, no out-braking going into to turns where a simple mistake can cost lot of money. Autocrossing is one car at a time on a course marked out with pylons with penalties for missing gates or moving pylons out of position. That's much safer on the wallet. The cars have to pass a tech-inspection before you can compete in your designated class. Most autocrosses have a majority of street driven cars.

I've never had my car weighed but the previous owner did, it weighed 2450# and it's probably a little lighter today with the glass bumpers, there is a lot of added steel in the chassis and the roll cage tubing is extensive, nearly tying the front bumper to the rear bumper. It's not a tube frame car, practically all the stock unibody is still there. The doors include just the door skin and perimeter frame, the hood is basically the outer skin with the inner panel removed except where the hinges mount.

I haven't had the car on a dyno but I would estimate HP to be in the 230-240 range. I use to pit crew with a friend that raced a Cosworth Vega powered midget and his dyno'ed at 300HP @8800. Since mine is a stroker I normally shift around 7K, depending on the course. The added torque is quite substantial with the longer stroke. Autocrossing is fairly easy on the engine and the only time I have had it apart was to repair damage from it trying to swallow an air cleaner bolt that worked its way loose. I probably missed tightening it when making some changes to the carbs.

The rear end is plenty strong enough for my drivetrain, I'm running an Eaton posi. If you have questions on your setup, contact Jim on his web site at http://www.jdrace.com, he's a good honest guy.

My car is currently still going through the changes bringing it back to about what it was when I first bought it. I do have some pictures before buying it back for the second time. The interior needs some new paint as well as under the hood. You'll notice the last owners modified the paint scheme a little. These shots show it with the 16 inch wheels. I'll also show a picture of how it last raced in the IMSA series in '81.

Dick

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[hammerdown7]

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[hammerdown7]

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[cjbiagi]

Very cool, i see what you mean by shortening the torque arm! Nice.........

[bugdewde]

Didn't realize how many toys you are actually playing with till today. Now I know how you roll. Buy, sell, play, collect, modify, repair, etc... Go ahead bugdewde.

RC

Yeah, I have no fabrication skills. I have to leave that to the guys with the equipment and ability. That puts me at a disadvantage when it comes to shopping for a toy.... I try to get as good a body as I can right up front. Combined with my picky-ness (and cheapness), I miss out on some really neat stuff.

My next air-cooled VW will probably be a Karmann Ghia or a Thing. It's been several months since I've owned an air-cooled VW....I've ALWAYS had one of some sort around for the last 25 years(notice my screen name).
Vegas are my favorite ride, by far.
Been wanting a Sunbird Hatchback or any good Hatchback 2nd Gen H-body to do some of the brake/suspension mods on my Wagon autocrosser project.
While I'm into the little Buick/Olds aluminum 215 V8, I'd plop some Pontiac valve covers on there and call it a Pontiac..... they did come in the '61-'63 Tempest, you know?

[cosvega76]

Dick,

Where did that cam cover come from? I've not seen one like that before!


Chuck

[hammerdown7]

Chuck,

That is a Cosworth of England magnesium cam cover. Found it a number of years ago, sold it 12 years ago on eBay. Dale Malin's wife bought it for a birthday present for him. Just another item I once owned that I shouldn't have sold! I've been trying to find another in England with no luck so far. I didn't have a recent picture of the engine in the car so I used this old one.

Dick