Captainofiron

iTrader: (1)

That bump and the lights totally reminds me of the 80s, and of KITT, pretty cool

DubyaSsixTA

iTrader: (1)

I heard the turbo 301's had like 3** lbs of torque, which was impressive back then. I've never seen one heavily modified though (since I've heard someone refer to the 301 as the "ticking time bomb of pontiac motors")

30thanniv

iTrader: (2)

The 301 turbo was a decent attempt by pontiac to keep performance alive in an era where it was severely waining. It could only run mid 16's in the quarter mile and by todays standard most v6 suv's could smoke it. It is a nice piece of automotive history.
Pontiac carried the torch in those dark days after they tightened up emissions in the 70's.
Ironically pontiac would build the first and last musclecar. The 1964 gto started it all and IMHO the 1979 400/4 speed ta ended it all.
Just for reference take a look at what 1981 corvettes where running and you will realize that the 1981 TTA where giving them a run for their money.
Technology being what it is has improved upon engines alot since. Consider that our ls1's run low 13's out of the box with all the modern day safety and comfort. The venerable 73 and 74 superduty ta's ran about the same, but with 105 more cubic inches.
I think one day we will look back and see passenger family cars running as fast as our ls-1's and wonder in amazement at the technological progress. I think this has started already. Look at what some 4dr cars, like the new charger is capable of.
The main problem with the 80-81 TTA was the carburator/ turbo set up. It wasn't till 1987 when they perfected/improved upon SFI that turbos came into their own in the 1987 grand national.

EndlessSummer85

These cars (80-81) TTA were well ahead of their time. Their only drawback was using the "Pull through turbo setup" or draw through setup. If you converted it to the pushthrough setup and upgrade the turbo, who knows could be really something. Def a cool car though I wouldn't mind having one. Not to mention those were the last firebirds that had pontiac engines, as they went to the 305 SBC in 82. They were going to put the 301 turbo into the 82's at first but gm pressured them into going with the SBC. They did build one or two though, if I remember right car and driver tested them out and they were mid to high 14 second cars. I'll try to find the article.

EndlessSummer85

Here's a good article, but it wasn't the one that I was looking for

Trans Am

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

Unless it was a California car. The 4.9L wasn't smog-legal for California, so they got 305 SBC's starting in '80. You could have all the visual stuff the Turbo cars had, but not the engine

EndlessSummer85

I did not know that, see you learn something everyday. It definately would have been cool though if they could have brought the 301T into the 3rd gens. Would of been pretty cool.

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

I just got it from literature I have here (Firebird Red Book)

Yeah, they kinda started with a clean slate in '82.....some carryover would have been kinda neat.

EndlessSummer85

Pontiac did build two cars (I believe) with the 4.9L 301T. But GM made them go into production with the SBC.

automan_1954

NO, No module off the distributor or electronic control.
The 3 light on the turbo hood work off of 2 pressure sensors, the same type of sensor that is used for the wanta be oil pressure gauge ( it type that goes on then pressure is over 20 psi, on - off type switch sensor) rather than reading the exact pressure, kind of like a glorified idiot light.
The first light (normal) meant NO BOOST(it works off the high boost sensor, normal light on with no boost [sensor open] the second light (medium) worked of the smaller sized sensor which was calibrated to about 2 psi and the third light (high) came on then the boost hit minimum of 5 psi [sensor closed].
It was an easy and pretty cool way of doing it. It's not a boost gauge were you can read the exact psi the turbo is putting out, but you know then the boost is at a minimum level of 2 or 5 psi.
If I remember correctly this turbo can put out about 15 psi, of course the internal waste gate is controlled by the vacuum operated actuator( no blow off valve needed) and the exhaust gases go right out to the exhaust pipe rather than spinning the turbine wheel.

