[Skip Fix]

I never understood the rationale of a single plane on a 301.

[74Grandville]

Well I didn't end up having time to change the cam in my firebird, but I did put the intake and carb on the car. supprisingly I did have a gain in power from 2600-4000. i'm happy with the upgrade. one thing I forgot, since I don't have the correct spacer for this intake I didn't have a place to hook up the PVC. I'll make a spot for it like the older intakes when I put the cam in the motor.

[UnNova73]

Jason:

I ported a set of turbo 301 heads, for a buddy of mine's N/A 301-powered 4-door '80 Bonneville. I must say: I have yet to see a set of heads with less counter-productive intake and exhaust port characteristics; nevermind the sizing of the intake and exhaust valves. I must have done something right, though, b/c even with a very mild Comp Cams grind and a VERY mild powertrain setup: The darned thing runs 14.4's; LOL.

[Formula77]

The only real experince with 301s is in ripping them out of cars, (need a couple, I know where to find them pretty easy) it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on what you want to accomplish with your car, out of ceriousiy why are you sticking with the 301? In my oppinon it was the worst engine that pontiac ever put into a car, but once again, thats just me.

[74Grandville]

it what I have, and it's running well (53,000 miles). when I have more time and money I may build a 400 for it. I also may buy a stock 72 455 for it a friend has.

[74Grandville]

well I put the 066 cam in this weekend. i've decided 1.5 days is not long enough to do a cam swap. it wasn't fun rushing around. as for the performance. i'm sorry to say I wish I went bigger. maybe a summit 2800 would have been better. it does rev quicker and is more responsive. I'd say a little more power through out, but most of the gain was from 3000+

i'd say my next step is the exhaust and rear end. I have a 3.08 posi I may put in.

[74Grandville]

I'm still driving my firebird with 301 and i'm much happier now( 64,000 miles). I wanted to update everyone since this motor is forgotten by most. I found that I had an issue with my distributor and my valves were tighten down to much with the stock nutz. i've change my mind on the 066. I think it was a good choice for this setup. maybe an even better choice would have been a small XE comp cam to build compression since the 301 is 7.5:1.

i've done some transmisson upgrades that have seem to really help things. I changed the stall from the stock 1500 to 2100 with a B&M converter. i've also put a shift kit in and changed the governer to shift at 5,000 instead of 4,000. The motor runs pretty strong now begging me for 3.42 gears.

my car loves the highway, it still very slow from a start, but has good power from 2500-5000. I spend my time mashing the pedal at 35mph. first gear shifts around 65 and second is around 100.

I plan to put in the 3.42 gears in a couple months.

[Brian Baker]

Originally Posted by UnNova73

Jason:

I ported a set of turbo 301 heads, for a buddy of mine's N/A 301-powered 4-door '80 Bonneville. I must say: I have yet to see a set of heads with less counter-productive intake and exhaust port characteristics; nevermind the sizing of the intake and exhaust valves. I must have done something right, though, b/c even with a very mild Comp Cams grind and a VERY mild powertrain setup: The darned thing runs 14.4's; LOL.

Can you provide more specific details about the car and the whole combo? We've got a 301 discussion going on over at the CP board and I'm looking for all data on practical applications of the 301 that work.

[lawbreaker2]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

Can you provide more specific details about the car and the whole combo? We've got a 301 discussion going on over at the CP board and I'm looking for all data on practical applications of the 301 that work.

What are the cp boards????? can you post a link

[bastard]

Originally Posted by Skip Fix

I never understood the rationale of a single plane on a 301.

The intake ports on the head are siamesed so there are only 4 intake runners. There really isn't any reason for a dual plane with those heads. I never understood the reason they made such oddball heads in the first place. They could have put some more weight on them and made the ports bigger.
The 301 has an apetite for timing chains. The best recommendation I've heard is to change the timing chain and gears at 50,000 miles. I had one that went 89,000 miles before it jumped time. That's how I found out. Don't let one go anywhere near that long or you're just begging for trouble.

[74Grandville]

I noticed the chain is just thinner then a normal chain. maybe run a normal pontiac chain instead of a 301 chain. when I tore mine down for a cam swap I notice a real lot of chain slack with only 43,000.

[Mr. T/A]

Not trying to hyjack the post but I have a 301 4brl intake, spacer and carb from an 80 Formula that I would like to quit kicking around the garage. Any offers?