July 2002, Volume 5, Issue 7

General Meeting-July 2nd, 2002
The meeting was called to order by President Ted Klein at 7:12pm.

Our one and only visitor for the evening was Mario Rosebud. He is a passed member of our Club who now belongs to the Corvette Club. However, he still has a Trans Am. He has offered to do the judging of the cars at Trans A Rama with help from the Corvette Club.

Gayle made mention that in the minutes from last month that "beautifully" should have been "beautiful" in speaking of Mark Iriarte’s family. Dennis Trimble made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected. Frank Brown seconded, motion passed.

Ted took the treasurer, J.O. Raff by surprise and asked for the treasurer’s report right up front. Treasurer’s report can be found in another section of the NewsLetter.

Past Activities:
Leo gave a report on the several runs we had last month.

The Drags. Our own Ray Howe took first place.

June 8 th:
The Teddy Bear Factory, Japanese Gardens, and Alcatraz. Most of the participants were male and as Leo put it, "It was funny to see a bunch of guys making teddy bears". However, we didn’t see any of their handy work.

They decided to pass on the Japanese Gardens. Because it was mostly a ‘guy’ trip they decided to just cruise. So off to Alcatraz. Leo said a couple of our people were locked up but it was okay because they had "Get Out Of Jail Free" cards. Then it was time for dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf and then home.

June 9 th:
This was a bowling, Bar B Q, Ice Cream run. They bowled two games with Pat Brown being high with a 133. They decided on two teams, one was the Lakers and the other was you guessed it, the KINGS. This time around the Kings won both games. After that it was off to the Bar B Q in Woodland. Then it was to Gunther’s in Sacramento for ice cream.

June 15 th:
The Fulton Avenue Car Feast. Leo asked Dave if he would like to report on this event. Dave reported we had 23 cars at Braley Graham and all but three were Club Members. Those that weren’t, are now our newest members. The People’s Choice award went to Frank Brown for his 1986 convertible Trans Am. This is a yearly event on Fulton. All the auto dealer’s also had a good representation on their respective lots.
After the show the bunch went off to Isleton to attend the Crawdad Festival. It’s a small version of the Mardi Gras. Six cars went on this run and the last two cars to leave were Leo and Dean who had to be escorted out by the police. (We didn’t get an explanation for that.

June 23 rd:
Star Wars and all you can eat Bar B Q. The day began with Troy Cardoso forgetting his wallet so Club members, Dennis and Terry, pitched in a little green stuff to help him out. Leo started out with the mini cruise that is to be used for Trans A Rama to see how long it would take. Then as they headed to the movies, Troy was low on gas. They stopped at the gas station and guess what he forgot – his gas key. He was able to make it home and then meet the rest at the movie. Next it was all you can eat Bar B Q. Of course they didn’t have enough for everyone. So the owner made a deal with the Club for all you can eat pizza, salad and drinks. He did have enough Bar B Q to give them a platter to share.

Upcoming Events:

July 12, 13, & 24 th:
Trans A Rama. Those Club members that had not registered were asked to please get their reservations and money in ASAP. Head count for the dinner must be in by July 7th. As of July 1st we are ahead of last years pace in number of cars. The bad news " It’s only 38 cars. Dave passed out the forms for the Club members present that had no yet registered.

July 27 th:
Roaring Camp in the Jackson area. You meet at the top of the hill and get into a big truck and you are taken down to the bottom of the canyon. They teach you how to gold pan and you can keep all you find. There is a Gold Panning Champion. There is a lodge and a Bar B Q in the evening with a big steak. There is also entertainment. Meet at 12:30 noon and leave at 1pm. Cost is $36 for adults and $31 for kids.

August 3 rd:
Marine World. Meet at Levitz parking lot on Watt Avenue at 7am and leave at 7:30.
There was a discussion on having a water party. Leo was asked to check out Sun Splash and see what accommodations and price it would be.

Aug. 17 th:
Last year’s top car winners at Trans A Rama were the Curley’s. They have a 1999 Car that received a perfect score. They work for the Fairfield Buick / Pontiac dealership. It sits on the hill over looking Highway 80 just as you go into Fairfield from Sacramento. They want to do an all Pontiac Show with a heavy emphasis on the Trans Am, Firebird and GTO. There will be a Club participation award. Cost is $15 for pre-registration by August 10and $20 on the day of the show. It is a fundraiser for the Heather House Charity.

