I recently saw some footage of early Trans Am races and sure enough, there were 1st gen Firebirds along with the Camaros, Mustangs, etc. I thought Trans Am was limited to 5 litre engines. What displacement engines were the Firebirds running in those races? Does anyone know? Although a great engine, I don't think it was the OHC 6; one of the cars had a 400 hood. Thanks.

It's sad, but the birds had 302 Chebby motors. Pontiac was working on a 5 liter motor but it didn't work out.

From things I have read, many (if not all) of the '69 TA's used for racing were merely Camaros converted with a Pontiac bumper and hood.

There was indeed an awesome Pontiac 303 in developement but it was stopped.

From wikipedia,
"303 - The revised engine had shorter connecting rods, smaller 2.5 in. (63.5 mm) journals, special "tunnel port" heads, and a solid-lifter version of the 400's Ram Air IV camshaft. It shared the 4.125 in (104.8 mm) bore of the 400, but with a 2.84 in (72.1 mm) stroke for a displacement of 303 in³ (5.0 L). The short-deck engine weighed about 40 lb (18 kg) less than the 400, and had an 8000 rpm redline. The 303 program was promising, with race-ready engines producing 475-525 hp (354.4-391.7 kW) and slated for advertised ratings of 355 hp (265 kW) in the Pontiac Firebird and 375 hp (280 kW) for the Pontiac GTO. Concerns about emissions, the response of the automobile safety lobby, and the warranty implications of a high-revving street engine led to its cancellation. SCCA Trans-Am series General Competition Rules required an engine to be a "Production" item, and required a production of no less than 250 units. The total number of Ram Air V 303 engines produced is not known, estimates range from the SCCA required 250 units, up to 500 units, with rumors of a handful of Ram Air V 303's making their way into the Pontiac Trans-Am production line. These engines are extremely rare and parts not readily available."

As in many other instances, Pontiac got hind tit with Chevrolet getting all the support needed even though Pontiac probably had the better stuff.

they only produced 25 from what i have been told by people that have had them

Thanks guys; that's kinda what I thought, but I was hoping some prototype 303's made it into the Birds. Oh well.

There were real Firebirds running in the Trans Am series with real Pontiac engines. The support given to a Canadian team (I know one of the mechanics) amounted to a Firebird with the OHC engine showing up behind the shop. The car did well on handling tracks but obviously was down on power (4.1 litres vs 5.0) compared to the V-8s.

The way it was told to me on that dark, cold December night ... heard they (chebby peep's) used the first porcupine headed 302 in the Poncho, because they new it would be slap'd hard with penalties and Chevy could step up the R&D of the 302 without getting docked the manufac.'s points, and have things ironed out by the time Chevy used it. Dang Smokey Yunick!

In 67-69, they used chevy 302's.
Pontiac developed thier version(303 with tunnel port heads).
Same ones the RAV used.
They were way to big.
Actually ran better with RAIV's.
From what i remember, the tunnel ports were only used in 70-71.
And maybe 72-73.

Here's an older posting, about the trans-am first gens, with lots of pictures:

/forums/ubbthrea...4696#Post104696

A 69 with a 67-8 frt nose.
Havent seen one like that before.

looks kinda cool..

-Maybe someone should try it? (If I had a '69 I'd buy a '68 front bumper and see how to modify it to fit..)

303 was dropped in 71, NASCAR (then) would not allow it, don't know TRANS-AM series. I think Estes/Gulstran (sp?) was the last one to run that engine.

"I believe I can clear up the info on the #92 BFG Tirebird. First, it was never driven by Jerry Titus in it's BFG configuration. It was one of three cars owned by Terry Godsal under the T.G. Racing banner built for the 1970 SCCA Trans Am season. Jerry was unfortunately killed at the Road America Trans Am race in July in car # 8; the primary car. This left #84 the back-up car and one car back at the Tarzana CA shop under construction. David Hobbs finished the season as the main driver along with I believe John Cordts.

Pontiac pulled out at the end of the 70 season.

The two remaining cars were leased to B.F.Goodrich and dressed as the now famous Tirebirds with the primary driver being Larry Dent. One car was later converted to a Camaro, probably due to the continuing Pontiac engine issues."