I restored and did many modern upgrades on a 1981 4.9L Turbo Trans Am Bandit special about 10 years ago and still love driving it on occasions. The 301 turbo was very underwhelming but I didn't want to simply put an LS in it and call it done. I found a shop who was pretty excited to try and modernize the 301 and the turbo system. In the end it cost me around 8k with turbo/intercooler re-work, fuel injection and engine rebuild but what I got was worth every penny. Sure a crate engine would have been cheaper and even more powerful but no where near as cool lol. On the dyno at the rear wheels the old 301 turbo now makes 340 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque which is a massive upgrade and honestly about as much power as I'd feel comfortable with in that car lol. It's an everyday driver capable car and I've taken it on long trips several times with 0 issues to date.
Proof that the 301 could've been highly sought after if the big speed corporations had done research and development. Keep up the good work! My 301T is watching too. 🤣
I had a 80' Formula with the 4.9 turbo. Black on black. This was 97'. It looked brand new. Not even wear on the carpet. Garaged kept. I bought it for $600. My buddy owned a used car lot and he sold it to me. The previous owner and my buddy thought there was a hole blown in one of the pistons. Turns out, I found a oil treatment bottle in the trunk. The guy destroyed the oil seals in the turbo. It didn't sound like it had a bad skip when you were turning it over. I pulled the turbo and tore it down and sure enough the seals were pretty much missing. I can't describe how bad it was smoking. My neighbor came over. He thought my house was burning. If you started it, within a minutes you had to feel where the car was and feel your way into the interior to shut it off. I went on down to RPM diesel on SR 84 in Ft.Lauderdale, Florida. I bought a new Garrett replacement that somehow was still available for $400.
That's a cool story. It's crazy how much cheaper these cars were. I had t-top 79 301 Formula that had a mint body & interior but needed paint. I bought it for $900 !! and the car was sitting in the guys driveway on a mainroad for over a year before i bought it. With a huge sign on it saying $1000. I decided to give up on my 77 400 4spd T/A and convert the Formula into a 400 4spd 3.23 car. It was fun. I did the whole thing myself in my driveway In a weekend. Swapped the rear, springs, exhaust, the pedals, The Engine & Trans and everything. I then set it up for paint. It was Silver with Charcoal bottom with all the stripes and lettering. Car looked brand new and Flew. Built 5 of these 79-81 T/A's (& formula) and sold them all like a moron.
Great job, those are very respectable numbers. The Engine Dyno helps so much to tell one what works and what doesn't. I know you have been working on your "Engine Recipe Package" for a long time. Well done.
This is really cool. I once had an '80 Turbo T/A. It was back in about '92. I pulled the 301 and put in a 455. It looked stock otherwise and ran consistent 12.50s. I actually still have the engine stored with a bunch of other stuff at my dad's. It was running when pulled and I filled it with motor oil in the intake at the time. I saw a story on TH-cam that Pontiac had planned to further the development of the 301 Turbo into the 80's with fuel injection, distributorless ignition and eventually intercooling like the 3.8 Buick. Unfortunately GM heads decided to force the Chevy small block as the sole V8 engine choice in the Gen 3 F-Bodies. Can you imagine the type of power these engines would have made had they continued to develop them into the mid 80's? If the 3.8 turbo engines from the same era were running low 14's the Trans Ams would have been well into the lower 13's. Damn those GM corporate bastards!!! Keep building it guys. Even if GM never did it I sure am happy to see someone making it happen.
Pretty amazing numbers considering the whole basically stoke intake set up. I wish you could change it over to a blow through set up with an intercooler just to see how much more power it would make using that style of intake system versus the stock set up. Impressive work overall and good numbers to back it up.
