The short reason is these interesting combination of events.
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John Clegg (old racing friend and NHRA Super Stock Eliminator champion)
told Craig Hendrickson that he has two complete but used TurboFORCE packages and that he will provide at least one at no cost to the project. John will install the other TurboFORCE on one of his mid-70s Trans Ams after it is redeveloped.
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Pete McCarthy (old racing friend, noted Pontiac expert and former Tech Editor of PONTIAC ENTHUSIAST magazine) advised Craig that Edelbrock was developing an
Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) for the original Pontiac V-8.
A call to Edelbrock confirmed display at the November 2003 SEMA show in Las Vegas and a spring 2004 availability.
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A 1976 Firebird Esprit 350 was offered for sale at a very low price virtually "down the street" from Craig's home. It hadn't run for seven years, but it's now owned by Craig, cleaned up, fitted with new V-rated tires and after a little repair, it's running fine. Although it's not a Trans Am, it will make a good test car for the TurboFORCE Revival Project. John Clegg is providing a good 1973 Pontiac 400 to match a Trans Am's engine combination.
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Tom Robinson (President of RTech Performance, old customer of H-O Racing who purchased an original TurboFORCE package back in the late 1970s) was displaying his innovative (turbo/super-charger) Supercooler at the SEMA show. Tom expressed to Craig his interest in co-developing a varient of this intercooler for "Gen 2" Firebirds.
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Tom Demauro (an editor of High Performance Pontiac magazine)
opined in an email to Craig that because of current enthusiasm and aftermarket parts availability for the Pontiac V-8, maybe TurboFORCE should be resurrected.
Of all these events, Edelbrock's EFI which is built into their Victor manifold (P/N 50565) is the main impetus for the TurboFORCE revival project. This is because EFI provides a computer controlled fuel curve. Almost all problems encountered by the original TurboFORCE users were related to the fuel system (supply under pressure and air/fuel mixture). This set of problems disappears when using an EFI. Also, no other aftermarket EFI manufacturer provides a manifold with fuel rails for the Pontiac V-8.
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