Quote:
Originally Posted by Cruz22
Is there any information on this short-deck race engine from the 70s? Shortly I am inheriting a car with a Pontiac 301, which from what little information is available on the 301, is that it is a descendant of the 303, carrying over such items as a two-counterweight crankshaft (Instead of five) and the light-weight connecting rods and just overall less weight than the comparable Chevy 305.
However due to the uniqueness of the 301 and it being the very last Pontiac-built V8, everyone has given up on it. I don't want to give up on it.
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I don't like to discourage anyone from a project they REALLY want to do. But there is a reason very few 301's are restored, raced or hot rodded. You have to understand the design limits the Pontiac engineers faced when developing this engine. It was their last chance to save the Pontiac V-8 from extinction, but they had to remove displacement, remove weight, and yet save as much tooling as possible. The result was a very weak block structure, very poor flowing cylinder heads, and the emission controls of the day made them run pretty bad. They have allot of specific parts that are not available in the aftermarket and building one NA to make 200 HP would cost much more than building a 450 HP 400 that is a direct bolt in. But if you want a challenge, the 301 would be a good one.