1976 - 1980 pontiac sunbird safari wagon with a v8 (Page 3/3) Lambo nut AUG 11, 10:41 PM Wife's first car was a 77 Chevy Monza 2+2 with a factory 305. Ran pretty good. One weird thing I remember about it, the wheel covers pushed on VERY easy, but were a pain to pull back off. Also used an electric fuel pump along with an oil pressure switch that would cut the ignition when the oil pressure was too low. Took a while to figure that out one day, back in the early 80's when I was not so car smart. Kevin silver 85 sc SEP 02, 10:34 PM I put a 305 in a Monza for a buddy. I was happy with my 3.8 liter in my Sunbird. My Starfire was a lot of fun with the 3.8 and 4 speed. For economy I ran an '80 Monza with a 2.5 liter. I also had a '76 Astre that I tried to convert, but I didn't have welding capablities, not could I afford to pay someone at the time. The more bizarre engine that these cars got was the 3.8 liter odd fire. This engine was a V8 with 2 cylinders cut off. Had that one in a '77 Sunbird. The crank journals were not off set. Every one of these cars that I owned required off set bushings due to body sag. It was the only way I could get them aligned. So if anyone is wondering here is my history with these cars: '76 Pontiac Astre 140cid unable to convert scrapped '77 Pontiac Sunbird 231 cid oddfire engine failure and rust scrapped '78 Pontiac Sunbird 231 cid even fire totaled '79 Pontiac Sunbird 151 cid converted to 231 cid traded for my '85 Fiero '78 Olds Starfire 231 4 speed, frame failure, spun bearing in engine. '80 Chevy Monza 151 cid 4 speed. Traded for Chevy Beretta. And yes with a V8 these cars are rockets. I tried to buy a stock Chevy Monza Spider with a 350 in it. At the time the owner wanted $2200 for it and I was in college and couldn't afford it. It was an auto and could break the rear tires loose at almost any speed just by stepping on the gas. Rich Raydar SEP 03, 12:33 AM quote Originally posted by silver 85 sc: ...The more bizarre engine that these cars got was the 3.8 liter odd fire. This engine was a V8 with 2 cylinders cut off. Had that one in a '77 Sunbird. The crank journals were not off set. My 77 Starfire had that same engine. Had very soft engine mounts so that the vibration wasn't transmitted to the rest of the car. The engine used to dance around like a paint shaker under the hood. Unfortunately, it also allowed the engine/tranny to twist insanely when you got on or off the gas. Made it hard to shift gears because the damned shifter kept changing positions with the tranny. It had the goofy Borg-Warner T50 5 speed. I say "goofy" because reverse and 1st were in line. 2nd and 3rd were in line. 4th and 5th were in line. Was a very quirky car to drive. The flywheel was also huge and heavy. Seems like it was an inch and a quarter thick, and weighed about 35 lbs. (Probably not, but it seemed like it at the time.)