Hi Guys, Im looking for the cheapest way to get from where i am now, to 105mph in the 1/4 reliably for ~$4600 USD or less. (built not bought). Back Story: I am looking to finish up a stalled 455 build in the next year or two and wanted to start gathering parts. This time around im more realistic about my goals and focused on completing the project. I know availability of parts on the market is not the same as the last time i visited this. The car will be a manual 4spd close ratio, assume 3.73 with gear vendors. (cuz thats what i have). GOALS: Here is the goal, assuming 3500-ish lbs '71 Skylark; (i dont have one at the moment, but will at some point). 1) Target 105mph in the 1/4 mile, minimum. 2) Target 10:1 compression ratio. Anywhere from 9.5 to 10.5 is good. (11:1 if aluminum heads) 3) Vacuum brakes. I have owned cars where vacuum brakes are marginal, right on the edge of being useless, and thats OK. 4) Complete this with as few purchases as possible. But if it will save time and headache to just buy a properly tuned combo, im all for it. 5) Budget is $5500 ($4600 USD with today's exchange rate) for just the hardware. This doesnt include machining, accessories, intake, carb, or flywheel/clutch components. Basically just the longblock and valvetrain. Also doesnt including shipping or tax, so $4600 USD before "checkout". 6) The block will NOT be girdled, nor filled, nor enforced/braced in any way. 7) I will limit the RPM's to a reasonable number, like 5000 to 5500rpm no exceptions. 8) The main goal here is reliability. This is the reason for 105mph. I feel like if the power level is limited and the RPMs too, then its most likely to live. What I have to work with: The list of parts i have 1) Block, i beleive i bored it +.030 and thats it. Deck isnt touched. Coreshift isnt bad, but not the best either. I did most of the oiling mods including balance line. It will have backgrooved bearings, and coated as well. Clearances will be 0.0025 rods and mains. Side clearance for rods will be around 0.014 to 0.018. It will be line honed. Nothing except boring operation has been completed. 1a) I havent decided what to do for oiling, but i may got for a belt driven pump (outside the given budget). I have a deep sump 7qt pan already. One way or the other i plan to have 35-40psi off-idle hot, and 65-70 close to 5000rpm which is the max that i will see. 2) I have 1973 heads, they were "ported" by me (so not really), basically smoothed, and got bigger valves. The job wasnt completed, so i will have to do another valve job at minimum. They will need porting for sure to achieve my goal i think, so consider that for pricing. 3) Rotating assembly is stock 1973 rods, with some kind of low comp dished pistons. Someone identified them for me in a thread i posted. They are nothing special. 4) I have a 290-08H cam, with matching springs retainers, etc... Heads are set up for this. 5) I have both a B4B and an older SP-Stage-1 intake. 6) Carb will be a 850DP holley, or the newer 950 or 1000 XP series, mechanical secondaries. 7) No headers yet, but it will have long-tubes. So from where i stand now, whats the best way to get to my goal? From my limited knowledge, it seems like new pistons and rods are the best way to achieve the compression. Im kind of torn about what to do with the heads, but im happy to go with edelbrocks or TA's and just get the targeted flow number straight from a vendor. Same goes for the cam. At the time it seemed like a good choice, but if a roller is a better fit, and fits in the budget id be happy to do that. Any help appreciated. Specific part number would be great if you guys can provide that. Thanks in advance!
1. Hone the block to .038 over 2. Wiesco pistons are budget friendly and will get you flatops, valve reliefs and lighter weight, among other things $585 Autotec are another choice I believe they are just a few bucks more but are full custom and can be dialed into whatever you need 3. Molnar Rods $585 4.Oil system , stock cover is all you need forget the belt stuff 5.Rpm 5800 to 6k is more than safe don't limit yourself to less 6.intake Sp1 7.carb I like a 950HP , will work fine for low HP but also provide room to grow 8.Cam flat tappet is fine, with stock heads a high 230-240/250ish with 530ish lift on a 110 to 112 lsa would be good, with TA Stage 1 heads you could run something more conservative, with stage 2's you can close the duration split up a little. If you squeeze roller rockers in the budget you can up the lift 8.main studs have them installed and then hone main bore 9. Try to just get TA heads, it will make this goal and any other goal easier to reach. 105mph is about 425hp in 3500lb closer to 400 in reality so no you don't need a big cam , or rods, or TA heads , or a healthy cam, a stock well tuned 10.1 455 can easily reach it , but that's where it will stop with no room to grow,....jmo
Thanks for the reply. You are probably right about the stocker, but i think the stuff i want to do will help the longevity at 5500rpm anyway. I have a ported stock front cover with booster plate and adjustable spring, as well as KB 1.6 rollers. Will be getting either TA rollers or comps depending on head choice. Not a fan of the 950HP as i hear it has the same butterfly diameter as the 750. I beleive the 950XP flows better. But the old 850dp (pn 4810?) is a solid choice for that reason and probably not far off from the 950's in performance. I think rods are definitely part of the combo for durability, and they are easier to set up than reworked ARP-studded stockers. So about $1200 for rods and pistons, and $1000 for rockers, leaves $2400 on the table. Thats close enough for any aluminum head option, but like you say all that may not even be necessary. All the TA's flow 290 out of the box, and the Stg2-TE flow 300. The edelbrocks flow 274 on intake. I figure about 275cfm on the intake side is all i need. Im totally OK with zero room to grow, which is why i chose the conservative power goals. The real issue is I started building this engine as my first stab at any engine build, it snowballed, and i wasnt savvy enough to avoid shady machine shops. What im left with is a mess of mismatched parts, and i just want to finish it up and put it in the type of car i started building all those years ago. Just not sure the best way to get there from here. I have something different in the works for high hp bigblock NA power, but i gotta have the buick too.
