'68 Firebird 400HO...ex Dennis Tuttle car

[scuncio]

Neat project, haven't seen Dennis Tuttle's name for quite a while.

Link to 1968 Firebird 400 HO auction (http://ebay.to/2mlwVRA)

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/zwIAAOSwLLRaUmbu/s-l1600.jpg

[Lee Stewart]

1968 Firebird 400 H.O. = 335 HP.

https://s18.postimg.org/954fxw089/image.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/de96023hh/)

FULL SIZE IMAGES:

http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/68fi/68fi.html

[1969L89]

Those Pontiac 400 HO motors were beasts.

[The Boss]

That car deserves to be done.

[BJCHEV396]

You have to read the story on Tuttle!He's the worst of the worst!He's a real puke!!

[chevyman0429]

He's a real PUKE! That's great lmao

[The Boss]

Oh I've heard all I care to about him/them.

Luckily it's never been any of my money/cars that've been stolen.

[SuperNovaSS]

Yep, Dennis Tuttle is a piece of trash. The check he gave me was rubber. Good thing he didn't take the 70 Judge he bought with him. He did take the build sheet though.


Jason

[Canuck]

The mention of his name still sends shivers up my spine. I bought a set of NOS 442 quarter panels from in in around 2003, listed on ebay. He calls me and tries to sell me some cars. Hurst Olds,442's great deals, delivered. Sent photos of a great stash of cars in a warehouse.
Quarter panels get delivered no problem, next month i get an ebay notification that I am winning bidder on a burnished Brown 69 Copo at $225,000.
I contact ebay and let them know I have been hacked. It was Tuttle who hacked my account. I should have completed the sale and held onto the car. I could have made some money.

[big gear head]

Wow, I just got done reading this and it seems that Tuttle is unbelievably bad.
http://www.garypronman.com/who-is-dennis-tuttle.asp
It's hard for me to imagine how someone can be this way. And this was back in 2005. There is no telling what he has done since then.

[The Boss]

He hasn't changed, sold a car recently he didn't own.

[Tracker1]

Yeah, he's the type of guy that makes you fantasize that you have Hell's Angels on speed dial.

[67BelAir427]

Gee Tony, between this post and mine on the L89 Camaro we should rename this thread "Night of the Living Dead". ! Thought these characters and their shady cars were buried long ago.

But they never die...

[67BelAir427]

The mention of his name still sends shivers up my spine. I bought a set of NOS 442 quarter panels from in in around 2003, listed on ebay. He calls me and tries to sell me some cars. Hurst Olds,442's great deals, delivered. Sent photos of a great stash of cars in a warehouse.
Quarter panels get delivered no problem, next month i get an ebay notification that I am winning bidder on a burnished Brown 69 Copo at $225,000.
I contact ebay and let them know I have been hacked. It was Tuttle who hacked my account. I should have completed the sale and held onto the car. I could have made some money.

The Burnished Brown COPO was a complete fake. Had you concluded the deal you would have lost about $200K.

[Lynn]

Back to our regularyl scheduled program.

I don't know about you guys, but I am really digging this car. Seems every one of these I run across is auto trans, but finally.... a four speed.

I agree; this car needs to be done. Cheaper than an L78, and if you build it right, you can get comparable numbers (ymmv). JMHO.

[1967Z28]

Very cool car, no doubt. I'm very confused why the Firebird had four different 400 engines available in the Firebird in 1968. Is the 400HO not as hot as the Ram Air I?

[iluv69s]

I was wondering The same thing ...same HP, and torque..but different cam specs

[Tracker1]

Very cool car, no doubt. I'm very confused why the Firebird had four different 400 engines available in the Firebird in 1968. Is the 400HO not as hot as the Ram Air I?

-When you ordered a 400 Firebird, you got the base 400 at 330 horses with the #16 casting heads.

-Then you could order a 400 HO which used the high-flow exhaust manifolds from the next-rung-up 400 Ram Air engine and the hotter cam for the manual trans car. Everything else stayed the same as base 400. Closed air cleaner, closed hood scoops.

-Then the 400 Ram Air Engine had the special exhaust manifolds, and different heads, casting 31, with swirl polished valves and special valve springs, for higher RPM operation. And, of course, the foam air cleaner element that mated to OPEN hood scoops.

