Ive got a '73 455 can I get 500 hp with unported heads with a good 3 angle valve job and stage 1 valves or would I have to pay some one to go hog heavy on them? What cam, intake ,compression ,carb ,an oiling modifications sould I go with? My motor being a '73 sould have cap screw rods right? Would a set of '67 430 heads be better?
:Comp: Only the 350 Buick had capscrew rod bolts. As far as I know all 455 rods have the same bolt with a nut. If you have a set of good 430 heads, {not cracked} go with them. If they are the big port ones so much the better. {more intake flow with less work}.
I have the thing for you !! :beer 600+ hp Ready to drop in :laugh: Race fuel driven engine loves to beat up chevys went 10.94 in a 3880 car :TU:
They're off an old 4bbl wildcat motor what codes sould I look for to see if they have the large ports. I dont have the $ for TAs heads.
o No: I don't know the casting numbers off hand, A while back someone had a site listed with all the block and head numbers. I would think a wildcat motor would be a good bet for having them though.
To tell you the truth, I am pretty disappointed with the buildups they have been doing....spend a lot of cash you don't really need. If I can make 422 HP at 5000rpm with basically a stock 70 engine(with stock exhaust manifolds!) and a TA cam, then I would think it wouldn't be too hard to make 500hp without spending that kind of money. A set of headers would have added 30Hp or so to my combo I've been told, the factory manifolds are very restrictive. Later Tim
Thats what I would think I was planing on useing their intake an old 950 three barel carb ,a solid cam , probibly 12:1 compression, stage 1 valves , a little at home gasket match and pocket porting ,and some headers.
So, are you wanting a street motor here? 12 to 1 compression? It's not super hard to make 500 horsepower out of a 455, But I will tell you, the absolute smartest money you can spend is in the heads. If the heads can't move any air, and you throw tons of compression and a huge cam at it, all you'll end up with is a motor that you can't really drive, unless you like paying $6 a gallon for race fuel. By the time you spend big bucks on high compression pistons, then do everything you need to do to keep the thing from blowing head gaskets, you could have spent money on some good heads and made the same horsepower with 10 to 1 compression, and something that is very driveable. Jim Burek P.A.E. ENTERPRISES
Nope, Im going Racing ,maybe crusing once in awhile,but mostly racing .I dont have the the psycotic amounts of cash thease guys are demanding to sit at a desk in a lazy boy with a dremil tool for hours on end.Pistons are cheaper ,10:1 or 12:1 I still need race gas .I know that the best money you can spend is in the heads but thats $ I dont have.
Really you should just buy the engine I have done already why mess around trying to make a combo work when I have one ready to race now. You will spend more money running around chasing the combo than buying a ready to go one....
As much as I would LOVE to have your 600 hp 455 ,and I mean LOVE ,I DO NOT have the cash that I know you want for it. I just want cheap (not dirt cheap) ,non-N2O 500 hp 455.
WRONG !!!! I'm making somewheres around 500 HP (how else could a 4100# convertible go 12.3's with no traction ??) and my TRUE compression is JUST UNDER 10:1 I can run pump gas 93 all day and night and never ping. I do add 5 or so gallons of race gas at the track for the lead.....the car actually went slower once when i put the really high octane stuff in. Mr. Burek is absolutely correct. The motor is an AIR pump and without the proper means to get air in and out you'll never see high HP.
People tell me mine is around 500 hp with 9.6 to 1 and home ported heads and runs on pump gas and can drive it all day long if I want to. Porting the heads took me from a best 11.92 to a best of 11.55 without any other changes.:Comp:
Hi, I had my 4300 lb. 1970 convertible at the Nationals and went a best there of 12.99 with my motor and 3.08 gears. According to the desktop dyno, that was 500 hp at the flywheel and 400 at the rear wheels by other hp calculators. Here's my combo: 1972 block, +.030 TRW pistons, 10.0 to 1 , real compression closer to 9.3 to 1 with felpro gasket (piston to valve clearance was .315!) stock crank turned .010 and stock rods with polished beams entire bottom assembly inc. flywheel and balancer balanced 1967 430 heads with dual springs, stage 1 valve, unshrouded, and ported to match an Edlebrock Performer intake 800 cfm qjet redone by John Osborne Poston headers, jethot coated, Dr. GAS x-pipe exhaust system with Straightline Performance large case mufflers Poston 113A cam and hi-rev lifters Ignitor 2 setup in distributor with matching coil and 7 mm wires The entire thing looks almost totally stock except for the headers and the Edlebrock name on the intake. The Chebby ignorants never even notice that and think I just painted the motor and just put headers on it. Total cost was just over $3,000. Not dirt cheap, but considering that I'm as fast as a new corvette with a 3.08 rear and a th400 with shift kit, I'm very pleased with the results, and the car is very reliable and very consistent, as some of my competitors will attest to. The car never varied by more than one tenth all weekend! Anyway, that's my .02 worth.
