About
This is the Xcorps mascot car a 1971 Pontiac LeMans Sport that we bought in 1985 for $700 in San Diego sitting in some forklift company lot. It had 100,000 miles on the stock 350 fed by a 4 barrel Rochester Quadrajet that could easily smoke the tires. The Unit as we called the car ran strong and my friends and I toured most of the major roads of the western U.S. and Canada in it taking pictures and having a blast putting another 100,000 miles on it without any major problems. Yes another 100K! We ran the rig pretty hard though we did keep up on maintaining the car and adding after market parts like more gauges, a remote oil cooler and a triple tier radiator. Lot of fun miles!
History of this Vehicle
In I995 with 250,000 miles on the odometer the engine started losing power and the tranny went bad. A minimum rebuild got it rolling again for another 30K and in 2003 the decision was made that the “Unit” as we affectionately call the car should get a major motor rebuild. The race boys at Wilsons Machine in Encinitas Ca pulled the big block Pontiac 350 and three months later this is what we came up with.
The block was magged and bored .40 over making it a 357. Edelbrock aluminum heads modeled after the Pontiac GTO “Ram Air IV” design were bolted on. The stock crank was refurbished and a Schneider Cam along with new cast pistons, bearings, chain and gears, oil and H2o pump and a set of Comp Cams Magnum Roller Rockers and super duty push rods were added. The Magnums added 25 horses by themselves.
Edelbrock doesn’t really advertise that their Pontiac Ram Air IV aluminum heads will fit a 350 but they do! The 1971 Pontiac 350 block is the same big-block as the 400 and up-they just bored them bigger. Edelbrock doesn’t make headers to fit these heads either. The Hooker Super Comps are the only ones I found that will -and they are sweet!
Top end included trading in the old Rochester Quadrajet carb which could easily smoke the treads and IS a great carb for a new version of the classic Holley 650 mechanical Double Pumper. We tried a Edelbrock 650 carb first but switched it for a new Holley.
A Holly 110gph 8psi mechanical fuel pump was added to keep up with the new fuel demands.
Wilson’s Machine then added an Edelbrock polished aluminum intake manifold. Up top a Tornado air vortex unit was added to an Edelbrock air cleaner. Polished chrome valve covers by the same company. The old timing chain cover was shot but we found one on ‘e’ Bay in great shape for a $100 bucks from a guy in Oregon.
The engine compartment was detailed flat black before the engine was dropped back in. The ignition system was upgraded-bye bye points- with a MSD 6A box and 8.5 Superconductor plug wires all hooked up to a new MSD Pro Billet distributor. Got to like the upgrade to electronic ignition! I will not miss the point sets I went through – and they were getting harder to find.
For exhaust the only headers that would fit the Edelbrock Ram Air design heads were the Hooker Super Comps which are but are so phat that the old starter had to be replaced by a Pro Torque that could pivot out of the way. The headers were hooked up to an exhaust upgrade with a pair of Flowmaster mufflers and a crossover pipe ending with chrome tips.
Suspention was beefed with new heavy duty GTO springs, front coil-over shocks, rear air shocks and adjustable Airlift airbags inside the springs. New ball joints and bushings top and bottom. A Jegster lift bar kit was added to lift the rear end and dramatically increase the traction to the LeMans SR tires.
To stop this beast- which is not dyno'd but estimated at close to 400 ponies- the front drum brakes were replaced with a Stainless Steel Brakes power front disk kit. New interior black carpet,new headliner and pro tuned race seats by Matrix. Several coats of metallic bronze paint covered in clear coat, a set of classic Craigar rims and a custom rear trunk spoiler pulled it all together for this LeMans Sport.
The torque in the high end is dramatically sweeter and the car sounds and is a blast to drive! To heck with the price of gas-it’s worth it!
This rebuild project took more patience and way more $ than expected but when you hit the gas it all gets worth it!
Before this rebuild we topped The Unit out at 136mph on U.S.15 between Vegas and LA. It’s spiritual to find a lonely stretch of asphalt and let her roll! Watch for the updates of this ‘71 Lemans Sport right here on upcoming episodes of The Xcorps!
We plan on including this and other cars in segments on our sports TV show The X Corps. See it in episodes #32 DUNES-1 and 2 and #35. “Viper” starring 3 Xcorps hosts Jason Lazo,Rat Sult and Eric Ducharme road tour it So Cal style!
Let’s Roll!
J.Stuart Edmondson
See All The Action Hear All The Music Join The X Corps!
Plans for this Vehicle
Next upgrades for The Unit…well we will completely customize the front end steering and suspension. We are also thinking about slapping on a fuel injection top end. These guys in Mass. make the BomB Didley of units! Get The Unit up to 600HP right at startup!
MASS-FLO EFI FUEL INJECTION
Mass-Flo EFI has just released its classic-Pontiac EFI kits, which retail at $3,750. The baseline kit supports up to 600 hp, and options are available to bump that limit to upwards of 1,000 hp. In kit format, the system is set up to deliver sequential fuel-injection tuning via a MAF system based on the Ford EEC-IV ECU.
A custom tune is created for each customer, and once the system is installed, no additional tuning is required.
http://www.mass-floefi.com/index.html
Sponsors & Special Thanks
Edelbrock-Hooker-Holly-MSD-Craigar-Stainless Steel Brakes-Jegs-Flowmaster-Comp Cams-Schneider-Wilsons Machine-Year One-Hotchkis-Classic Industries-TRANSMASTER Transmissions Encinitas Ca-
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