Muscle Car Of The Week #3: 1970 1/2 Trans Aim RAIV

[V8TV]

This week's Muscle Car Of The Week from The Brothers Collection is a super-rare 1970 1/2 Pontiac Trans Am, complete with the Ram Air IV 400 cube V8 and Muncie 4-speed transmission!

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1970 marked the second generation for GM's F body platform, and the company made substantial improvements to the car over the '67-'69 versions. The 1970 1/2 models were longer and more spacious inside, and generally drove more comfortably than the earlier cars. 1970 also marked the peak in performance Muscle Cars, and the 1970 1/2 Trans Am was one of the top performers. The Pontiac Trans Am came loaded with numerous performance add-ons, such as upgraded suspension, brakes, exhaust, and distinctive styling.

This particular Polar White Trans Am is among the most sought-after of all, as it features the 370 HP Ram Air IV V8 engine and a Muncie 4-speed transmission. The Ram Air IV engine was assembled with very tight tolerances from the factory, making it as close to a hand-built racing engine as you could buy from GM. The RAIV package started with a 4-bolt main block, forged crank and pistons, and a high performance oil pump, but the big difference was in the top half of the engine. The Ram Air IV heads boasted 67cc chambers, 2.11&quot; swirl-polished intake valves and 1.77&quot; exhaust valves, and large round exhaust ports. The .520&quot; lift RAIV cam had a long 308 degree intake / 320 degree exhaust duration and pulled air through an aluminum dual-plane intake manifold. These parts sounded more like they were hand-picked by a race engine builder than a factory offering, but that's what makes the RAIV so special. They only made 88 of these cars, 59 were manuals and the other 29 came with automatics. It's one of the few cars where both transmissions were offered and the manual outsold the auto. Watch the video to learn more about this Pontiac Historical Society documented correct '70 1/2 and its unique details like the original 2-tone blue seat covers, 1-year only Rally II wheels, and distinctive styling elements.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Thanks Kevin,

Needed a little hit of muscle car unobtanium.

Did you ask &quot;The Brothers&quot; if you can start one of these beauties?

I bet they run....

Ryan

Go MCOTW.

[Don_Lightfoot]

I must say Kevin I am really enjoying these videos. They are detailed, professional and very informative. Am anxiously awaiting future releases.

[al8apex]

Ditto, nicely done

As a side bar, an annoying thing I get all the time owning a 1970 Camaro Z28 is the &quot;and a 1/2&quot; that some want to add to the 1970 model year vehicle - there is no such thing, either it is a 70 or a 71, there is no such thing as a &quot;70 1/2&quot; f-body

Discussion over here: http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showth...ght=1970+1%2F2

plus more, I am sure that point is discussed on other forums as well

[Big Block Bill]

Looks like a twin to Mark Bulaw's car. I wonder how far apart they are in build dates?

Bill

[StealthBird]

Very nice ! One of my all-time favorite Pontiacs. Considering this is an informative video that people may use as reference, I'd like to point out a couple errors in his narrative.

RAIV crankshafts were not forged steel (as stated in the video), they were Armasteel (Nodular), also sometimes called cast cranks. The only Pontiacs that had true forged steel crankshafts were the early SD engines, and the RAV's (303, 366, 400).

The Ram Air IV was not the only 1970 Trans Am to receive a functional shaker scoop (as stated in the video). All 1970-1972 Trans Am's used the same functional shaker scoop, regardless of engine choice.

The Ram Air IV stickers on the scoop look great, but Pontiac never used callouts on the 1970 Trans Am shakers. A common resto mistake, although many owners just like to add the stickers for bragging rights.

I don't mean to nit-pick, but people may use this video as a reference, and I'm just trying to make sure the facts are correct. I like the production of the video, and I'm looking forward to seeing more!

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/flag.gif[/img]

The 70-81 F-bodies were just beautiful, and their styling were truly one of the all-time great American designs. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

[Xplantdad]

Great job Kevin!!