But the 301 (except the old turbo trans am pace cars) didn't fare all that well. The internals were darned weak, everything from the block itself to the rotating assembly. You'd need to grab a tta 301 and freshen it then add more boost etc. Otherwise it'd be incredibly short lived I expect. The TTAs were a different animal with lots of factory mods to the bottom end and block that the regular 301s didn't get
79 Buick Century Wagon Ls swap?
- Thread starter TanHew
- Start date
Longroof79
Rocket Powered Basset Hound
I recall driving a brand new Firebird 301 turbo. From my hazy recollection, the car was a bit of a slug.
You'd be right, from my hazy recollection. Part of the problem was Pontiac was underrating the last of the 400s, so when on paper they tried making the 301 appear close in numbers, it was a disappointment. But at least it had potential with the beffing up of internals
Weren't they 16 second cars?
400 Pontiac would fall right in where the 301 sits. A few performance mods and you could have something in the 400Hp neighbourhood. Good enough for some burnouts and a few street pulls. The Pontiac stuff should be easier to find than Buick performance parts. You could probably build a strong turbo 350 for it, or even a good overdrive transmission, since gas isn't getting any cheaper. Just a thought.
Excellent point, but remember that Pontiac’s 1st concern was emissions. That was blow through setup IIRC.
Open this up with no regards for emissions and I think it would be a viable option for 400+whp. But it requires careful tuning which is something I’m not capable of without the aid of FI.
I believe Turbo Zach has been down this path. I make it sound easy, but…….it’s not.
And for a 500whp goal the LS with a small turbo becomes a so much easier option.
Similar threads