Also on this date is the second trip to the River Cats game.

August 21 st:
Pontiac / Mopar 5th Annual race night. Our own Duane Cleveland was runner up last year. There were 43 Pontiacs and 13 Mopars. We’d like to have a good turn out for this event, as it is the last drag night until September.

Leo asked about the tent we have been thinking about purchasing. We want a 10’ by 10’ easy up with cloth, not plastic. If anyone feels like it they can donate toward the purchase.

Leo knows where he can get the “Last of the Breed” decal set for $65. If you are interested contact Leo.

With no further business the motion was made by Frank Brown to adjourn, seconded by Dennis Trimble.

Meeting adjourned at 8:33

Respectfully submitted, Irene Raff - Secretary.



Pontiac's Final Hi-Performance T/A 6.6, Part IV.
By John Witzke, POCI Tech Advisor W72 Performance Package 1977 T/A 6.6 Engine

AXLE RATIOS
Part of the W72 Performance Package was a set of 3.23:1 rear gears for all 1977, 1978 automatic and 1979 4-speed cars. These gears were identified on the factory build sheet as UPC code GU5. For 1978, all 4-speed T/A 6.6 Firebirds came from the factory with 3.42:1 rear gears. The 3.42 gears were identified on the build sheet as GU6. Generally the UPC codes for the axle ratio will appear on all factory build sheet, however, I have seen Norwood, Ohio built 1978 T/A 6.6 Firebird build sheets without the axle ratio listed. The 10 bolt 8.5-inch Safe-T-Track differential was standard in all Trans Ams and optional on the Formula. The axle code, which is a two-character code, is stamped on the front passenger side axle tube to the left of the carrier case. These codes are, PX for all 1977 and for the 1978 automatic transmission, PY for 1978 4-speed and PP for 1979. The axle codes for non-Safe-T-Track differential 1977-78 Formulas are PD for all 1977 and for the 1978 automatics and PE for the 1978 4-speeds. These axle codes are also listed in box number eleven on the factory build sheet and appear to be as follows: 7PX for all 1977 and 1978 automatic transmission, 2PY for 1978 4-speed manual and 4PP for 1979 cars. I am not sure how the code appears in box number eleven of the build sheet for those 1977 and 1978 Formulas produced with the W72 Performance Package and without Safe-T-Track differential. According to Pontiac Car Distribution Bulletin 79-F-5 August 3, 1978, all 1979 Firebird Formula’s equipped with the T/A 6.6 engine and 4-speed manual transmission have the G80 Safe-T-Track rear axle. It is quite possible that there were a small amount of 1977-78 T/A 6.6 Firebird Formulas built without a Safe-T-Track rear differential.

EXHAUST SYSTEM
All 1977 T/A 6.6 Firebirds used a single 2.5-inch exhaust pipe from the exhaust manifolds to the 260 cubic inch Catalytic Converter system with a single 2.25-inch exhaust pipe into a single cross flow muffler with dual 2.25-inch tail pipes with chrome splitters. Some 1977 Special Edition Trans Ams may have come from the factory with black chrome exhaust splitters. All 1978-79 T/A 6.6 Firebirds used a single 2.5-inch exhaust pipe from the exhaust manifolds to the 260 cubic inch Catalytic Converter system, and then split into 2.25-inch dual pipes with dual resonators and 2.25-inch tail pipes with chrome splitters.

ENGINE ROCKER COVERS
All 1977-79 T/A 6.6 engines came from the factory with chrome valve covers. These valve covers have internal oil defectors and carried part numbers LH 547294 and RH 547293. A bar code scanner label with the engine block code and initial timing was originally located on the driver side left front end of the valve cover. It appears that some engines may have a small label on the right front valve cover with the engine serial number printed on it. The engine serial number label has been found on 1977 engines.

PRODUCTION FIGURES
Between 1977 and 1979, there were 279,796 Trans Ams produced. During the same period, approximately 51,307 Trans Ams were equipped with the UPC code W72 Performance Package. That equates to only 18 percent of the total production. During the same period, there were 70,997 Firebird Formulas produced. Unfortunately, with the exception of the 346 1979 T/A 6.6 Formulas produced, 1977-78 T/A 6.6 Formula production is unknown. Finally, of the 1,337 1977 Can Ams, T/A 6.6 production figures are unknown since some of these cars were produced with the L80 Oldsmobile 403-cid engine.