What you have done is Nothing short of stunning, TTA and Joe! The siamesed port engines were designed for what we now call low pressure turbo carb instillations, so a heck of a lot of work was done on flow distribution Back in the Day by PMD. The Oldsmobile 403 and 350 versions were actually designed for 350 Cadillac Port EFi. The Draw Through air fuel swings and pressure ratio verses heat buildup show why the draw through 301 Turbo intake was a loosing battle at high boost ( over 12 psi) situations, just like Ak Miller said in the early 80s when he did the blow through LPG Ford Carb 2.3 Turbo press cars in 1981. I love the 301 turbo, but like the 1978-1982 ( Canada had it for two more years) 2.3 Carb turbo Mustang/Capri and the 3.8 Buick Carb turbo, these engines were wrongly let out as Carb turbo draw throughs because both Ford and GM decided to go back to carbs even though they had Port Fuel injection in the Capri/ Granada 2.8 ( RS2600 too) and the 5.7 Cadillac previous to that same 1980 year. How good would a blow through Port EFi turbo have been for cool intake temperatures with a 4bbl 301 intake with independent runner 400-455 style heads? My friend B & R Racing brought me here. I wasn't disappointed 🥝✔️
Always like seeing your 81 Bandit. Amazing how it’s a 301 CI, just one cubic inch smaller than the Ford 302, but Ford did so much more to add performance, without turbo. Always miss my 81 Bandit, please keep up the great work!!
I always thought that if Chevy had the 290 hp 302, why couldn't the Pontiac 301 be built on the same premise? Bigger valves, higher compression, cam upgrade, etc,... But in NA form. I believe the potential is there being that the Chevy 302 and the 301 have basically the same bore and stroke.
I love Pontiacs & have my own SuperFlow dyno if your ever in need. I'm located in Giles county TN. Pulaski address right off 65. My N/A 474 D-port engine makes 680 HP & 635 ' lbs. This was my 3rd pull without any tuning. 32 degrees total timing. I'm hopeful I can make 700 HP. I am using Kauffmam dports that I ported, Edelbrock Victor & 950 Dominator. It will go in my 68 back-halfed FB. Someday I plan to build a twin turbo engine using an AllPontiac iron block. Butler's is 40 min from my home. Great job making an awesome Pontiac. I love second generations & have owned many.
Glad I stumbled across this channel. I have plans for a turbo Buick 350 and have been going back and forth between a draw through or pure efi style build. I feel the draw through would turn more heads and look more "period correct" in my 77 Lesabre Sport Coupe.
In general I am very much a Mopar person. I did however own a 1979 Firebird Formula S with a 301 4 barrel. Other than being a bit of a dog off the line I loved it. On the roll it had a surprisingly strong passing gear. The car had great handling also. After that though it was falling apart in all the ways Firebirds of that vintage did. Rattling door windows, rot on the dash where the windshield leaked in the corners, cheaper interior materials etc. Glad to see someone playing with the 301 though. I am also a big fan of the Mopar 318's. With a little effort you can get pretty good power out of the smaller cubic inch engines.
ACES killshot has a built in 3 bar map, handles up to 650hp and seems easier to make adjustments. Costs less too, 32bit ecu is outside the TB and can be mounted away from engine bay (heat cycles)… I stumbled onto your content and am enjoying it. My current build is a 1969 Custom S with 400/400 and a killshot, just in the final stages of redoung a completely new fuel system.
My uncle purchased a 1980 trans am that was copper tone in color and had the shaker scoop and the bird on the hood , when I first seen it I was in love until I noticed the scoop didn’t say 6.6 on it ? It said 4.9 ! ( 301 ) and it wasn’t a turbo trans am ! Now maybe it felt fast because of the way he drove it but looking at the horsepower figures of 140 horsepower non-turbo 4.9 liter V8 and 210 horsepower for the 4.9 turbo V8 , now after he got rid of the non-turbo 4.9 liter trans am he purchased a black 1981 turbo 4.9 turbo trans am and the truth is I wasn’t impressed with its performance at all and the awesome shaker scoop was gone 😢 . I wonder why they didn’t just go with a 5.7 liter 350 GM engine with all the things done to it to make it perform as well or better then the 6.6 400 GM engine ? Anyway the 301 with its thin walled casting wasn’t an engine that was safe to make real power with .
