1970 455 cams,first buick build help

Headers require a lot of hammer work to fit into a 64-67 A-body. Best stay with iron manifolds.
However, Stage 2 heads and headers will provide a fit in that year range.
A matching cam would be a TA 310 which has 232/232 duration and a nice choppy idle. Some use this cam with stock rockers, no piston notches and very sticky tires to handle the 500 HP.
But.....the m-20 will be destroyed.

 

If this is mainly a street driven car.
(Where are you located? elevation comes in play)

Pure stock 1970 455, exhaust manifolds, 308 gears.

TA212 camshaft,
It has a slight lope at idle. Zero overlap.
If you lower the idle some, it will sound like the cam is bigger.

This cam pulls from off idle and has good low end torque.

I have this cam in my GS and am impressed with the performance from this small cam.

 

1,600ft

 

Well after talking with TA I think I'm going to go with there 284-88H and SP-1 intake since the 288-94 cam would require new valve spings (correct?), and then pair that with my 3.23 gears and a TKO-600 with its 2.87 first gear unless anyone has a better combo. Now if I could just sell my restored 76 K-5 Blazer I could order more parts!

 

Sounds like a great combination! I'd replace the valve springs and seals anyway.

 

so do you think there would be any advantage going with the 288-94 cam then?

 

you should atleast put in stage 1 springs. if your springs are 40 years old why trust them with a bigger cam. i think the sp1 intake is abit large for the 284-88 cam. and with 3.23 gears the 288-94 is alittle large . Yes the 430 is in the blue skylark.Running TA shorty headers

---------- Post added at 12:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:49 PM ----------

did you mean my 65 ,no its in a blue 72 convertible my 65 has a 225 v6- but i have an 84 grand national engine going in it.

 

Ok yes I'll def do springs and seals. Alec are those the shortys listed for 68-72? have you any experience with the long tubes in these cars?

 

Shorty's list for 68-72 cars I have no experience with long tubes in 65 cars.

 

Yes, providing the 288-94 is ground on a 112* lobe center instead of the advertised 114*.

The idle will have more lope than the 284-88 or the standard 288-94.

Even with the tighter 112* lobe center, it will have a 1/4 point less dynamic compression ratio than the 288-94 making the engine less sensitve to gas octane and detonation.

It will have a great midrange like the 284-88 but will pull to a higher rpm.
It would be a better match for an SP1 intake.

We went the other way and had TA grind that same cam on a 118* lobe center because the requirement was, the engine had to idle smoothly and sound close to stock.
Worked out perfectly and with the wide angle he was able to run just shy of 11:1 static compression ratio.

Paul

 

great thanks guys

 

Ok guys now that we have the engine combo planned out I've been trying to solve my transmission problem. I know that even though this is going to be a restomod I am sticking to bolt on parts and pieces and will not cut the floor up to get a Tremec tko 600 to fit so I was left with few choices. The Legend Gear LGT 700 looks great and is supposed to be very compact and strong but is priced out of my range I mean I still have to invest in my full pro touring style suspension. Then I looked into the Kiesler RS 500/600 and thought wow a nice strong compact 5-speed that's priced reasonable and should fit without to much trouble, well then Kiesler goes belly up. So I did my research and it turns out that the RS 500 is actually a rebuilt t45 from 96-2001 mustangs not the strongest trans but a very nice shifting unit that's a great base to build off and with [FONT=Arial, Arial, Helvetica]3.37, 1.99, 1.33, 1.00, and 0.66 gear ratios it should work great with my car.[/FONT] There are several companies that build these trans but thet45source had the front cover and input shaft to convert it to work with a BOP bellhousing so for less than $1800 dollars I'm getting a built ready to run overdrive just like the RS500.

 

You better put video's up when you drive it cause I want to see it and hear it!

 

Well I've been driving around in the The LeSabre 455 and I'm really pretty impressed with how the motor runs even in that big heavy car but I doubt anyone wants to see that car haha. Progress is going to be slow until it warms up out right now i'm in the planning and parts collection phase.

 

I want to see it! My first race car was a 70 Buick Electra convertible! And I have a video of that.

 

Ok heres an update, I have purchased the 5-speed but my source for the adapter to mate it whith a BOP bellhousing is held up so It may be anywhere from a while-never before I get it! So in the name up progress and actually gettting the car running I'm going to just dump in the stock 455/th400 from the LeSabre. My question is the th400 from that car a long or short tail shaft? I'm going to keep the exhaust manifolds for now because I might as well wait till I build a complete motor with stage 2 heads and matching cam and intake. I'm going to go with TA engine/frame mounts and I have already purchased a nice aluminum radiator/electric fan combo from engineered cooling producst (ECP), its a direct fit for my 65 with the correct hose locations for my 455 and its a great looking piece. I'm also going to buy a new repop 300v8 engine harness to wire this thing, other than that maybe a carb rebuild and I'm about there.

 

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I made some progess this week. I ran New fuel and brake lines, motor mounts and installed the new front supsension. I'm using Speedway upper and lower control arms and there spindles along with Viking double adjustable coilovers and UMI 1 1/4 sway bar in the front. I ran into some problems with the dropped/tall spindles and had to modify my steering arms and caliper mounting brackets but should have the brakes done this week also. I'm going with stock A body disks for now since i blew the budget on a full pro tourning suspension front and rear. I'll get some pics of the rear when I get it done this coming weekend, I'm going with UMI rotojoint upper and lower trailing arms with the uppers being adjustable and a matching sway bar and chasis stiffeners.

 

Well guys I'm still debating on the engine specs for this build but I do have the transmission figured out so this might help with the cam choice. I went with a A833 OD 4 speed and the gearing is 3.09 1st, 1.67 2nd, 1.00 3rd adn .73 OD 4th almost the same as a 700r4 auto and my 3.42 rear gears. I purchased a built 800cfm Qjet from quadrajetpower.com and I'm still thinking of going with a TA 288-94 on a 112 lobe center and an SP1 intake. How does this combo sound for a fun street car?

 

I used to run the 113 in a almost stock motor, great sound and it pulled like freight train. The wide duration gap helps the bad exhaust ports in the heads and gives it a great sound. I had it in a big riv with 3.08 gears and a little 2000 stall and it pulled that heavy car into the 13's.

Here is a car with the poston version of the cam, the TA will sound similar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVD_l-ODgjQ

 

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/McLeod-8653-Explosion-Proof-GM-Bellhousing,5213.html

this may help