advice ? building a better hp 322

[aus322]

Hellow i am new to this forum .Have a 55 century and plan on converting to open driveline(T-400 box adaptor plate 4 bar ect) It would seem that a lot of people are putting in bigger blocks into the older cars but i am interested in keeping mine 322 .I have brought a ta -30 cam , Rhodes lifters , stage 1 valve springs ,(ta performance /7 key timming chain set /have had headers made by hand (stainless)But have more question than answers not sure on *carby induction manifold *rocker assembly (roller?)*,Heard rurmers about weak cam bearings I live in Australia and not too many people down here have had experence in these motors I would greatly app:grin: reciate anyones input and what type of hp/tq i might expect from it. It would be great just to match those stock 350 chevs just to gain some Buick pride
Regards Patrick Maiden

[wkillgs]

Bill is a fellow Aussie and has a great website.
www.buickstreet.com
He should be able to hook you up with some sources down there.

I'm not real familiar with the 55-56 Nailheads, but Buick made alot of changes between 55 and 57. Some of the 56 features were one-tear only, like the pistons. 1957 saw the intro of the new head design with rectangular exhaust ports. Those newer heads flowed much better, so consider that swap.

Intake manifold selection is limited to a 322 intake. The 364, and 401/425 used progressively wider intakes.

Some Nailhead guys said a 322 with the newer heads would be one of the best performing combinations, as the head flow is a great match for the 322 cubes.

Contact Tom T, he's the man!:TU:

[DualQuad55]

The 57-66 heads have much much larger compression chambers-this means that if you use them on a 322, your compression will drop drastically. Using a custom piston with a very large pop up dome may get you close to what you want/need.
Using Toms roller tip rockers will likely be the biggest gain for the 322 (like most other displacements).
As far as trannies, since you will need an adapter (the buick th/sp400 has a smaller but similar bolt pattern and won't fit) I would use a th350. They are lighter than a 400, take a little less hp to turn, and have a slightly better first gear-plus they are a little smaller, so they fit a little better than a th400.

[aus322]

Thanks guys for your advise .I will go to that web site and check it out .I have seen that site before but had no idea i was tided up with a aussie.
Thanks again Guys Patrick Maiden :pp :grin:

[track73]

I have a '56 Riviera with a stick shift. Here is what I did: '57 heads,64 camshaft, 61 rocker arms, 55 century pistons, Carter AFB 550 cfm carb, with adapter.
To make the '57 heads work I had them milled .050 and shortened the water crossover about 5/16 of an inch. To do that I installed the heads w/o the gaskets and one bolt in the center. I then proceeded to saw the crossover into 3 pieces. Next I bolted the the crossover to the heads and tacked the 3 pieces together with Ni-rod. I then took it off and brazed it together. You should use the cross over gasket. I didn't and it meant using silicone instead of the gasket because of interferance with the part that goes into the timing cover. You can probably skip the welding part and use rubber hose and clamps to make the cross over fit. I used Buick 350 lifters for the cam. I sent the cam to my machinist and had him grind the journals to '56 specs. The rockers are 1.6 and bolt on. I used a Trans-Dapt carb adapter and by-passed the carb starter switch with a new key switch.
The car is now a screamer with close to 9:1 compression. Use the shim gaskets. I got all the parts from E-Bay except the carb adapter. It took 5 years but I had the time.

[DualQuad55]

Sounds like it went very well for you. Glad to hear the heads worked out so well.
I have an old 'drag race' motor here that is a 322 with later heads. The guy said he couldn't understand why it wouldn't run worth a damn. I guess he didn't realize the compression loss going to the later heads. I am relatively sure they haven't been milled as yours have, although I have not cc'd them-only looking at them and comparing them to a stock pair I have.
Any idea what kind of 1/4 mile times the car can do now? Just curious to see how much you were able to pick up. I am guessing it went from the stock 17.8sec (or so) to low 16s.
Man sometimes I wish I stayed with the earlier engines in my '55. But then again, after rupping through the gears with the 401-I like it as it is with the bigger engine.:TU: