1967 Match Race 'Dart GTS 383' vs 'Firebird 326 H.O.'

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As for the 'looks" department, the Fire Chicken has it over the dart...much newer looking design..

A for resale..even with all the cookie cutters identical cars chev and Pontiac put out, they still have a much higher resale value now..
 
Negative on the 1967 Dart GTS 383,

Of course besides the anemic exhaust, and additional weight on the nose {#176 lbs.},
- was the 'de-jetted' Carter AFB, and a poor flowing cast iron Intake Manifold.

The Carter AFB's {#4309 - Manual} and {#4310 - Automatic},
* 1 7/16" x 1 9/16" = Throttle-Openings
* 1.093" x 1.537" = Venturi Size

Were de-jetted at the Factory, and only had a Flow-Rate of 537 CFM's.

The Camshaft {Hydraulic} and Valve Train, was good for normal daily driving,
but for anything else it was.......horrible.

Draw-Back, was that the 67' GTS 383 was only available from the Factory
with 3.23 Sure-Grip.

In March 1967, Dealer's were instructed from Dodge 'Bulletin Sheet', 'not'
to install any 'Optional' Gears for a customer on the 'newly' released GTS 383.

Those Chrysler Bastards........
 
I owned a 67 400 4spd. Firebird. in 1975. I ran my freinds bone stock 72 340 4spd. Demon on a daily basis. He pulled a car on me in first and second and held that until we were both wound tight. Firebird had 336's and a 12 bolt from my nova. his Demon was 355's.
 
Best 'Pure-Stock' Performance Results

May 1967

1967 GTS 383 {4-Speed} w/3.23 Gears and D70 x 14" Tires

Deb's Automotive, out of Springfield, Massachusetts.

* Performance Tune-Up on the their 'new' Bear Dyno.

15.02 @ 92.3 MPH



 
Hold The Phone,,,,,,,,

1967 Pontiac Firebird 326 H.O.

4-Speed w/3.36 Gears 'Safe-T-Track' Differential

Test Results..........15.48 @ 91 MPH
 
1967 was the last year of the old Pontiac engines. They used the same block for all V8's, from the 326 to the 428. That plus the subframe put a lot of weight on the front end.
If the test car was a 4 speed, it would have been equiped with a mono leaf rear and dual traction bars.
The 326 H.O. really wasn't much more than a 4 bbl and cam into the stock 326.

I would like to see the results of the 383 Commando vs the Pontiac Firebird 400.
C

Edit, somewhere I have a timeslip of running our 326 (not H.O.) Firebird in the 1/4. IIRC, it was a little over 16 sec. and a tad over 90 mph.
 
CLHYER,

Correct on the 67' Firebird 326 H.O.

A 'M-20' 4-Speed came through with 'Dual' Traction-Bars.

Most had the 'Handling-Suspension Package', which was standard
on the Firebird 400.

And they came through with the single Mono-Leaf Rear Spring,
which was rated at 135 lbs.

The Dual-Exhaust was full-length 2.00" Dual-Pipes connected to the single
Cross-Flow Muffler, with 2.25" Outlets.

The 15.48 @ 91 MPH sounds about 'right-on' with a 4-Speed and 3.36 Gears.
 
YY1 said:
That same sub-frame engineering is why you see 10:1 "dog tracking" novas as opposed to Dusters and A bodies in general.
Click to expand...

IIRC, the Nova, Ventura, Omega, etc. had problems shearing off the centering bolts on the rear leaf springs causing the rear end to shift position on the spring and consequently steer the rear of the car to one side.

A friend of mine had a '68 or '69 Firebird back in the day. Another friend had a warmed over 273 4-speed Valiant that would spank him every time. Plus, the Firebird was such a POS is why he ultimately converted to Mopar.
 
A friend of mine had a '68 or '69 Firebird back in the day. Another friend had a warmed over 273 4-speed Valiant that would spank him every time. Plus, the Firebird was such a POS is why he ultimately converted to Mopar.[/QUOTE]




it's funny how things really were. I also seen many LT1 chevs beat by 340 mopars. not just beat, spanked.
 
I experienced the center bolt shearing first hand more than a few times.

Quite violent.

