The 301, like most engines, has some design aspects that need to
be understood.
The secret to the 301 is in understanding what Pontiac originally
set it up for... and really - that answer is low warranty claims, not
power.
From the factory, this powertain was de-tuned for several reasons,
but today we are free to correct all that.
The 301 was orginally built as a lightweight, fuel efficient V-8.
Turbo charging the engine overcame it's intake/head limitiations -
but in designing the turbo they had still other non performance
goals... Fuel mileage and emmissions!
What they did was to design the package so as to deliver all the
power of the 400 "on demand". In other the words, the Turbo didn't
start enhancing the power output until mid range. Since many assumed
the package should run exactly like the 400's of the previous years,
acceptance waned.
So what was really not appearant was the low end grunt from larger
displacement Pontiac V-8's.
Typically, these cars suffered from uninformed owners not
understanding them or their needs and they fell into disrepair.
Probably the biggest issue was oil condition. In this setup, the
engine oil "also" lubes and cools the turbo which gets real darn
hot. If you didn't get anal about 2-3K mile oil changes, you were
headed for damage. Inside the turbo, motor oil can easily coke
due to the intense heat. But really, the culprit was the lack
of following the instructions to own this car... The one minute
cooldown requirement. You really needed to sit at idle for a
minute or two to flush the turbo with non-superheated engine oil
before shutdown.
Once the internal Turbo oil passage ways coked with heat destroyed
oil, it really did become a dog, since the Turbo would eat itself
alive in short order from the lack of lube.
Today, we can bring the boost in sooner and increase the boost
level to either the correct or somewhat increased levels. We also
have much better oils that can live through the much higher heat.
The popularity of the car has grown a great deal, somewhat aided
by the overdue focus of a group of owners that love them.
The 301 turbo is a more efficient engine than it's older brothers,
and capable of just as much power, except that the route is less
traveled.
A 400 powered car gets what single digit fuel mileage, the 301T
like 15, 16 mpg.
So if anyone decides to try to enjoy one, help and nearly all
the parts are out there.
Joe