All your footwork is very interesting. I have to point out that your plenum vacuum I suspect is normal for this is a draw through. The exact reason the PEVR was created in the first place. Even a blow throug setup or efi(on most modern setups) you should expect a restiction from intake tubing and air filter(measured in psi drop not vacuum cause there is no throttle between air filter and turbo)...Keep up the good work...
@richardkaltenbach3961 I did some small tuning the my team back in the 80s uncluding cam lifters springs and carb rwjetting ,when done the car would get second gear rubber ,and one I put a good old beating to a dart with 340
If I would have known that a brilliant man like you would come along one day and perform so many improvements to get more hp out of the 301 Turbo than anyone ever would have thought possible, I would have held onto my 1980 special edition T T/A. Bought in '91 for high school, sold in '95. 2W87TAL147476. (i think) I saw Sam Malone on Cheers do that, so I memorized mine too 😁
Wonder what you could do if you went with a larger Pontiac engine and a factory style turbo setup like yours Be a real sleeper. Just tell people, oh yeah it’s a 301!!!! Maybe better heads and larger custom intake like you made with even larger runners. Hmmm This sure is refreshing to see Pontiac power in the LS swap everything world. The power they make is great, but everyone has one. And I’ve seen a few firebirds with Pontiac 400’s and ported ram air heads, those things were stupid fast with not a lot of upgrades. Keep this up!!
When analysing engines metric is often better. 9" Plenum vaccum is 0.32 BAR below atmo. or 0.68 bar or 68% of atmosferic pressure, right? We say 14,7 psi boost pressure is 2 atmosferes total pressure or 2 BAR MAP absolute pressure. What this means is that the poor turbo must increase the pressure from 0.68 BAR MAP to 2 BAR MAP. This means that it is in you the 2.94 PR. level in the compressor map. What this really means is that the turbo works just as hard as if it pushes out something like 28 psi of boost it it had unrestriced acces to atmosfere pressure air. This is nothing less than a catastrofe for performance as it is like running the engine at almost 10 000 ft. altitude or half way to Mount Everests summit. On the bright side the turbo actually works pretty good. :) If astetics is not important the Sniper should be consideret mountet horisontally. :)
Money talks along with high tech engineering. By George I think you got it.haha I can't afford anything but stock modified.With a 800 quadrajet and vacuum advance ignition. With shade tree modifications I'm pumping out around 350 @ 8 lbs. Boost less than 4000rpm. With a ear and seat in the pants street calibrated dynamometer pool 😂😂😂😂
I've always heard the stock crank was the weakest part of the 301. what did you do to the crank to make it last with that much HP. Also I've always wanted to run 350 or 400 heads on a 301 and make a spacer so you could run an aftermarket intake. Have you ever tried it?
Nothing was done to the crankshaft, just a good balance with lighter forged pistons. The main caps have studs in them along with solid alignment pins for some added strength. Trying to use conventional Pontiac heads is a quite an undertaking and a spacer is not what is needed for an intake on regular heads. A new, narrower intake is required due to the shorter deck height of the 301 block.
I tried and failed years ago. I was a 17 yr old with almost no money zero mechanical skills. I bought a 69' GTO for $600 from a 16 yr old who blew up the 400 and swapped the cheapest motor the junkyard had. That 135hp turd wouldn't even break the tires loose in the rain. So i was needing to get few more pony's and had a pile of spare parts that came with the car. The 400 heads bolted on fine but it needed a custom intake fabricated. Spacer plate wouldn't work. But almost 30yrs later still got the car. had a couple 400s and a 428 since, But 301 is long gone
After all the years of negativity towards the 301, you are making marvelous achievements, and keeping the journey alive and hopeful. 👍
I restored and did many modern upgrades on a 1981 4.9L Turbo Trans Am Bandit special about 10 years ago and still love driving it on occasions. The 301 turbo was very underwhelming but I didn't want to simply put an LS in it and call it done. I found a shop who was pretty excited to try and modernize the 301 and the turbo system. In the end it cost me around 8k with turbo/intercooler re-work, fuel injection and engine rebuild but what I got was worth every penny. Sure a crate engine would have been cheaper and even more powerful but no where near as cool lol. On the dyno at the rear wheels the old 301 turbo now makes 340 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque which is a massive upgrade and honestly about as much power as I'd feel comfortable with in that car lol. It's an everyday driver capable car and I've taken it on long trips several times with 0 issues to date.
