11-Second '65 Pontiac Catalina Goes For More

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Originally purchased off eBay in 2003 out of Maryville, Tennessee, this unrestored survivor was in such good shape it was driven back to Florida after the purchase. This is where work was started right away on the restoration and modification for racing as a father and son project. Most of the work was done by themselves except the paint and body, which was done by a family friend.





Jim chose Ken Keefer’s shop out of Brooksville for the engine build as he is well known in Pontiac circles. A 455 block was cleaned up and prepped, then fitted with a forged rotating assembly and topped off with unported KRE heads and an Edelbrock Torker II manifold. A Quick Fuel 850 CFM carb was used to mix the fuel. They raced 7.50 index as time would allow with occasional trips to Bradenton’s quarter mile facility where the car logged a best ET of 11.50 @ 114 with a 1.56 60-foot at 4100 pounds and an 1/8th mile time of 7.25 @ 93.



The new engine was also sourced from Ken’s Speed and Machine using the same block bored out and a stroker crank to bring the cubic inches out to 494. The same heads were also used again but Ken did some port work to bring the flow up to 300 CFM from the as-cast 242 CFM, topped it off with a new Edelbrock Victor manifold and Pro Systems Dominator. The TH400 transmission was freshened up and had a trans. brake installed by Steve Cannizzo at CRT Performance Transmissions in Zephyrhills, Florida. A PTC 5000 RPM stall converter multiplies the copious amounts of torque Pontiac’s are known for.

They have been out twice so far with the new set up and fought some new combo issues. A leaking valve cover gasket sent them home early last night from Sunshine after spinning the tires hard on the first pass but plan another test session in Bradenton Thursday night.





Last year the car was taken to Pro-Fab Performance to add a roll bar and some rear suspension modifications in preparations for more power. Matt LaRue sourced a Moser Fab 9 housing and filled it with a spool, 4.10 gear and good axles, then fabricated up some custom rear control arms and installed a BMR anti sway bar.




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