I don't know what all these people have against GM's 4.9L (It's really a 302 [5.0L], but GM didn't want people to think they had a Ford engine in their Pontiac plus Chevy had a 5.0L which was a totally different engine and people don't crap on that engine. Hey if you think about it the E.P.A. was killing all the Muscle Cars back then and the L81 was the only 5.7 L (350 cu in) Corvette engine for 1981. It produced 190 bhp and 280 lb-ft of torque as the turbo T/A had 30 HP more and 100 lb-ft of torque more than the Corvette . I'm sure the whole thing boils down to the fact that anyone was sad that the Poncho 400 was gone. Hey even that engine was crap. IT'S LAST 2 YEARS IT WAS PUTTING OUT ONLY 220hp.

automan_1954

Hey, those light are controlled be pressure sensors, just like what is used for oil pressure. No fancy electronic control module

There is a small and a large sensor
When the first light is on (normal) there is no boost( the large sensor is open).
When the middle light is on (medium) the small sensor is closed. ( around 2 psi) and when the third light is on(high) the large sensor is closed and the turbo is putting out at least 5 psi. Hey 210 HP and 345 lb-ft of torque, that is about the same as the last 2 years of the 400 (225HP)
If I'm not mistaken, that turbo can put out 15 psi. max. With a little work and emission stuff removed the 4.9L should make 300HP easy.

GoldDust

Well, this isnsort of relevant: http://fargo.craigslist.org/cto/3661632565.html

A non-turbo 301 just hit local CL. I fleeting thought about it...I just dont think I could live with 135-ish HP in a car like that

Dan

iTrader: (1)

This post came back from the dead I still have my 81 Turbo T/A..Here is a picture to show what you are missing..LOL

vikingramair

Beautiful car! I really like the design on 79-81 cars. In some strange way I like this front more then 77-78 ( probably seen too many )

TTOP350

A friend of mine had one of these, recaro and all. It was a very neat car but the "short deck" not "small block" 301 was a slug. Pontiac had 1 size block other than a few "short decks" (very very much like the current LS stuff) There was 250ish something ci short deck and also the 303 RA5 that was supposed to go in transAm race/ street cars.
It was supposed to be a fuel milage motor and then Pontiac slapped a turbo on it.
The block, crank, heads and intake were lightened and strength was removed.
The motor made 200-210hp and 340lbft of tq but she was slooow.
You could bolt older heads on the 301 but that ment a diff intake was needed due to the port design and physical size. There were a few intakes made (Herb Adams?) for the swap. The intake cost an when power started to creap up, the crank/ block started to break, plus new models coming, put a end to it.

TheBlueKnight

iTrader: (4)

Saw a new ad on my local Craigslist that made me think of this thread...

http://reno.craigslist.org/cto/3721461722.html

vikingramair

Love this opening of Cannonball run movie from 1981.
1979 Lamborghini Countach LP 400 / 1981 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am

Stlfirebird

hey guy i own a turbo 301 car stock the run close to ten pounds of boost 6 pounds was conservative along with the 210 hp rating and there is a couple turbo 301 car that can run with LS cars and the 301 is not a bad motor

1995blacktattop

iTrader: (2)

Lol no way that 301 turbo could have kept up with that countach.

Rat66

I was considering bringing this back from the dead until I saw it was already haha, way to go guys
Anyway, a little info on them as my father has an 81 Turbo T/A WS6 Y84 (what a mouthful lol). No Firebird was available with a manual trans in 1980, no T/A, no Formula, just wasn't an option. It returned in 81 but only on 305 Chevy cars (they tested the Pontiac motors for 80 but couldn't pass emissions so in 81 they bit the bullet and put 305s in to get a manual option back). No turbo cars were ever built with a manual trans. about 3300 turbo bandits were built in 81and I believe about the same in 80. Formulas were even rarer than that (as usual) especially a turbo formula, I've never seen a turbo formula in person, pictures, online, or anywhere but apparently they exist...
my father's needs restored but I'm the only one who ever works on the damn thing so I'm considering selling my 87 GTA to buy it off him. if that happened I'd be torn between restoring it to factory or making a nasty pro touring car out of it with a 4.8 turbo LS motor (so I could still call it a turbo 4.9 haha) but as it sits its all original with all the original parts still on it and they all work with a new battery. has 4-wheel disc, cruise control, turbo lights, turbo light dimmer switch, tons of nifty options

btw in 80 and 81 these turbo T/As ran similar times as corvettes in the quarter but handled much better, they were actually the best handling American production car for those two years. I believe they were one of the earliest cars to have 4-wheel disc optional andere way pricier than vettes when fully optioned out