Engine???

Im lookin at engines to drop into my 79 Firebird when i got home in october... and I think im going to go with the Chevy ZZ4 350ci crate engine.. http://www.gmpartsdepot.com/product1.aspx?SID=2&Product_ID=456&Category_ID=2&; My question: is this a good engine to build off of? Im trying to get as much horsepower as possible for the best value.. I intend on majorly beefin up the engine though.. to include holley carb, hooker headers, supercharger, etc. etc... Any suggestions welcome.. other good engine suggestions too.. I got 6 months to plan..

from what it says that seems to be a good start put a small blower on there and it should be fast

Im lookin at engines to drop into my 79 Firebird when i got home in october... and I think im going to go with the Chevy ZZ4 350ci crate engine.. http://www.gmpartsdepot.com/product1.aspx?SID=2&Product_ID=456&Category_ID=2&; My question: is this a good engine to build off of? Im trying to get as much horsepower as possible for the best value.. I intend on majorly beefin up the engine though.. to include holley carb, hooker headers, supercharger, etc. etc... Any suggestions welcome.. other good engine suggestions too.. I got 6 months to plan..


check this link:

http://ourworld.cs.com/gaotman428/pontiacengines.htm

Scrap the chevy. If it were me, I would get an HO 455CI engine from a 70-74 TA, maybe bore it out to 462 CI, cam it, put a set of low compression heads on it and then maybe supercharge it, slap on a nice set of headers and pipes and call it finished. Your a lucky dude, all i wanted before the 98 was a 79 TA with a swapped in 455, id like to have a big block, but i fell in love with theLingenfelter 427 TT LS1 (http://fast-autos.net/lingenfelter/lingenfelter427tt.html)

yea pimppn those cars with the 400s (pontiac engines) kicked butt,I wouldnt go with a chevy 350

check this link:

http://ourworld.cs.com/gaotman428/pontiacengines.htm

Well that link convinced me.. now I just have to find one for a decent price.. I cant come up with much for pontiac crate engines though.. I found some remanufactured ones.. pretty decently priced too... http://remanufactured.com/Pontiac_Engines.htm
I'm going to be swapping my p.o.s Turbo 350 auto tranny out for a manual as well.. T56 Six-Speed maybe?

Well that link convinced me.. now I just have to find one for a decent price.. I cant come up with much for pontiac crate engines though.. I found some remanufactured ones.. pretty decently priced too... http://remanufactured.com/Pontiac_Engines.htm
I'm going to be swapping my p.o.s Turbo 350 auto tranny out for a manual as well.. T56 Six-Speed maybe?


Interesting link there. If you are not into building your own engine, which could be done cheaper than their prices, this seems to be a good source.A 400 with a manual trans, is killer for the price, driveability and fun you get out of it, that's for sure. Just for the fun of it, I drove a 73, with a souped up 400 and manual 4 speed, awesome experience.If you want to keep your 350, that's ok, it will work behind a mild 400, if you step up in power you either need to modify the 350, make it stronger, or move up to a Th400. Racers like the 350 because of the weight and gear ratios, but could fail more often behind a "bigger" engine. I'm not sure about the T56, but there are plenty of conversions out, so I lost track on that, I know you can put other manual transmissions in,other than the stock Pontiac ones, but I could not name them right now.

If you ever wondered what propelled Mickey Thompson in his Challenger to Land speed record,....4 blown Pontiac engines (he didn't rely on Chevy either) a long time ago...

Well I would like to build my engine, ive never built and engine, but would like to learn how.. my dad would have a good time helpin me out with it too.. and I think i will put the T56 Six Speed in, really short throws.. and theyre tough too, from what Ive read.. plus i dont like automatics.. manuals are way more fun to drive..

Well I would like to build my engine, ive never built and engine, but would like to learn how.. my dad would have a good time helpin me out with it too.. and I think i will put the T56 Six Speed in, really short throws.. and theyre tough too, from what Ive read.. plus i dont like automatics.. manuals are way more fun to drive..

Really not that difficult to build an engine yourself. You need a good block to start with. A crank itself, reground cost you around 150, same with a set of rods. A new oil pump is between 25-40. A decent cam, goes for 150-200 with lifters, I mean shopping around you can find some great deals if you know what to look for. The Pontiac magazines had some nice articles on how to build an engine in the recent past.All depends how much work you would like to put into it yourself, or if you want to be on the safeside, buy one from the site you found...You'll figure it out!

The t-56 is a nice transmission (i'm looking at one myself right now) but with a worked 455, or even a worked 400, i wouldnt trust it if you were going to race with it. Id put my money on a th-350 or better yet, a th-400, they have always looked to be very stable transmissions, people i talk to that have them never have any problems with them, plus you can get parts for cheap if you know where to look, even more-so for the th-350. Id plan for at least 450 horses and tons of torque, and buy drivetrain parts accordingly. Join a few forums, occasionaly they have parts available for cheap, because lots of people are buying them from the forums at once, buying in bulk. I saw a deal for a complete moser rear i think it was for around $1200.

Try this out, first you have to look at how much you want to produce, then decide on what C/R you want to run, also what kind of RPM band and range you want. It's really not that easy as just slapping on a supercharger. If you want to do it right, then you you need to decide on the parameters the motor will be built on. You can't just go and buy parts and put them together. You'll be wasting money.

http://pontiacdude.cc/ i got that link off of here a while ago and they do loads of pontiac engine work

Does anyone know what engine sizes came with the 79 Formula's? I have a 79 formula I bought for parts, but it turns out the engine runs alright and I know its a pontiac engine, I just dont know the size. If its a 350 or bigger, i'll probably end up just rebuilding that one.

'79s had 350 Pontiac, 403 Olds and 400 Pontiac. The CID is cast into the block, on the driver's side, in front of the motor mount flange, on the Pontiac block.

"Crate" motors are over rated. The first thing we do with a Chevy crater is take it apart and set all the claearances correctly. Chevy has always been notorious for sloppy machine work (maybe one reason they run like they do...). Craters are nothing special, just production stuff.

You willl alienate all the Pontiac people if you put a Chevy in it, to say nothing about how tough it is to get a 350 Chevy to run with a 400 Pontiac at street levels.

Ken Keefer (Pontiac Dude) is a first-rate Pontiac builder. There are others. Kaufmann Racing is probably the current "high end leader" among Pontiac builders. Jim Butler Performance is another good one. We (Central Virginia Machine) also have a good name for Pontiacs. We'll put it in a crate if it makes you feel better...(:-

There are no true "crate engine" Pontiacs, as production ended in late '78. Get Jim Hand's book "How to Build Max-performance Pontiac V8s" from Car Tech. Full of CURRENT performance info on the Injun engine. For streeters, hard to beat the info here! It's not aimed at race engines, but is full of little things to make any Pontiac run better and live longer.

The nay-sayers will tell you a Pontiac won't run, or it won't live, or whatever. Bullshit! Last Sunday, one of our customers went 10.07 @ 131 in a 3,400 lb. '70 GTO with 10" tires and no adders, 452 CID, stock chassis with ladder bars. You haven't lived until you've heard a Pontiac at 7,500 RPM!

haha well that convinced me.. i was considering putinh a chev 383 stroker in place of my 400 but lately ive been hearing about how simple poncho blocks can make equal or better power.. not to mention the value of having numbers matching parts