Pontiac HEMI thread Mickey Thompson, Jack Gifford, Steve Barcak

hello steve
what info do you have on est hp on that engine..also any idea of topspeed on the boat?
regards stig

 

At Speedweek last summer there was a Jeep CJ3 rail running one of those Slant 4 pontiacs, Blown and injected, sitting in the rear. If the guy didn't put a "Pontiac" emblem on the side of his blower nobody would have guessed it, and many STILL didn't. The guy said he was running a 455 head on it. I'll russle up the pics when I get home.
Last Summer at the NSRA Museum they had a M/T show, and they had his Slant 4, and Slant "2" on display. Both blown and injected. That guy was CRAZY

 

Awesome boat! Sounds great!!!

 

Killer Tunes!

 

A couple pics of Mickeys cars from the museum. Thought i had pics of those blown 2 and 4 bangers.

 

Great video Steve!

Here is another M/T Hemi Pontiac

 

For those interested, I will be doing a presentation on the M/T HEMI Pontiac April 1 in Phoenix as part of Pontiac Heaven for 2011.

 

Dayum Steve, it does have an Early Hemi tone to it, but at the same time it still sounds like an ole Pontiac! It definitely freed up the RPM Band and made that little Poncho a real nice Air Pump!

 

Planning to pull the M/T HEMI Pontiac out of the boat this week to do an inspection and also want to lift the hull off too so I can service the trailer to paint and detail it.
Will have it up and running next month in time for Pontiac Heaven here in Phoenix and the presentation. Hope to see some hambers in attendence.

 

Now have the M/T HEMI apart, boat is off of the trailer, finished sandblasting the trailer early this morning, now it is primered and am sanding it. Hope to paint trailer tonight and get boat on trailer Monday or Tues. HEMI will be on display this weekend at Pontiac Heaven. I'll be doing the very first presentation on the M/T HEMI Pontiac this Friday. This is part of a full day of Pontiac presentations at the Hampton Inn Surprise, Az. Then it is to Speedworld for Friday night and all day Sat and Sunday.

 

Here is a rare pic of the Dragmaster digger of Mickey Thompson that won the US Nationals in '62. Power is the M/T HEMI Pontiac. Note the '63 push car so this was probably in late '62 or early '63. Would anyone know where this pic was taken? Maybe someone recognizes the background? It is probably a so Cal track.
Also, can anyone identify the people in the pic. Note the '1' on the body of the digger!

 

Hi, Steve
I see in the picture that you have a unmachined head. Can you take 6 pictures of that head and send then to me ?

Thank you
Toxic Waste
James Foreman

 

Photo was one that I had posted awhile back, came from a 2 1/4 slide from a group of slides I bought from a former M/T employee that claimed to have gotten from Mickey himself during an office clean out. Shot might have been taken at Pomona, they used a canvas covered fence on their staging lanes or it could be San Gabriel.

 

And very reasonably priced too

 

Um, why the hydraulic throttle?

 

thanks for the info. If you have any more pics of this engine/car to share, it would be very appreciated.

 

The journalist who put that together obviously had some things very out of proportion. In '62, the M/T HEMI heads alone cost $1,000!

As for the throttle, it was common in that time to use them. I think they were eventually outlawed. Perhaps someone here will know why they were popular in the day?

Apache County Motorsports Days August 24-5
www.apachecountymotorsportsdays.org

Pontiac Heaven Special AA/Fuel Dragster 6.77 @ 200 so far
’65 Tempest AWB Funny car- blown, injected- under construction
M/T HEMI Pontiac, blown, injected in 72 Hondo flat
www.pontiacheaven.org

 

Have been working on the HEMI and now have the long block assembled. Will be dropping in the boat in the coming hours and plan to have it out for some testing in a few days. Here it is without the intake and valley cover. Note the solid valley area.



This is the only known complete original Pontiac HEMI engine to survive out of Thompsons shop.

The Pontiac HEMI is the only Pontiac engine that does not have a specific displacement. This one is a 3" main and had a stroker crank in it for 460" most of its life. Now, it has a modified '62 421SD #990 crank forging and displaces 421 inches.

 

Had the HEMI on display tonight at the Maricopa cruise in show. It got a lot of attention and questions but, many still do not understand what they are looking at. I may take to cruisin Central in a few weeks. Meanwhile, later this week, she goes to the lake for some testing!

 

I love it!!!

 

Talked to Applekrate Last night!!! He's back out on the lake with the HEMI!!

 

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I thought the hydraulic throttle was a safety measure that eliminated some of the throttle linkage, and the chance of it binding up and sticking wide open. Someone on here should know.

 

Just got back from Lyman lake up here in Apache county in eastern Arizona. This was the first time I took the '62 M/T Pontiac HEMI out at night. It's a real thrill to take this animal out on the water in the moonlight and open her up! Gosh, it really goes and I am still learning how to drive it. What a thrill.
I am planning on displaying and firing her up at the Pontiac Buick Olds Fall Fest at Speedworld dragstrip outside of Phoenix on Saturday, Nov 3.

Going to take her back for a thrill ride in the morning too! Cannot get enough.

More event info- www.pbofallfest.org

 

There has been some interesting up dates for the Pontiac M/T HEMI. My custom shaft rocker set up has been finished and delvered back to me along with the head I had sent them. So, for the first time in quite awhile, I have all my Hemi stuff together.
This Saturday in Chandler, Az is the 15th annual Pontiac Heaven car show and parts exchange. I have decided to bring out much of my HEMI stuff to display. This will include the new shaft rocker setup that will be used on my AA/Fueler some time down the road. If you are in the Phoenix area this weekend, stop by and say hello.

 

I met you at the Nostalgia drags a couple years ago and picked up the info you had on the M/T Hemi heads. I passed that info on to a friend of mine in Northern, IL who is very big into Pontiac restoration work. He has been working on a Ram Air 5 car for one of his customers and passed on the M/T Hemi info to him. http://www.rmrestoration.com/restoration_photos/g520-69-firebird-conv-project.html

His customer is now in the process of having the M/T hemi head mic'ed out so it can be reproduced. I know there is someone making Hemi heads for Pontiac's already, but I believe his only work with a custom block. These heads will be knock offs of the M/Ts and will work on standard Pontiac blocks.

Just thought you would like to know what your pamphlet started

 

Sounds like an interesting project. I wish him well with it.

 

Anything new on the reproduction M/T Pontiac Hemi heads?

 

The Hemi Pontiac will be on display next month in eastern Arizona at the 7th annual Apache County Motorsports Days event at the St Johns city park. All are welcome to attend.

 

Just in case you didn`t know, Jack is a member over on Landracing.com,and is putting together another very unique engine to run at Bonneville.....Might be worth your while to visit.....