Only a grandma could drive a car more than a few miles with a broken center bolt and not have the rear axle moved back on one side far enough to pull the slip yoke out of the transmission.

I don't think that was the cause of the main dog tracking issue, although they certianly dog tracked like hell when that bolt sheared.
 
YY1 said:
I don't think that was the cause of the main dog tracking issue, although they certianly dog tracked like hell when that bolt sheared.
Click to expand...

Well, between that and the subframe/bushing issues it's a wonder any of them went straight at all...

I'm SO glad my Dad bought a Dart Swinger back in '71. He could have just as easily walked into the Chevy dealership across the street and bought a Nova. That Dart became my first car. It and all the other Chrysler products my Dad bought afterwards are the reason I have always been into Mopars. (sorry OP, for the temporary thread hijack!)
 
If you were able to get a 3.91 Gear Option in the 67' Firebird 326 H.O. {Code L76} 4-Speed,

And were a good enough driver not to twist the Rear-End Suspension off the line,

You could get a 'stock' 326 H.O. down into the 14.90's with a proper 'Performance
Tune-Up'.

They came thru with 14" x 6" Rims and E70 x 14" tires.

If you let the tires spin out a bit, it saved the Rear-End Suspension.

133287956_amazoncom-1967-ad-pontiac-firebird-sports-car-sprint-326.jpg
 
Head-to-Head

67' Dart GTS 383 {4-Speed, w/3.23 Sure-Grip} ~ D70 x 14" Tires

67' Firebird 326 H.O. {4-Speed, w/3.36 Limited-Slip} ~ E70 x 14" Tires

Off the Showroom Floor

* GTS............... 15.40 @ 92.1 MPH
* Firebird........ 15.48 @ 91.3 MPH
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

67' Dart GTS {Torque-Flite, w/3.23 Sure-Grip) ~ D70 x 14" Tires

67' Firebird 326 H.O. {Power-Glide w/3.36 Limited-Slip} E70 x 14" Tires

Off the Showroom Floor

* GTS............ 15.49 @ 90.3 MPH
* Firebird...... 16.02 @ 86.3 MPH
 
Bearded-Frank,

On the 1967 GTS 383.

Due t the obvious restrictions {Exhaust and Carburetor}, and factory limiting
the Gear-Ratio to {3.23 Sure-Grip only}.

It was an unfair performance test.....15.40 @ 92.1 MPH

Grand-Spaulding Dodge, took a 'stock' 67' GTS 383 with an A-727 Automatic, and
added a 'Transmission Shift-Kit' - and installed 4.10 Gears, Iggy 'Customized' Headers and
7" Prowler Cheater-Slicks.

Also performed a 'performance tune-up' on the Dyno.

Test Results.........14.22 @ 98.3 MPH {w/closed Headers}
 
Having owned a `67 GTS from `71 to `77 ( worst mistake ever having sold it ) I was into quarter miles, 383 / 727 / 323 sure grip, the way bought from a used car lot, first quarter mile run netted mid 14`s, then took it home and worked on it, by years end, with a mallory dual point set up on a machine, timing 42 degress all in by 2800, changed intake to a Eldebrock CB3X, actually the test manifold ( by the X ) forunner of the RPM with a dejetted holley 780 vaccum secondaries, holley chassis hedders 1 5/8 primaries, 3 inch collectors, changed gears to 391 sure grip, added pinion snubber one inch from body pan, dropped front suspension one inch, running at the time f-60 14 street tires on widened rear rims to 7 inch, I was running 12.86 at 110, best I ever got on street tires, also having lived near a scrap metal yard we weighed the dart in with spare/jack and all ( not with my butt in it), 2,891 just the way ma mopar issued it. Engine internals were never touched.....
 
Rick,

That is extremely light for a 67' GTS 383.

The Dart GT with a 273/235 HP had a shipping weight of #2940 lbs.

The GTS 383 'Big Block' was supposed to be #232 lbs. heavier than the little Dart GT with the LA Small Block....
 
I`ll agree with you, everything I`ve read and seen have said the same, just going by the weight the operator had given me in a print out, maybe a discrepancy in the scales...? Hard to say, we`re only talking a few lbs, but still BB vs sm blk weight.
 
One of the few photos I have, this right after it was purchased it.
 

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