This may not look exotic,...
This may not look exotic, but nearly 750 lb-ft of torque qualifies in our book as something special. And it boosts through a stock-appearing Quadrajet.
Pontiac true believers will recognize Crocie's name as the man behind H-O Enterprises and its 30-plus-year Pontiac approach to performance engines and suspension goodies. If you spoke Pontiac back in the '70s and '80s, he was the man in the guru chair. One accomplishment that was way ahead of its time was a single blow-through turbocharger kit that guaranteed to double the horsepower on any 350ci to 455ci Pontiac. Crocie and then H-O owner Craig Hendrickson designed and built a kit that produced single-digit boost numbers and pushed that boost through an unlikely Q-jet carb. A few of these kits ended up in Mecum Macho T/A Pontiac Firebirds, which brings us up to the 21st century when a Crocie customer desired an upgraded stroker big-block Pontiac fitted to his original H-O turbo kit. The plan was to make the turbo package look original on the outside yet breathe as much fire as possible.
Pontiacs are big on torque, and Crocie decided to capitalize on this by upping the displacement on a middle-child 400ci motor with a stroker crank that created what Crocie calls a 488 (it actually calcs out at 489, but who's counting?). Before going any further, Crocie emphasized that this was a restoration project, not the typical hunt for maximum horsepower. The goal was a restofied Trans Am that should look just like one of those Mecum machines from the early '80s-along with a carefully placed wink and a nudge.
This effort started with a...
This effort started with a typical 400 Pontiac engine that soon bulged with a 4.50-inch Scat stroker crank. Crocie says it fits with no massaging. In fact, he says even a 4.75-inch-stroke crank with steel rods will fit because of the block's bulbous case width.
Crocie started with a basic Pontiac block that he immediately punched with a 0.040-inch-larger bore and added a 3/4-inch-longer Scat 4.50-inch crank to replace the stock 3.75-inch piece along with Scat forged 6.700- inch-long H-beam rods. This created a 489ci monster to which he added a Probe piston with a generous dish to keep the compression at around 8.3:1. The plan was to allow the turbocharger to make up for the low static compression. Since the engine would be street driven and turbochargers tend to respond to short-duration camshafts with wide lobe-separation angles, Crocie spec'd a custom Comp Cams hydraulic roller using the XFI lobe design. This lobe was created to generate maximum lift from a relatively short duration that he combined with the Comp 1.5:1 roller rockers. All the machine work was performed by Outlaw Racing.Because this was a resto of sorts, Crocie had to retain the iron Pontiac 6X heads that got the bigger 2.11/1.77-inch valves upgraded to a set of stainless SI versions along with better springs and retainers after Tim Martindale of Outlaw Racing Engines did the porting work. Crocie then topped the whole package off with an Edelbrock Performer (yes, that's right) dual-plane intake that had to be used because of hood clearance issues. Of course, that choice wasn't nearly as restrictive as the original factory exhaust manifolds. But as you will see, even with these limitations, this Pontiac compensates quite nicely.
 Probe supplied the dished...  Probe supplied the dished pistons to keep the compression mild so the motor could live on single-digit boost numbers on pump gas. He also added a set of Total Seal rings and Scat 6.700-inch rods originally intended for a big-block Chevy. |  Amazingly, even early '70s...  Amazingly, even early '70s 400 Pontiacs still used a rope seal. Crocie found a graphite seal made by Best Gasket that is superior. |  The engine was intended as...  The engine was intended as a restoration of the earlier engines, which meant retaining the factory 6X heads. Along with all the machine work, Tim Martindale ported the iron castings and fitted them with stainless SI valves. |
 The buildup also included...  The buildup also included a Comp Cams hydraulic roller and retrofit roller lifters generating around 0.530-inch lift for the intake and exhaust. Installing the roller cam also required a cam button to prevent it from walking and causing cam timing problems. | | |