Say hypothetically that I was going to put a 301 in my 67 bird. What are the differences in the 301 and "real" pontiac motors? Do a 79 301 and 400 have the same trans bolting pattern (bell housing and crank setup), timing cover, water pump, intake and exhaust manifolds, distributor, etc? When you look at parts catalogs you often see "all pontiac except SD 455 and 301".

Thanks!

Without getting detailed..

The 301 was a horrible motor, thus the short run. Rebuilding one will be quite expensive, and performance sub par.

I think the deck height is different, hence you will need a 301 intake (which is really restrictive) and some of the accessory brackets must be 301 specific. Your choice of heads are also limited to the 301 unless you want to weld up the chambers to get the CC to a respectable level, and overall they weakened the block and bottom end in order to get the weight down.

Intake, heads, and exhaust manifolds, as well as internals are all unique to the 301. The transmission bolt pattern is the same as are the motor mounts (in your 2nd gen bird). I have seen a few examples of 301 "performance builds." It's one of those cases where there's no reason you would build a 301 when any other Pontiac would fit.

I had a nice '80 Turbo Trans Am I restored. Besides starting out with the better 301T block, I had the compression pumped up along with a hotter cam and other tweaks.

Biggest pig of a "performance" car I ever had. Weekend cruiser - that was about it.

They don't call the 301's boat anchors for nothing. One thing others did not point out is that the cranks only have 2 counter weights

This is what wikipedia says about the 301:

The 301 cu in (4.9 L) 301 was offered from 1977 to 1981 and also installed in other GM cars during those years. The 301 had a 4.00 inch (101.6 mm) bore and 3.00 inch (76.2 mm) stroke. Based in part on designs for the "short deck" 303 cu in (5.0 L) engine designed for the 1970 racing season, it had a shorter deck than the big V8, and used thin-wall castings to reduce weight. The crankshafts were also unique in the fact that they featured only two counter weights instead of the usual five, and also featured lightened connecting rod journals. This resulted in a lightweight design weighing less than the Chevrolet small-block V-8. Power output ranged from 135 hp (101 kW) to 170 hp (127 kW). The heads were a new design featuring siamesed intake ports. The short-deck block and different intake ports also required the design of a new intake manifold. The Pontiac 301 EC (Electronic Controls) version offered in 1981 produced 155 hp (116 kW) and 245 lb·ft (332 N·m), although it's rumored that the actual HP was closer to 170 hp (127 kW). The 1980 301 Turbo was rated at 210 hp (157 kW) @ 4400 rpm and 345 lb·ft (468 N·m) @ 2800 rpm. The 1981 301 Turbo gained the electronic controls with an O2 sensor, feedback ECM and E4ME Quadrajet providing a slight reduction in output to 205 hp (153 kW) and 340 lb·ft (461 N·m). Although it is much different that the original 1955-vintage Pontiac V-8 powerplant, the 301 has the distinction of being the last true Pontiac V-8 engine as Pontiac ceased production of these engines effective April 1, 1981.

From 1977-1980 there were 4 distinct 301 versions:

301 2BBL (135 hp), 301 4BBL (150 hp), 301 4BBL 'HO' or 'EC' (170 hp), and the 301 Turbo.

The 301 Turbo was unique in that it had a beefier block than the 77-79 versions (which carried on in the non turbo versions in 1980 and 1981), a very mild camshaft with .350-inch lift and 250 degrees gross duration, a 60 psi oil pump to ensure adequate oil to the oil cooled Garrett TBO-305 Turbocharger, a rolled fillet crankshaft, a fully baffled oil pan, and a specific 800 CFM Quadrajet carburator. This 800 CFM Quadrajet had super rich "DX" secondary metering rods and a remote vacuum source for the primary metering rod enrichment circuit that allowed the "PEVR", Power Enrichment Vacuum Regulator to release the primary metering rods to move to the up position (enrichment) anytime during boosted conditions. This was to ensure that there was enough fuel to cool the cast offset dished pistons. Boost was wastegate limited to 9 psi (+/- 1 psi). The 301 Turbo package mandated Air Conditioning, automatic THM350 non-lockup transmission (THM350C lockup in 1981 Trans Ams) and 3.08 gears.

The 301 Turbo was limited to Trans Am and Formula Firebird production only. Some literature has indicated that the 301 Turbo may have found its way into the Chevrolet Z28. It is unclear if any were ever produced.

301 HO
While not "high output" fashion by the 60's and 70's standards and no "HO" moniker on the shaker hood scoop, the 301 did end up with a HO "performance" version, yielding 170 hp (130 kW) with only 4.9L CID for the 1979-1981 model years.

The 301 HO was the base Trans AM engine in 1980 and 1981.

Modifications over the std 301 4BBL were the 301 Turbo "301T" block, the ESC (Electronic Spark Control) distributor and controller borrowed from the 301 Turbo which allowed for higher timing without the penalty of engine damaging pinging or preignition, a large 4" ram air duct to the air cleaner, specific carb calibration for the 301 HO, and cam similar in grind to the 220 hp 400 from the 1978-1979 model year. Unfortunately no improvements in casting "01" small valve high velocity heads, which could have yielded greater improvements in power.

In my opinion, any Pontiac V8 would be better than the 301. Not only in performace and options, I would think in cost too.

A cammer would be a big step up from the 301.

When the motor went in the 69' i once owned i swapped in a 301 in the meantime and although it was reliable, it was a dog....

David

The 301 might take top spot for worst engine in history, or maybe that crown goes to the Chevy 307. That's a tough one to call.

Theres a smaller displacement of that same engine, I think it was 265 CID. Quite the pig they were.