The most popular year for the 6.6/Trans Am was 1977 with 26,177 produced, 14,775 automatics and 11,402 4-speeds. During 1978, it first appears only 8,251 T/A 6.6 Trans Ams were produced, 4,139 automatics and 4,112 4-speeds. Records are somewhat vague as to how many T/A 6.6 cars were produced with the automatic transmission in 1978. In addition to the 4,112 4-speed T/A 6.6 Trans Ams listed, official 1978 Pontiac records list an additional 6,777 base model, 1,267 Y88 gold special edition and 509 Y82 / Y84 black and gold special edition 4-speed cars under the L78 engine code. The additional 8,553 cars appear to be T/A 6.6 cars since the base L78 400 engine was not available with a 4-speed manual transmission from the factory. This would bring the total 1978 T/A 6.6 4-speed production to 12,665 cars, the most popular year for this engine / transmission combination. While looking through production figures supplied by PHS (Pontiac Historical Services I noticed they list 1978 Trans Am 4-speed production at 12,692 instead of 12,665. By using the 12,692 number, the original published production figures would indicate that 4,139 (originally the listed 1978 4-speed number was 4,112) were used to calculate the 12,692 4-speed number. This would then change the known 1978 T/A 6.6 Trans Ams with automatic transmission number to 4,112. So I could be off on the 1978 Trans Am T/A 6.6 / 4-speed production numbers by + or - 27 units depending on which production figures used.

The 1978 Firebird T/A 6.6 with automatic transmission numbers appear to be incomplete due to the fact that the Y82/Y84 black and gold and Y88 gold special edition production figures list the automatic transmission with no reference to which engine. Therefore, it becomes difficult to determine how many of the special edition cars received the W72 Performance Package with automatic transmission. To add to the T/A 6.6 with automatic transmission production confusion, as previously mentioned, no orders for this engine / transmission combination were accepted after March 20^th 1978. It would seem likely that more than 4,139 T/A 6.6 automatic Trans Ams were produced, just how many more has yet to be determined and may never be known. For 1979, the final year for the T/A 6.6 engine option, a total of 8,326 Trans Ams and 346 Formulas were produced, all with Borg Warner Super T-10 4-speed transmissions.

PERFORMANCE
Many road test articles have been written about Firebirds with the W72 Performance Package. Unfortunately many are very inaccurate as to the performance of these cars, especially the 1977. Overall, the 1977-79 T/A 6.6 Firebirds, were good for 15.30 - 15.50’s seconds @ 90-94 mph quarter-mile times straight off the showroom floor. The 1978 cars with 4-speed manual transmissions may be slightly quicker due to the use of 3.42 rear gears. It has been shown with minor tuning, high 14-sec quarter mile times are within reach. The following list of magazines appeared to have tested legitimate T/A 6.6 optioned Firebirds. In addition to this list, an excellent article titled "Open Air" appeared in Cars Magazine’s 1978 Pontiac Performance Annual. This article featured famed Pontiac engine tuner Nunzi Romano testing a 1977 automatic transmission T/A 6.6 Trans Am. With a couple of simple modifications, Nunzi showed readers how to take stock 1977 T/A 6.6 Tran Am off the showroom floor, establish a 15.50 sec. @ 90mph quarter-mile baseline time, then proceed to a 14.78 sec. @ 95.55 mph in the quarter-mile on street tires.

CONCLUSION
I hope this two-part series about Pontiac’s W72 Performance Package has helped clear up some of the mysteries that surround this often forgotten engine, and has been informative for you, the enthusiast. I would enjoy hearing from owners of these cars so continued research can be accomplished. If enough interest is generated, a registry for the T/A 6.6 Firebirds could be formed. I have spent several years researching and collecting Pontiac documents about this engine package and I am currently the Technical Advisor for the 1977-79 W72 Performance Package.

Sources for some of the information in this two-part series came from Pontiac service and technical bulletins, Pontiac memos and car distribution bulletins, Motor Vehicle Manufactures Association (MVMA) specification sheets, Pontiac Historic Services (PHS) and Street Power Magazine, June 1977.




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