I was just wondering. What is faster a 1980 T/A with a Turbocharged 301. or a 1979 T/A with the 400 Pontiac. or a 1979 T/A with the 403 Olds.
For simplicity lets say the drivetrain is the same for all 3 engine combo's 4 speed with a 3.73 rear.
I was also wondering how much boost the 301 turbo runs.
Thanks, Freak

 

Did they offer 400s in '79?

 

i dont know bout the other engines but i know the 301 turbo was a slow pos. all the early carbed turbo cars suffered badly from turbo lag and detonation.

 

dang it, I just asked about 2nd gen TAs last month, but I can't find it in the search,

not sure about the 400 in 79, I think 78 was the last year, I'd take the 400 or the 403

 

last year for the 400 was 79', they were leftover engines from 78'

 

403's are oldsmobile right?If its the same motor that my dad had in his 1977 trans am (a 403) then that thing would be slow.Id say go with the 400.



:hail: pontiac 400:hail:

 

There were NO fast cars in the mid 70s. The 400 PONTIAC will run circles around the 301 turbo[ PONTIACS BIG MISTAKE]. I was shopping for a new T/A or Z28 in the spring of 1980. T/As had the 301 turbo Zs had a 305. The salesman almost had me convinced, untill I drove a 78 T/A Bandit, with the w72 400. It was abused pretty bad, I found and bought the 77 T/A I still have, with only 11,000 miles. Only has 59,000 on it now. Original engine is put away for safe keeping. To answer your question, the 400 Pontiac in 79 was the fastest. I don't believe the 400 Pontiac was Cal. approved, from 77 on.

 

400.

 

the 301 has something like 220 hp.. but serious turbo lag and the block is ****. cyln. walls are very thin..
tubo gives out something like.. 3-5 psi of boost and you can bring it up to 7 or so before you have to change the turbo..
if you can find one with a 400 poncho, GRAB IT.. but most'll probably be the 403 olds which got the bad rep of overheating.. all you have to do is check your coolant often.. or of your paranoid.. get a bigger rad and forget about it.. (still check it, but don't let it worry you)
have fun.

 

The pontiac 301 is the worst V8 ever produced in my opinion. It has very weak heads and its a weak block, because pontiac used as little Iron as possible to save money. Also it has siamesed intake ports which do not flow worth a crap. And for them to throw a turbo on it is even a worse idea, due to the weak cylinder walls. Dont get the 301, you will hate it...

 

Turbo 301 = POS
Olds 403 (came in the auto cars) = aright, but not a whole ton of potential if you wanna build it
Pontiac 400 (came in the 4 speed cars) = now you're talkin

 

That's a bummer. I saw one a 4.9l turbo '81 t/a the other day. the dude stopped and talked to me when I was changing a few turn signal lights in an autozone parking lot. I thought it sounded like a cool idea, a factory turbo charged v8, but figured there had to be a down side. Guess I know the negative now