Sounds awesome - hope you drive it like you stole it.
I'm Glad You Kept The 301, Instead Of Going With A Junky POS LS Motor. That Would Be Sacriligious!
Couldn't agree more. I hate those people who put chevy engines in these old ponchos, they don't deserve to own them!
This is wicked cool! Never seen a 301 turbo do much of anything!
Thank you Tony. I am a fan of your channel too. The Syke Clone and your Firebird are my favorites.
Pontiac didn't have a chance to further develop the turbo 301 v8
Think about if Pontiac was able put the turbo 301 in the Grand Prix
But I'm building a Pontiac 400 v8
@@RabeHighPerformanceOr A 1976-1980 SUNBIRD!
400 hp from a turbo 301 is something I would never have imagined. That’s awesome.
Proof that the 301 could've been highly sought after if the big speed corporations had done research and development. Keep up the good work! My 301T is watching too. 🤣
Awsome, never seen a 301 make that much hp!!!❤
301 BASHING SUCKS!
SO DOES GEO METRO BASHING!
I had a 80' Formula with the 4.9 turbo. Black on black. This was 97'. It looked brand new. Not even wear on the carpet. Garaged kept. I bought it for $600. My buddy owned a used car lot and he sold it to me. The previous owner and my buddy thought there was a hole blown in one of the pistons. Turns out, I found a oil treatment bottle in the trunk. The guy destroyed the oil seals in the turbo. It didn't sound like it had a bad skip when you were turning it over. I pulled the turbo and tore it down and sure enough the seals were pretty much missing. I can't describe how bad it was smoking. My neighbor came over. He thought my house was burning. If you started it, within a minutes you had to feel where the car was and feel your way into the interior to shut it off. I went on down to RPM diesel on SR 84 in Ft.Lauderdale, Florida. I bought a new Garrett replacement that somehow was still available for $400.
That's a cool story. It's crazy how much cheaper these cars were. I had t-top 79 301 Formula that had a mint body & interior but needed paint. I bought it for $900 !! and the car was sitting in the guys driveway on a mainroad for over a year before i bought it. With a huge sign on it saying $1000. I decided to give up on my 77 400 4spd T/A and convert the Formula into a 400 4spd 3.23 car. It was fun. I did the whole thing myself in my driveway In a weekend. Swapped the rear, springs, exhaust, the pedals, The Engine & Trans and everything. I then set it up for paint. It was Silver with Charcoal bottom with all the stripes and lettering. Car looked brand new and Flew. Built 5 of these 79-81 T/A's (& formula) and sold them all like a moron.
@frankartale1026 It's funny how back then they were just throw aways lol. Now days they are gold.
Great job, those are very respectable numbers. The Engine Dyno helps so much to tell one what works and what doesn't. I know you have been working on your "Engine Recipe Package" for a long time. Well done.
