Anyone here ever heard of a W72 engine option for 1980 GP?

[ck80]

Bing bing bing- we have a winner! Yes, if you ever dissected an '80 TA you find the HO 301 [W72] with the same spark retard that was used on the Turbo 301. Remember, this was one year before OBD1 came into play. They tried like hell to make the TA as good as it could be without the 400 engine so they made it as radical as they dared with the retard box to protect it. But reality says "there is no substitute for cubic inches". I think it would be a terrific option on a G-body car though.

It's what I like about Pontiac.

They have a long history of finding a secret way of saying F-U to gm corporate and tricking them into things.. somenwins, some losses.

The GTO? The OHC inline 6? The fiero? The SD engine lineup? The 89 TTA? Lots of times they slipped something by. Now, they got close and lose sometimes like the banshee that became the c3 body, but, on the whole they were better at sticking it to corporate than any other division, at least in the DeLorean years.

 

[Bonnewagon]

By the way, I pirated that retard box off my friend's 1980 TA. He has a 400 so not needed, and I have a 301 Turbo engine that can use the box. Waste not want not!

 

[ck80]

By the way, I pirated that retard box off my friend's 1980 TA. He has a 400 so not needed, and I have a 301 Turbo engine that can use the box. Waste not want not!

I've always wondered how close the 301 turbo box/w72 box was to the shroud mounted turbo6 box on the early non-ccc buick carb turbos.

 

[Bonnewagon]

On a Firebird the box was mounted under and at the front of the console to keep it cool. The detonation sensor was mounted at the rear of the block right next to the distributor. A handfull of wires had their own big grommet in the firewall. I have also seen an '80 [?] Monte Carlo sporting the Buick Turbo 6. I can't remember where anything was on that one but I do remember the blown head gaskets!

 

[ck80]

On a Firebird the box was mounted under and at the front of the console to keep it cool. The detonation sensor was mounted at the rear of the block right next to the distributor. A handfull of wires had their own big grommet in the firewall. I have also seen an '80 [?] Monte Carlo sporting the Buick Turbo 6. I can't remember where anything was on that one but I do remember the blown head gaskets!

Most of the stuff on those resided in a post card sized box on top of the fan shroud, aside from where the goodies plugged in engine side. Wasn't the best layout

 

[78Delta88]

Besides those there was Yenko's Turbo Z Camaro for '81. Yenko added a turbo to the LM1 350.

Yes, but Yenko, Macho and the Turbo GMC truck were outliers, includes the 79 Z29

 

[78Delta88]

Yes, but Yenko, Macho and the Turbo GMC truck were outliers, includes the 79 Z29

Also trying to remember.... I believe the 301 HO had a forged crank.

 

[Bonnewagon]

301 HO had a forged crank.

Nope. They never had forged anything. Even the "T" turbo block was only marginally stronger and had slightly bigger main bolts. At that point in time Pontiac was very constrained on spending so they did the best they could with what they had. Even the turbocharger was only around 5-6 lbs boost but they left an adjustable wastegate so of course guys played around trying to get more out of it. Thus the blown head gaskets. Remember this was very early in turbocharger history.

 

[blk7gxn]

Most of the stuff on those resided in a post card sized box on top of the fan shroud, aside from where the goodies plugged in engine side. Wasn't the best layout

Same concept of the 78/79 Buick Turbo engine group. This era had the box on the fan shroud to retard the timing to prevent engine detonation, and in 1980, the onboard computer took care of this and there was no need of that box anymore. It was a really primitive and actually, unreliable system. I heard from many Turbo owners who had run cars from that era, that they unplugged the system and ran high test fuel and had no issues with detonation or engine failures as a result of the removal of the box, and substituting it with the high test.

Always amazed me is the worst thing for ANY computer, primitive or not, is heat, and where did the ingenious engineers at GM put it!!?? On the fan shroud where all the heat is channeled, and after age and exposure to this heat for years, often times you would see this grey sticky material spew from the guts of these boxes, at this time they are toast.

-William

 

[Bonnewagon]

where did the ingenious engineers at GM put it!!?? On the fan shroud where all the heat is

I've seen worse. That little Mercedes with the "Kompressor" badge? I was in a shop and the guy showed me the battery mounted up against the pass side firewall, the computer jammed in right next to it, and the "Kompressor" right there under it all. YIKES! Talk about heat soak! The shop guy's take on it all was "overpriced crap".