[srmmmm]

Originally Posted by Don Keefe

I had a minor part in the project, mostly as an advisor and part supplier. Ted told me the crank was a stock three-inch stroke 301 that was converted to internal balance. I was surprised at the torque output, it's a badass little engine to be sure. I'm very excited to see more builds from The Tiger Cub initiative. These guys are true innovators.

My automotive engineering professor at General Motors Institute was Jim Lyons, the man who led the Turbo 301 development team at PMD later on. The factory crankshaft would bend or crack at 280 horsepower, and there were no internal counterweights on it. It would be impossible to make the engine internally balanced without a custom crankshaft. What Pontiac was able to determine was that the bearing loads from combustion were greater than the bearing loads from the lack of counterweights. That's why they were able to use the light crankshaft I doubt the turbo version connecting rods would even be stout enough for those torque numbers.