Joeyelbows

I was trying to find out how rare this 1974 Formula 455 with ram air is. it has every option except for t tops. I need ur help guys!!!

LS1W66

T-tops were not an available option until 1976 (Hurst Hatch Roof)

And Ram Air was not available on a Formula or Trans Am after 1972.

Joeyelbows

K so the ram air on this formula was something the customer did then.

JohnnyBs98WS6Rag

iTrader: (1)

By "ram air", I presume you are referring to the dual-scooped hood that came standard on all 2nd-gen Formulas? These hoods were functional at least through '74 (I'm pretty sure), possibly into '75. The hood design changed sometime in '75-'76 timeframe and by '77 definately was no longer functional.

OR, are you referring to the "shaker" hood like the 2nd-gen T/As had? The ONLY Formulas I've seen w/ these are the '74 SD-455 Formulas, which ARE very rare cars indeed.

A little more info on your car would be helpful, like which hood are you referring to, and which 455 engine does it have?

JohnnyBs98WS6Rag

iTrader: (1)

Did a little research, did find that the shaker scoop was "blocked off from the factory" in '73+ cars (my '76's block-off plate's rivets had already been replaced w/ screws and was removable by the time I got the car). The '77+ shaker scoops needed to be cut to be made functional. Shakers were installed only on T/As and the '73-'74 SD-455 Formulas.

I couldn't find any thing definitive about the (non-SD) Formula's twin-scoop hood though. The exterior shape was consistent (protruding over the nose) up through '75, was laid-back in '76 (non-functional) w/ rounded humps, then squared-off in '77+. Some of the pics of '75 Formulas I've found look like the scoops are blocked / non-functional, but the earlier ones look like they are open and functional. Also found a pic of a '74 w/ "Ram Air" decals on the side of the scoops claimed to be original, but could've been added by the owner / previous owner.

LS1W66

Johnny
In `73 when they closed the shakers on the T/A it was because of a New Drive By Noise Standard. And the Ram Air for the Formula's was eliminated aswell. In short why have the Formula with Ram Air and Not the Uplevel Trans Am.

Total Formula production for 1974 was 14,519
Only 58 of those were SD 455 Equipped

Joeyelbows

I'll see if he'll let me take a pic of it when he comes back from his drive. I may end up buying it thats why all the questions. He's selling it to me for 6K. As for the hood it has the 2 scoops near the front of the hood, and which 455 i dunno.

LS1W66

Only 2 455's available in 1974, Base 455 (RPO L75) rated at 250 HP and the coveted SD455 (RPO LS2) rated at a conservative 290 HP. Chances are it's NOT an SD as these cars have the Trans Am's shaker hood scoop. Also Formula's could be had with 350's and 400's in `74 and all the Pontiac engines look the same so unless you know the numbers you wouldn't be able to tell. Regular 400's and 455's would both have heads with cast number 4X on the center exhaust port. SD 455's will have heads with cast number 16 on one of the end exhaust ports Also SD's will have a cast in LS2 code on the Intake Manifold.
Also a couple things to look for to make sure the car is a Formula.
The Vin should start with FU87 and the Cowl Tag under the hood in front of the vin location should also read W66 as one of the codes.
Sorry for the incomplete Info so bare with me as I don't have my Decode books available to me and all this info is off the top of my head.

Anyways good luck

Joeyelbows

damn thats hell impressive if thats just off the top off of ur head.

LS1W66

I owned a 2nd Gen T/A for 7 years and always did alot of research on the whole line including Engine Specs Cams Etc.... Sometimes they call me the Firebird Encyclopedia.

JohnnyBs98WS6Rag

iTrader: (1)

That makes sense. Do you know if the blocked-off '73+ Formula hoods still included the plastic "plumbing" that routed air from the hood nostrils to the air cleaner? Or were those abandoned as well? I had a set of those sitting in my garage for years, a friend gave them to me in case I wanted to adapt them to my '68 Cutlass under the bumper. I ended up tossing them when I moved.

LS1W66

AFAIK all the Ram Air hardware was unavailable from the factory but you probably could order it from a dealer and do it yourself.