Ol' Fart's Firebird Fantasy

oldskool · 01-20-2015, 05:33 PM

OK, we've talked about Birds, Vents, Wagons and GP's. But we haven't looked much at the '69-72 A-body cars. I'm kinda partial to these cars, because my 1st, and what has turned out to be my only new car, was a '69 GTO.

So let's look 1st at the possible Stocker combos with a '69 GTO. Again, I won't mention the RA4 because the heads are too rare and expensive. That leaves the std 350hp and the RA3 engine.

The 350hp engine now has a 325hp factor. This is basically the same engine as the 330hp that is factored at 338 in the '68 Bird and 345 in the '69 Bird. I reckin that means that nobody has been makin any noise in a '69 GTO lately. That's probably because a clean '69 GTO body is worth so much.

The 366hp RA3 is still factored at the factory rating. Therefore it is a real bad choice for a Stocker. The cam is about the only difference, and since the cams have only lift limitations today, it is not even a factor. So the RA3 could not compete. The 350hp engine, does look like it could be competitive, if you got the coins to come up with a good '69 GTO body.

The 350HO has a 325hp factor, but that's the same as the 350hp GTO engine, so why give up 50 cubes ?

So, for this post, I'll conclude by saying that if you can afford a '69 GTO body, it looks fairly good for the 350hp engine as long as the factor stays at 325.

01-20-2015, 05:33 PM	#33
oldskool VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: The Land of Bayous, Boudin & Crawfish Posts: 1,668 Likes: 223 Liked 747 Times in 362 Posts	Re: Ol' Fart's Firebird Fantasy OK, we've talked about Birds, Vents, Wagons and GP's. But we haven't looked much at the '69-72 A-body cars. I'm kinda partial to these cars, because my 1st, and what has turned out to be my only new car, was a '69 GTO. So let's look 1st at the possible Stocker combos with a '69 GTO. Again, I won't mention the RA4 because the heads are too rare and expensive. That leaves the std 350hp and the RA3 engine. The 350hp engine now has a 325hp factor. This is basically the same engine as the 330hp that is factored at 338 in the '68 Bird and 345 in the '69 Bird. I reckin that means that nobody has been makin any noise in a '69 GTO lately. That's probably because a clean '69 GTO body is worth so much. The 366hp RA3 is still factored at the factory rating. Therefore it is a real bad choice for a Stocker. The cam is about the only difference, and since the cams have only lift limitations today, it is not even a factor. So the RA3 could not compete. The 350hp engine, does look like it could be competitive, if you got the coins to come up with a good '69 GTO body. The 350HO has a 325hp factor, but that's the same as the 350hp GTO engine, so why give up 50 cubes ? So, for this post, I'll conclude by saying that if you can afford a '69 GTO body, it looks fairly good for the 350hp engine as long as the factor stays at 325. Last edited by oldskool; 01-20-2015 at 05:36 PM.