Topic: 301 or 400

[brooksman9]

Is there an easy way to tell a 301 from a 400 by looking at them. Just curious as i was looking at a car on ebay that says 81 all original 400 and vin says it is a 301 which I know the 400 didn't come in 81. Thanks

[transamfan]

Well, I don't know how to tell the difference between the two, but the car is not "all original" if that helps.  Either they don't know what they're talking about, OR, they do know and hope that the buyer doesn't.

[Gold78Spc]

So what you want to know is if maybe the guy just doesn't have a clue and thinks its a 400 when its really a 301.  Post a link to the auction here and maybe someone can tell by looking at it.

[Gold78Spc]

I have a feeling you are talking about this car here.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1981-Pontiac-Trans-Am-Muscle-Car-LOW-MILES-LOOK_W0QQitemZ320104535539QQihZ011QQcategoryZ6427QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I noticed a few things on the engine that appear to be different than on my car around the intake area but I don't really know if I saw enough to definitively say that thats not a 400.  If you are going to go and physically inspect the car let us know and we will get you all the info you need to determine the engine size when you get there but I doubt you will get the dealer to crawl all over the engine to find codes for you.

[rkellerjr]

There is one tell tale sign on 400's though.  It should be stamped on the drivers side just underneath the head on the block.  It won't tell  you the year and other information but it should have the CI if it's a 400.

[ta78w72]

It doesn't look like a 400 to me, but I'm no expert.  The oil dipstick isn't in the right spot for a 400, at least the ones I have.  In fact, I can't even locate the oil dipstick in the pictures. 

Hey wait a minute.  They checked off the A/C as being good, but where the heck is the compressor?  The shaker sits crooked too.  Someone did some pretty crappy prepping to the engine too.  They painted the pullies blue.  All the smog stuff has been pulled from this thing.  I guess it could be an old engine dropped in in place of the orignal, but the only way to tell is to get the numbers off it.

[brooksman9]

Yeah, that is the car I was talking about. I was just curious if there was a quick easy way to tell from looking at a picture like that. Seems as though it isn't that easy. Where is the dipstick located on a 400, I did read somewhere that it is located behind driver, valve cover on 301.Thanks guys, and probably not going to look yet. Haven't gotten any lookers on my car yet.

[Gold78Spc]

The dipstick should be on the passenger side of the engine next to the valve cover about 4 to 6 inches back from the front of the engine.

[79 S E W72]

  On an A/C car the dipstick is attached to the top of the A/C compressor bracket.

[eroc022]

well its a 400 because it has headers and 301s dont have any headers that fit.....so problem solved....

[Gold78Spc]

well its a 400 because it has headers and 301s dont have any headers that fit.....so problem solved....

I beg to differ.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=HOK%2D4111HKR&N=700+4294908153+4294840083+115&autoview=sku

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=HOK%2D4111%2D1HKR&N=700+4294908153+4294840083+115&autoview=sku

[ta78w72]

eroc, it might not be an either or situation.  It could be any engine.  Maybe it's a 265 out of a 56 chevy 

Now I see why the shaker is crooked.  There is no air cleaner base.  The shaker is sitting on top of the filter.  I would be a little worried about bidding on this one.  I think I would want to see this one in person first.

[LOMILETA]

If you look close at the engine pic, you'll see why. The carb is a double pumper, (you can see the dual fuel feeds) and the stock base wont fit.

[LOMILETA]

This car was a base TA, no options. A/C and CASS are the two I see.  No cruise, tilt, rear defogger, crank windows no intermittent wipers.

[Tbird]

Single exhaust with headders???