it's what the question states..
small cyl. walls? bad cam? weak crank? pathetic heads?
supposibly the lightest sb pontiac ever made.. why is that?
just wondering
~BOP

 

Yeah just about everything you listed. Along what you mentioned, the turbo 301's were pretty weak because they only ran 3 psi of boost. A lot of room for improvement. Upping the boost and putting on some half-decent parts (if you can find them) will definately wake it up.

 

so the cyl walls are thin?

 

Built for economy and low weight.
Thin wall castings
Weak crank
small rods
aftermarket is weak for these motors
Bottom is just plain weak, and the top is restrictive.

There was a guy recently in HighPerfPontiac that wrote in...took his 301 powered car to low 14s with only 2 barrels working. So with the extra fuel he might get high 13s. Had his boost up to 14psi if I am not mistaken. He did this to show what could be done with one of these. If you want, email me and I will look it up for you...
I'm sure he spent quite a bit of money though.

Also...the 301 is considered a short deck...though I don't know exactly what that means.

 

Seriously? only 3 psi?? Why bother.... even my chrysler lebaron came from the factory at about 7psi, i cant imagine any real performance gains on an 8 cylinder at those boost levels!

 

the problem isn't exactly the the 301 can't hold up. the 301 is weak, but could easily hold up to 300hp if you could get it there. the problem is there isn't any parts for the 301 to modify it because there isn't no interest in it. there were more 400's and 455's produced than 301's. all in all though, why the 301 is worthless is a rather mute question. it is and there isn't a point in going into explaining it. you just expecting to feel better by knowing?

 

Seems to me they were running more than 3psi.

As for why its called a short deck block, thats because the distance from the crank to the deck (where the head sits) is shorter than the other Pontiac engines. Its also called that because technically, there is no small block or big block Pontiac engine, just different deck heights.

 

its really not a bad engine at all, it was the lightest of ANY V-8 every to be made outside of the exotic aluminum blocked engines, stock they were mediocre as they had TINY cams, horrible exhaust and limited secondairys and weeny jetting. the turbo units right like said before only had 3 lbs of boost, every regular pontiac parts will swap over to the 301 (cams, headers, etc,..) only thing is an aftermarket intake as its shorter then the tradtional block but i have heard of some people making them fit, the turbo cars with just duels, a mild cam and taking the boost up to 7-10 lbs make the car EASY 13's people who just instantly right off the 301 as it sucks becuase its small and was poor stock, but just bolt ones and there really screamers. and also have a 4.000 bore and 3.000 stroke like the 302 chevy and 302 ford. and both those engines are powerhouses just often the 301 is overlooked.

 

Thats funny. Dual exhaust, mild cam, and 4-7psi of boost will take 2.5 seconds off the 1/4 mile time? I wish I could add 250hp to my car that easy.

 

100 hp per second doesn't really come into play until lower times. It also becomes more off the faster you go. It's believe to see 13's out of it. Mild cam could be anything. Question is why would you want to when there is countless other engines that will produce more power, easier.

 

just wonderin'.. gaining knowlege.. discussin.. t'is how poeple learn (other then books) right?..
i dunno about making that motor a 13 sec car... the turbo was tiny on that car.. u could max out the boost at something like 9 psi.. then it'd burn, crash, can't handle any more.. so you go aftermarket.. can't put an intercooler cuz it's a draw through design.. another ****ty aspect of it..
pontiac dosn't have a big block?.. 400, 455..?
or their version of big block, small block is short deck, tall deck?.. pistons at the same angle on both?
i don't think that this motor could take high revs so it wouldn't be like a 302 chevy or 302 ford.. they make power only in hi revs (u COULD make 'em redline low.. but... why?!)
neways..