Formula/Trans Am

[Kwik]

Classic Pontiacs from the 1970s, 1972 455 HO & 1977 W72 400 T/As.

http://www.78ta.com/international.htm

:burnout:

[hjr]

damn, i thought it was gonna be actual trans am cars...

[Kwik]

Here's a 1980 T/A :)

http://my.execpc.com/~steveb/transam/rehorn/page1.html

Not many from those years without T-tops.

[QuasarCav]

thats a pretty rare T/A, turbo 301!!!!

Does your turbo gauge actually work?, i've never seen a working example.

nice ride, maybe a little slow but it's still a decent car.

[Kwik]

I know the owner of that 301 Turbo well, his car is in great shape, all original paint/decals and the turbo lights in the hood bulge work. He has the original turbo rims stored in the garage. He and his brother bought the car from the original owner who had 5 Trans Ams.
It's a 1980 Trans Am turbo and had 210 bhp, you would have to compare that against the 1980 Mustang Cobra's most powerful V8 that year which was a 119 bhp 4.2, or the AMC AMX's 110 bhp I6 (304 V8 died out in 1979).

[QuasarCav]

^^^^^^^

but turning a 16.5 1/4 isn't exactly fast. good for the smog years though.

I seen one by my house in the north, the turbo gauge was missing.

My friend has a 1981 grand prix, that engine would be a direct swap, we are still looking.

[Kwik]

Yes, I think Hot Rod magazine got a time of 16 secs dead, but even that isn't fast by today's standards. All the turbo cars were auto and a/c so that took the edge off a bit. It would have been nice if they offered the motor with a 4 speed, but remember how GM kept making excuses in the 80s as to why they couldn't offer manuals for the top F body engines?
The downsized 1977-80 Grand Am was a nice car in some ways, quite stylish for the times. The last of the rear drivers GA, GP and Bonnevilles were available with the 301 motor, and given the block similarity between such Pontiac engines you could fit anything up to the 455, that would be something. :thumbsup:

[QuasarCav]

yeah, we looked into the 455SD and the regular 400. both are out of our league as far as $$ and time.

even with the 301 he can light em up. when pushed hard!

If you ever come across the parts for a 301 turbo let me know, i think it would be cooler to have a 23 year old turbo GP. maybe show the GTP guys whats up.:burnout:

[Kwik]

I will certainly let you know if I come across anything. At one time a regular humble L78 400 could be picked up for reasonable money but these traditional pre 1982 V8s are getting rare and costly.
The 301 turbo had strengthened internals to cope with the forced induction. The truth with the boost lights on the Turbo T/A is that it's normal to get only 2 of the three illuminated under hard acceleration. The turbo system used on the 301 T was sourced from the set up on the blown Buick 3.8 V6 of early Turbo Regals and the turbo unit used was a bit too small for 300 cubes. With everything working well you get 7.5 psi rather than the advertised 9 psi. GM were working on a better matched turbo of their own design to go with the 301 in the new 1982 Trans Am but the project got axed.
:(

[QuasarCav]

^^^^

and the replacement was the anemic 305:barf: :barf:

thanks for the info man!!