The reason I asked about the condition of your car is because of its value, a moment of fun that has the potential to catastrophically damage your car can turn your potentially valuable ride into worthless scrap metal.
here is a link to a price guide report on your car. this may make you think twice about abusing it.
https://www.hagerty.com/valuationtools/HVT/VehicleSearch/Report?vbe=65853
One of my co workers years ago had a rare numbers matching Mopar I forget the exact year and model. I want to say it was a 1970s cuda or challenger
The transmission blew up during a burnout splitting the case in three spots also braking the back of the engine block where the motor bolted to the transmission. it also destroyed much of the floorboard metal sending shrapnel inside the car with him.
Sure his Mopar was making some crazy horse power, But if he had that car today in its original condition before the burnout it would be worth a ton of cash.
If your aware of this and want to have fun anyways let me know and I will do what I can to help you. I live in West Lake Worth Florida minutes from Wellington.
All of this financial and safety stuff aside for the moment.
I would suggest making sure the basics on your car is in good shape.
start with the u-joints buy heavy duty u joints and ARP fasteners.
Make sure you have fresh rear end lubricant, fresh transmission fluid and filter if it is an automatic. or just fresh lube in the transmission if a manual.
Of course have your cooling system in order new T-stat rad cap 3 or 4 core radiator.
Lets face it your car in perfect stock condition wouldn't outrun a stock 2010 Honda odyssey. So lets keep your expectations realistic.
make sure your tires especially the rear are fully inflated ( the lower the pressure the more traction ( traction is not what you want )
Remove any and all items from your trunk No spare no jack no garbage.
Add a cheap set of Air shocks Keeping the originals if they are original (doubtful) Raise the rear of your car as high as possible when you feel frisky and lower when your commuting to work.
Most likely you have a factory Q-jet Carburetor with a worn throttle shaft if you have many miles on the car. ( check this by grabbing the throttle shaft and see if it has play in it by wiggling it up and down )
If it has significant play you need to rebuild it or replace it. if its the original carburetor for the car you can install a new shaft and bushings. which will help wake your car up some. ( i am not sure if the throttle shaft rebuild kit is still available ) we can cross that bridge after you check your carburetor.
I will go more in depth about your carburetor once you check for play. there are many things you can do to a Q-jet to make it better but the best thing you can do it to make sure it is working as it was designed to.
On Pontiac engines it has an exhaust port that goes through the cylinder head which sends exhaust gas into a chamber in the intake manifold. Normally when you purchase a gasket set it comes with a metal plate.
This can be used to block off this port. Blocking it off will improve the performance some because you will get a cooler air fuel mixture which will allow you to advance the timing some without the worry of detonation.
Back in the day if I removed the intake I would cut the portion of intake that connected the coolant ports to the T-stat housing off of the intake. this way you could remove the intake again later if needed without draining the coolant. ( Not advisable if you have a numbers matching engine )
A inexpensive but very worth while upgrade is upgrading your tired weights and springs with some aftermarket parts
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/msd-8428/overview/make/pontiac
Adding a high out put coil wouldn't hurt either.
Pretty much there are many easy to upgrade parts and or kits you can buy to increase your power and reliability that nearly anyone can do if they are willing to read the instructions and have basic hand tools.
Let me know what budget your working with and I will find more specific parts and modifications that you can make that can be reversed if needed, to satisfy the purist that may want to buy your car one day keeping the value high.
You will find many 301 haters out there that will tell you the turbo 301 is a boat anchor and in its stock form I would have to agree. But for what your wanting to do with it with a little cash and a bunch of effort you can get a reasonably fun car to drive that will roast the tires on demand.
keep in mind burning rubber will not make your car faster ( I am sure you know that )