This is really cool. I once had an '80 Turbo T/A. It was back in about '92. I pulled the 301 and put in a 455. It looked stock otherwise and ran consistent 12.50s. I actually still have the engine stored with a bunch of other stuff at my dad's. It was running when pulled and I filled it with motor oil in the intake at the time. I saw a story on TH-cam that Pontiac had planned to further the development of the 301 Turbo into the 80's with fuel injection, distributorless ignition and eventually intercooling like the 3.8 Buick. Unfortunately GM heads decided to force the Chevy small block as the sole V8 engine choice in the Gen 3 F-Bodies. Can you imagine the type of power these engines would have made had they continued to develop them into the mid 80's? If the 3.8 turbo engines from the same era were running low 14's the Trans Ams would have been well into the lower 13's. Damn those GM corporate bastards!!! Keep building it guys. Even if GM never did it I sure am happy to see someone making it happen.
Nothing new. chevy owns G.M. Been shutting down Pontiac performance since 63 to maintain their status as top performer and leader in sales.
Wow - very nice results Joe ! Pretty much double the HP of a stock setup.
500 torque is healthy big block power
301 is a great little engine when looked after
People have slept on this engine. Stock Eliminator folks know though.
Pretty amazing numbers considering the whole basically stoke intake set up. I wish you could change it over to a blow through set up with an intercooler just to see how much more power it would make using that style of intake system versus the stock set up. Impressive work overall and good numbers to back it up.
What you have done is Nothing short of stunning, TTA and Joe! The siamesed port engines were designed for what we now call low pressure turbo carb instillations, so a heck of a lot of work was done on flow distribution Back in the Day by PMD. The Oldsmobile 403 and 350 versions were actually designed for 350 Cadillac Port EFi. The Draw Through air fuel swings and pressure ratio verses heat buildup show why the draw through 301 Turbo intake was a loosing battle at high boost ( over 12 psi) situations, just like Ak Miller said in the early 80s when he did the blow through LPG Ford Carb 2.3 Turbo press cars in 1981. I love the 301 turbo, but like the 1978-1982 ( Canada had it for two more years) 2.3 Carb turbo Mustang/Capri and the 3.8 Buick Carb turbo, these engines were wrongly let out as Carb turbo draw throughs because both Ford and GM decided to go back to carbs even though they had Port Fuel injection in the Capri/ Granada 2.8 ( RS2600 too) and the 5.7 Cadillac previous to that same 1980 year. How good would a blow through Port EFi turbo have been for cool intake temperatures with a 4bbl 301 intake with independent runner 400-455 style heads? My friend B & R Racing brought me here. I wasn't disappointed 🥝✔️
2.3=140 CID.
2.8=171 CID.
3.8=231 CID.
You guys have the rite idea improving the original equipment !
Always like seeing your 81 Bandit. Amazing how it’s a 301 CI, just one cubic inch smaller than the Ford 302, but Ford did so much more to add performance, without turbo. Always miss my 81 Bandit, please keep up the great work!!
I read that the 301 is actually a 302, but for marketing purposes and to avoid problems with ford they decided to market it as a 301.
Don't Forget About The CHEVROLET 302 In 1969 CAMARO Z-28!! 290 HORSEPOWER AND 290 FT. LBS!
I always thought that if Chevy had the 290 hp 302, why couldn't the Pontiac 301 be built on the same premise? Bigger valves, higher compression, cam upgrade, etc,... But in NA form. I believe the potential is there being that the Chevy 302 and the 301 have basically the same bore and stroke.
Wasn't The 1969-'70 FORD MUSTANG BOSS 302 ALSO 290 HORSEPOWER/290 FT.LBS?
Also The IRON DUKE 151 Has Same Bore And Stroke. 4.000×3.000.
Great numbers it’s ashame GM couldn’t come close to that. Great work Joe thanks for all you do.
I have had a chance to install the flywheel you made for me but I'm sure it's good. Thanks for keeping these engines alive!
Well done, Joe! Extremely gratifying and educational.
Congrats, Joe. That’s amazing work.
Not bad at all !! That’s awesome
Great job Joe; making good headway ! Gonna be exciting to see this at the strip !👍
I love Pontiacs & have my own SuperFlow dyno if your ever in need. I'm located in Giles county TN. Pulaski address right off 65.