If your ok with 425hp then all you need is stock hard parts, I wouldn't look any further than what's in front of you If you have a 4781 850 that's plenty of carb If you have KB rollers and they are in good shape use them TA heads flow around 320 out if the box and will support 600to650 untouched You only want a "thrust" plate on the oil pump not the longer geared "booster" plate
Just food for thought, I've listed two combinations below that worked well for my '67 GS400 convertible (4,000 lbs with the driver). The car looked completely stock (see photo below), was quiet, relatively cheap, dead reliable (it's been together not for well over 20 years, tens of thousands of street miles and over 500 passes at the track with no problems). My point to this is to show that you should easily be able to meet your goal if your engine is in good condition, well tuned, and gets good traction. This is a really simple combination that I had in my '67 many years ago. The car was only like this for 1 trip to the track so I think I could have gotten more out of it if I ran it more. 60' 1.74 1/8 7.951 @ 87.2 1/4 12.50 @ 108 455 bored .030 with Sealed power forged pistons (dished) true compression was 9.68:1 stock rods (with ARP bolts)/balancer/flex plate but it was balanced stock '67 heads that had ZERO port work, small valves (stainless replacements) but with a nice valve job by AMP, "Stage 1+" single springs from the GSCA Stock '68-'69 rocker arms, adjustable pushrods (not something I recommend) factory cast iron intake that had the plenum opened up like a B4B (center divider was still there) factory cast iron exhaust manifolds that had the outlets opened up to 2.25" Stock 1972 Q-jet with .073 jets and a thinner set of secondary metering rods Stock distributor with points that triggered an MSD box that is under the front seat Stock fuel lines front to rear, GM Stage 1 mechanical fuel pump Lunati cam "Hemi Killer" that measured out to be 240/240, .490"/.490" 112 LS with Rhoads lifter (I did not like this cam) All else was stock in the engine compartment (fan, pullies, accessories, etc) Stock TH400 VP ("switch pitch") transmission with a stock convertor for a '67 small block parts car (the 300 transmission) stock 8.2" 10-bolt rearend with 3.55 gear and factory posi 2.5" exhaust from the manifolds to the back bumper with no H-pipe and no X-pipe, Walker mufflers Car weighed about 4,010 lbs going down the track Tires were soft compound Mickey Thompson DOT ET Street With the combination above except with 2 changes the car ran a little stronger: Fully ported '67 heads with Stage 1 valves and double valve springs (flowed 274/183 @ .500") (these heads raised my compression to 9.98:1) Lunati Cam "SP2X" 230/240, .496"/.496" 110 LS (rough idle and marginal vacuum for power brakes) 60' 1.72 1/8 7.704 @ 89.64 1/4 12.104 @ 111.39
I ran a total stk bottom end 70 455 with that same hemi killer and Rhoads lifter, I liked the cam, but never drove it on the street, but my car has manual brakes so vaccum is never an issue...., but our car then was about 4000lbs car and drive, all steel, a 2800 stall, 4.1 gears, 9 inch slick, very light ported stage 1 heads we ran, offy single plane intake and 750 edelbrock carb, we ran 12.0s at around 112ish if a remember. But the 464 I told you about in the pm, had good port work done, sp1, 1000 cfm holley, custom cower cam with still only around .500 lift same fiberglass, so we were now 3850 car and driver, car went 11.30s at 115, swapped to bigger cam and we have seen a best of 10.90s but consistent in the 11.0s
There is the budget 482 combo you can build using these rods; https://www.ebay.com/itm/CXRacing-H...ash=item2578e03cab:g:cDEAAMXQVERS4Kg7&vxp=mtr These rods will need to be narrowed .012" on the big end to get to the BBB size. Topped off with these customizable pistons; https://www.buyracingparts.com/pist...stons/autotec-forged-455-buick-pistons-1.html Or Jim Weise from Tri-Shield Performance can probably hook you up with the AutoTecs for this combo? Your choice of inverted dome(dish) or flat top pistons to dial the compression ratio you want. Diameter, compression distance, wristpin size, ring pack and dish volume all can be made to your specs for the listed price. So you can save on deck milling ordering the compression distance you need to get to zero deck.(if the deck is still in decent shape?) Of coarse the crank will need to be offset ground for the smaller rod journal size and add stroke to get to the 482 stroker's stroke. Top the short block off with your choice of heads & intake and you should be able to make your QM goals no problem.
