But almost. I actually planned to make that 2,800-mile drive -- from East Meadow, New York to Santa Monica, California -- in a one-owner, 16,800-mile Super Duty 455. I was going to call it the "Pontiac Farewell Tour," an ode to my favorite GM division before it was lost to the gods of bankruptcy (or the bureaucrats in Washington, depending on your point of view).
And because I had just bought this 1974 Buccaneer Red Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Super Duty 455 I thought it would be fun to visit a series of hallowed Pontiac locations along the way. I had visions of touring Norwood, Ohio, where the plant that built this Trans Am, and so many other classic Firebirds (and Camaros), was located.
I wanted to go back to the dealship, in Rochester Hills, Michigan, that originally sold the car to a Pontiac executive in June of 1974. It's still open, and a photo of the car under the sign would have been way cool. Maybe I'd even hit Woodward while I was in the area, and stop by Pontiac, Michigan (yup, a town named for the car company -- back when towns could be named after car companies).
Ah, the best laid plans...
Alas, the Pontiac Farewell Tour ended 18 miles after it began, on a bumper-to-bumper Long Island Expressway that had the car stalling and lurching. This car is so original there's no indication the air cleaner or spark plugs have ever been changed. The carburetor was supposedly rebuilt recently, but something couldn't deal with 30 minutes of stop-and-go traffic on a warm spring day.
After limping it off the expressway I located a gas station that was able to diagnose the problem. "The idle circuit in your carburetor isn't working. Maybe some dirt got in there and jammed it up." Maybe? Almost definitely. The car probably hadn't seen that much road time for decades. It had been filled up by the seller, but who knows what's swimming around in that tank?
Anyway, after tinkering with the idle mixture screws the gas station mechanic got it idling...mostly. It would still stall out occasionally, and if you floored it the T/A would bog and emit a dull backfire. The oil pressure gauge also stopped working during my short spin, and the brake pedal felt pretty stiff, though it did stop the car (relatively) confidently.
With visions of roadside breakdowns from NYC to LA dancing in my head I finally succumbed to logic. I drove the car 18 miles back to the seller's house (with it seeming to run better and better the whole way...) and put it safely back in his garage.
That was last Thursday, and yesterday it was picked up by an Intercity Lines closed transport truck. It should be in Santa Monica in a week, which as we all know is the safe way to get a 1974 Super Duty across the country. Boring, but safe.
So, who thinks we should put this in the Long Term fleet?
notabigdeal says:
04:27 AM, 05/ 4/10
Sweet ride. If i ever bought anything like this my wife would be trying to take my head off. Guess it needs some work though. This would make a great project car but don't you guys already have the miata?
powell_jr says:
05:22 AM, 05/ 4/10
Burt Reynolds and I vote yes.
drhorrible says:
05:53 AM, 05/ 4/10
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. My first new car was a 73 Firebird Formula SD-455 in Admirality Blue. It is one car that I sorely miss and kick myself in the ass for ever seling it.
Add it to the fleet.
sniperruff says:
06:00 AM, 05/ 4/10
10pm - 5am weekdays are best time for traveling around NYC. I'll be willing to tag along if that road trip to Cali materialized. Never been to the west coast and always thought it'd be fun to to a cross-country road trip!
carguy622 says:
06:22 AM, 05/ 4/10
Heck yes.
roadburner says:
06:28 AM, 05/ 4/10
Nice car!!!
I almost bought a 1977 400 T/A.
If you need the Q-Jet rebuilt just send it to me. I've been tuning that carburetor since 1977.
throwback says:
06:34 AM, 05/ 4/10
Damn i am jealous. I passed on buying a SD in 1980, I think it was '74 also. is it a manual?
felonious says:
06:44 AM, 05/ 4/10
Awesome car, but do not put it in the long-term fleet! That would be torture for everyone involved, car and humans. I hate to say this, but keep the miles off it! :)
creeper says:
07:00 AM, 05/ 4/10
better addition to the long term fleet than the viper
ed124c says:
07:10 AM, 05/ 4/10
I agree with felonious: Don't make it a LTRT. Perhaps an update once a month would be nice, and performance specs once the bugs are worked out.
