1970 Trans Am vintage SCCA race car

[old physics]

Here are the pictures of the 1112011 9G9 1970 Ram Air IV distributor with the Ram Air V distributor sleeve.

After talking with a bunch of great Pontiac historian's, racers and avid collectors it would seem that the reason behind this setup is for the following reasons.

The Ram Air V program utilized the heavy duty 80 psi oil pump, to drive that oil pump the GM engineers discovered that they needed a larger diameter distributor gear to stabilize the timing and longevity of the cam gear.

To do this they had to enlarge the distributor housing hole in the block.

Since this engine does not have any tell tale signs of Ram Air V cylinder bore "chamfers" it would make more sense that the block and distributor combination were used to insure good oil pressure during acceleration, deceleration and wide open throttle runs with the Ram Air IV cylinder heads.

If I may digress I have had the opportunity to drive both a 1970 GTO Judge Ram Air IV four speed with 4.33 rear gears as well as a couple of Ram Air V equipped vehicles. I can't imagine the power that a larger 455 cubic inch motor with the ram air IV heads would have produced back in 1970.

I bet it has to be similar to a 455 with E-heads making north of 500 Hp.