Top Gear - Old Trans-Am racers revisited

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Fri Oct 29, 10 10:28 am

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/old-trans-am?imageNo=0

VGVIP · Post by **VGVIP** » Fri Oct 29, 10 12:06 pm

Just wondering what the Mopar engine displacement was for this O2 series.
Ford 302 = under 5l
Chev 305 = bees dick under 5l
Mopar 318 = 5.2l
Mopar 273 = 4.not enough

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Fri Oct 29, 10 12:49 pm

They used a smaller capacity version of the 340 in the T/A series, but was only in it for one year.....That's why the T/A motor had the ability to run 4 bolt mains and of course the "good"heads and specific rocker gear....

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Fri Oct 29, 10 1:35 pm

Yes the T/A race engine was de-stroked to just under 5.0.

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Fri Oct 29, 10 4:59 pm

305ci if memory serves...

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Fri Oct 29, 10 8:58 pm

Blue wrote:305ci if memory serves...

No that was the size limit.

The T/A engine was 303.8 inches. The rules were you could de-stroke an engine starting out no bigger than 350ci. But you had to use the stock bore size.
It made 460hp.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Fri Oct 29, 10 9:08 pm

Gurney's AAR Cuda engine. They were built by Keith Black.

It looks nothing like the engine bay on the street versions does it?

Nice headers.

And looking at those shock towers I suspect the front suspension has had a bit of work too.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Fri Oct 29, 10 9:35 pm

Chrysler has produced two "305" cranks in the past. One is very rare (only one batch made) and the other (for the factory backed AAR and T/A cars) even rarer.

There were only 50 Trans Am 305 cranks produced. Reportedly costing $2500 at the time in rough cut form. They featured cross drilled double oil feeding (the crank and rods were designed to operate up to 8500rpm) and they had the Hemi style 8-bolt rear flange.

They had a 2.96 inch stroke (3.31 was standard) and of couse could fit in any 273, 318 or 340 block.

andyrob · Post by **andyrob** » Sat Oct 30, 10 10:28 am

very interesting

cheers
right up my street