# Pontiac Engine Tips circa 1976



## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

I have a pretty vast "library" of Pontiac magazines/books/personal publications and other material. This is where I have learned and get my info in addition to my hands-on Pontiac hobby experience. Still so much I don't know and most all of my engine builds, whatever the make, were always limited to meager finances -so I worked with what I had. Pontiacs, like any engine, can be tweaked for better performance for those of us on shoe-string budgets when buying "new" or "forged" was not an option. Guess that was why I like Pontiacs, they perform well in factory street trim and can be improved with a little tweaking. Today's engine builds seem to call for more HP at the expense of bigger budgets to get them there. I think the factory did a fine job putting together a well packaged based 350/360HP engine for street use and I was never disappointed with the power. 

Here is a few Pontiac tips from *1976* as evident from the mention of the Torker intake manifold -which was a "hot" add-on performance manifold at the time. There were some who also complimented it with the larger 850 Chrysler Thermo-Quad spreadbore or the aftermarket Competition Series 1000CFM version. I tried this set-up once for a short time on the 1972 400CI I had in my '70 Judge. The carb (was a freebie) ran OK, but didn't seem to quite work as I believe it needed a rebuild and/or the secondaries just weren't opening correctly -and I knew Q-jets far better. The Q-jet I took off was much better in comparison....except for 1 time when I think the carb actually worked correctly and it was like somebody kicked me in the butt as that car shot off -holy smokes it woke up. Only time it did it. I took it off after a couple weeks. So the Thermo-Quad might be an option for some of you "experimenters.":thumbsup: Carter Thermoquad - The Carburetor Doctor


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

Thermoquads (like the quadrajet) are awesome performers when they are right. The tiny (comparatively) primarys and huge secondarys give you crisp throttle response and a shove back in the seat when you nail the gas. Had a friend with a 68' 442 with a 455 that would smoke the tires at 30 mph when his Thermo quad would kick in.

Even back then I couldn't tell you how many people would ask if he had a 442 under the hood.....:banghead:


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

"Even back then I couldn't tell you how many people would ask if he had a 442 under the hood..."

Yep, I never quite knew what it meant either in my younger days until I read something somewhere, might have been a 442 ad. 4-barrel, 4-speed, (2)dual exhaust. :wink2:


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