-In April 1968, came the first "round port" Pontiac engine. The nasty b#*ch Ram Air II (even though Pontiac never used Ram Air I as a designator for their 400 Ram Air - until much later) This was a very special engine with completely re-engineered heads with round exhaust ports, forged aluminum pistons (versus cast of the other 400s), special crank, special 4-bolt block, re-balanced Armasteel crank etc. Foam element air cleaner, open hood scoops. The lousy 5hp difference at 340 was a joke - it was much more.
A beast in a Firebird.

[Astock]

So, it took until 1968 1/2 for Pontiac to finally build an equivalent to the L78 thats been around since 1965. I bet the stock rods were the weak link.

[auwrestling]

-When you ordered a 400 Firebird, you got the base 400 at 330 horses with the #16 casting heads.

-Then you could order a 400 HO which used the high-flow exhaust manifolds from the next-rung-up 400 Ram Air engine and the hotter cam for the manual trans car. Everything else stayed the same as base 400. Closed air cleaner, closed hood scoops.

-Then the 400 Ram Air Engine had the special exhaust manifolds, and different heads, casting 31, with swirl polished valves and special valve springs, for higher RPM operation. And, of course, the foam air cleaner element that mated to OPEN hood scoops.

-In April 1968, came the first "round port" Pontiac engine. The nasty b#*ch Ram Air II (even though Pontiac never used Ram Air I as a designator for their 400 Ram Air) This was a very special engine with completely re-engineered heads with round exhaust ports, forged aluminum pistons (versus cast of the other 400s), special crank, special 4-bolt block, re-balanced Armasteel crank etc. Foam element air cleaner, open hood scoops. A beast in a Firebird.

Also add that the 68 RAI Firebird had four bolt main cap 400 block!

[1967Z28]

Thanks for the info. Where all the 400 engines available from the start of '68 production except the RAII?

I think any RAII would smoke an L78 and I am a Chevy guy.

-When you ordered a 400 Firebird, you got the base 400 at 330 horses with the #16 casting heads.

-Then you could order a 400 HO which used the high-flow exhaust manifolds from the next-rung-up 400 Ram Air engine and the hotter cam for the manual trans car. Everything else stayed the same as base 400. Closed air cleaner, closed hood scoops.

-Then the 400 Ram Air Engine had the special exhaust manifolds, and different heads, casting 31, with swirl polished valves and special valve springs, for higher RPM operation. And, of course, the foam air cleaner element that mated to OPEN hood scoops.

-In April 1968, came the first "round port" Pontiac engine. The nasty b#*ch Ram Air II (even though Pontiac never used Ram Air I as a designator for their 400 Ram Air) This was a very special engine with completely re-engineered heads with round exhaust ports, forged aluminum pistons (versus cast of the other 400s), special crank, special 4-bolt block, re-balanced Armasteel crank etc. Foam element air cleaner, open hood scoops. A beast in a Firebird.

[scuncio]

So, it took until 1968 1/2 for Pontiac to finally build an equivalent to the L78 thats been around since 1965.

Oh snap! I think my 67 400 HO GTO would give a 67 L78 Chevelle a good run in bone stock trim. And I'm not a diehard pontiac guy by any means.

That would be a fun race.

[Tracker1]

Also add that the 68 RAI Firebird had four bolt main cap 400 block!

You would know sir - how many dozens of these things have you owned Matt? I'm betting you've lost count. :)

[WILMASBOYL78]

Thanks for the info. Where all the 400 engines available from the start of '68 production except the RAII?

I think any RAII would smoke an L78 and I am a Chevy guy.

Interesting comment...I have asked about this before and others have said the opposite. On paper the torque specs are better than the L78...but, the L78 can rev a little bit higher. I would think that a Firebird vs. Chevelle matchup would lean toward the bird...but with an L78 Camaro or Nova it might be a different story :burnout:

Either way I would love to see and drive one of those 68 RA2 cars...especially if it had the 4.33 gears.

-wilma

[Lee Stewart]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWR0IBTtG80

1969 Corvette L89/L71 vs 1968 Firebird Ram Air II

427 auto 4.56 vs 400 auto 4.10

[earntaz]

[QUOTE=Lee Stewart;1383940]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWR0IBTtG80

1969 Corvette L89/L71 vs 1968 Firebird Ram Air II

427 auto 4.56 vs 400 auto 4.10[/QUO

Vette' may have been sleeping or couldn't hook em up -- looks like the Firebird took a dive in second ... the BBC drove around him on the big end ...