My N/A 474 D-port engine makes 680 HP & 635 ' lbs. This was my 3rd pull without any tuning. 32 degrees total timing. I'm hopeful I can make 700 HP. I am using Kauffmam dports that I ported, Edelbrock Victor & 950 Dominator. It will go in my 68 back-halfed FB. Someday I plan to build a twin turbo engine using an AllPontiac iron block. Butler's is 40 min from my home. Great job making an awesome Pontiac. I love second generations & have owned many.
Glad I stumbled across this channel. I have plans for a turbo Buick 350 and have been going back and forth between a draw through or pure efi style build. I feel the draw through would turn more heads and look more "period correct" in my 77 Lesabre Sport Coupe.
In general I am very much a Mopar person. I did however own a 1979 Firebird Formula S with a 301 4 barrel.
Other than being a bit of a dog off the line I loved it. On the roll it had a surprisingly strong passing gear. The car had great handling also.
After that though it was falling apart in all the ways Firebirds of that vintage did. Rattling door windows, rot on the dash where the windshield leaked in the corners, cheaper interior materials etc.
Glad to see someone playing with the 301 though. I am also a big fan of the Mopar 318's. With a little effort you can get pretty good power out of the smaller cubic inch engines.
ACES killshot has a built in 3 bar map, handles up to 650hp and seems easier to make adjustments. Costs less too, 32bit ecu is outside the TB and can be mounted away from engine bay (heat cycles)…
I stumbled onto your content and am enjoying it. My current build is a 1969 Custom S with 400/400 and a killshot, just in the final stages of redoung a completely new fuel system.
This is very impressive. No intercooler either ! Still have intake restriction. I think you might be able to get over 500hp out of it
My uncle purchased a 1980 trans am that was copper tone in color and had the shaker scoop and the bird on the hood , when I first seen it I was in love until I noticed the scoop didn’t say 6.6 on it ? It said 4.9 ! ( 301 ) and it wasn’t a turbo trans am ! Now maybe it felt fast because of the way he drove it but looking at the horsepower figures of 140 horsepower non-turbo 4.9 liter V8 and 210 horsepower for the 4.9 turbo V8 , now after he got rid of the non-turbo 4.9 liter trans am he purchased a black 1981 turbo 4.9 turbo trans am and the truth is I wasn’t impressed with its performance at all and the awesome shaker scoop was gone 😢 . I wonder why they didn’t just go with a 5.7 liter 350 GM engine with all the things done to it to make it perform as well or better then the 6.6 400 GM engine ? Anyway the 301 with its thin walled casting wasn’t an engine that was safe to make real power with .
All your footwork is very interesting. I have to point out that your plenum vacuum I suspect is normal for this is a draw through. The exact reason the PEVR was created in the first place. Even a blow throug setup or efi(on most modern setups) you should expect a restiction from intake tubing and air filter(measured in psi drop not vacuum cause there is no throttle between air filter and turbo)...Keep up the good work...
Can't wait for the development of a carbureted version of the intake...
Thankyou for exposing the in beast !
DAH BEAST!! #301.
@richardkaltenbach3961 I did some small tuning the my team back in the 80s uncluding cam lifters springs and carb rwjetting ,when done the car would get second gear rubber ,and one I put a good old beating to a dart with 340
That's pretty impressive.
If I would have known that a brilliant man like you would come along one day and perform so many improvements to get more hp out of the 301 Turbo than anyone ever would have thought possible, I would have held onto my 1980 special edition T T/A. Bought in '91 for high school, sold in '95. 2W87TAL147476. (i think) I saw Sam Malone on Cheers do that, so I memorized mine too 😁
My Stolen '73 Was 2S87M3N135540.
Finally, some vindication !
Great job!
Fascinating.
Imagine if you added water methanol injection to cool the intake charge temp.
We do sell a water injection system for people using pump gas instead of e85.
NOW DO THE AMX 401 VERSION!!
