1967 PONTIAC TEMPEST
| December 26, 2007
I had to pass by this car two days in a row along a major route in Delaware (Rt. 9 between Georgetown DE & Rehoboth, DE), a route I normally do not travel. So on the second day I decided if it were still there on my return trip, I would stop for a look. Well the car turned out to be unbelievably straight with no signs of rust except in the trunk which was repaired easily. It was equipped with the original 326, a ST-300 trans, and a 243 ratio open rear. Everything seemed to be in order. I took possession of the car the next day and began getting it in shape to suit me. Carpet, floor insulation, radio with remote cd player, checked out the brakes and running gear. Only had to do the basics. The car ran like a champ. Not long after sometime in I think 1998, Me and a friend decided to take the car on the Hot Rod Power Tour East from Gaithersburg, MD to Daytona Beach, Fla. What a great trip it was. We could run all day on a tank of gas and the car performed great except for having to put 4 new tires on along the way. They looked great but were obviously dry rotted and began to come apart. It also became apparent that the rear springs were pretty weak so when we got to Daytona I had the local Pep Boys Shop put on a pair of air shocks so we would not cause further problems.
Well that was just the first of 5 trips to Florida for the car. One more Power Tour trip and three trips to the Turkey Run. I documented the mileage on two of those trips and we got a whopping 27 MPG. For Real
As you can see the car has undergone some changes in the past several years. It now lives on Steroids and feeds me lots of adrenaline. Gas mileage ? Who cares when you are having this much fun.
It is now equipped with a 468 CI all Pontiac motor (except for Edelbrock Heads), a powerglide trans with trans brake (for the strip), 373 posi rear, & aerospace 4 wheel disc brakes, with a few other goodies in between. The first time I let this car loose at the strip leaving on the trans brake, I thought I was going to wind up in the back seat !!! The power was and is like nothing I have ever owned before. On the first pass it turned a 11:62 at something like 116 mph. Since then it has had approximately 50 runs put on it at the local track in Fla. at Moroso Park without ever missing a beat. Best time to date has been a 11:50 in the 1/4 mile. I have all the time slips in the glove box.
I also enjoy putting on the street tires (17" torque Thrust IIs with BF Goodrich tires) and going out to terrorize the imports around town. No, I do not race on the street, but they hear it coming and just check it out knowing it is more then they can handle.
Cruising locally is just as much fun as going to the races with the car. When you drop the hammer on this beast anywhere below 55 mph you are gonna get sideways if you're not careful, cause it's a handful.
Future plans call for bucket seats with factory console and a pro bandit shifter concealed within the console. Performance Years Pontiac is going to come in handy once again.
The I am going to ad a 150 shot of NOS to see what kind of time I can get out of it in the 1/4 mile better then the 11:50.
This car is what I call my therapy. I get in it when ever I can and just have fun. It helps me forget about all the normal things we have to do to get through the week.
These cars were great with original set ups in them, but when you unleash the power of big CI Pontiac motor in one, it makes it so much more satisfying.
Gotta Love It !!!!