What Gearbox did they use in this?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zip
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Scratching my head on that one, Bill. Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Chevrolet. They are ALL made by GMC. They are all EXACTLY the same until you get to trim levels.

The 2.5L used in a Pontiac Grand Am is EXACTLY the same engine as the 2.5L Oldsmobile Cutlass from the same year. If you get the same spec engine in a Camaro as the same year Firebird, they are exactly the same engine. It's only if you get a different spec engine (carby vs EFI, breaker point vs HEI) that any bolt patterns will change.

Unless I'm not understanding something basic here...... :confused:
 
You're thinking about modern cars. From the formation of GM to the mid 1970s cars had unique engines. In the 1950s they decided they could save a lot of money by using the same chassis among several lines and changing the bodies to make different models. ford and Chrysler soon followed suit. However, each brand had its own unique engines. A Pontiac 455 is entirely different from a Buick 455 of the same year. A Pontiac 350 is not at all like a Chevy 350.

In order to cut costs to stay competitive with the Japanese in the mid 1970s, GM decided to phase out the unique engines for each line as Ford had been doing for some time already. Buicks were the first to go followed shortly thereafter by Oldsmobile. there were some weird years in the late 70s where you could choose what engine you wanted in your car. If you wanted a Skylark you could order it with a Chevy 305 or an Olds 307. It got very weird and very convoluted. Cadillac soldiered on, for the most part, with their own unique engines. My car, for instance, has a Pontiac 400. It shares no parts in common with the Olds 400 or the Buick 400 or the Chevy 400 except for plug wires and then only with the Chevy and Olds (Buick puts their distributors at the front like Ford does.

The last BOP motor produced was the Pontiac 301 Turbo in the 1981 Firebird. It was perhaps the worst V8 ever mass produced by anyone, at least it was when Car Craft Magazine editors voted.
 
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Ah, ok. I see what you're saying. Then yes, I agree with you. I was thinking of 1980 and on.....

GM group on a whole had some pretty ghastly options before that point. My 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass was one of them with its totally useless 260 V8.
 
The only stock part left is the block. Edelbrock heads, forged crank and rods, lumpy solid roller cam, the works. He's sorting out the top now. I think he's going to run dual Holleys but I have been trying to persuade him to go for a single carb as tuning dual carb setups is a nightmare. :)
 
Yup, tell him if he wants the performance of dual Holley double pumpers but the ease of operation of a single carb, find himself a Holley Interceptor!! 1350cfm of pure orgasmic inhalation in one (HUGE) carb!!!

And the 455 is the perfect engine to stuff one of these monsters onto. It's actually big enough to suck in the entire planets' atmosphere without washing rings out.... :cool:
 
Mickey_D said:
Please excuse my ignorance, but just WTH is "BOP"? :confused:
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Me being difficult :D
Most of the bits I look into are normally on the older side / design so pre 80's and I only research the bits I need to do the job, but Ive learnt something new today - thanks :D (regarding newer engines / patterns / manufacturers)
 
was gunna say it looked sound, says 350ci motor in main description but further down

"it is a 305 not a 350."

I'd avoid it, lathargic underpowered excuses for engines, something like 170bhp I think but it is the 700R4 4 speed auto, good box
 
I wouldn't touch it for the fact that he says it's got a 350 above then below he says it's not a 350 but rather a 305.

On concrete terms the 305 is not too bad. A friend from high school has a '91 with that engine. However, I wouldn't pair the 305 with an automatic, only with the T5 "World Class" 5 speed.

You can mod a 305 a bit to wake it up but I wouldn't buy a car from somebody like this dude. He's either confused or he's intentionally trying to mislead people.
 
Nitro_Junkie said:
was gunna say it looked sound, says 350ci motor in main description but further down

"it is a 305 not a 350."
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That there is exactly what confused me :confused:
 
Could be because the website didn't offer it asan option when stating whether it was a V-6 or V-8, the tech-heads might not have realised there was a 305 option for them.

The worrying part for me is the headlamp motors. They are a right pain in the arse to fix. And even after fixing they never work right again. And it is generaly a good sign that the car has been on the wrong end of a rear-ender and been repaired.

The 305 isn't the absolute worst engine out there. I mean, mine has done over 200,000 miles with absolutely HORRID maintenance (previous owner had an oil change done once a year :eek: ). They aren't too half bad engines, but in comparison to the 350, they are utter crap. They get worse mileage, MUCH worse power output, and IMHO they just don't sound like a SBC should....

Obviously it isn't a complete disaster of an engine or GMC wouldn't STILL be using it. But when you put the 305 and 350 side by side, there just is no comparison, even though the blocks are essentially exactly the same.....
 
Ditto that, Mick. I'm jsut curious, but in what can you still get a 305? I was under the impression that most if not all the traditional small blocks had been phased out in favor of Vortec motors and their ilk.
 
I do believe the new Silverado has the option of the 305. Also (haven't looked it up in a while) but isn't the baseline Corvette a 305 now?
 
The base motor in the Corvette is a 364.3 ci 400 HP LS2 all-aluminum small block. It's deffo not a piddly wee-oh-five. All the Silverados have Vortec motors. IIRC the full-size vans were the last to have traditional small blocks in them and they were ditched in about 2000 in a redesign across the model line.
 
Well, it would appear that after browsing the GM website that you are indeed correct. Even the venerable old 350 has gone the way of the dinosaurs :(

Now all they've got is the Vortecs. Yuck. Oh, well. Still lots of spare parts running around for my truck. Not like I'll be able to afford to buy anything with a Vortec V-8 any time soon (even if I wanted one to begin with.....).
 
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