Just courious, what would a stock 455 engine run in a quater. Lets say it is 10 : 1 comp and 3:73 gears posi. Stock stage one motor basically. Lets say it was transplanted in a 65 GS. Could you get 13's out of it. now lets say you went through it and put JE pistons, a 500" lift cam, eldebrock intake and a holly carb. 2" headers and no port work done. Still stage 1 though. 3:73 gears. Is a 12 possible or is it out of the question. What kinda MPH can you expect with this also.
The engine and it's power are one small part of the equation how much does the car weigh? how much drag does it produce? what are the forward gear and final drive ratios? what weight distribution and traction can you get? Is it an automatic? What's the torque converter like?
1970 stage 1 GS would run mid to low 13's with 3.64 gears. With the 2nd combination there is no mention of duration,carb size or compression.but with conservative compression (10:1 ) and duration (230@ .050) , 850 carb and a good torque converter, mid 11's are possible @ 114 mph. with a car that hooks up well.
With my 71 GS455, in stock form, I managed to get a 13.98 running street tires, a 3.08 non-posi rear, with a very ugly exhaust system made up of several prior years "fixes". The mph was only 96.8 though. That is using a low compression, non Stage 1 - headed motor. Shift point was around 5000 rpm, leaving the trans in Drive.
Wow Steve, that's a great time for your '71 with a 3.08 non-posi unit. I have the exact same stock setup, except mine's a convertible. How did you launch your car from the start? Brake-torque up to 2-2500 rpm's or just stomp on it from the line? Erik '71 Buick GS 455 Convertible
The convertor was stock and tight. I probably couldn't have gotten it over 1500 if I wanted to. That was about 4 years ago, so it's hard for me to remember the technique prior to going to posi. It was usually hit or miss with an off-idle launch going from about half throttle to the floor. All the planets must have been aligned that day as it was much more consistently around a 14.1 - .2 car in "average" WA weather.
Launching I run my '68 on Firestone Firehawk street radials. I have a 3.08 posi rear. The best launch technique I've found is to keep your foot off the gas until the lights come down. I race on a sportsman tree, and the car and I don't react too quick, so I get off the brakes and roll the gas on when the third yellow is just coming on. You have to get into the throttle agressively but you MUST listen for tire squeal and watch your tach, any tire spin becomes a total smokeout and you'll never get traction back. I normally don't get to full throttle until pretty close to the 60' mark, then it's just mat the gas and shift when it sounds right. I'm getting pretty consistant 2.04 sixty foot times. It's easy to add a half second to that if you don't have the touch and go up in smoke.
Re: Re: 455 question No port work on the heads and run mid 11's? at 114? That is very wishful thinking. From my own experience,that is.If somebody has done it,I'd like to know the combo:Smarty:
Re: Re: Re: 455 question It is possible, although head porting would make it easier,a blueprinted short block, and a good valve job can unlock some hidden power. Just look at NHRA legal GS/A buick stage 1 cars 11.40's are not uncommon.
