Hey Steve:
That email this morning reminded me that I've been meaning to write you.
That letter you have of my fathers from Pontiac on your site. If you wanted to know a little bit more of the story:
He really was not trying to qualify the car.
He was trying to get the RA V heads approved for use in AHRA, IHRA, and NHRA super stock racing.
That letter was just 1 piece of the puzzle he needed to get them to believe that they were factory produced and not an engineering exercise.
He was successful getting AHRA and IHRA to recognize them, but never could get NHRA. Even with all the info provided, NHRA considered them experimental because no proof existed they came from the factory in a production vehicle. That is still their stance today, so if you ever get proof a car came from the factory with the heads, it may be the proof needed to get NHRA to reverse their decision.
FYI: That 63 Catalina raced Super Stock F/A in AHRA.
Once he got the heads approved, he went out and set Formula 1, 2, and 3 records at the same meet.
(F1, F2, F3 was the 2-4bl, 4bl, and 2bl classes)
To all those that claim the V heads are no good or needs mega cubes: He set the 2bl ET and MPH record at 11:55 @ 118.43. This was a 4000 lb. 421cu car with virgin factory cast heads and intake with a 2bl. back in the 70's.
The adapter and 2bl carb was the same set-up that was on the 455 RAV Pro-Gas Sunbird that ran 9:90's in 1979.
As far as I know, he was the last one to attempt Pro-Stock with a Pontiac. This is against Ricky Smith at the World Nationals in 1984:
Sorry - got a bragging streak there for a while
See ya,
Brian Steinbrick