This is a mint car, I would assume, so try to keep it that way. 3000 miles per year sounds about right to me.
estreka says:
07:13 AM, 05/ 4/10
Well, you will definitely be able to locate your car in a parking lot.
eclogite says:
07:13 AM, 05/ 4/10
AWESOME! You should totally add it to the long-term fleet.
bodyblue says:
07:21 AM, 05/ 4/10
I loved Firebirds and hated Camaros....give me a Formula 400 or even a Jim Rockford Espirit in Gold.....oh and T tops please!
roadburner says:
07:23 AM, 05/ 4/10
"I hate to say this, but keep the miles off it! :)"
I've been looking at a pristine E30 M3 with only 54,000 miles on it. I want to use it for my daily driver. At first I thought that it would be a shame to buy it and then pile on the miles. However, I've come to the conclusion that great cars are made to be driven. Letting them languish in a heated garage and only puttering around in them on sunny days is the real crime. If I buy it I'm going to drive the bloody wheels off of it- smiling the entire time.
roadburner says:
07:56 AM, 05/ 4/10
~One more thing; I suspect that the primary power piston on the Q-Jet is sticking, and I wouldn't be surprised if the secondary air valve tension has been improperly set.
bankerdanny says:
07:58 AM, 05/ 4/10
Dude! Once you get it and have the chance to clean and tune everything get this baby on the dyno and then it's time for a '74 Trans Am vs 2009 Camaro SS faceoff!
sgude says:
08:31 AM, 05/ 4/10
I'm with bankerdanny. And after that face-off, retire the Trans Am to weekend duty.
editor_karl says:
08:49 AM, 05/ 4/10
This SD455 is an automatic with nearly every option (the only thing I've been able to find that it doesn't have is the rear console).
Roadburner, I may be taking you up on your tuning advice offer. I'll check into those two items.
The mechanic at the service station confirmed it had no vacuum leaks, but it runs better when it's first started (choke still on) and/or if it's shut off and has a chance to cool down a bit. That suggests not enough fuel. I know the Carter 600 AVS top-to-bottom after 24 years with my Plymouth GTX and the last four with my Dodge Challenger R/T (both have the exact same carb). But I've never turned a screw on a Quadrajet, so I'll be starting from scratch with this one. However, I'm (somewhat) confident I can figure it out.
roadburner says:
09:57 AM, 05/ 4/10
Karl,
Amazon has a couple of decent Q-Jet manuals, one by Doug Roe and the other by Cliff Ruggles. Both are pretty decent. If you want to check out the power piston simply insert a flat bladed screwdriver down the front vent tube. With the motor off you should be able to gently push the piston down. If it won't move smoothly(or barely moves at all) you have isolated one problem.
To give you an idea of how the piston is oriented, here's a shot of a Q-Jet with the air horn removed:
http://www.cliffshighperformance.com/images/qjet_history_4_C_thumb.jpg
Speaking of which, here's an online guide to rebuilding a Q-Jet:
http://bandittransamclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=276.0
It's not bad, and it's something to look at until you get one of the books. The Q-Jet is a really well engineered unit. Solex essentially copied it and called it the 4A1. The people that badmouth the Q-Jet haven't taken the time to understand how it works.
throwback says:
10:18 AM, 05/ 4/10
LIE exit 25, Hillside ave?
smrtypants44 says:
10:53 AM, 05/ 4/10
Why does it have a california plate if you bought it in NYC?
bankerdanny says:
11:40 AM, 05/ 4/10
probably brought his own plates with him for the drive back to CA
editor_karl says:
12:03 PM, 05/ 4/10
Bingo bankerdanny
Great info roadburner. Thanks! I still wonder what role the plugs/distributor may play in its idle/bog issue. Either way I'll dig in when it gets here.
roadburner says:
12:53 PM, 05/ 4/10
Big block Ponchos can be sensitive to ignition and timing issues, so that is another critical area to check out. Ultra-low mileage cars can have a whole host of issues that you usually won't see on a car that sees regular use. Last year I almost bought a one owner 1967 Cougar XR-7 with less than 5000 miles.
desmolicious says:
01:10 PM, 05/ 4/10
Does this mean you can write this car off as a business expense if you include it on the LT fleet?
;)
editor_karl says:
02:04 PM, 05/ 4/10
No, if I put it in the LT fleet I'll probably just write it off...
stwok says:
01:54 PM, 05/10/10
Yes, please blog about this new car.
290hpta says:
07:40 PM, 05/24/10
I think this car is a keeper. Hard to find another. I like the idea of driving it back to California. Well planned route. Thought that counts.
Wondering about drhorrible's first new car in a previous post. There were only 7 made in that color of blue. Know where two are. So 2 in 7 chance that 1 could have been drhorrible's. Any details? Not sure there is a way to contact you.