Wonder what you could do if you went with a larger Pontiac engine and a factory style turbo setup like yours Be a real sleeper. Just tell people, oh yeah it’s a 301!!!!
Maybe better heads and larger custom intake like you made with even larger runners. Hmmm
This sure is refreshing to see Pontiac power in the LS swap everything world. The power they make is great, but everyone has one.
And I’ve seen a few firebirds with Pontiac 400’s and ported ram air heads, those things were stupid fast with not a lot of upgrades.
Keep this up!!
Awesome! 😮
Impressive
How much of this engine derives from the 303 pontiac engine?
Do you like the Qjet or F.I. better ?
It's not like the 78 Turbo Buicks were fast.
Imagine if these were allowed to be developed like the 87 GNX or 89 TTA
How much for the motor? Or what upgrades were made to achieve 400hp? I purchased the turbo light panel from you guys earlier this year.
I think you did a great job sounds good too How much would a intercooler help with This motor❤❤❤❤
E85 is a great solution to keeping the intake temps down under higher boost levels for draw-through Turbos, no need for an intercooler
When analysing engines metric is often better. 9" Plenum vaccum is 0.32 BAR below atmo. or 0.68 bar or 68% of atmosferic pressure, right? We say 14,7 psi boost pressure is 2 atmosferes total pressure or 2 BAR MAP absolute pressure.
What this means is that the poor turbo must increase the pressure from 0.68 BAR MAP to 2 BAR MAP. This means that it is in you the 2.94 PR. level in the compressor map.
What this really means is that the turbo works just as hard as if it pushes out something like 28 psi of boost it it had unrestriced acces to atmosfere pressure air. This is nothing less than a catastrofe for performance as it is like running the engine at almost 10 000 ft. altitude or half way to Mount Everests summit.
On the bright side the turbo actually works pretty good. :)
If astetics is not important the Sniper should be consideret mountet horisontally. :)
I had the same thoughts but never thought about the math like you have. That is great info. Thanks.
im not sure if u talked about carburetor that you were using? what did you run with?
Holley Super Sniper efi.
What do you charge to do these builds
Money talks along with high tech engineering. By George I think you got it.haha I can't afford anything but stock modified.With a 800 quadrajet and vacuum advance ignition. With shade tree modifications I'm pumping out around 350 @ 8 lbs. Boost less than 4000rpm. With a ear and seat in the pants street calibrated dynamometer pool 😂😂😂😂
Are the cranks on these weak? I've seen pics of their oddball design with fewer counterweights.
We have not had any issues with the stock crankshafts.
I've always heard the stock crank was the weakest part of the 301. what did you do to the crank to make it last with that much HP. Also I've always wanted to run 350 or 400 heads on a 301 and make a spacer so you could run an aftermarket intake. Have you ever tried it?
Nothing was done to the crankshaft, just a good balance with lighter forged pistons. The main caps have studs in them along with solid alignment pins for some added strength. Trying to use conventional Pontiac heads is a quite an undertaking and a spacer is not what is needed for an intake on regular heads. A new, narrower intake is required due to the shorter deck height of the 301 block.
I tried and failed years ago. I was a 17 yr old with almost no money zero mechanical skills. I bought a 69' GTO for $600 from a 16 yr old who blew up the 400 and swapped the cheapest motor the junkyard had. That 135hp turd wouldn't even break the tires loose in the rain. So i was needing to get few more pony's and had a pile of spare parts that came with the car. The 400 heads bolted on fine but it needed a custom intake fabricated. Spacer plate wouldn't work. But almost 30yrs later still got the car. had a couple 400s and a 428 since, But 301 is long gone
God darn ads
Why do people waist their time ??
Good try and effort to reach this level with 301 which designs basically for eco-crap.
The crankshaft is going to break
Lmao!!
@ttaperformance1046, email sent. Also did you have water running through the carb plenum during the dyno pulls?
During the pulls, I turned off the water to the plenum with a ball valve. The plenum was cold from the e85 when the water flow was turned off.