Ok, let me start by saying I have searched for budget 455 builds but all the once I found were budget 500+ hp engines and didnt feel very budget friendly so I here I am humbly asking for answers or links to forum reads with answers. Thank you in Advance Recently, picked up a 1972 buick 455 to go in a a skylark roller we just bought for my wife. I picked up the 455 with th400 for 700 bucks and was going to just throw it in the car and call it a day. But I can't stay off Facebook Marketplace. 3 days later for 200 bucks I picked up a TA 298H cam with TA dual super springs. Still new in the box so crazy good deal. So the question is...what is the cheapest way for me to utilize this cam? What I understand is it's an aggressive cam. Should I just throw the cam and valve springs in and call it a day or do I NEED to do more? I would love to do more but its really not in the budget. If the wife and I had the money I'd have new pistons and new heads in the mail and they block would already be at the machine shop. But thats not the case, we'd like to get this thing on the road sooner than later
Run the engine as is now and start collecting parts to go with that cam so in time you'll have everything to do a full build. That way you get the best of both worlds. It's very easy to go down the rabbit hole on things like this . I've been collecting parts for my build for a few years while enjoying the car at the same time, I also have another block to build slowly. That being said another option is run that engine so you can enjoy the car and look for and pick up another block to build. When your engine is finished it's just a straight swap no down time with the car.
That cam is like 500ish lift correct......its getting close to where the retainers will be getting too close to guides for my comfort.........that cam will run perfectly with just ta stage 1 plus springs......dual spring will more than likey be too much pressure for stk rocker arms and shafts......much more lift will be pushing the same problem with the 72 stamped steel rockers. Some dual springs require to have the guide od or spring pocket size changed as well........this work and having the guides clearance for more lift isn't major expense by it self....but head need to come off and apart and some machine shops won't do it without throwing in a valve job and a touch surfacing. So a slightly smaller cam that is more plug and play might be a more budget friendly part.
Run the engine the way it is. Save the cam for down the road. A cam is NOT free lunch. It's easy to slow a car down or make it less fun to drive (the wife will not appreciate that) if there is incompatibility in the rest of the combination. The TA298H cam is a single pattern moderately sized cam better suited to good flowing heads. It needs 9.5:1 static compression, deeper gears, and a torque converter to work well. TA recommends roller rockers with that cam. You don't have that. Leave the engine alone. Install it and optimize ignition timing with a good exhaust and it will be lots of fun if the engine is healthy.
The TA298H is the infamous Hemi Killer cam. It has 241/241 duration at .050, .504 lift with stock rockers, and a Power Range of 3200-6000 RPM. Putting that cam in with 8.5:1 or less compression is not a good idea.
I ran the old club Hemi Killer in a stock build ‘70 455 and did not enjoy it. It sounded mean but was a dog at low rpm, had poor driveability and iffy vacuum for the brakes. It ran mid 13s with 3.55 gears. I swapped in a Lunati (22x/23x), picked up all sorts of low end feel and better driveability and ran the same numbers. If you do a cam swap, go mild!!! Save the HK for a future build or sell it. Patrick If you want a low buck 455, do all stock parts, fresh gaskets and bearings and a mild cam. The torque will be awesome.
Thank you everyone. I'm gonna run the engine as it sits while I make sure the car has the brakes and suspension needed to handle a built engine and then I'll start looking for a build able block. This was what I was thinking originally but that devil on my shoulder was saying to run that cam anyway. Glad I didn't listen to it
In the meantime read these. https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?t...ck-why-sonic-checking-is-so-important.171953/ https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/400-430-455-block-id-prep-and-oiling-mods.214613/
